Melanie.” He took off his fedora and clasped it between his hands.
“Ben! Hi! Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
“No, thanks. I came by to talk to you.” He ran his fingers around the rim of the hat. Clearly he wasn’t here for his regular daily chitchat and cappuccino. Dread tightened in Melanie’s gut.
She told Kelly she’d be back in a second, then led the way to the love seats, vacated earlier by a couple who had lingered there for a few hours.
“I hate to tell you this because I know you wanted my place,” Ben said after they were seated, “but I got an offer today.”
An offer already?The place wasn’t even listed with a realtor yet, though nearly all of Ben’s customers knew he wanted to retire and sell the space. “I’m working on getting the bank loan, Ben, you know that.”
“I need to sell as fast as I can. Peggy’s mom is getting worse. That heart attack really did a number on her. Peggy wants us to move to Phoenix soon as we can, to help her mom out. Plus, I’m done with Indiana winters. If I never see another shovelful of snow, I can die happy.”
“You’ve been a great friend, Ben,” she said, laying a hand on his arm. “You were the first to welcome me to the neighborhood, and the most vocal advertiser for my shop I’ve ever met. I understand your position. You do what you need to for your family.”
Ben’s face took on an apologetic cast. “I still feel bad, knowing how much you want the space. If you could find a way to get the funding faster…” He threw up his hands.
“I understand.”
Ben gave her a sympathetic smile. “Think about it for a second. I’m going to take you up on that coffee offer.” He headed over to the counter and ordered his usual decaf from Emmie.
Melanie watched him walk away and knew there wasn’t another way. Melanie had already talked to two banks this past week and she’d heard the same thing—once she had a couple years under her belt, with the business showing a steady profit, they’d be more inclined to lend her the money. Otherwise, without much for assets behind her, she didn’t have a chance of getting the money.
Being a housewife and a room mom apparently hadn’t given her the kind of solid financial background bankers liked to see.
Until now, she’d run her company on her own terms, without needing to use Cade or her marital status. Everything was in her own name. The startup expenses had been small enough that she was able to cover the majority of them with an inheritance from her grandmother and the sale of the few remaining antiques in the shop. The rest she’d paid for with credit cards, taking a leap of faith that the market for a coffee shop would be much stronger than that of an aging antiques shop.
The gamble had paid off. Melanie had no debt, and was pleased to finally see more pluses on her balance sheet every month.
With the expansion, she could double her sales. Being located across the street from Lawford University provided a steady under-twenty-five clientele that increased by thirty percent each month. Coupled with the businesspeople who worked in the area and stopped in throughout the day for a caffeine boost, Cuppa Life had a pretty continual customer flow.
Melanie glanced at the door. Cade had left an hour ago, for a meeting with a client. His offer still rang in her head.
That offer came with some strings, but they were strings Melanie was willing to accept, if it meant she could finally have the business she’d envisioned. She could handle this—handle being around Cade—all without losing her heart or her head.
“Ben, don’t worry,” Melanie said, coming up to the older man just as he was about to put on his hat and head back out the door. “I’ll have the funding. Give me two weeks.”
The man who had dispensed wonderful business advice in exchange for a free espresso here and there, nodded. “You’ve got your two weeks, Melanie. But after that…I have to think of my own family. I’m sorry.”
“Two weeks,” she reiterated. “I’ll make it happen.”
How hard could it be? She’d attend the reunion next Friday night, help Cade as she always had, just one more time. In the end, it would mean she’d see her dream fulfilled.
All she had to do was pretend she was married to Cade. After nineteen years in the job, she’d perfected the happy wife role.
Too bad her heart was no longer in it.
“You did what?”
Cade swung his racket, sending the tennis ball over the net and onto the cushy green court on Carter’s side. He was glad for his weekly early Saturday morning tennis match with his twin brother. After all that had happened in Melanie’s coffee shop, he needed to expend some energy and frustration. It was either tennis or pounding some walls. Considering his lack of expertise in the handyman arena, this was a better option, particularly for his walls. “I asked Melanie to go to the reunion with me.”
Carter lobbed the ball back. “I thought you guys were getting divorced.”
“That’s the plan.” Maybe. He smacked the ball over the net.
“Uh-huh. You’re thinking you’ll get her all dressed up—” Carter let out a grunt as he hit the yellow sphere “—you throw on a tie, take her out on the dance floor a couple of times, waltz around to some Sinatra. Before you know it, you’re in love again, just like in high school?”
Cade made an easy return, then shrugged. “Hey, it happens in the movies.”
Carter reached high, nicking the ball a moment before it flew past him. “Real life doesn’t work like that.”
“Why not? Melanie and I were happy for years.” Cade waited for the bounce, then returned again.
“Women today expect more.”
Cade arched a brow. “Says the man who thinks marriage is a contagious disease.”
“At least I know better than to create a business plan to win a woman over. I know you, Cade, you’ve probably got a ten-point strategic overview all laid out on how to win Melanie’s heart. You’ve analyzed the pros and cons, created a damned spreadsheet for your options and even calculated the odds on flowers versus diamonds.”
Cade scowled. “I have not.”
Okay, he did have a list. But he didn’t have a spreadsheet and certainly hadn’t used a calculator to determine the best course of action.
“If you haven’t, which I highly doubt, you will.” Carter got the serve this time and sent the ball over the net toward his brother. “You’re the most uptight man I know. If you weren’t my twin brother, I’d think you were an alien.”
“Speaking of nonhuman creatures,” Cade said, grinning as he slammed the ball back with enough force to tell his brother he was definitely done with the subject of his marriage. “What’s new with you?”
“Funny you should ask,” Carter said as he waited for the bounce before swinging his racket. “Remember Uncle Neil’s will?”
Cade nodded. He’d been at the reading last month. Uncle Neil, a lifelong bachelor, had divvied up his companies and his possessions among his few nephews and nieces. Cade and Melanie had inherited a house in Cape Cod, a nice beach place that he remembered going to as a kid.
Someday, maybe, Melanie would want to go there. More specifically, go there with Cade. Take a weekend, stroll on the sand and rekindle the flame that had seemed to grow smaller since they’d married.
Then again, at the rate his reconciliation efforts were going, he’d be best off selling the place.
“Did you decide what to do with that toy company you inherited?” Cade said.
Carter drew in a breath. “Yep. I quit my job last week and moved into Uncle Neil’s office.”
“You