Berries and Cream Chai (Cupid's Coffeeshop Book 6) Read online

  She could see why he’d earned his nickname. Tall, with well-muscled arms, carelessly tousled dark blonde hair, and a face carved by an angel in a very good mood, Joe Lockhart was gorgeous in the way that real life people rarely were. His electric blue eyes could inspire odes, comparing them to pools, oceans, and September skies. And he had those full, lush lips, just made for kissing. Molly definitely agreed with the “Coffee Hunkettes.” Joe Lockhart was movie star gorgeous.

  Molly imagined just for a second what it would be like to kiss Joe. Incandescent, no doubt. And likely to lead to the closest available horizontal surface. With the way he strutted, his hips rolling, he definitely knew how to show a girl a good time.

  But he wasn’t the type to stick around and built a life. He’d never stay to watch the farm grow and expand, stay through the fallow time and wait for spring to bloom again.

  No, being with Joe would be like catching starlight or bottling lightening—a beautiful moment but empty long term.

  And Molly wasn’t opposed to having fun.

  But her focus right now had to be on building her business and focusing on the long-term. Molly had big dreams for Berry Hill. The Coffee Hunk’s business could be enough to help her fix the leaking roof in the greenhouse, maybe start on resurrecting the vineyard a little earlier.

  When Molly returned to the blackberry patch, Joe stood with his back to her, reaching into the plants. Molly took a second to admire his rear view and watch his shoulders flex before she walked over to him. She held one bucket as he shook the berries out of the temporary holder of the bottom of his t-shirt. Molly resolutely ignored the peek of flat, tanned stomach and looked at the berries instead.

  “You don’t want to pick the red ones. Or the green.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” Joe turned back to the bushes but she tapped him lightly on the shoulder and handed over a set of work gloves. When he smiled his thanks, she noticed a long thin red scrape oozing on his cheekbone. His hands also bore scrapes from the plants. Picking blackberries could be challenging work.

  “Have you ever picked blackberries before?”

  “Can’t be that hard.” Joe said.

  “Let me help you get started.” Molly took the other bucket and moved a few feet down the row.

  “Don’t you have things to do?”

  “There’s always stuff to do on a farm.” Molly shrugged.

  “Other than playing in the bouncy castle, you mean?”

  “I needed a break.” Heat crept up Molly’s face but she tossed her hair back. She didn’t have to explain herself to him or anyone else. “I rented it for the whole summer for the kids. So far, haven’t had many customers so…”

  “If we had one at the coffeeshop, I’d bounce in it all day. Maybe it’d even loosen Patrick up.”

  “Patrick?” Molly made quick work of the picking the berries while Joe worked more slowly, his handsome face a study in concentration.

  “My cousin. He, Zooey, and I run it together.”

  “Lifelong dream?”

  “Hardly.” Joe shook his head. “It all started last fall, when my grandmother passed away. If we can make the shop profitable in a year, we inherit. If not, there’ll be some well-fed dogs and cats at the Ashford Falls humane society.”

  “Wow, your grandmother sounds like quite a character.”

  “She was.” Joe grinned. “Like me.”

  “And how do you like being the Coffee Hunk?”

  “You said you hadn’t heard of Cupid’s Coffeeshop?” Joe cocked his head to the side and slanted his eyes at her, still picking berries. “Google me on the way down the mountain?”

  “Yep.” Molly nodded. “Though this foothill is hardly a mountain.”

  “Felt like it climbing up.” Joe said. “I became the coffee hunk by accident. Couldn’t stand being cooped in the store all day and thought a food truck would increase the profits. I was right.”

  “If the customers don’t come for the coffee…”

  “Bring it to them.” Joe nodded. “So, I did. The first day I took the truck out, this girl at the courthouse snapped a selfie with me and it went viral. Here I am.”

  “Picking berries.”

  “It’s a glamorous life.” Joe said, walking over to pick up her nearly full bucket. “Think I got enough for today at least.”

  They walked back through the orchard before she weighed the berries and then secured them in plastic bags. He gently nestled them in the saddlebags and climbed on his bike. “See you tomorrow.”

  As she waved farewell, Molly considered that the Coffee Hunk was the most interesting thing that happened at Berry Hill in a while.

  Chapter Four

  Late in the afternoon of the next day when Joe roared up on his bike, Molly had just finished painting a corn hole game for the children, assuming she ever got any other customers. He greeted her and grabbed a bucket.

  “You coming?” Joe called. After a moment’s hesitation, she headed up the hill behind him.

  “Your berries were a big hit. We sold out again today.” Joe told her as they climbed. “So what’s new with you, Mollypop?”

  “Mollypop?” Molly stopped, startled by the nickname, and Joe threw a blinding smile at her over his shoulder. “My gram used to call me that.”

  “Is Molly short for anything?” When Molly shook her head, Joe continued, “Patrick and I are both named for our grandfather, PJ. I’m Joseph Patrick and he’s the reverse. I don’t know where they got Zooey from.”

  “The cabbage patch?” Molly joked and Joe huffed out a laugh, as they crested the hill. As the sun fell toward the horizon, the shadows lengthened over the vineyard. She stopped and admired the view, imagining what it would look like with a few years’ hard work. “Were you close to your grandparents?”

  “Yeah, my gramps especially.” With no interest in the view, Joe headed over to the blackberry bushes and began to harvest. “My mom was a single mother and so Gramps filled in. He used to take me fishing. We’d come up here to get our Christmas tree, just him and me. I saw the sign in the grass and that’s how I stopped by.”

  “Stupid thing won’t stay up.” Molly groaned, mentally adding it to her ever-growing to do list.

  “I’ll fix it for you, if you’ll lend me the tools. Have to be tomorrow though. I’ve gotta get back for the closing shift.”

  “I thought you ran the coffee truck at lunchtime?”

  “I do.” Joe said. “I usually work closing too.”

  “Tough hours.”

  “You’re a business owner. You know how it is.” Joe shrugged and Molly nodded. She did know how it was. Being a business owner meant she didn’t really get time off and her to-do list was never done. Still, she wouldn’t trade the freedom and the sheer joy of her own place for anything. Even if it had a long way to go in matching her dreams of the future.

  “So did fixing signs come from your Grandpa too?”

  “Yep.” Joe nodded. “He was like MacGyver. Nothing he couldn’t do. He taught me.”

  “Jack of all trades.” Molly smiled at the obvious hero worship in his voice. “Are you still close now?”

  Instantly, she knew she’d said the wrong thing as Joe’s shoulders tensed before he answered shortly. “He died when I was 12.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Molly murmured.

  “Came home late from school. I remember creeping up the stairs because I thought he might give me an earful. Instead, he was just lying on the floor of the kitchen, already cold.” Joe never stopped picking berries as he talked, his normally cheerful voice flat and cold. “Always wondered if I hadn’t been late…”

  Molly blinked tears from her own eyes. “My grandmother died suddenly too.”

  “What happened?” Joe looked at her, sympathy in his wide blue eyes.

  “Just didn’t wake up one morning.” Molly shrugged. “I was 16 at the time. My mom had me young and wasn’t around much. I spent a lot of time with Gram growing up.”

  “Tell me about her.”
/>   Molly sorted through her memories. She appreciated that Joe waited patiently and didn’t rush her as she gathered her thoughts. For several moments, the only sound was the gentle plop of the berries piling into the buckets. Finally, she said, “She loved to garden. Almost every inch of her backyard was taken up with her vegetable garden. In the front yard, she grew prize-winning roses.”

  “Did she teach you?”

  “Yep. She could grow anything. Her tomatoes would grow big as grapefruits.” Molly smiled. “She used to keep a salt shaker in her pocket and we’d eat them warm from the sun. Nothing better than my grandmother’s tomatoes.”

  “So, you always wanted to be a farmer?”

  “No, not at all. I’m a programmer. Or I was.”

  “Like computers?”

  “Yeah, I was kind of a shy kid. I learned to program at school so I could spend time in the computer lab at lunch.” Molly bit her lip, surprising herself at revealing so much so quickly to Joe.

  “Wow. I just cut school all together.” He grinned at her, mischief sparkling in his eyes.

  “I bet you were a hell raiser.”

  “Guilty as charged. Still am. Managed to graduate and that was about it.”

  “I dropped out eventually. After Gram died, I got my GED and started my own software company. I moved out in California.” Molly said. “I sold that company two years later and started another.”

  “How’d you end up here?”

  “Well, that’s a bit of a long story.”

  “Got nothing to do but pick berries.” Joe shrugged, giving her an encouraging smile.

  “You’re a good listener.”

  “Comes from tending bar.”

  “You were a bartender?”

  “Jack of all trades, remember?” Joe said. “But, you were going to tell me how you went from software wunderkind to farmer girl?”

  “About a year ago, I realized that I’d been working under florescent lights for more than a decade. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d played in the dirt. I couldn’t even keep a fern alive in my apartment because I was home so rarely.”

  “So, instead of buying a few houseplants you bought a farm?” Joe quirked an eyebrow. “Seems like a big change.”

  “I suppose so.” Molly shrugged. The silence stretched between them for a few heartbeats and then, Molly blurted, “I found my boyfriend with another woman in the conference room.”

  “From the way you said that, I’m guessing he wasn’t wearing any clothes.”

  “He was. She wasn’t.” Molly chuckled, far enough away from the pain now to be able to see the humor in the situation.

  “That’s awful.”

  “I guess so. No, it was at the time.” Molly agreed. “But the strongest emotion I felt was relief.”

  “Relief?”

  “Relief that I could just walk away.”

  “So you did.”

  “So I did.” Molly agreed. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I went home and threw all his clothes and his computer equipment out.”

  “Out?”

  “Over the balcony. We lived on the tenth floor.”

  “Good for you.” Joe laughed.

  Molly joined in, remembering the shock on her ex-boyfriend’s face when he found his stuff scattered in the parking lot, his total disbelieve that quiet, mousy Molly would do that. “Once the dust settled, I realized I didn’t want to do it again. Come up with a great idea, create the software, and grow a company. I wanted to garden instead. I still code from time to time. Dabble in a few projects just for the fun of it. But mostly, I’d rather be outdoors.”

  “Me too.” Joe said. “Being cooped up in the shop is nearly unbearable to me. That’s how the coffee truck started. So, that’s how you became a gardener but how did you come here to Virginia?”

  “Well, I wanted a vineyard and I wanted out of California. When Todd—that’s my ex— and I were dating, we came to Virginia on a wine country tour. I loved it here so I found a farm and here I am.”

  “Here you are.” Her gaze met Joe and held for a few heartbeats before he grinned at her again. “I’m glad.”

  “Me too.”

  Chapter Five

  On the third day, it rained. Molly stayed indoors, hunched over her laptop, working on a particularly tricky bit of code for her latest app. In late afternoon, she found herself drifting toward the front windows, wishing for the sound of a motorcycle. When she realized that she was watching for Joe, she shook her head at her foolishness. He would be here just for blackberry season and then gone. Molly best remember that.

  Still, when the fourth day dawned bright and sunny, Molly couldn’t help the nervous flutter of anticipation in her belly. Joe would come today. He’d need berries. And she could admit to herself that she was looking forward to seeing him.

  Just as she would with any friend.

  Even if that particular friend happened to have too blue eyes and a mouth made for sin.

  So maybe she had the tiniest crush. Molly could admit her attraction to Joe to herself. But so far, he’d never shown even the slightest interest in her. Of course, the Coffee Hunk no doubt had legions of women flinging themselves at his feet, eager to satisfy his every whim or desire. Molly had no desire to join the ranks of the coffee hunkettes. As attractive as Joe was, she liked talking to him too. She enjoyed his company. She’d miss him when blackberry season was over. Maybe they could still be friends.

  Still, when she heard his motorcycle roar up the road and churn over the gravel, she took a moment to rub lip balm on her lips and smooth her hair before she stepped outside to greet him. When he pulled his helmet off, Molly resolutely ignored the way her heart pounded and tripped in her chest or the way her insides seemed to melt when he smiled at her. Maybe it was a bit more than a crush.

  “Hey, Mollypop.” Joe called, sunny and cheerful as ever. “How are you?”

  He sauntered over and grabbed a bucket before heading up the hill. She followed and handed him bug spray. “They’ll be worse than usual after the rain.”

  “Thanks.” He grinned at her. “We’ve sold out of Berries and Cream Chai yesterday at the shop. Patrick wanted me to come pick more berries in the rain.”

  “He sounds very driven.”

  “He drives me crazy most of the time.” Joe rolled his eyes and Molly laughed. “I told him that I wasn’t going to pick berries in a lightning storm but that he was welcome to do it. Still, he’s family though. What’re you going to do?”

  “I don’t have any family left.” Molly said. “It was just me and my grandmother when I was little.”

  “My mom’s down in Florida. Her husband is in real estate.”

  Molly noticed that he didn’t say my stepfather and thought that spoke volumes about his relationship with his mom. “What about your dad?”

  “Never knew him.” Joe shrugged. “My mom went out to California with big dreams of stardom. She came home six months pregnant with me. She always claimed my dad was a movie star but who knows? I don’t suppose it matters.”

  With Joe’s good looks, Molly could easily believe that he was the son of a movie star. At a loss for what to say to that, Molly nibbled her lower lip. “Do you have any siblings?”

  “Nope. Just my cousins. You?”

  “Not even cousins for me, I’m afraid.” Molly shrugged. Her mom left her with her grandmother and she’d rarely seen her since. She’d left her few friends in California. She’d never been one for lots of close friends, preferring her keyboard to people, and had been so busy resurrecting the farm she hadn’t sought anyone out in her new community. Still, she eyed the man next to her. He probably was the closest thing she had to a friend here on the East Coast. As they walked past the small garden, Joe asked, “Are those cucumbers?”

  Molly glanced toward the garden patch. “No, zucchini. Bumper crop this year. Hopefully, they’ll sell well at the farmer’s market tomorrow.”

  “That’s a lot of zucchini to pick all by yourself.”

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bsp; “When I planted it, I intended this to be a pick-your-own place. Where families could come, get fresh produce, and all that.” Molly shook her head. “Hasn’t worked out that way.”

  “You don’t want to focus on reviving the vineyard?”

  “Vineyards take time to build. It’ll be several years before I’ll be able to harvest enough grapes for a vintage. More than that to build a wine business.” Molly said. “I figured I’d need other revenue streams along the way.”

  “But the pick-your-own’s not working so well?”

  “I get people sometimes, when the sign will stay up. And I know this is just my first year. I just got here in January. I’m lucky to have a crop at all. But there are so many other big places to go around here, with more fun for the kiddos, like corn mazes.”

  “Plus, it’s a tradition thing. Families go where they have before.” Joe added. “Gramps and I always came here for our Christmas tree, never even thought about another place.”

  “Exactly.” Molly nodded, pleased to have someone to talk it over with. Her California friends didn’t understand her adventures in the mud. All of them were convinced that she was just licking her wounds here in Virginia. They couldn’t understand the pull of a simpler life for her. “I’ve got a website and all but…”

  “I saw it.”

  “You did?”

  “You might be a computer wizard but I can google too.”

  She smiled at him, pleased that Joe thought enough to seek her out. They set to picking berries, playing a silly trivia game to pass the time.

  “Can you name all seven dwarfs though?”

  “Wheezy…”

  “Pretty sure Wheezy is not one.” Joe shook his head sadly. “Sneezy on the other hand.”

  She threw a berry at him and he caught it in his mouth, like a trained seal. Laughing, she clapped and he made a deep bow. As he stepped back into the muddy turf, his heel slipped. Joe fell on his back, his bucket of carefully chosen berries making a wild arc through the air. Molly gasped and then burst out laughing, harder than she had in a very long time. She bent double at the waist, wheezing at the stunned look on his face.