Summerfield: Chapter 15

He was waiting for me when I pulled up. I took off my sunglasses and greeted him. “I’m sorry. Am I late?”

“No, no,” he waved his hands across his body expressively and continued, “I just like to be early for such meetings.” His thick Italian accent and broken English were charming.

I took in his appearance: trying to connect the man with his emails. His skin was tan with dark, intelligent eyes hidden beneath thick eyebrows. His wavy brown, chin-length hair was tucked behind his ears. His height was impressive, and his muscular build wasn’t completely hidden underneath a striped button-down, dark jeans, and dressy leather boots.

I shot him a crooked smile and gestured for him to go inside. He opened the door for me, and we both sat down beside the small table I had set up.

We spent hours chatting about the business of creating and selling coffee. It was easy, because we were both so passionate about it. He brought some samples of coffee beans from brands and companies around the world. We brewed them all, inhaling the wonderful aromas and sipping on each one until we were overly caffeinated. With his help, I narrowed them down to three favorites I would order soon.

At one point, near the end of our meeting, I’m sure I saw Josh out of the corner of my eye. He was looking at us from outside through the display window. I only saw him briefly, but he looked confused.

At the end, I walked Tony out of the shop. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and drove off after reassuring me that my business was off to a great start.

New chapters are coming soon!