Page 6 of A Journey in the Bay
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“Wait, does this look right?” the young barista, Kevin, asked Michael for the third time that morning.
Michael peered over Kevin’s shoulder as he pulled an espresso shot. As Michael suspected, Kevin was doing it perfectly. But the teenager’s self-doubt was getting in the way of him actually doing the job, something that his more seasoned baristas were having trouble with. Between training and helping Kevin and making sure that their customers got served, his staff was overwhelmed.
Michael hadn’t intended to hover all morning—he’d meant to be on the waves already—but he didn’t want Kevin or anyone else who worked for him to feel like he was adrift without a paddle. Some business owners he’d talked to outside of Blueberry Bay had said he was too hands-on, maybe even a little nuts for employing teenagers. But he disagreed. Sometimes giving young people a bit of confidence and trust brought out their best work, even better than the work would be if he’d given someone with more experience the position.
“Yeah, you’re doing just fine,” Michael said. “You can put it in the cup.”
Kevin did as Michael said, his cheeks flushed from embarrassment.
“Sorry, that wasn’t that hard, was it?” Kevin asked.
“Don’t beat yourself up about it.” Michael leaned his hip against the counter. “You’re doing great so far. All you need to do is be more confident. And I know it sounds ridiculous for me to just say that since I can’t magically make it happen, but I believe in you. I wouldn’t have hired you if I didn’t.”
That brought a smile to Kevin’s face. “Really?”
“Yeah, of course.” Michael glanced at his other baristas, who were taking in everything he and Kevin did with interest. Good. Michael liked to teach by example in most cases, and his employees always tried their best to follow him.
The bell rang as a customer came in, and to Michael’s surprise, Alissa’s sister Caitlin came in with a little girl. He’d met Caitlin when she was in town visiting Alissa before, but he hadn’t seen her since. She looked a lot like Alissa since they were twins, but she had an entirely different energy about her that he liked, poised and competent.
He assumed the girl was her daughter, who he’d only heard about. She looked like a mini version of Caitlin, with brown curls and big brown eyes. He wasn’t great at gauging a child’s age, but he figured she was probably in or about to start kindergarten.
“Hey, Caitlin. Nice seeing you,” Michael said, going over to the area where orders were taken.
“Hi.” Caitlin gave him a polite smile. “Nice seeing you as well.”
“Are you visiting Alissa?”
“Um, sort of.” Caitlin’s faint smile wobbled, but she tried to recover before he noticed. But Michael didn’t miss it. “We’re actually moving here for good.”
Michael glanced behind her to see if anyone else was coming in, namely her husband. No one did. She had come alone last time for quite a while, so he assumed she’d come alone—moved here alone—this time too.
Even in her sadness, Caitlin was pretty. Her dark brown eyes were intelligent and her features lovely, framed nicely by her shoulder length, wavy hair. She had dressed more formally than most did around here when she first came to Blueberry Bay, but now she was dressed down in a blue sundress. She was beautiful either way.
He didn’t take his attraction to her to mean much besides what it was. He was a lifelong bachelor, not the kind of man to settle down in a traditional sense. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone on a date with anyone. It had been even longer since he’d had a girlfriend, though he knew of many women around town who were interested in him. He always politely declined. Although he could acknowledge that they were attractive, his feelings toward them didn’t go much deeper.
But something about his attraction to Caitlin felt a little different.
Still, that didn’t mean it was a good idea to pursue anything with her. Just because he was drawn to her, that didn’t mean he had to act on those feelings. And besides, Caitlin was probably in the middle of a divorce, or recently done with one. He doubted a date was anywhere close to the top of her priority list.
“Well, welcome back,” Michael said. Caitlin’s daughter was looking up at him curiously, so he smiled. “I haven’t met you yet. I’m Michael. What’s your name?”
“Pearl,” she said shyly. “Hi.”
“Nice to meet you, Pearl.” He grinned. She was just as sweet and polite as he’d expect Caitlin’s daughter to be. “What can I get for you two today?”
“I’d love a coffee. A large iced one with almond milk,” Caitlin said, her tone almost desperate for the caffeine. “And what pastries do you guys have today?”
“We have a bit of everything. A bakery over in Whale Harbor supplies them every day.” Michael leaned over to take a look at the pastry case. “We have croissants, cookies—oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, and sugar—muffins…”
“Cookies?” Pearl looked up at her mom, her brown eyes pleading.
A genuine smile came to Caitlin’s face as she looked down at her daughter. “What kind of cookie do you want?”
“Chocolate chip!” Pearl said without hesitation.
“Excellent choice. And these are definitely big enough to share.” Michael went to get them one cookie. “Anything else?”