Chapter Seven

"I have just had the most amazing idea," Sophie said, bursting back through the front door of Belletristic and nearly tumbling Matt off his precarious chair, where he was engrossed in reading another doorstop of a novel, the rest of the shop devoid of customers.

"What's that?" He asked, glancing up nervously.

"Coffee."

"Coffee?"

Sophie nodded. "Coffee. We have coffee in the shop."

Matt stared at her for a few seconds, confused. "Coffee?"

"You already said that," Sophie teased. "Yes, coffee in the shop. We bring in a coffeemaker, always have a fresh pot going, have lots of sugars and creamers and disposable cups with the little cardboard thingies so you don't get burned, and let people drink while they peruse. It might keep them here longer, and the smell of coffee will make it feel warm and inviting in here, instead of just… dusty."

"But…" Matt began, biting his lip. "Hay Coffee is just down the road. You just went there and everything," he said, gesturing to the coffee cup in her right hand.

"I know," Sophie said patiently. "But this way, it would be right here. Coffee and books – it's a natural. It's the Barnes and Noble way!"

"Who are they?" Matt asked innocently.

Sophie shook her head, exasperated. "Don't you love the smell of fresh coffee? It's perfect!"

"I do, but…"

"Well, there you go," Sophie said easily. "It's all set."

"Would… would you charge the customers?"

Sophie bit her lip now, bogging down in those little details. "I'm not sure… maybe just a donation cup – you know, the honor system. People do that in America all the time. If they take a cup, they drop in twenty five pence or something."

"I've never thought of Americans as terribly trusting," Matt said, and then blushed. "Sorry. Except you, of course. You are very trustworthy."

Sophie laughed. "It's okay… it's kind of an amazing phenomenon. We're more honest when we think we're being watched or something. The honor system seems to work – at least it does at vegetable stands in Indiana."

"So… coffee." Matt still sounded hesitant, as though he were unsure how to react. "What about Hay Coffee… and… and Kat?"

"What about it? And her?"

"Won't this hurt their business?" Matt asked timidly.

"Maybe we could work out a deal where we only buy the coffee beans from there, or they help defray costs of our coffee by advertising in here with business cards or something, or we could even have some sort of sponsorship…" Sophie trailed off, her mind whirling with possibilities until Matt's voice reined her back in.

"I don’t want to do anything that could hurt Kat…"

Sophie looked at Matt for a long moment, taking in the stammering and the flushed cheeks until the penny dropped. "Oh. My. God."

"Oh my god what?" Matt asked, looking down shyly.

"You have a crush on Kat."

"I do not!" He shot back, sounding not quite indignant enough.

"You do! You have a big honkin' crush on Kat!" Sophie said triumphantly. "A ha! I'm on to you, Matt Royston! She said you came in almost every day…"

"She's very nice."

"Very nice?" Sophie asked with a teasing grin. "She looks like a supermodel and make a mean cup of coffee. If I were you, I'd be in love her. Hell, if she gives me a discount on coffee, I may be in love with her."

"I don't love her… I just… admire her. From afar," Matt said wistfully. "Very afar."

"How 'afar'?" Sophie pressed.

"I say hi to her," Matt said glumly. "And I go in every day…"

"She mentioned that," Sophie said. "She said you seem sweet, and that you get the same thing every day – 'the usual'."

"I know what I like when it comes to coffee," Matt defended. "Why change what you already like?"

"Did you guys go to school together or anything?" Sophie questioned.

Matt shook his head. "No. She and her parents are new in town – they've only lived here in Hay for five years."

"And they are considered new in town?" Sophie asked, incredulous. As much as she moved as a professional army brat, she would have NEVER been 'a villager' in any of her towns. She considered a year in the same place as a record of epic proportions.

"Oh yes. There's a strict, but unwritten, code in the villages of Britain – unless you were born here or inherited scads of money from here, you are on outsider. You don't gain villager status until you've lived here at least, oh, twenty or thirty years."

Sophie laughed, and then stopped when she saw that Matt wasn't laughing alongside her. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"So I'm pretty much doomed," Sophie smiled happily and Matt cracked a grin.

"Actually, being American immediately disqualifies you for life. Even if you do pick up the accent, you're done for," Matt shot back. "Outsider for good."

"Good to know. I'm a rebel, an outsider…" Sophie paused, and then snapped her fingers. "Hey! Don't change the subject – you and Kat. Spill it."

"There's no subject there," Matt said, his voice defeated. "She's…a goddess and I'm a… a berk."

"You aren't a berk. You're smart, you're cute, you're a big reader, you're squeezable…"

"Squeezable?"

Sophie nodded. "Squeezable. I just want to give you a big squeeze and buy you a cookie, just because. You have that air about you. It's very appealing to women – very non threatening. Girls dig smart boys with that squeezable quality about them."

"Oh, good," Matt said, his voice laced with sarcasm. "I love to be non threatening and all. It sounds so... tough and manly."

Sophie socked him playfully on the shoulder and he mock winced in return.

"Okay, back to the original question. You didn't go to school together, you don't have a history together, but she's lived her for five years. How long have you had a crush on her?"

Matt bit his lip. "About… five years."

"And you've never said anything to her? Never told her how you feel or anything?" Sophie squeaked.

Matt shook his head no sadly.

"Not even asked her out for a cup of…" Sophie trailed off, realizing the absurdity of her original suggestion. "…tea?"

"Nothing," Matt said firmly. "She out of my league, so I just accept that she's the best part of my day – but from afar. Very afar."

Sophie cocked her head to the side, considering the odds. "Looks like I have two jobs ahead of me: shape up this shop and whip up a tidy profit, and get you and Kat to fall madly in love and have lots of squeezable babies. Consider it done." And with that proclamation, she sauntered back into the stockroom.

And promptly sneezed.

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