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Lighter thoughts would help. Anything shecould come up with.

She visualized the ocean just blocks away.Her brother, and how he always left the bathroom such a mess when they werekids, as if a cyclone had blown through and knocked everything all over thecounter. The really attractive woman from the coffee shop next door who madeher palms sweat from the tiniest dip of cleavage visible beneath the blueapron. Autumn. She smiled. She liked this Autumn. She was funny, with a prettysmile. She also seemed like a genuinely nice person, which only pulled her morepoints in Kate’s book. Autumn was fun to think about.

She drifted off to sleep easily, claiming therest she needed and avoiding any and all mention of an awful afternoon justeight weeks earlier.

* * *

“Yes, I’m calling for Autumn Primm,” thefemale voice on the phone said.

Autumn tucked the phone between her ear andher shoulder. “You found her.”

“Ms. Primm, this is Elise from Dr. Arocha’soffice.”

“Oh, right!” Autumn said, straightening andexcusing herself from the front of the shop to the storage room in the back.She’d been trying to get an appointment at the Holly Grove Reproductive Clinicfor a week now. It was the best in the area, and she was prepared to be patientand wait for an appointment to open up if it meant her chances were greater fora positive outcome. “Thank you so much for calling.”

“My pleasure,” Elise said. “I wanted to letyou know that we had a cancellation for Wednesday at three, and I thought I’dcheck and see if you had availability for an initial consultation.”

“Oh, I’ll make availability. Thank you! I’llbe there,” Autumn said, running an excited hand through her hair.

“I’m so happy we were able to accommodateyou.” The woman rattled off the details and Autumn took meticulous notes,excited for this first big step in starting her little family. She returned tothe front of the store with a spring in her step and her heart set to vibrateas she prepared to start her afternoon roast, a South American blend that hadbecome a house favorite.

“You seem happy.”

Autumn glanced up to see Kate watching her fromthe other side of the counter. Her dark hair was in a ponytail today, and itswung slightly when she tilted her head. She wore cutoffs and a blue and greenplaid shirt that she’d left open, revealing a black tank top beneath.Everything slowed down as Autumn drank her in for a few solid moments beforebreaking into a smile. Now, that was one way to kick-start your afternoon.

“That’s becauseI amhappy,” she said. “Today is a goodday. What can I get you to make your day even better?”

“Well, that’s quite an offer.” Kate shruggedand studied the board. “What do you recommend? I’m pretty easy.”

Autumn let that one slide. “Well, I just gota new shipment of beans from Ethiopia. Just roasted this morning. They’reglorious, but then I’m biased.”

“I don’t see how I can pass up gloriousbeans.”

“Smart woman. For here or to go?” Autumnasked.

“Here.”

“In that case, you get a mug.” She held up anoversized blue mug with PJ playing a guitar on the front. “Coffee is alwaysbest consumed from a mug anyway. Feels heavy and warm in your hands and makesyou want more and more. And, well, more coffee is always the goal.”

“You know your stuff,” Kate said.

“When it comes to coffee, I do. It’s mything. We all have them.”

“Have a cup with me.” Kate said it with thatemboldened eye contact again. Not pushy or aggressive. Just…solid and friendly.She carried herself with a quiet confidence. Autumn hesitated, but Kate didn’tmove a muscle and simply waited patiently for her answer. Autumn glanced behindher in hesitation. Steve and her new employee, Rhonda, seemed to be in agroove, and the shopwasin the midst of a lull. Then there was her new declaration to live more, getout there and experience life.

“I can probably snag a few minutes.”

Kate smiled and inclined her head. “I’ll hangout over there.”

As she watched Kate walk away and select atable near the back, Autumn shook her head. She had no idea what it was shethought she was doing with Kate. Except she did. She was feeling alive for thefirst time in years, and that feeling had her craving more, like a dangerousdrug you couldn’t get enough of, because it made you feel so good. “Steve, I’mgonna take ten.”

He nodded. “We got you.”

“Thanks.” She focused on Kate sitting at thetable as she walked, slow and deliberate, swaying her hips because she was,okay, a little bit of a hussy.

Kate took a sip of the coffee as she watchedAutumn, and smiled as she sat in the chair across from hers. “Autumn.”

Oh, she liked the sound of her name on Kate’slips. “Yes?”