The Moonlight Cafe - Isaac

Chapter Thirty

"Why don't you sit down?" I said hastily. "I'll get you a coffee. Two creams, right?"

"You got it," Al said.

"Want you usual blueberry muffin, too?"

He looked alarmed. "Oh, if you're offering."

I went and made him a larger size coffee than we were providing for book club attendees, and grabbed him a blueberry muffin from the snack display. My heart thumped in my throat the whole time. I didn't want people to come just for me. Sure, I'd be a little frustrated if the book club didn't take off. Disappointed for a few hours, but I could move on. I wanted all those seats to fill up tonight, for Al's sake. River of Gold was a good book. I was riveted by the story of Josiah, Joseph, and James Macrae coming to this area and braving the wild waters of the Fraser River to pan for the gold they hoped would save their family (spoilers: it didn't, and it was sad as fuck). Al was just like August—insecure, almost embarrassed about being an author, and I couldn't imagine why either of them would feel that way.

I wanted to help them see themselves differently. If tonight was a success, it would be a good first step in that direction.

Once I had Al's coffee and muffin, I turned around to bring it to him and saw that our first book clubbers had arrived: Meredith, a regular who owned a shop up the street, and her teenage daughter, Ana. They came to the café for a mother-daughter date every Saturday. I remembered them reading the back of Al's book while they waited for their coffees a couple weeks ago, and how Meredith got back in line to buy it. Now, they came in and sat down shyly at the book club table, tucking their purses under table. I almost dropped Al's coffee in my haste to get over there and welcome them.

Before I could sort out exactly what to say, I blurted out, "Hey, you guys! Or, uh, ladies, or whichever you prefer. You came!"

"Of course!" Meredith beamed. "We had to come meet the local rockstar."

"Oh, shucks," Al said. "I'm not all that."

"You are, though! Ana and I both loved your book. I can't believe prospectors really went through all that, just for a chance at striking rich."

Al launched into a speech about just how few people actually found gold, and how common the novel's narrative was—the three brothers battling the mighty Fraser River, ending up stranded in the wilderness, and never finding anything more than a few gold flakes. As he talked, more people came in. Don, another café regular, sat down with his dog-earred copy of River of Gold and listened intently to Al. Miz Nancy came in, peered over at the group, and hurried over with her usual tea and raisin scone to claim the seat right next to Al. A woman I didn't recognize came in and sat down, looking around timidly. I got up and began pouring coffee for anyone who wanted it. A few more people came in, too, clutching their copies of Al's book. Almost everyone had one—only one dude came and sat down just to claim a free cup of coffee, but even he started listening to Al's goldrush stories.

At seven o'clock, all fifteen seats were full. A latecomer had to drag a chair over from one of the other tables. August would have to, too, when he got here, but that was a good problem to have.

Well, he told me not to wait to get started.

A minute or two after seven o'clock, I stood up. Everyone immediately looked at me. My stomach crunched tight, turning to ice. They were all smiling expectantly, like they were looking forward to me speaking.

"Hi, everyone," I finally stuttered out. "Welcome to the inaugural Moonlight Café book club. Um, it's really quite something to see you all here. It means a lot to me, personally. Thank you for coming and spending your evening with us."