All characters engaged in any sexual activity are over the age of eighteen years.
*****
For the first time in the four days of its existence, Saturday proved a challenge for the girls of Paradise Books as they were busy.
Cindy had both Jesse and Heather in the cafeteria while Diana had Beth and Kim working the bookstore and Gwen handled Dreamlands with Sue working both the books and Dreamlands as the crowd grew.
Jesse and Heather had full half hour breaks while the rest ate on the run as the store maintained a heavy traffic volume from eleven throughout the rest of the day.
At two while Cindy was on her break, Heather deliberately bumped shoulders with Jesse as they stood side by side getting espressos and cappuccinos for their customers.
Jesse looked at her smiling coworker.
"Don't look now, but that hot guy from yesterday is giving you the eye again today."
Jesse looked up startled, almost spilling her drink, "What guy?"
Heather tossed her head in the direction of the back of the café where at a small table a man in his mid-twenties was reading his tablet while eating his lunch near where Cindy was eating.
Jesse reddened slightly, "Oh, you are imagining things."
Heather chuckled, "No, I'm not sweetie. I noticed him yesterday as he is really nice looking but he only had eyes for you. And lo and behold, he is all eyes on you again today."
Jesse just finished making her drink and walked over to her waiting customer at the register. She couldn't help but peek several times at the man now that Heather mentioned something. Sure enough, his eyes keep flitting between his tablet and over at Jesse.
As Jesse shifted to give Heather the register the blonde lightly bumped hips with Jesse playfully, "See, I told you. All eyes on you."
After finishing with her customer Heather turned back to the back counter and got a cleaning rag and the rectangular container for dirty dishes which she handed to the flustered brunette.
Heather put her hands on Jesse's shoulders steering her toward the opening to the counter, "Lucky for you the table next to him needs cleaning. Go get him, girl."
"What?" Jesse squeaked. "No. I can't. We have all these customers."
"We have three, and I can handle them all with one hand tied behind my back. You told me you're not seeing anyone. Live a little."
"No, I can't. I'm not ready for any kind of relationship."
Heather shook her head, "Oh please. If you're not in a relationship then you are ready for one. Besides the table does need cleaning. Go."
Jesse let Heather push her out and took a deep breath and walked over to the litter filled table as the smiling Heather took the three drink orders.
Jesse gathered up all the cups, plates and wrappings putting them in the container which she placed on the empty seat next to her. From her peripheral vision, she could see the slightly smiling man look at her. She could feel her face grow hot. As she wiped the tabletop she turned to stare him in the face.
"Hi," the man smiled.
"Hi," stammered Jesse. "Can I get you anything?"
The man shook his head, "I'm great thanks. You have a very nice place here."
Jesse smiled, "It is great, thanks. I love it here."
"I can easily get addicted to eating here, the food and service are fantastic."
"Thanks. Cindy runs a great café. I used to work at Starbucks and this is so much better."
The man chuckled, "I don't remember you over there, and I get coffee every morning. When did you work there? I recognize the other girl over there at the counter. I would have noticed you."
Jesse ran her hand through her short pixie cut, "I, ah, didn't look like this there."
The man nodded, "You look really nice now."
Jesse blushed, "Thanks."
"Do you work here a lot?"
Jesse nodded, "It's just the three of us so Heather and I are full time."
"That's great," the man gave a bigger smile. "I look forward to getting to know you better."
Jesse ducked her head and noticed that a line was growing at the order queue.
Jesse nodded toward the counter, "I'd better go give Heather a hand."
The man stood a bit from his seat, "I'm Thomas, by the way."
Jesse held her hand out, "I'm Jesse."
As he squeezed the hand he told the blushing girl, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jesse."
Jesse just smiled and collected the bucket and dashed back over to the counter and her massively grinning co-worker.
Two tables over Cindy continued to eat with a big smile on her own face.
What seemed like a short time later but was a couple of hours, Diana was giving the ten-minute warning to customers that still filled the store. It was about fifteen minutes after six when the last customer was out the now locked doors. About forty minutes later the girls were all hugging in the parking lot and going their separate ways.
Cindy leaned against the open window of Diana's car looking in at the two women. "Still on for our recap meeting at your house tomorrow?"
Diana smiled, "Just give us a call sometime in the afternoon. How's that sound?"
Gwen chuckled, "Enjoy your fun dinner date with Chip and Beth."
Diana laughed, "She was giggling more than usual thinking about it today."
Cindy laughed back, "Giggling more? That is hard to believe."
Cindy waved as the two women waited until she was in her own car and both cars were pulling out of the empty parking lot.
*********
Cindy walked into her house smelling the grilled chicken from the entrance. With a huge smile on her face she walked into the kitchen out onto the deck to find her husband at the grill cooking.
"That smells wonderful," she told him before wrapping her arms around him kissing deeply from his lips.
"How was the store today?"
Cindy hopped up to sit on the railing next to Matt, "Busy. We were packed all day."
Matt smiled, "I'm so glad."
Cindy nodded her head, "Heather and Jesse were great. They are fantastic. It was so cute. While I was on lunch I watched someone hitting on Jesse. She was blushing so much. Heather was teasing her all afternoon. I think Jesse got a kick out of it."
"Good for her," Matt agreed.
Cindy hopped down and kissed her husband before heading into the house to change and get the salad ready.
It wasn't long before Beth was pulling into the Hughes driveway and parking the car. Chip looked at his girlfriend as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Well, you ready for this?"
Beth smiled, "Absolutely. I had so much fun the other night and everybody was so great with me, including Cindy. I really like her a lot."
Beth reached around to the backseat where she grabbed her small overnight bag and the paper bag containing the wine she bought for the Hughes.
Chip got out of the car and went over to the backdoor, opening it to get his backpack with his own change of clothes.
Cindy wearing khaki shorts and a pink t-shirt opened the door smiling as she leaned in to hug the giggling Beth then Chip.
Cindy took in the sight of the bags, "You decided to spend the night?"
Beth nodded.
Cindy beamed, "Great. We have a real big bed we can share or we have a guest bedroom, whichever you would prefer. Come on in, Matt's out on the deck cooking. It's a nice night so I thought we could eat out there."
Beth took in the house, "Wow, you have a great house."
Cindy smiled as they walked through the kitchen, "Thanks, we really got lucky. This was Gwen and her sister's house. When they both got married they offered it to us at a price we could afford."
"I love how you all live right near each other. That is so cool."
Cindy nodded, "It's great."
Matt smiled when they all joined him as he stepped forward giving both Beth and Chip hugs.
"Please, relax and hang out. I'll go inside and get the plates and salad."
Beth hopped up, "I'd love to help you."
Cindy looped her arm through Beth's and the two walked back into the house.
Once they were in the kitchen Cindy stood for a second thinking what she wanted to do first. Beth took the moment to lean in and give the surprised woman a strong power hug.
Cindy looked into the smiling face of the woman holding her. "Not that I'm complaining, but what's that for?"
"Thanks for having us over. A sleepover for goodness sake. Never in my life have I known so much love. It takes my breath away."
Cindy smiled, "I know what you mean. You met firsthand what my childhood was like. I was so jealous when I first saw Matt and his mother. I never saw such complete and unconditional love before in my life. Didn't even know it existed except in cheesy romance novels."
Beth looked at Cindy as they split apart, "It didn't freak you out that they were mother and son?"
Cindy chuckled, "I didn't find out about that until later and by then the love was already overwhelming me. What about you? How did you react when you heard about Chip and his family and then all the rest?"
Beth giggled, "I was already so madly in love with Chip, that he could have told me he came from a family of deranged axe murderers and I would have been fine with it."
Cindy laughed, "Love conquers all, baby."
Cindy leaned in and kissed Beth.
Beth purred, "Mmmmmm that was nice."