I shrug. “I’d have been here last week if I’d known you were working.”

A small smile breaks through, and she shakes her head. With a roll of her eyes, she lets out a big sigh. “Well, I’m sure my day will be a lot brighter now you’ve been in.”

I can’t take my eyes off her, and when she shoots a glance at me through those long eyelashes, I’m gone for good.

She hands me the coffee, our fingers brushing, and for just a moment, our gazes lock before she lets go with a smile.

It’s not until I’m out the door that I realise she’s written something on the cup.

My favourite Canadian.

People turn and look at me when I laugh out loud.

I’m definitely coming back in tomorrow.

Two

Delaney

Six years later

“Excuse me, miss.” A broad American accent calls me across the room. “Could I please get your help with something?”

I suck in a breath. Most customers are great, but we get the odd pain in the arse who wants more than just a breakfast. If he propositions me, I swear I’ll kick him in the nuts so hard they’ll retract into his body. Permanently.

“Sure.” I smile brightly. “What did you need help with?”

“My friend and I are here to make a movie. You might have heard of it: Twisted Hearts?”

I shrug. We’ve had a couple of movies filmed locally a year since the whole Lord of the Rings craziness. I don’t keep track of which movies are being made.

“Anyhoo, I just got this itinerary, and I was wondering if you could help me translate a word?”

Whew. “Sure thing.”

“It says here they're planning a …” He looks closer at the paper, as if it might reveal some hidden message. “What does that say? P ... po …” He shoves the piece of paper toward me, and I cock an eyebrow in return. “Please, could you tell me what this says?”

I take the piece of paper from him and smile. “There's a pōwhiri organised for you on Friday,” I say.

“What the hell is that? And how do you get the ‘f’ sound out of this word?” His confused expression is comical.

“The ‘wh’ is pronounced ‘f’.”

He nods, but he doesn’t look that convinced.

"It's a welcoming ceremony."

"Well, why doesn't it just say that?"

"It does. That's the Māori word for it." I hand him back the paper.

He looks from me to it. “Well, I'll be damned."

"I would think they'll have a representative to help guide you through it. There’ll be a challenge that will need to be accepted."

"A challenge?" the man sitting across the table says.