Marion Lennox - One Winter's Day - A Diamond in Her Stocking / Christmas Where They Belong / Snowed in at the Ranch

Jesse got down to business. ‘Give Nikki a break from the coffee machine. I’ll take over. Let her wait tables. Later I’ll spend some time training her and we’ll see if she’s good enough to stay.’

Lizzie was too darn grateful that Jesse was back to ask him if he was only going to be there for the two hours he’d defined as his time with her.

* * *

The last thing Jesse had thought he’d ever be doing again was making coffee for customers. He was a highly regarded engineer, considered an expert in the quick construction of mass pre-fabricated housing, who had a major corporation jockeying for his skills. He’d had a teleconference with the CEO of the company while he was in Sydney and again they had expressed their keenness in having him on board. They were, in fact, pressuring him to make a decision.

But he also wanted to prove to Lizzie he was not the shallow womaniser she seemed to believe he was. The player label she’d been only too ready to tag him with was really beginning to irk him.

The gratitude and relief on Lizzie’s face when he’d told her about the barista course was enough to justify his decision. He’d sensed there’d be trouble with Nikki and had taken the steps that would enable him to help Lizzie achieve her aim of a wrinkle-free launch.

But he’d missed her while he’d been in Sydney. Missed her so much his future—be it in Texas or Asia or wherever he might end up—had seemed somehow bleak without her in it in some way. Never had a hotel room seemed so lonely. The way he’d felt raised questions he wasn’t sure of the answers to. He forced himself not to think about it and focused his attention on making coffee.

Flat white, cappuccino, espresso, soy latte, decaf—the orders kept on coming and he kept on filling them. He knew half the customers and had to put up with a lot of good-natured banter.

His answer to the inevitable, ‘Hey, Jesse, why the new career path?’ was always, ‘To help out Sandy and Ben while I’m on leave.’

No way would he admit to anyone that he was doing it with the aim of proving to Lizzie that he was not the guy she thought he was.

But there were customers he didn’t know too, total strangers who’d found their way to Bay Bites. People with no connection to the family would be the lifeblood of the new business. Those and the tourists who would eat here a few times, recommend it to their friends, come back next time. He’d noticed lots of empty plates and contented faces. He’d also seen customers photographing their meals with their phones. Free Wi-Fi in the café would pretty much guarantee there would be online reviews up by evening.

He looked up to see Evie’s redhead friend he’d met at the taste-test had settled herself at a table and was perusing a menu. She caught his eye and waved. What was her name? Dell, that was right, Dell.

She came up to the counter to say hello. ‘Nothing like a handsome barista to bring in business,’ she said with her easy, friendly manner.

He smiled. ‘I’m also on the front line if they don’t like the coffee. But I haven’t had any thrown back at me yet.’

Dell smiled back. ‘So far, so good, huh? The menu is impressive.’

‘All Lizzie’s work; I’m just the help.’

‘Evie told me Lizzie is a chef who worked in some top restaurants in France and then in Sydney too.’

‘That’s true,’ he said. ‘She’s highly regarded and has won all sorts of awards.’ He felt a swell of unexpected pride in recounting Lizzie’s achievements.

‘So what brings her to Dolphin Bay?’

‘Family,’ he said firmly. He was protective of Lizzie’s personal life when it came to discussing it with strangers. No one needed to know about her broken marriage, her ongoing custody issues. The Morgans looked after their own.

Dell nodded. ‘I hope it all goes well for her.’

Just then Lizzie came out of the kitchen. Immediately Jesse felt her gaze go from him to Dell and back to him. Was that jealousy he saw glinting in her narrowed grey eyes? If so, there wasn’t much he could do about it but reassure her she had nothing to worry about. Women liked him. He liked women. But he was not flirting with this girl. And Dell was certainly not sending off any flirty vibes. How could he let Lizzie know that?

He beckoned Lizzie over and introduced her to Dell. ‘Dell’s been saying some very nice things about the menu.’

‘Yes,’ said Dell with a friendly smile ‘I was at your taste-test party on Saturday. Everything I tried was superb. Kudos to you.’

‘Thank you,’ said Lizzie.

‘And I was saying to your boyfriend that every café needs a handsome barista.’

Lizzie flushed. ‘Jesse’s not my—’

‘We’re friends,’ Jesse was quick to say. ‘Just friends.’

‘My mistake,’ said Dell. ‘I thought... Anyway, I’d better get back to my table and stop holding you guys up. It looks busy.’

‘Nothing the kitchen can’t handle,’ said Lizzie a little stiffly.

Dell rewarded her with a big smile. ‘I’m looking forward to my lunch. Congratulations, the café is awesome. I’ll bring my guy with me next time; I know he’ll love it too.’

Now, at last, Lizzie smiled back. Jesse was puzzled by her sudden change of attitude. Was this some kind of girl talk he wasn’t privy too? Had Dell given her a secret semaphore message to make her thaw?

Whatever, he didn’t have time to worry about it as the lunchtime coffee orders stepped up. He had worked way more than his allocated two hours but who was counting?

CHAPTER NINE

LIZZIE DIDN’T KNOW how she could thank Jesse enough for what he’d done. To train as a barista just to help her out wasn’t something she’d ever imagined Jesse would do. It had caused a radical shift in her opinion of him.

‘You saved the day,’ she said as they shut up shop at four p.m. Everyone else had gone home and they were the last two remaining in the café, empty now but somehow still echoing with the energy of all the meals cooked, eaten and enjoyed. Bay Bites had been well and truly launched. They’d even sold two paintings. She looked up at Jesse. ‘Did I tell you how much I appreciate what you did?’

‘Only about a gazillion times, but you can say it again if you like,’ he said with the laid-back smile that had appealed to her from the get-go.

‘So here’s my “thank you number gazillion and one”,’ she said. ‘No matter how good a job we did with the food, our opening day would have been a fail if we hadn’t had good coffee.’

‘It was far from a fail, Lizzie,’ Jesse said. ‘I think you can chalk up your first day as a success.’

‘Don’t say that,’ she said quickly. ‘We don’t want to jinx ourselves.’

He quirked a dark eyebrow. ‘I didn’t put you down as superstitious.’

‘You know how theatre people are full of superstitions? So are restaurant people. No one would be surprised if I had the building blessed, maybe brought in a feng-shui expert. Or burned sage to get rid of any bad karma from the previous business on this site. Maybe even hung crystals in strategic places. And don’t even think about whistling in the kitchen. Especially a French kitchen.’

‘You’re kidding me?’

She shook her head. ‘A lot happens in restaurants. First dates. Break-ups. Celebrations. Illicit liaisons. They leave energy. We want good energy. Opening day of a new restaurant is rather like the opening night of a new play. The cast. The audience. The need to have butts on seats. So let’s just say I’m cautiously optimistic about how today went and leave it at that.’

He laughed. ‘Okay, I’ll grant you that. But I still say—’

Lizzie swiped her thumb and first finger across her lips to zip it. ‘Don’t say it or I’ll blame you if anything goes wrong.’