She deserves someone who loves her wholeheartedly, and not for his own selfish reasons. She deserves someone who sees her for who she is and not just what is convenient for him to see. She deserves someone who actually supports her dreams and not someone who only pays lip service and cares nothing about them. She deserves someone wonderful and perfect, and I’ll never be that person.
The dead flowers in my hand have been ripped to shreds already. I toss them into the garbage can next to me. Suddenly, I realize that I have been walking for miles and I am back where I was this morning by the pier. I look down at the dark blue water below, where the ocean has swallowed up my mother’s ring.
I feel the hope that I had felt this morning turns to dust in my mouth.
Chapter 19
Amelia
Charlie stares at me blankly with his dark brown eyes. Silence hangs between us like an old awkward friend.
I sigh and then repeat myself. “The arabica blend. We’re almost out of the arabica blend. Do you want me to order some more?” I honestly have no idea why he opened up this cafe. He knows nothing about coffee and even less about running a business. I think I single-handedly prevented this place from shutting down at least twice in the past five years.
His tanned face relaxes into an easy-going smile. “Yes, of course. You’re so good at your job, Amelia.” I’m not sure if he has any idea about what I just asked him or if he even knows which one is the arabica coffee blend, but I don’t dwell on it too much. Charlie has never shown too much interest in his business, and he has always let me run the place. He’s always been a great boss, but now he is under my feet. In fact, I hoped he would go away right now so I could do my job. I have so much to do this morning, and all that Charlie has managed to do is ignore the customers while watching me work. There is a pile of equipment that needs to be cleaned, and I need to fill out the weekly order forms before we run out of everything.
Still, he hovers next to me behind the counter, trying to make small talk with me at every turn. I take care of the next couple of customers and then start on their orders. He’s been doing that a lot lately, just hovering. Constantly hovering around me.
I prepare a latte for the latest order.
“La-tte,” Charlie exaggerates the syllables of the word. “Hurry up! You’re ‘latte’ with the latte.” He laughs at his own dumb joke. “I wonder why they call them ‘lattes.’”
“It means ‘milk’ in Italian,” I answer without looking up. “There’s milk in it.”
Charlie scratches his head and laughs good-humoredly.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Penelope Winston standing in line. Great, now I have to deal with her as well.
“Meghan tells me you’ve been seeing someone?” Charlie tries to sound casual but severely failing at it. I hate how he and Meghan gossip about my love life. Word has gotten around that I had a rich boyfriend who then dumped me. It is even worse now that Charlie knows.
I purposefully let the coffee bean grinder drown out the sound of his voice, but he persists with his question.
“Yeah.” I shrug quickly and replace the coffee filter in the machine. “It was nothing. It’s over now.” It still stings a lot, but I don’t want to think about it. I feel like an idiot. The man I love has asked me to marry him and I turned him down! Who was the person who sat around moping for the past few weeks? Part of me wants to run out of here and accept Fletcher’s proposal before he changes his mind. But another part of me is terrified. What would happen if we got married? Would he continue to run our lives like he is the CEO of it? How much of a say would I get? Would he throw his money in my face at every argument? Would I be able to tolerate that kind of relationship?
I sigh as I wait for the milk steamer heat up. I guess it’s really over now. I’ve rejected his marriage proposal. A proud man like him wouldn’t ask twice. I’ve cowardly sent Meghan instead of me to talk to him this morning. So I’m sure by now he’s angry at me and has left town already.
“Really?” A broad smile appears on Charlie’s face, then he catches himself and clears his throat. “I mean, I’m sorry, that’s too bad.”
I really, really want Charlie to go away now. I can see where this is headed and I really don’t want it to. I need this job and I don’t want things to be awkward between us. Charlie is a nice guy and good-looking, even if he is a little stupid. I just don’t feel that way about him and I don’t think I ever will. I don’t think I’ll ever feel this way for anyone except for Fletcher Payne.
“So what are you doing Friday night?” He leans against the cappuccino maker and nearly tips it over. Straightening it with one hand, I glare at him as I clean up the mess he just made. Charlie scratches his head with a sheepish smile as I work.
“Hello? I’m waiting here!” Penelope’s voice screeches and neither of us pays her any attention.
“I have nursing school application essays to write,” I answer as I pour the hot brew into two paper cups and seal them. That’s not an excuse. I cringe inwardly, thinking about the huge stack of work in
