Sophia
Noah showed up the next morning exactly when he said he would, and for a moment, standing behind the counter watching him walk through the door, it felt almost like nothing had ever changed between us. Almost.
"Morning," he said, settling onto his old familiar spot near the register. "You look surprised to see me."
"Pleasantly surprised," I admitted, sliding a coffee across the counter without needing to ask how he took it. "I half expected you to find some excuse to bail."
"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, and something in the sincerity behind the simple words settled warm in my chest despite my lingering caution.
We fell into easy conversation while I worked through the morning prep, careful and a little tentative in places, though the natural rhythm between us returned more e
