I accepted the cup from Violet with an unexpected reverence. This would be my first real, fully caffeinated cup of coffee in over a year. And not just any coffee, Violet’s coffee. I closed my eyes in blissed-out anticipation, then took a sip. Gah! It was delicious. Violet was a coffee goddess.

I opened my eyes to the sound of the bell at the door bing-bonging the arrival of the first customer of the day. I looked up and spotted big Liam, Luke’s friend. We waved and smiled at each other as he headed to the counter to order from Rose. My eyebrows raised after he pulled out his phone and started texting. I headed to the cash register; I was the official ringer upper for the day. I also got to fill the little purple bags with baked goods. Violet had the cutest little bags and coffee cup sleeves, lavender with violet flowers in the center just like her aprons.

Violet had embraced her name and the purple lifestyle. There were purple accents all over her store. The sofa was a rich royal purple, the pillows on the leather club chairs were of varying purple patterns. The tables were dark wood, but the chairs had all been painted in various shades of lavender. I inhaled deeply. It smelled good in here; it was pretty, and my kids were being taken care of. I started to relax. This would be a great day. I could feel it already. Or maybe it was just the caffeine I was feeling. Either way, day one of being fearless was a success.

I rang up Liam’s order: fat-free iced soy latte with no whip and an egg white and spinach breakfast sandwich on Violet’s special no-carb cloud bread. He had huge, defined muscles popping out everywhere. I could see his six-pack through his shirt, and it was glorious. I guess his disgusting breakfast was one of the things that helped him get that hot bod. Aside from lifting heavy things and doing crunches or something.

He grinned at me. I think he caught me checking him out. I blushed. Oh, well. “Have a great day, Lily,” he said.

I nodded and waved as he headed out, then I cringed. I had been cooped up on bed rest surrounded by family members and kids for so long that I had forgotten how to behave around regular humans. Whatever. I shook it off.

The door bing-bonged again, and Luke walked through, followed by a few other people I didn’t care about. He smiled at me, then approached Rose to order.

“Hey, Rose,” he said.

“Hey, Lukie, you want the usual?” Rose said with a smirky smile. She had been giving him crap since the day we were all born. If there was something to tease him about, she would be the one to do it. They had the quiet brother, annoying sister dynamic going on.