Page 25 of The Friendship Pact

Cole arrived, greeting the other patrons and zigzagging toward her with a smile on his face. His cute dimple made her smile back, though he had nothing on Nick.

“How are you, Mayor?” Cole said and slid into the booth across from Kate.

“Cole. I was just getting to know our newest resident.” Mayor Benson tapped the table. “I’ll leave you two. Call me anytime, Kate.”

Cole lowered his voice. “Tell me he didn’t ask you out.”

“He didn’t.” Kate leaned forward. “Should I be worried?”

“Nah. Sometimes he can be overly friendly.”

“Good to know.” She straightened and reached for the half-and-half.

“Thanks for agreeing to meet for breakfast. I needed to get out from behind the front desk and wanted to avoid being interrupted at the lodge,” Cole said.

“I totally get it. And I don’t mind at all—ever since you mentioned meeting at Rosie’s, I haven’t been able to get the veggie omelet out of my mind.”

Rosie came over with a coffeepot and cup in hand. “Good morning, Cole.” She set the mug in front of him and filled it, leaving room for cream and sugar. She topped off Kate’s and set the insulated pot between them.

“Morning, Rosie. You look lovely today,” Cole said.

“Oh, you.” Rosie winked at him. “What can I get the two of you?”

After Rosie left with their orders, Cole leaned toward Kate. “I’m glad you called. Nick told me about the pews at the church. You’re thinking of having them made into booths?”

Kate set her mug down and sat up straight. “Maybe.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll be totally honest with you. I ordered new booths but had to cancel the order because of recent developments—I need to cut my construction costs. I have little wiggle room in my budget. I know we don’t know each other well, and you have no reason to trust me, but I hoped you and I could work out a payment plan.” She twisted her paper napkin. “If you could construct the booths from the old pews, I could make payments after I open. I hate to ask . . .”

Smoothing the napkin back out, she waited for him to say something. His brows furrowed as if he was deep in thought. He sat back and toyed with his coffee cup. She had hoped he’d take her up on the proposal, but now she wasn’t so sure. She hated asking others for help.

“I have a better idea,” he said, leaning forward again. “How about we barter? It will be an even trade. I’ll haul the pews to my shop and construct the booths. The pews I don’t use, I’ll keep. You’ve more than paid for the booths by not taking money for the baking you’ve done at the lodge.”

Kate was stunned and finally found her voice. “I don’t want to take advantage of you or your craftsmanship.”

He sipped his coffee. “You mean the way I’ve been taking advantage of your generosity and craftsmanship with the desserts you’ve been making?”

“Touché.”

Their breakfasts arrived, and they dug in. Kate enjoyed conversing with Cole. He was funny and knowledgeable and had great ideas. His face lit with excitement as he explained the design ideas he had for the booths and how he wanted to get started right away.

“Let’s head over to the church so I can take a few pictures,” he said.

“Okay. That sounds great. Thank you.” As she put her coat on, she noticed Nick having breakfast with a pretty strawberry blonde and a little boy. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched the interaction. Nick laughed at something the boy said and placed a hand around the back of the woman’s chair.

Cole paid Rosie, turned to Kate, and nodded toward Nick. “Let’s go say hi.”

The woman saw them approach and smiled, showing off her perfectly straight white teeth. “Hey, Cole.”

“Hi, Rachel.”

Nick looked up after tickling the little boy. “Hey, you guys.”

“Hi.” Not knowing what else to say, Kate swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. If she could escape, she would. Nick seemed happy, and she wondered what kind of relationship these three shared.

“Kate, this is Rachel and her son, Levi,” Nick said. “Rachel, this is Kate Davis, the owner of the highly anticipated coffee shop, Sacred Grounds.”

Kate reminded herself not to be jealous and plastered a smile on her face. “Nice to meet you, Rachel.”

“I’m really looking forward to your coffee shop opening,” Rachel said.