and tossed the rag into a basket on the back counter, before giving her his full attention, his lips gently turning upward as he looked at her.
“She’s struggling.”
“Oh?” Theo offered her one of his lattes with the caramel drizzle on top.
“Thank you.” She took the mug between both hands, letting it warm her as she breathed in the nutty, sweet scent of it. “She doesn’t want to sell but she admitted to me that she’s late on her bills.”
Theo sat back on the barista stool and sipped his coffee—a mug of black dark roast with no frills—looking thoughtful. “It needs a lot of work,” he said, thoughts still flashing behind his eyes.
“I know,” she said, shaking her head. “Every cabin needs exterior and probably interior paint. The main house needs a complete remodel. All the appliances and lighting could be updated, the grounds need to be manicured, and the gravel drives should be paved and marked. And that’s just on the surface. Look at the plumbing. I wonder how long it’s been since she’s had an inspection of the structures.”
“Yeah…” he said, before taking a drink from his mug.
She grinned, trying to lighten the heaviness she’d created. “I wish I could give her the money. Got a job for me that will make me rich? We could overhaul the coffee shop, buy a franchise or something.”
His expression turned to stone.
“I just thought it would be nice to be able to pay for repairs on Fireside Cabins for Eleanor,” Lila replied, thrown by his reaction. “If I had the cash, I would. What it would be like to have all that money…” She’d completely redo Fireside Cabins, buy her friends whatever they needed, get herself a little house outside of Nashville somewhere, and maybe a new car since hers had been cutting out on her.
He laughed incredulously. “Look around.” He waved his arm through the air and then settled back on his stool, taking another drink from his coffee, looking frustrated.
She wondered at his reaction. Was he insecure with his own level of income? He shouldn’t worry about that, though. She hardly made bundles of money herself, even when tips were good. “I don’t really want a job,” she said, drawing his attention to her once more. “I like the coffee shop the way it is. And I like you just the way you are.”
He set his coffee down and hopped off his stool, walking over to her tentatively. His eyes swallowed her like they had last night, but with a new intensity behind them. The action, in the light of day, seemed more real than it had in her memory of last night, and she had to work to keep her heart from pounding out of her chest.
“This is it, right here. This is all I have. Swear that that’s okay,” he demanded.
“I swear,” she said, worried by his change in demeanor.
The door to the shop opened, and they jumped apart as a customer entered. Confusion swarmed Lila when she saw Theo’s pensive frown. The customer didn’t seem to notice though, shuffling in and lumping her purse onto the counter. She put in her order.
“I’ll let Lila work on this for you,” he told the woman, backing up to allow Lila space to move toward the register. As she passed him, he leaned toward her. “I’ll head over to the cabin to work on the plumbing now.”
“You don’t want to make sure I’ve got things down pat?” she asked.
“I trust you.” Without another look, he headed out the back of the coffee shop.
Theo hadn’t returned all day. Lila was desperate to find out what his reaction that morning had been all about. He seemed like he was always on edge, battling some invisible demon he couldn’t shake.
He’d taken so long that she’d tried to text him, but he hadn’t answered. She’d had to pull up the hours of operation for the shop on her phone to know when to close. After setting the dishwasher in back to run all the dishes for the day, wiping down the tables, sweeping the place, she did what she could to clean the machines. As she pushed in the last chair at the back, she caught sight of a light on in his office so she went in, just in case he was there. The room was unoccupied, but she scanned it curiously. There was a little bookcase in the corner, and she wandered over to take a peek at what was on it.