Page 72 of Moonlight Hearts

I grabbed a menu and made my way over to our sole customer.

“Here you go.Would you like some coffee?”

The man peeled off his gloves—they looked like leather in an unusual shade of pale green and fit him like a second skin—and took the menu.“Would you happen to have tea?I like a nice black tea with a touch of cream, no sugar, if possible.”

I nodded.“I can make that happen.”

“Splendid.What else is good here?”

“Depends on whether you’d like sweet or savory, a real meal or a snack.”

He turned the menu over.“So many choices.You know what, I think I’ll have a nice big slice of your cherry pie.Could you make that happen, do you think?”

I smiled.“Absolutely.”

“Cream on top too, please.Bit of a sweet tooth, I’m afraid.”

“Nothing wrong with that.I’ll be right back with that pie.”

I went about making some black tea.Unlike the one Soyer and I had shared at Rose’s, the Moonlight’s just came from a bag, but since I had nothing else that needed taking care of, I made sure to give it the whole two minutes it said on the box.While it was steeping, I plated his pie.

I took my time to get the little cream cone on top of it perfect, and then I went all out and topped that with a candied cherry.When I was done, his tea was too.It went on my tray along with the pie and the cream, no sugar.

“That looks absolutely delicious, thank you,” he said while I placed everything in front of him.

“Let me know if you need anything else.”

He gave me a polite yet bright smile.“That I will.Excellent service here, Amory.”He nodded at my tag.“Interesting name, that.”

“I guess.It’s French.”

“Ah, les français.Have you ever been?”

I shook my head.“Afraid not, but I hear Paris is beautiful.”

“Very much so, though crowded.I’d rather suggest Nice.It’s right by the ocean, a beautiful place to be.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.Please enjoy your pie.”

“Mm-hmm.”

The next twenty minutes were busy again—or distracting, at least—with Rae bringing out Ben’s pancakes and then forcing him to smile at the camera while showing off the admittedly very beautiful display.

I watched them while I straightened the small mess I’d made with the pie and the tea, then went about looking for other things to do.

There wasn’t much of anything, really.Thaeros had left things pristine, and I could only rearrange the napkins, plates, and cutlery behind the counter so often.

When I saw that the businessman was done with his pie, I headed over there.

“Hey, we have to let Ben have a slice of pie, right?”Rae asked, stopping me on the way.

I looked past them at Ben, who was still busy with his pancakes, given he’d only been allowed to start eating after Rae was done with him five minutes ago.

“Ben, if you want some pie, sure.”

They leaned in.“You make it.Make it pretty like you did for Mr.Fancypants over at the forbidden table.”

I glanced over at him, but Rae had whispered, and he was glancing at his phone.