Chapter 2—Jackson

Jackson returned the wave of the taller of the two women as they walked out of the shop. The friend—the one who apparently thought he was cute—was busy hiding her beautiful face behind her long braids.

“Thanks for coming in,” he said. “Hope you run into that other coffee guy soon.”

The tall friend laughed, and the beautiful one groaned as she hurried out of the shop’s door. He only enjoyed teasing because he’d been struck by how gorgeous she was from the moment she walked in the door. It was flattering to know he’d caught her eye as well, even if she seemed mortified to admit it.

If he was lucky, the two might return for some more holiday shopping. He should have told them about the Christmas Eve Festival. Though he definitely had bigger fish to fry, the thought did offer a welcome distraction. Even if only for a moment.

It worked out nicely since a moment was all he got to enjoy the reprieve from the real world and his real problems. Shortly after the two women left, Demetri Alexander came strolling through the door. Demetri was an old classmate of Jackson’s. He was a nice enough guy, but Jackson really had to take him in doses. And Jackson wasn’t in the mood for even a small dose of Demetri that day.

“Good morning,” Demetri called out as he approached the counter.

“Good morning,” Jackson said, trying to muster some enthusiasm. “The usual?” he asked.

“You know it, my man,” Demetri said. He was always trying to sound cool—a trait that annoyed Jackson to no end. Jackson found that people who were concerned with sounding or looking cool were usually a pain to be around. Years ago, he would have said his business partner was the exception to that, but time had taught him it wasn’t true.

“Okay, great. Three bucks,” Jackson said, holding out a hand. He could recite the next thing Demetri would say by heart. He’d hand him a five-dollar bill, tell Jackson to keep the change, and then laugh as he said, don’t spend it all in one place.

Demetri did not disappoint. Jackson took the five and placed the extra in the tip jar. “Listen,” Demetri started.

Jackson again knew exactly what was coming: Demetri’s offer to buy the business. The guy wanted this location since before Jackson and Zack ever moved into it.

There were still six months left on their lease. As long as things appeared to be going well, he had no reason to worry about losing his lease. But, if he started slipping, he knew the owner would sell it to Demetri in a heartbeat. Which was why he always made sure the rent got paid. Even if other things suffered.

The saving grace was that Demetri didn’t know this—not yet anyway. So, his current approach was to buy The Cozy Cup from Jackson in an effort to procure the space he wanted. Why it had to be this building, Jackson still had no idea. But Demetri was constantly making Jackson offers to buy the business or to buy in. One time, he just asked to rent the basement. It was strange, and even at his current level of desperation, there was just something about the guy that stopped Jackson from taking Demetri up on his various offers.

“Demetri,” Jackson said, cutting him off. “I am not selling you the coffee shop today. Try again tomorrow.” He handed Demetri his usual—a medium breve latte with four shots of espresso, sprinkled with cinnamon and vanilla bean powder.

“We could make magic,” Demetri said with a shake of his head. “Magic, Jackson.” Jackson laughed and shook his own head in response.

“I’m not one for magic, Demetri. Just a good cup of coffee.”

“One of these days you’re going to take me up on my offer,” Demetri said as he ran his free hand through his slicked blonde hair.

“When’s Zack coming back anyway?” he asked Jackson, looking around the shop as if to search for Jackson’s former business partner.

“Few more weeks,” Jackson lied. How long was he going to be able to keep up the story? So far, he’d done a good job of convincing everyone that it was a temporary absence—even when Zack started posting all over social media about his new “island life” and how he found his new forever home. What was he, some kind of stray dog? Jackson scoffed to himself the way he usually did when he thought too much about his former partner and friend.

“Well, when he gets back, we’ll all sit down and talk about being partners together,” Demetri said.

“Sounds good,” Jackson lied again. He refrained from rolling his eyes. Demetri threw a finger gun and a wink before leaving the shop.

“That man is strange,” Tess said as she approached the counter. Tess was the owner of the bookstore a few shops down, and while she normally had a nice thing to say about everyone, the town did hold a few exceptions. Demetri was one of them.

Jackson laughed. “He really is. What’s his obsession with this place?” he asked the older woman. She and her husband, Marcus, had lived in Cherry Creek since they were kids. They were the people to talk to if you wanted inside information on any of the small town’s residents. As a private person, he usually tried not to pry into other people’s lives, but once in a while, curiosity got the better of him, and he had to go to Tess or Marcus to get the scoop on someone. Up until now, he’d refrained from asking about Demetri. But, that day, Tess had appeared at just the right moment.

“You don’t know?” Tess asked him. “He thinks there’s gold buried in the basement. His grandpa told him that when he was six or seven, and ever since, he’s been obsessed with owning the building so he could go after the gold.”

Jackson laughed even harder. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Serious as a heart attack,” Tess said. She tucked a strand of her long grey hair behind her ear. “He’s convinced he’s going to be the one to find it.”

Jackson just looked at the woman. “Tess,” he finally said. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I know,” she said, laughter still present in her tone. “Marcus and I have both tried to set him straight. But he won’t hear it.”

Jackson handed the woman her usual order—two strong black coffees and two specialty cocoas. As much as she and Marcus loved their morning cups of coffee, they were like kids when the holidays came around, and they both wanted the sugary, festive flavored cocoas he made as well. Tess handed him way too much money and motioned for him to keep the change. He shook his head in an attempt to argue with her.

“No, Tess,” he said. “You overpaid last time, too.”

“Did I?” She feigned confusion. “I don’t remember. I’m old you, know.”

“Hardly,” he said, tilting his head to one side. “I’m fine. You really don’t have to do that.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said. “Have a great day. Hope you’re busy getting ready for the festival,” she called as she walked toward the door.

Jackson hadn’t yet broken it to the other business owners that he wasn’t planning to do anything special for the Christmas Eve Festival. The businesses downtown always went all out for the occasion. It just wasn’t in the cards for him this year. He’d make his holiday drinks and have a tray of cookies out, but that was about it. He didn’t have the manpower or the time—or the money for that matter—to do much more than that.

Just one more reason to punch Zack in the face if he ever saw him again.