Liam,” she replied. “Can I get a mint green tea latte to go, please?”
“Sure.” Liam began punching her order into the system. “How’s that new job going?”
“Good,” she replied as she tugged her wallet out of her hoodie pocket. She didn’t carry a purse when she took Rufus on his morning walk. It was challenging enough trying to wrangle a fifty-pound bulldog. She needed both hands free for the attempt. “Pretty good. I’ve only been there a few weeks and I’ve mostly been getting the lay of the land, but now I’m finally starting to dig into my actual duties a little more.”
After almost two years working at the animal clinic, Tessa was enjoying the challenge of a new position. She’d worked for years as a pediatric nurse but stepped away from it after she’d bailed on her own wedding...and all the complicated emotions that went with that.
“That’s $3.59,” Liam said.
“Oh, I nearly forgot. Can you add a blueberry muffin?”
Liam arched a knowing eyebrow. “You’re spoiling that mutt, Tessa.”
Tessa assumed an affronted expression. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. That muffin is for me.”
Liam laughed as he punched her order into the system. “Sure, Tessa, sure. You know I can see him from here, don’t you?”
Tessa turned in the direction Liam pointed, noting that Rufus was sitting patiently where she’d left him, his hooded eyes watching the café door with interest.
“He was found abandoned by the side of the road. He deserves to be spoiled a little bit.”
Liam held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m just saying, you spend more money on that dog than on yourself.”
Tessa shrugged. “He’s worth it.”
Liam shook his head as he took the ten-dollar bill she handed over. She didn’t expect others to understand. She certainly hadn’t been surprised by most of her family’s reaction when she’d brought Rufus to the last family dinner.
Her sister Harper and her husband, Connor, as well as Connor’s daughter, Molly, had made cooing noises over Rufus as if he were a newborn puppy. Her other sister, Paige, had been somewhat less supportive, asking why she’d chosen such an ugly dog to adopt. Tessa had made all the appropriate defenses about Rufus’s character and disposition, but in the end, the family had assumed her choice was just part of what she’d once heard Paige refer to as Tessa’s “pre-midlife crisis,” a term that caused Tessa to flinch, though she hadn’t let her sister know she’d heard her.
Just because she’d left her fiancé at the altar and then quit her well-paying job as a pediatric nurse in favor of minimum wage at the local animal shelter didn’t mean she was going through a crisis. Well, Paige’s assessment maybe did make sense. But only because her family didn’t know the whole story behind her choices.
And that wasn’t something she was planning to share anytime soon. If ever.
Tessa wished Liam a good day and then stepped to the end of the counter to wait for her order. She cast a quick glance outside to check on Rufus and then swiveled her gaze around the room, always interested to see the new faces in town.
She’d inherited her grandmother’s cottage years before, and since then Findlay Roads had truly become home, more than the suburbs of Washington, DC, where she’d grown up. If only Nana could see how the town had grown. Much of it retained the same quaint, Chesapeake Bay charm Tessa remembered from her childhood. But there were plenty of new houses, shops and restaurants to cater to the tourist influx. Not to mention the Delphine, the sprawling luxury resort her own father had built to capitalize on the investment boom.
She noticed a couple in the corner and idly speculated whether they had come to the café to meet with a Realtor and visit some local properties. Real estate in the area had skyrocketed. The cottage she lived in was easily worth a fortune compared to what her grandparents had paid for it so many years ago.
She waved at a few familiar faces, including a girl she used to work with at the pediatrician’s office. She hoped Allison wouldn’t come over. While she had always been friendly with her coworkers, encounters with them now tended to be awkward since they, like her family, didn’t understand why she had up and left her job so unexpectedly.
She shifted her attention back to the bar, and her eyes fell on another new face. He was handsome but almost seemed to have a brooding aura as he studied his phone. His dark brown hair was trimmed short, and he was dressed in dark slacks, a heather-blue shirt and a plain gray blazer. Simple but sophisticated. She entertained herself by speculating on what sort of business he had in town. Was he looking to move here, as she’d imagined the young couple were? Or was he simply a businessman passing through? Perhaps an entrepreneur looking to invest in one of the local businesses. Maybe he had a secret job with the CIA, and he’d come to Findlay Roads searching for an international thief. She nearly laughed at the notion, though his handsome appearance did put her a little in mind of an actor from a spy thriller.
“Tessa, your order’s up.”
She pulled herself out of her reverie and reached for her tea latte and the brown paper bag holding Rufus’s muffin. From the corner of her eye, she noticed her CIA agent was still intent on his phone. He hadn’t even glanced up.
“Spoiling that dog of yours again?” asked Shannon, the barista at the bar.
Tessa made a face as she grabbed the paper bag. “You guys are way too interested in what I feed my dog.”
Shannon chuckled. “Nah, it’s not that. We’re just glad to see you coming around again.”
Tessa couldn’t argue with that. When she’d worked as a pediatric nurse, the Lighthouse Café had been part of her morning routine. She’d stop in for tea and a pastry before she headed to the clinic. But when she’d quit the doctor’s office and had to tighten up her budget, daily trips to the coffee shop had fallen from routine to a treat. It was only now, with her new job at the hospital, that she’d picked the habit back up. Plus, the café was on her walking route with Rufus. And he did like their muffins.
“Thanks,” she said. “It’s...nice to be back.”
Shannon eyed her for a moment, and Tessa tensed, fearing she’d ask more questions. But Shannon just nodded and grinned, and Tessa gathered her tea and muffin and turned to go.
“Hey, Tess.”
She paused at the door as Liam said her name.
“Tell Rufus the next one’s on the house.”
Tessa raised her tea latte in thanks and pushed out the door. Rufus was on his feet the second he saw her, his tiny nub of a tail wagging a greeting.
“You wouldn’t believe the grief I endure for you,” she teased him. She bent down, balancing her carryout cup in one hand and trying to juggle the paper bag on one arm so she could open it. She pulled out the muffin as Rufus jumped up and chomped the muffin out of her palm. Tessa tottered, thrown off-balance. Hot tea sloshed out of the cup’s lid, splattering across her hand. Scalded, she gasped as she jerked to her feet, bumping against something solid while Rufus greedily chewed on the muffin. She registered cursing behind her as she regained her balance and frowned down at her dog.
“Rufus!
