At the River’s Edge The Chesapeake Diaries by Unknown

“You don’t have to …”
    “Hey, it isn’t every morning I get to buy coffee for a beautiful woman. Especially one who appreciates the chaos of an eight-year-old’s basketball game.”
    “How can I refuse when you put it that way?” She smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome.” He leaned one elbow on the counter, his body half-turned in her direction. “You’re up and out early. Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation?”
    “I needed some good coffee. The stuff my brother has is barely two levels above swill.”
    “Best coffee anywhere, right here,” he agreed and placed his order.
    Josh reached for a ceramic mug from the array that lined the shelf behind the counter.
    “I need it to go,” Jason told the young man. “Sorry. I should have told you.”
    “What are those mugs?” Sophie pointed to the shelf.
    “Special mugs.” Josh grinned. “For our special customers.”
    “How do you get to be a special customer?” she wondered aloud.
    Josh grabbed several mugs and placed them on the counter so she could read the names on them.
    “Bling. Book ’em. Petals and Posies,” she read aloud.
    “For the regulars who have businesses in town,” Josh elaborated as he rung up Jason’s order.
    “Jesse’s is the fifth one in,” Jason pointed out. “Guess he hasn’t been in yet.”
    “He has court in Ballard,” Sophie told him. She turned to Josh. “Could I see Jesse Enright’s mug, please?”
    He held up the mug that read ENRIGHT & ENRIGHT in black script on one side, and J.C. ENRIGHT on the other. She was tempted to reach for it, to pour her own coffee from its plain white mug into her brother’s, but felt it would have been the mug equivalent of cheating. She didn’t work for the firm, and she wasn’t a regular, though she might be this week.
    Josh handed Jason his change, then showed Sophie the mug he’d returned to the shelf moments earlier: BOWERS FOR LANDSCAPE in green block print.
    “Very nice touch,” Sophie noted.
    “The mugs were the owner, Carlo’s, idea,” Josh told her. “His wife makes pottery, so every time a new business opens, she makes the owner a mug. It encourages them to become regular customers if they aren’t already.”
    “Any of them ever sit unused?” she asked.
    “Nope.” Josh grinned.
    “Clever idea.” Sophie nodded.
    “People seem to like it. Keeps ’em coming back.” Josh added, “And the coffee, of course.” He pointed to a table near the back wall and told Sophie, “Creamer, sugar, over there.”
    “Right.” She picked up her coffee and moved to the table. She’d just finished adding half-and-half when she sensed Jason behind her, not touching, but there. The awareness went up her spine in a slow tickle.
    “So how are you spending your vacation week?” He set his large Styrofoam cup next to her mug on the table. “Any special plans?”
    “None.” She added sweetener to the coffee, then stepped out of the way to give him room, which also gave her space between herself and Jason. The man was imposing, tall and broad-shouldered, and needed the space to fix his coffee, she told herself, ignoring the fact that being close to him was causing an embarrassing albeit involuntary flush to spread from her neck clear up to her hairline.
    “Everyone needs a little downtime.”
    “I’m not used to downtime,” she admitted. “I feel as if I should be doing something.”
    “You
are
doing something.” He turned those blue eyes on her. “You’re having a great cup of coffee on a Monday morning, maybe even sitting a while and chatting with some friends who are happy to see you.” Jason gestured toward the front of the room.
    Brooke was waving to get Sophie’s attention, and the others at the table had turned to wave as well.
    “Sophie! Come join us,” Brooke called.
    “So, there you go. You’ve got something to do.” Jason smiled and touched the small of her back.
    She felt that light, brief touch all the way to her toes. It