“How’s it going?” Danielle asked from the other side of the bar.

“Great,” Sherry said. “Madison is a model student.”

Madison snorted.

“It’s true.” Well, almost. But Madison needed all the motivation she could get.

“Sounds good.” Danielle leaned on the bar. “Please get me a hot chocolate for table four.”

Madison slammed the pot with milk foam on the counter. “Now?”

Danielle smirked. “Next week if it were for me, but the customer on table four might not want to wait that long.”

Sherry put a hand on Madison’s back. Strange how often I do that. She had lost any inhibitions when it came to touching Madison. On the other hand, caressing Madison’s back seemed to calm Madison down, so it was the logical thing to do.

“Sherry?” Danielle asked. “You okay?”

“Sure.” Sherry withdrew her hand from Madison’s back. “Madison, why don’t you take care of this hot chocolate while I prepare the latte macchiato for table twelve? This way we get things done faster and can continue with our lesson as soon as the next latte macchiato is ordered.”

Hesitantly, Madison nodded and got to work.

On her way back from delivering the latte macchiato, Sherry met Danielle halfway.

“You know,” Danielle said, “I really admire how you handle Madison’s mood swings. As a teenager, I never could stand it for long when she was in one of her moods.”

Couldn’t Danielle see through the façade? “She tries. That’s all that counts.”

“If you say so.”

When Sherry stepped behind the bar, Madison was cleaning the metal tube of the coffee machine’s milk foamer.

“Did someone else order a latte macchiato?”

“Um, no. But I was thirsty, so I thought I would get a head start.” Madison beamed at her.

She really was willing to learn. Sherry smiled back at her. Without taking a moment to think about it, she went onto her toes and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Madison touched her freshly kissed cheek. “What was that for?”

“Because you’re my favorite student.”

Madison’s smile widened even more.

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

School buses blocked the street and parents waited in their cars for the school bell to ring. When it finally happened, kids left the building in a hurry.

Sherry looked through the windshield of Madison’s BMW convertible with its dropped hardtop, searching for Jake, but even after five minutes, he was nowhere to be found. “God, what’s taking him so long?”

“He’s probably just talking with some classmates,” Madison said, but she also seemed to be keeping an eye out for him. “Don’t be so nervous about it.”

Sherry unbuckled her seat belt. “I’m not nervous. Shall we go look for him?”

“If you want.”

They left the car and walked toward the entrance.

Madison kept pace with her. “Are you worried he might not like it here?”