Finding Me

Chapter 17

Once again, I must apologize! I'm so, so sorry for not getting this update out sooner. Writer's block, recovering from being sick,  and just getting used to summer have been with me the last week or so.

Now, my phone is broken, I'm on vacation, and I won't have access to Wattpad for a week, starting on June 25. I hope that I'll have at least one more update out before that happens.

Again, I'm really sorry! 

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The next day, I rush to get dressed so I have time to go to the coffee shop before school. I rush downstairs after I finish getting dressed, and I see Emma in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"I'm going to the coffee shop this morning, so you don't need to make me a plate," I say to her.

"You sure?" she asks without turning to face me.

"Yeah," I reply as I begin to walk out the back door.

"Wait! There's something in the back kitchen. Could you go out the front instead?" Emma stops me.

"Sure." I turn and walk to the front of the house and open the front door.

I close the door behind me and begin to walk down the familiar path into town. As usual, it takes only a few minutes to get to the center of town. I briskly walk to the coffee shop. Not many people are out and about, allowing me to walk without getting stared at or whispered about.

I open the back door to the coffee shop and call, "I'm here, Mrs. Caldwell!"

"She isn't here today. What can I get you?" Nick asks as he comes around the corner.

"A hot chocolate and blueberry muffin. Wait, didn't I tell you that you're not allowed to see me until you have a song?" I reply.

He walks toward the front of the shop, and I follow him, waiting for an answer to my question. He begins to make my hot chocolate and puts a blueberry muffin in a sack.

He hands me the sack and says, "Luckily, it's written."

"Already?" I ask, shocked.

He smiles. "Yep. I guess I just needed someone to order me what to do. It's finished, and I'm giving it to your uncle today."

"Wow. I'm impressed," I tell him.

"Well, thanks. I just needed a push, and you gave that to me. Plus, I found the inspiration I needed to get back into writing songs," he explains.

I smile at him. "Oh wait, where's Mrs. Caldwell?"

"She had a doctor's appointment."

I nod. "So, she asked you to run the shop while she's gone?"

He nods slowly. "Um, yeah. Why do you sound suspicious?"

I laugh. "She hates people taking over her domain, especially something so precious as her coffee shop. She doesn't even have a second worker because she's so protective of it. Now, fess up."

Nick smiles at me. "You got me. I volunteered so that I could spread the word about the special festival event."

"Tell me how you convinced her. It must have taken a lot," I say as I sit down on a nearby stool.

Just then, my hot chocolate finishes. Nick goes over to pour it into a coffee cup and explains, "I just told her that I could keep it open while she was gone. I might have possibly called her by her full name a few times too."