Millie Kate put Wesley James's tire iron in the back of his pickup truck and stopped when she caught sight of her reflection in the truck's window. Half of her hair had fallen loose from her ponytail, she had a grease mark on her cheek and her shirt was wrinkled and dusty.

She began to brush the dust off her clothes as she thought about how horrified her mother would be at the sight of her but she stopped when she found Wesley James looking at her. One corner of his mouth was turned up and there was a look in his eyes like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

She stopped fussing with her clothes. "What are you looking at?"

"You," Wesley James said, walking towards her. Millie Kate felt out of her element and she dropped her gaze, but he gently placed his hand beneath her chin and lifted it until she was looking directly at him. Millie Kate froze at his touch. "That's better," he nodded as if he thought she should never drop her gaze for anyone's sake. "You've got..." He pulled out his bandanna and wiped at the grease mark on her cheek.

"Better?" she asked, breaking free from his hold to look at her reflection. The mark was gone.

He shrugged like the results were debatable. "Ice cream?"

"Yes," she said, taking a step back and taking a breath.

Millie Kate wasn't sure what was happening. An hour ago Wesley James was simply a friend giving her a ride home but the stirring in her chest at his touch was telling a different story. They had been heading to Millie Kate's house when they had seen Mrs. Warren on the side of the road with a flat tire. Wesley James had insisted on changing it for her.

To Millie Kate's surprise, he invited her to help. She didn't know how to change a tire but that fact hadn't surprised him or deterred him from getting her to join in. Once Millie Kate had started, her curiosity had overcome her southern manners and she dove into the process, working right alongside Wesley James in the dirt.

Now, she was a mess on the outside and the inside. She took another deep breath as she tried to forget the butterflies in her chest and climbed into the passenger seat. Wesley James was always at ease and by the time they reached La Rue's Ice Cream Parlor, Millie Kate was at ease too.

So at ease was she that she completely forgot about her messed appearance until she came face to face with Cannon McHenry. He was coming out of La Rue's and stopped when he saw her. His eyes quickly took in her dirty clothes and messy hair before they jumped to Wesley James standing behind her.

"Millie Kate," Cannon said, nodding his head. "Wesley James. It looks like you two have gotten into some trouble."

Millie Kate froze. Never in all her life had she let anyone see her in such disarray and now Cannon McHenry was seeing her like this.

"A flat tire," Wesley James said, giving Cannon a friendly slap on the shoulder. "No worse trouble than we're used to getting in." There was a congenial tone in Wesley James's voice, nothing like the insinuating one Cannon had used. "We're getting ice cream, would you like to join us?"

Cannon let his heavy gaze fall once again on Millie Kate before he smiled at Wesley James. "I would love to, but I have more pressing matters to attend to. Have fun."

Without another look at Millie Kate, Cannon walked away. By the tone of his voice, she could tell he thought something was going on between Millie Kate and Wesley James. Millie Kate didn't know how she should feel about it. Before she could settle on a feeling, Wesley James nudged her shoulder and held open the door to La Rue's.

Cece sat back from her computer screen with a frown. She had faced the interaction between the trio she had been plotting since the beginning of the book. Wesley James and Cannon could not be more different and she knew Millie Kate needed a chance to see them together, to see how differently they acted, in order for her to make her decision. But now that Cece had crossed that bridge she wasn't sure where she was heading next.

Definitely ice cream for Wesley James and Millie Kate but beyond that she was blind. She still wasn't even sure who Millie Kate was going to end up with. Cece's personal choice was Wesley James, but she also couldn't force her character to act in a way she wouldn't.

Millie Kate had been raised in the thick of southern culture and it would be a very difficult choice for her to turn her back on it to choose Wesley James. Cece wasn't sure Millie Kate had it in her. Was there anything other than prestige and her mother's approval that would make Millie Kate choose Cannon?

As if he knew Cece needed a break, Barista Boy appeared with a fresh cup of iced coffee. "Bless you," Cece said. She took the first sip while thinking that Wesley James would bring Millie Kate coffee. But there must be more. What would it take for Millie Kate to choose Wesley James?

"So...I wanted to say something," Barista Boy started, Cece was barely aware that he was talking to her. "These last few days have been really fun getting to spend time with you and you are different than I thought you would be. Honestly, you are different than any girl I have ever met." Cece looked at Barista Boy, only a quarter of her brain listening.

"And different in a good way. In an exciting way and I think I would be a fool if I didn't take a chance to tell you that I like you."

"That's it!" Cece said quietly.

"So you know," Barista Boy said, his voice rising with hope.

"Of course!" Cece said. Wesley James needed to reveal his feelings for Millie Kate. Put them out plain and simple. It bucked everything about how things were done in the southern culture and it would surprise Millie Kate. But it would also draw her to him. It would make her feel a little wild and free and would force her hand. "A fool," Cece dreamily repeated as her brain began to formulate Wesley James's speech.

"...you feel the same way," Barista Boy was still talking. "So what do you say?"

Cece beamed up at Barista Boy. "It's perfect! Thank you!" she cheered. She stood and kissed him on the cheek then got to work. Barista Boy had known exactly what Wesley James had needed to say. She started typing furiously, holding on to Barista Boy's words as tight as she could until she could get them on the page.

"Hey!" Barista Boy said loudly. Cece finished writing her sentence before she looked at him. He was looking at her like he had been calling her name for a while.

"Sorry," she confessed. "Half of my brain is always stuck in my book so I didn't hear you. What were you saying?"

"Did you not hear anything I said?" he asked.

"I heard all of it! And it's brilliant!" Cece said excitedly. "I was just trying to figure out what was going to happen between Millie Kate and Wesley James and then you appeared and said the words for me. You are the best!" Cece would have hugged him but something in his look stopped her.

"What I was saying wasn't about Millie Kate or Wesley James," Barista Boy said, his words clipped.

Cece frowned in confusion. "Was it suppose to be for Cannon?"

"It wasn't about your book!" Barista Boy said sharply, taking a step away from the table. "Not everything is."

Cece watched him walk brusquely back to the front counter and disappear into the back. She stared at the door for a while, hoping he would pop back out to say he was just playing a prank on her. After a few minutes, Cece searched the tables next to her to see if anyone else was as confused by his actions as she was, but no one was paying her any attention.

Cece looked back at her computer. There were the words Barista Boy had given her for Wesley James. She looked back at the coffee shop's back door then at her computer screen. A light bulb went off. Cece nodded her head, finally understanding.

Barista Boy must have been upset because he thought she was just going to use his words and not give him credit. She slapped her forehead, laughing at her own stupid mistake, but then stopped. Why had he suggested the speech for Wesley James if he didn't want her to use it? That must not be it. Cece slumped back in her seat feeling confused again.

She decided to wait until Barista Boy got a break and then she could just ask him what was wrong but she never got the chance. When he did reappear at the front counter there was a long line and he was kept busy making orders. Cece returned to her writing but kept an eye on the crowd, waiting for the lunch rush to slow. But when things finally calmed down Barista Boy wasn't at the front counter.

Cece held out hope that he was just working in the back but as it neared closing time she had to accept that he had already left. She didn't worry about it as she packed up her things, she would see him the next day. But she barely saw him the next day. Even though they were both in the same coffee shop for more than five hours, Cece barely got a chance to say a word to him.

She had arrived during the morning rush and only got the chance to say her order and pay before he was calling the next customer forward. Even when the morning rush slowed down Cece was unable to catch his eye.

She ended up spending most of her day trying to get his attention, watching for the moment he stepped out from behind the counter to wipe down tables or take a break but she never got it.

It was the same way for the next five days. No matter how hard Cece tried to talk to Barista Boy, there always seemed to be something getting in the way. Cece's writing took a hit as she spent most of her time in The Thinking Cup devising ways to talk to Barista Boy instead of writing. Millie Kate and Wesley James were still in limbo after he had revealed his feelings for her.

After five days of silence, Cece knew Barista Boy was working hard to avoid her and she knew she needed a plan to remedy whatever the problem was. She spent the night talking through what had happened with Elliot and Tristan to get their input.

Elliot was on Cece's side, concurring that the rift must have been caused by Cece's lack of appreciation and acknowledgment of his input, but Tristan saw it differently.

He questioned whether Barista Boy had meant something entirely different with what he had said to Cece. Tristan tried to subtly clue his sisters into what he was thinking but finally had to come right out and say he thought Barista Boy had been telling Cece that he liked her.

This ridiculous idea brought on peals of laughter from the sisters. They rolled on the floor at the very thought then threw Tristan's crazy idea out the window. There was no way Barista Boy liked Cece.

As Elliot so eloquently put it, "Cece is crazy."

The next day Cece walked into The Thinking Cup determined to talk to Barista Boy. She had purposefully waited until after the morning rush so he wouldn't have that excuse to use. As she stepped inside he looked up and their eyes met for a moment before he turned away.

By the time she reached the front counter, he had moved to the back wall and had busied himself with something but Cece was resolute and she could be patient.

There was a girl at the register waiting to take Cece's order. Cece ordered her usual iced coffee but remained at the front counter as the girl moved to make her drink.

"Hey," she called, trying to get Barista Boy to turn around. He didn't. "Hey!" she repeated a little louder.

He continued to ignore her and she began to search for something to throw at him when he finally turned. He looked at her but he didn't move from his spot, leaning against the back counter, his arms crossed defensively.

"Look, I'm..." Cece started.

"Dear Writer!" someone shouted from the door.

Cece whirled around to find Malcolm, Franklin, and Zachary entering The Thinking Cup.

Franklin had his arms stretched out wide as if the coffee shop was his kingdom to claim. Malcolm pushed past Franklin, his bright eyes fixed on Cece.

Before she had a chance to react, he swept her up into a hug and spun her around. The next moment Franklin and Zachary joined in and the boys were somehow jumping and spinning around Cece as they excitedly greeted her.

"Miss me?" Malcolm asked before he kissed Cece.

Franklin and Zachary whooped in support. After a moment, Cece pulled away, still trying to get her barrings as she looked at the three.

"Brunch?" Franklin asked, already leading the way out of The Thinking Cup.

"The place down the street was sublime champagne," Zachary added.

"Glorious. I'm starving," Malcolm said.

He put his arm around Cece as he led her towards the door. Cece only had a chance for a quick look over her shoulder at Barista Boy. Their eyes met for a moment then he shook his head in resignation and turned back to his work.

**********************************************************************

Holy biscuits!

Grace! What have you done!?!? Why did Malcom have to come back now? Why wasn't he tossed out of the plane? Or taken out by sniper fire! What is this crap!?!?

It's called drama! And supposedly readers like it. I've heard it makes a book interesting so I tried it.

What did you think?

Yay or nay for the drama?

Nay! I say nay! I want Cece to stop being an idiot and I want Malcom gone. Nay! Nay! Nay! 🐴

Gote, gomment, gollow