could lose her nerve.
The bells over the door jingled merrily, like it was just a normal, ordinary day in Rosethorn Valley. Like a magical prisoner with a spotty memory wasn’t getting coffee next to her long-lost daughter, while the child’s father summoned a dragon in the woods up the hill.
The boy behind the counter gave her a friendly wave, but he was talking with a baseball cap-wearing man with a cane, who leaned on the counter as he spoke in a low, intense voice.
Jessica was surprised to recognize that it was the man from the hospital. He was still wearing his WORLD’S GREATEST GRANDPA cap. He must be a local to have ended up at the café so soon after leaving the hospital.
“That’s my little brother,” the older man was saying. “So it hurts, I’m not gonna lie. But I’ll tell you, the strangest thing happened when I was at the waiting room.”
“Yeah?” the kid asked. He looked like he was really listening, not just pretending.
“I was talking to the doc, and this guy walks past me, young guy, dressed kinda fancy,” the older man confided. “Anyway, he puts his hand on my shoulder and all of a sudden, I got this… feeling. I don’t know how to explain it, but…I just knew Jim was at peace, and that everything was going to be okay.”
“Wow,” the kid said, nodding appreciatively.
“Like I said, I can’t explain it,” the man said dismissively. “But I’ll tell you, there was something to it. I was practically weak in the knees after. That’s why I came here. Thought I’d get Jim’s favorite and say a toast to him.”
“That’s really nice, sir,” the boy said. “So, a small black coffee?”
“Piping hot,” the man replied with satisfaction.
Jessica smiled to herself, glad that the man was happy, after all he’d been through.
She knew the man he was talking about, the fancy guy who had touched his shoulder, was Cullen. She had seen him do it. But Cullen thrived on pain. Why would his touch make someone feel better?
Was he really thriving on inflicting pain?
She thought back to her injury at the hands of the hag in the forest, the way Cullen touched her forehead and the pain receded.
And there was the troll under the bridge. Cullen had injured him, but the creature’s cry of pain ceased the moment Cullen brushed his head with his fingers on their way past.
And now this man, who had lost his brother, felt his pain recede at Cullen’s touch…
“How can I help you?” the man behind the counter asked her. He wore a name tag that said Carl.
“Hi there,” she said. “I’d love a coffee.”
“Well, you came to the right place,” he said. “What can I mix for you?”
She blinked at him for a moment. Mix for me? What did that even mean?
“Um, just a medium, please,” she said.
“Caff? Half-caff? No caff?” he asked. “Macchiato, latte, espresso?”
Half-caff? Machi-what?
“Um, one coffee with caffeine please,” she said. “It’s been a long day.”
“Want to make it a double?” he asked knowingly.
“Oh no, just the one coffee,” she replied.
“I meant a double shot of espresso,” he said.
“Yes?” she said, tentatively.
“Woman after my own heart,” he said. “Any flavorings? Cream? Or milk, soy, almond, or coconut milk?”
Did almonds have milk now? What all had she missed?
“Uh, extra cream, please,” she said.
“I’ll have it for you in a jiffy,” he said brightly.
She nodded and turned to see if the man in the cap was still there.
He had gone, but Miranda and her friends were still by the window. From where she stood, Jessica could see they had pushed two tables together.
And they needed as much space as they could get. Miranda was very tall, like her father and maternal grandfather. Her two girlfriends were more normal height, but the three men with them were positively enormous. Jessica had truly never seen a man that size, other than Cullen.
One of the women was on what looked like a tiny, cordless phone. She ended the call, looking perturbed.
“What’s wrong, Tabitha?” the third woman asked.
“That was Tim from the museum,” the one called Tabitha said. “He says a patron thinks she saw a dinosaur in the woods by the mansion.”
“A dinosaur?” Miranda sounded fascinated.
“What if something else is out there?” one of the men said. “What if we missed something?”
Suddenly, the six of them were leaping up from their chairs and heading for the door.
Jessica turned back to the counter just in time to prevent them from noticing her.
A dinosaur by the