Jessie greeted me with a large, glowing smile as I entered The Bean Machine early Monday morning. “One large Americano and a blueberry muffin, coming right up!” She started punching my order into the register before I had even finished crossing the worn wooden floor to where she was waiting behind the counter.
I laughed. “Hey! I haven’t even ordered anything yet.”
“Liam, you’ve been here every single day at exactly 7:30 in the morning since you arrived in Chestnut, and every single morning you order the exact same thing. I think it’s safe to say I know your order. Your total is 8.75, but I’m sure this is not news to you.” Jessie held out her hand to take my ten because I paid the same way every day.
And apparently, I’m predictable.
I opened my mouth and gasped, pretending to be offended. “Oh, so I come in a couple of times and that’s an invitation to be cheeky with me?” I teased lightly.
Jessie rolled her eyes. “Every day. For two weeks.” She took my faded bill and opened the register to get my change. “You should get used to it, you know. This is just how Chestnut is. You’re a regular, now, so you get the regular treatment.”
“So you just spend your time insulting your regulars in Chestnut? Noted.” I grinned and accepted my change.
“Well, Chestnut is like… a family. A regular is the same as a sibling. Or a parent.” Jessie closed up the register and handed me my receipt, then got busy preparing my order.
“You don’t have to explain. I’m just teasing you.” The nice thing about coming in for coffee so early was it was pretty empty. There wasn’t much of a morning rush in Chestnut–not in the same way LA had one, at least. It took so long to get anywhere, that people tended to get their coffees early to allow for their hour commute to their job ten miles away. “It’s just a lot different from what I’m used to, now.”
Jessie pressed some buttons on her fancy coffee machine and hummed. “I guess it’s busy in the city, huh? Not really time to get to know the customers.”
“Yeah. That’s pretty accurate.” I folded my arms on the counter and leaned forward, my eyes drifting from the door to my watch.
Which was, admittedly, less than subtle.
I was hoping Jessie wouldn’t notice, but of course, she did, because I was the only one in the whole damn shop. “He’s running late today.”
I bit my lip. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jessie laughed and walked over with my drink, placing it in front of me. “Sure you don’t.” She winked, then went over to grab my muffin. “Because there’s definitely no reason a city boy, such as yourself, who is literally always in a rush would come in here at the same time every morning and then linger for fifteen to twenty minutes until a certain someone walks through the doors.”
I pouted at her. “I’m starting to rethink my status as a regular.”
She laughed. “Hey, I think it’s nice! We don’t get a lot of new people in Chestnut, there are not a lot of opportunities to forge new friendships. Especially for someone as shy as Duncan.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Duncan? Shy?”
“Would you not describe him that way?”
I shrugged. “I guess… reserved is more how I would put it.”
Jessie hummed. “Reserved is another way to put it. He wasn’t always that way, though. Back in High School, he was actually pretty outgoing.”
Of course, I remembered that–but she was wrong about one thing. Duncan was still reserved back then, he was just more popular because he was on the basketball team. He hated the attention, but he loved the game, so it was worth it to him. But I wasn’t about to correct her about the mannerisms of the person who used to be my best friend, so instead, I asked, “Really? What changed?”
“Dawny left.” Jessie didn’t even miss a beat.
Her words hit me like a truck. I blinked, my eyes widening slightly. Sometimes, I got so caught up in being Liam Tyler, the mysterious contractor no one knew, that I genuinely forgot they all knew me as someone entirely different.
Someone who abandoned them, without explanation.
Someone who didn’t mean to affect people so deeply, but still left a scar in their place regardless.
Jessie must have misread my silence because she rushed to explain herself. “Sorry, I know she’s your client or your friend or whatever, and I don’t wanna make it sound like she’s horrible for leaving or whatever–it’s just that the people here have a deep history with everyone in this town. And her leaving was particularly hard on Duncan, and–”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to defend yourself.”
Jessie’s shoulders relaxed, and she shifted on her feet. “Do you… Do you know why–”
I had never been more relieved to hear the jingling of the front door’s bell as a customer walked in. And even more relieved to see that that customer was, in fact, Duncan.
“Hey, Duncan! I’ve got your order all ready if you just want to pay at the register.”
Duncan smiled and made his way right up to the counter. “Thanks, Jessie, you’re a lifesaver!” Then, he turned to me. “Hey, Liam! Here to get that morning fix, as usual, I see.”
I forced a smile onto my face as I greeted him with the only appropriate bro greeting–a ceremonial fist bump. “You know me!”
Duncan paid and took his items from Jessie, then made his way over to one of the tables.
Jessie gave me a little wink. “I gotta go take care of something in the back, so. You boys watch the counter while I’m gone, yeah?”
There was no time to protest before she slipped into the back, out of sight.
I sighed and walked over to the table Duncan had procured. “Cool if I join?”
Duncan looked up, his mouth full of muffin. “You don’t have to ask anymore, dude, we're chill. Have a seat!”
I pulled out the chair across from him and sat down.
Duncan wiped his mouth with his napkin, the crumbs spilling onto the table. “So, you’re settling into Chestnut okay?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, more or less.”
“Cool.” Duncan sipped at his drink, and a brief memory flashed in my mind of us, probably ten years ago, in that very spot, sipping on our matching drinks.
Times really had changed.
“Good game on Saturday. You really showed Ian and me who was boss.” Duncan smirked at me, and I laughed.
“You’re just out of practice. I’m sure I never would have even come close to beating you if I was against the Co-Captains of Chestnut High School’s renowned basketball team.” I smiled cheekily.
“Okay, the sass isn’t necessary.” Duncan smiled. “But it was fun! Ian and Oscar and I haven’t played together in a while. Usually, we play one on one on one–but it’s really just Ian and I taunting each other while Oscar runs back and forth on the court.”
An image of Oscar wildly flailing his arms around as he wheezed in an effort to keep up with Ian and Duncan flashed through my mind, and I couldn’t hold back a soft laugh. “Okay, I can see that.” I paused. “Well… you know, if y’all ever want to play again… I kind of had a blast.”
Duncan grinned. “Oh, man, a chance at redemption! I’ll have to get back to practicing if I want to beat you.”
“Again, I feel like I should stress that my sports knowledge is minimal at best. It really was beginner's luck.” I sipped at my hot coffee, a warm feeling bubbling in my chest. Maybe it wasn’t like before–maybe I hadn’t quite healed what I had broken–but it was still… kind of nice.
“Could have fooled me. You sure you didn’t play in high school?”
I swallowed. “Positive. Trust me, I was a very different person back then.”
The door opened again, and Duncan and I turned just in time to catch Ian and Connie slipping through the door.
Ian grinned. “Yo! Duncan! Liam! What’s up?”
“Hey, guys!” Connie chimed.
Duncan stood to greet them with enthusiasm, letting Ian pull him in for a solid hug.
Connie hopped over to me and sat down–without asking–and waited for Duncan and Ian to join us.
The Bean Machine buzzed to life as the friends chatted amongst each other–and it was wrong, and I knew it was wrong, but that warm feeling buzzing in my chest slowly fizzled out.
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