Danielle came behind the bar and slapped Madison’s shoulder. “Don’t taint my Jack here with your dirty jokes.”

Jack chuckled while taking the pineapple juice to show Madison how to prepare it.

Madison was decorating the non-alcoholic cocktail with a slice of pineapple while Jack was over at the coffee machine when a customer stopped in front of her. “I’d like to have a caffe latte with hazelnut syrup, please.”

Madison turned away from the woman and rolled her eyes. “Jaaack!”

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

A clicking noise at the front door was followed by a long, dramatic groan.

Sherry looked up from their jigsaw puzzle.

Jake seemed to have heard it too, because he jumped up.

“Slow down,” Sherry warned.

“But, Mom—”

“Don’t ‘mom’ me. Sit back down. It’s probably just Madison.”

At that moment, Madison stepped out of the hall, rubbing her eyes, and shuffled toward her bedroom without sparing them a glance.

Rita Mae looked up from her crocheting. “Are you okay?” she asked loud enough for Madison to hear.

Doorknob already in hand, Madison turned. “Yeah. Sure. There were just lots of things to do at the Archer, and I had to help out.” With drooping shoulders, she dragged herself to the couch. Moaning, she sank onto it.

“Archer?” Sherry asked.

“Oh, didn’t I mention it? I’m the co-owner of a coffee bar close to the city park.”

Madison owned a coffee bar and had actually lifted a finger to help? “No, you haven’t told me that.”

“Well, now you know.”

What she didn’t know was… “What exactly is a coffee bar?”

“That’s like…” Madison moved her hands as if trying to explain a complicated scientific concept. “Well, imagine a coffee shop, a diner, and a bar having a threeso—” Madison glanced at Jake. After a moment, she cleared her throat. “It’s a combination of all three, kind of.”

“Sounds interesting,” Rita Mae said.

Madison nodded and let out a long breath. “But it’s a lot of work, I can tell you. At four, we were finally relieved by the late shift.” Piercing Sherry with an uncomfortably intense gaze, Madison added, “We’re short of staff.”

Was that her way of asking if Sherry could help out?

“You’re a waitress…or at least you were until recently.”

Bingo! “You want me to work in your coffee bar?”

Rita Mae, who sat on the opposite end of the couch, didn’t interrupt her crocheting while asking in a casual tone, “How much does it pay?”

“Pay? I p—” Madison looked over at Jake. “We’re a couple. And Sherry is sitting around all day anyway.” She pointed to the jigsaw puzzle.

“It’s fine, Rita Mae,” Sherry said. “Jake will start school next week, so I’ll have plenty of time in between dropping him off and picking him up.”

“Why would you do that?” Madison shook her head. “Rita Mae can do that.”