1 - One Brave Thing: Oak Haven, page 12
part #1 of Oak Haven Series
The door opened to a chorus of cheers despite the fact that the “party” wasn’t due to start for another half hour. Ash waved nervously at the crowd, surprised to recognize so many faces. There was Orion, along with a couple other of her featured artists. She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted Carol waving her over. Ash quickly weaved through the collection of friendly faces. When she was close enough, she leaned in and asked, “I thought we said seven-thirty?”
Carol wrapped an arm around Ash’s shoulders in a side hug and tipped her head toward the counter where Jace was busy filling orders and keeping the samples tray stocked. “You can blame that one.”
Ash shook her head. “Why am I not surprised? I can’t tell if he’s trying to convince us to hire another barista or give him a raise.”
They watched him a moment, then simultaneously said, “Both,” then giggled until Carol gasped.
She waved over a young woman walking by them holding a tray of drinks and gave Ash a conspiratorial smirk. “I hope you don’t mind, but I enlisted my niece and some of her friends to help.”
“Of course not. That’s a great idea. Wish I’d have thought of that,” Ash said with a self-deprecating chuckle.
A bright smile flashed across Carol’s face. “Perfect. In that case, try a sample of our latest hit, Autumn Whimsy.”
Ash smirked to herself behind the small recyclable cup. One of these days, she was determined to ask Carol how she came up with all the names for the drinks. She took a tentative sip, followed by a more enthusiastic one. The sparkling orange and iced tea were a perfect contrast to the overall warmth permeating the shop thanks to so many bodies.
Suddenly, a shrill whistle pierced the air, and everyone turned to where Jace and Henry held up fresh cups of coffee. “Let’s hear it for Oak Haven’s finest coffee establishment and the people that make it great!” Henry shouted.
“To Ash and Carol!” Jace chimed in.
“To Ash and Carol!” everyone echoed.
Ash buried her face against Carol’s arm. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to being surrounded by so many supportive people.”
“Sure, you will.” Carol shrugged beneath Ash’s face. “Give it time. This time next year, you’ll be giving Jace a run for his money as best gossip in town and running a book club on the side.”
A blond person walking by paused at Carol’s unlikely prediction. “Ooh, for real? I’d love to join a book club. Would you host it? What genre?” They glanced between Ash and Carol.
Ash gave the smiling Carol a side eye as she got sucked into discussing the latest reads and how perfect the shop would be for regular meet ups. Some amount of time later, Ash finally extricated herself and went to secure herself a full-sized coffee.
“I was hoping I’d run into you,” a deep voice said, waylaying her mere feet from her destination.
She swallowed a long-suffering sigh, already on the verge of being completely peopled out, and turned to face the person. It took her a moment to place the stern features set in a light brown face. Then recognition clicked. “Principal Bertrand.”
“Please, call me Elias. Though I imagine I’m the last person you want to speak with right now.”
Ash gave him a tight-lipped smile, incapable of formulating an appeasement, or not a believable one. He was right, he definitely made her current list of the top three people she didn’t want to see.
The older man cleared his throat and gestured to the room. “Congratulations again. This is quite the event.”
“Thanks. Um... Did you want to talk with me about something?” Ash hoped the question didn’t come across too rude, but she also wasn’t sure how long she could keep it together. She’d pushed Nicco and her heartache away for a while, but Elias’s presence brought it all back—the guilty look in Nicco’s eyes, the way he’d looked at her the last time she’d worn a dress, how she’d opened up to him, trusted him... How none of this would have been possible without him.
“Right. I don’t mean to keep you, especially during your celebration. It’s been brought to my attention that I spoke out of turn and for that, I owe you an apology.”
Ash narrowed her eyes. “Did Nicco send you here?”
Elias paled and adamantly shook his head. “No. But after he explained that he’d decided not to go forward with using Kaleidoscope as a case study for the grant, it only seemed appropriate. He’s been so passionate about bringing a practical finance course to the school for years. It never occurred to me when I found the half-finished application that he wouldn’t want to submit it. However, I should have checked with him before submitting on his behalf. I confess, he was so upset after the fact, I feared he’d quit.”
“He would never do that,” Ash interjected fiercely. “He loves those kids and that school.”
The principal’s face softened with understanding. “I see he’s spoken with you at least a little about his aspirations.”
Ash ducked her head. “He has.”
“I’d like to say I withdrew the application, but my realization of the situation came too late. I’m sorry, Ash.”
“Do you think it will work?” Ash asked softly.
“Beg your pardon?”
Ash lifted her head and repeated stronger, “Do you think it will work? Will using Kaleidoscope as a case study secure the grant?”
“I... I don’t know. I certainly hope it will give us an edge over the other applicants, but there’s no telling what other schools have done to help their applications stand out. Well, I won’t keep you. Thank you for permitting me a minute of your time to extend my apologies. Have a good evening, Ash.”
“You as well.” Ash extended a hand, which Elias took with a small smile. “Thank you. Enjoy the party.”
Elias nodded and merged in with the crowd. Ash knew she should do the same, that mingling was important, but she was suddenly very curious to hear Nicco’s messages.
Chapter 16
Nicco
Nicco wanted more than anything to be the guy who could give Ash all the space she needed, but the stonewalling was killing him. He’d intentionally not gone to the celebration on Friday, despite how much he wanted to congratulate Ash and Carol, hoping he’d receive an actual invitation. A hope that proved to be in vain. It would be one thing if she’d returned any of his messages or even acknowledged she’d received them, but nothing, not so much as a text saying she needed more time. Which is how Nicco found himself clutching a small bonsai, along with a more resilient snake plant, and standing outside of Kaleidoscope at eight in the morning on a Sunday.
He could see a handful of early risers enjoying their morning coffee, as well as Carol managing the counter. But no Ash. Fingers crossed that she was around and not off running an errand, or worse, still asleep, Nicco advanced toward the door. The bell dinged overhead, alerting Carol to a new customer. Nicco gave the older woman a shy smile as she ventured from behind the counter to help him with his awkward armload of foliage.
“Interesting peace offering,” she said, eying the bonsai with its artfully twisted trunk.
Nicco let out a huff. “So, you know.” He wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing or not.
Carol nodded and guided him to the counter where she set the plant down and indicated for Nicco to do the same. “Not as much as I would like, but I’ve got the gist. Ash is being pretty tight-lipped about it. If Jace hadn’t been there, I doubt I’d know anything at all.”
Nicco squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I really messed up. All I want is a chance to make things right. If Ash decides she never wants to see me again, I’ll respect that, but I need to talk to her. Please tell me she’s here.”
Carol searched Nicco’s face for a moment.
“Please,” he repeated.
She let out a deep sigh and shook her head. Before she could answer, though, a soft “Oh” emanated from behind her.
Nicco’s gaze flicked past Carol to the door of the small of office behind the counter where Ash stood. She looked good. Not hurt or ill. The part of Nicco that had harbored an irrational fear that the reason Ash hadn’t responded at all was because something had happened to her relaxed at seeing she was well. “Ash.”
“Hey, Nicco. I, um, was going to come see you. Things just got...” She trailed off, her gaze drifting to the tables boasting patrons, “Busy.”
Hope he’d been too scared to entertain warmed Nicco’s chest. Ash hadn’t been completely ignoring him. “I heard about the partnership. Congratulations. To both of you.”
Carol slipped behind the counter to make a drink. “Thanks. We’re pretty excited.” She subtly tilted her head toward the greenery Nicco had already forgotten.
“Um, these are for you,” he said to Ash, gesturing to the plants. “Or, I guess, the shop. Whatever you prefer. Actually, the bonsai is from Principal Bertrand. He said he spoke with you. I promise, I didn’t ask him to do that. I-”
“I know,” Ash cut him off before he could continue rambling.
“You do?”
She gave him a small smile. “Yeah. He explained what happened and apologized for his part in it.”
“Oh, well, uh...”
“Would you like to speak in the office?” Ash’s eyebrows lifted, and she reached for the handle.
Nicco glanced around, noting the curious expressions of people pretending not to listen. He really loved living in a small town, but sometimes the Oak Haven gossip mill was too much. “I think that’d be a good idea.” She held open the door, and he walked through. Nicco waited until the latch clicked before launching into his prepared apology. “Ash, I’m so sorry. If-”
“Before you get too far with that, is it okay if I go first?” Ash asked a little sheepishly. “I want to apologize too.”
Nicco couldn’t imagine what Ash could have to apologize for, but he nodded.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Whew. Okay. This is harder than I thought.”
“Ash...”
“No, I need to do this.” She held up her hands to forestall any further argument. “I’m really sorry, Nicco. When I found out that you’d intended to use helping the shop to win a grant, I felt used, like a means to an end. It hurt to think I’d been so wrong about you.”
Pain washed over Nicco’s heart. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know. I do.” She offered him a smile he chose to take as a reassurance. “It took some time, and yes, speaking with Elias, as well as finally listening to your messages, to realize my instinct to trust you was right. You’re a good man, Nicco. You have an amazing heart. And I know how passionate you are about giving the kids a program that will help them grow to be successful. Universe knows, I could have benefited from a financial course like that.” She chuckled and Nicco joined her. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is I’m sorry for ghosting you. I’m still working to ditch some nasty habits I developed growing up. In this case, trying to hide from my problems instead of confronting them. But I want to be better. You deserved a mature conversation and so did I.” Ash let out a heavy breath. “Woo, made it. Apologies are hard.”
Nicco chuckled again in response to Ash’s expression. “They certainly can be. For what it’s worth, you deserved that mature conversation months ago. I...” He looked down at his hands as the same sense of hopelessness he’d been battling rushed through him. “I was afraid I’d ruined whatever chance we may have had. I really like you, Ash, and it kills me that I didn’t talk to you about the grant.” Suddenly, a pair of warm hands filled his open ones. He reflexively closed his fingers around Ash’s light fawn hands and looked up.
“While it would’ve been appreciated and I would’ve liked the opportunity to help, I understand why you didn’t. It just took me a few days.” She rolled her eyes. “And listening to your messages a few dozen times.”
Nicco squeezed her hands and smiled. “So, what does that leave us?” He mentally crossed his fingers that this wasn’t goodbye. He enjoyed spending time with Ash and believed they complimented each other, but like he’d told Carol, if Ash wasn’t interested in continuing their relationship, he’d respect her decision. Even if it hurt like hell.
“Speaking for myself, I’m still growing as a person and hoping my burst of insecurity and lack of communication hasn’t totally put you off.”
Nicco frowned. “Wait. You’re worried?” He released her hands to wipe at his face. The move seemed to pull the last of his tension away, expelling it as laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Ash shifted her feet and crossed her arms. “I rather like being your joyfriend, but if that’s not what you want—”
“No! No,” he repeated softer. “Definitely isn’t that. I love being your boyfriend too. I’ve just been working myself up for you to say we were done. It didn’t occur to me you might be worried about the same thing.” He smiled wide enough to bring out both his dimples and Ash dropped her arms.
“It’s a good thing you’re cute,” she grumbled. “Though maybe working on our communication skills would be a good idea.”
“Probably for the best.” Nicco stepped closer so that there were only a few inches separating them and dropped his voice. “This mean we’re still together?” The way the light danced in Ash’s brown eyes tugged at Nicco’s heart.
She grinned at him as she leaned against the desk at her back. “I suppose it does.”
“Hey, Ash,” said, his voice still low.
“Yeah?”
Nicco’s gaze fell to Ash’s mouth, then flicked back to meet her curious gaze. “I’d really like to kiss you now.”
Ash’s top teeth sank into her bottom lip, and she attempted to suppress a smile. “Then you should probably do that.”
The same excitement that had spurred him forward with their first kiss buzzed inside of Nicco as he caressed the side of Ash’s face. He brought their lips together, reveling in the duality of newness and comforting familiarity. Some people lived for the fire of a whirlwind romance—and while he and Ash had their moments—this was what he lived for, the sweet press of lips, a gentle exploration of tongues. The kiss ended but neither of them pulled away. Like she was reading his mind, Ash closed the distance between them. Nicco got lost in the way their mouths moved against each other, a slow dance of give and take. When she tugged him closer, he couldn’t help but release a soft moan and grip her face tighter. But despite the desire arcing between them, the kisses remained unhurried and purposeful, like they had all the time in the world. A sentiment Nicco was very much in favor of. He shuffled closer, determined to eliminate the meager distance still between them, until the warmth of Ash’s body pressed against his. He was a breath away from suggesting they take this reunion upstairs when something large and heavy fell off the desk.
They broke off the latest kiss and glanced at the floor where the culprit of their interruption appeared to be a three-ring hole punch. Before either of them could move, the office door flung open.
Carol stood in the doorway with her fists planted on her hips, her stern gaze swinging between the two of them. Then a smile tugged on her lips and she winked. “Oh good, that’s what I hoped was happening in here.”
Nicco didn’t need to look at Ash’s face to know she was blushing up a storm because his face was burning. Before he could find words to explain why they were essentially making out in the office, Carol spun around and addressed the rest of the shop.
“All good here. The doves are still together!” Several whoops of joy met her declaration. Clearly satisfied with her handiwork, Carol tossed them a wicked smile. “You two behave in here. I don’t want to hear any more suspicious thuds,” she said, then pulled the door shut.
Ash made a strangled sound and buried her face against his chest. “Why did I move to a small town?”
Nicco gently pulled Ash upright and couldn’t help but laugh at seeing her scowl. “I believe it had something to do with realizing your dream of owning the cutest coffee shop ever and living your best life.”
Ash beamed at him. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked, lightly brushing his fingers through Ash’s short hair.
“You always seem to know exactly what to say.”
Nicco scoffed. “I assure you, I do not. Ask my students.”
“Well, maybe not always the perfect thing, but still good. Growing up, people around me only seemed to feed the negative. It’s nice to be reminded how much positive there is.” She leaned forward and swiped a quick kiss. “I wish my Nana Will could have met you. They would have adored you.”
Nicco wrapped his arms around Ash’s waist and kissed her forehead. “I may not know too much about your Nana Will, but I feel I can confidently say they would have been really proud of all you’ve accomplished.”
Ash rested her head on his chest, right over his heart. “I think so too. And to think, all it took was one brave thing.”
Epilogue
Ash
Ash whipped her hair up in a ponytail, slipped on her shoes, nearly falling on her face in the process, and bolted out the door. She made it all of two steps before promptly running back inside Kaleidoscope, much to the amusement of Jace, who stood there in form-fitting jeans and a jacket that looked incredibly warm…like a wise person.
He raised an eyebrow that almost touched his perfectly styled teal hair while his lips twitched with a suppressed smile. “Forgetting something?”
“Fuck, it’s cold outside,” Ash hissed through already chattering teeth. She raced into the office to grab the fluffy, magenta monstrosity of a winter coat she never expected to actually use. Coat firmly wrapped around Ash’s questionable choice of attire—perhaps a dress and leggings hadn’t been her brightest idea, even if the dress did have long sleeves—the two braved the cruel December morning to make a mad dash to Ash’s car. Thankfully, one of them had the foresight to start it warming up earlier. Spoiler alert: it hadn’t been Ash. Thanking the universe for whoever invented heated seats, she pulled out.
