![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asphaltcowgrrlTitle: Howling Cat’s Coffee Chapter 2
Fandom: None
Pairing: Gen (for the time being)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,825
Summary: It’s another day in the coffee shop for Dora and Daniel and their crew.
Author’s Note: Written for the weekend challenge at 1_million_words. My prompts were apple and cornbread and, since I was hungry, this is where it went. Haha. Still not sure where I’m going with this yet. At the rate I’m going the mystery guy could be a demon with the Winchesters on his tail. Thanks to Dreamy for the word wars today or this chapter wouldn’t have happened.
Continued from here.
“Oh my god, what smells so good,” Daniel asked, coming into the kitchen.
Dora grinned up at him from where she was bent over the open oven door. “Something new: apple cornbread muffins. Thought they’d be good for the winter holidays.”
“Please tell me those are ready to come out and be taste tested,” Daniel begged.
Snorting, Dora grabbed an oven mitt and grabbed the first tray of muffins. “Give them a couple minutes to cool first,” she cautioned. “As a bonus, if you wait long enough for me to get these out and the next set in, I’ll let you have some of the special apple cinnamon butter I made to go along with them.”
“Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“No,” she said, sliding two new trays of muffins into the oven and setting the timer. “Not lately anyway.”
“Well, I love you,” Daniel said, heading over to where she kept the plates and retrieving two.
“You only love me for my baked goods,” Dora clarified, “but I can live with that.”
“Speaking of which,” Daniel said, switching gears as he waited for his treat. “Have you seen Mr. Hottie lately?”
She shook her head. “If he’s been in, it’s been when I was back here.”
“Well, you know that if I spy that hunk of man meat, I’m coming to get you,” he informed her. “Should I let the others know?” He raised one brow, waiting.
“No,” she almost shrieked. “God no, Danny.”
“Okay, okay,” he laughed. “Sorry.”
Her shoulders slumped. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t know why he causes such a knee-jerk reaction in me, but he does.” She took the plates from Daniel and set them on the counter beside the cooling racks. Removing two muffins from the tin, she put one on each plate, splitting them in half with a knife. “Here, try it without the butter first. I want to know what you think of the muffin itself.”
Giving her a skeptical look, Daniel tore off a chunk of moist, crumbly cornbread and stuffed it into his mouth. Although he was fond of saying ‘butter makes everything better’, he smiled as he chewed. “Oh my god, Dora, this is amazing. I love the little hint of sage in there.”
“Can’t have cornbread without sage, right?” She handed him a small cup of her special butter. “And it goes so well with the apples, too.”
“What’s in this,” he asked, spreading it on his muffin.
“Butter, applesauce, honey, and a touch of cinnamon,” she said. “And it’s only for these muffins. You and the other girls are not to be handing it out willy nilly.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Daniel teased. “It is almost as good as these muffins. Definitely a perfect pairing.”
“So you think they’ll sell?” Her creations were a part of her and it always bugged Dora when something she loved didn’t go over as well as she’d hoped.
“I think you’ll be sold out by lunchtime,” he predicted. “And not just because I will be trying to snag one every time you turn your back either.”
“Go get the shop ready to open,” she said, waving him out of her kitchen. “I’m almost done in here.”
“What are you looking for,” Dora asked Joey, one of her part-time baristas, as she was rummaging through the pastries.
“More of those cornbread things,” she said, glancing over at Dora. “I thought they were on this rack?”
“They were,” Dora said, “but Danny took the last few out half an hour ago.”
“Ah, got it,” Joey said. “What should I tell the customer?”
“That we’re out but there should be more tomorrow,” she said, giving her standard response. “You can also let them know that I’ll be making extra tomorrow. Who is it?”
“Mrs. Kransten,” Joey said with a smile.
One of her favorite regulars, Mrs. Kransten was a widow with a lot of time on her hands. She liked to come in midmorning for a cup of Earl Grey and a pastry. “Do we still have some of the blackberry sage scones she likes so much?”
“We do,” Joey confirmed.
“Beautiful. She’ll be happy then,” Dora said. “But let her know I’ll save one for her tomorrow.”
Joey returned to the front and left Dora alone as she made her baking plans for the next day. She was almost through her list of what had to be baked when she heard Daniel’s voice.
“Told you so,” he crowed.
“I never doubted you,” she shot back, grinning. There were times when she didn’t think her buddy knew anything about running a café, but he was always on point when it came to what would or wouldn’t sell in their little shop.
“Right,” he drawled. “Like the time you told me I was crazy when I said those Swiss and ham croissants were going to be a hit?”
“In my defense, I was afraid they’d be a hit and was hoping I was wrong.” She pulled out a tray of blueberry scones and counted. “Do you have any idea how much work croissants are?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I hear you bitching about it all the damn time!”
“Daniel,” Joey called from the entryway. “I need your master skills at the espresso machine.”
“On my way,” he told her. To Dora he said, “Sometimes I do know what I’m talking about.”
She had no doubt he was right. Glancing at her watch, she noticed it was nearing eleven o’clock. Stomach rumbling, she finished checking the scones and went out front to see if she could be any help. As always, Daniel and Joey had everything under control.
“Danny,” she said, catching his attention while he worked on a latte. “I’m going to make myself a sandwich and eat before the lunch rush hits.”
“Good idea,” he said. “You want a drink to go with it?”
She shook her head. “I’ll pour myself an iced coffee,” she said.
“If that’s what you want,” Daniel joked. He knew her entirely too well, however. She was just pulling her turkey and cheddar off the Panini press when he set a cup down beside her. “Your Nutella iced coffee, ma’am.”
“Daniel…”
“What,” he asked, looking innocent. “You said you wanted an iced coffee. I made it for you.”
“You added Nutella, Danny.”
He grinned. “I did and I know you love me for it.”
“I do,” she laughed, despite herself. Suddenly, she was glad she’d resisted adding bacon to her sandwich. “I –”
“You what?”
She shook her head, unable to speak. Frowning, Daniel turned and followed the direction of her gaze. “Ah, now I get it. Mr. Hottie is back.”
“Shut up,” she whispered. “I don’t want him to hear you!”
“Go, eat your lunch. We’re busy enough in here that I’ll be able to get his name for you, Mrs. Scaredy Pants.”
“I am not,” she shot back, grabbing her drink and her lunch. Although, honestly, she was. Her last relationship had crashed and burned pretty hard, leaving her unwilling to get involved again. But this guy, there was something compelling about him. It wasn’t just that he was good looking, but he was friendly and had this kindly air about him as well. He intrigued her.
Which was dangerous, she reminded herself. Clayton had intrigued her as well, and look where that landed her.
“Argh,” she muttered, letting herself into the back room. Putting her plate and her drink down on her desk, Dora pulled out her chair and slumped into it. “Please don’t let Danny do or say anything I’m going to regret.”
“So,” Daniel said, leaning against her office entry.
“So… what?”
“So, I got his name,” he clarified. “Do you want to know?”
She pressed her lips together, thinking about how she should respond. “Of course I want to know. You know that I try to be familiar with the names of all my regulars.”
“He’s been here twice,” Daniel said, deadpan.
“That makes him on his way to being a regular,” she said, trying not to sound too whiny.
Daniel chuckled. “I hear ya girl, we all have our dreams, right?”
“Yeah, I suppose,” she said. “So, what is it?”
“Noah,” Daniel said, coming into her office and sitting in the empty chair reserved for employees. “Fitting, too. Nice, strong name for a hunky man.”
“You can stop now,” she told him. “But thank you.”
“Hey, what are friends for, if not stalking your soon-to-be boyfriends?”
Dora side-eyed Daniel. “He is not coming here to date me,” she said, hating that she knew it was true. “No matter how much either of us might like that.”
“Sure,” Daniel said, shrugging. “Whatever you say. I’m willing to wait and see what time and fate bring, however.”
She gave him a long-suffering look and shooed him towards the exit. “You’d better get before Joey comes looking for you again.”
“Yeah, she’ll have my hide,” he agreed. “I did actually come back here for something other than Noah.”
Just the sound of his name gave her chills. God, she was pathetic. “Okay, so what’s the reason?”
“Kyle from the stationery store in the strip mall and wanted to know if we were going to start carrying the coconut syrup regularly. He got hooked on it during the summer and has been wanting a coconut mocha for a week now.”
“I think there’s one bottle left in the storeroom,” she said, scratching her chin. “Have you had any more requests for it outside of Kyle?”
“I’ve had a few,” he said. “And I know there are several that would get it if it was on the menu permanently.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it,” she said. Although it wasn’t her coffee house, she was the one who ran it for the most part. She was lucky that Jensen, the owner, let her use her best instincts when it came to making choices like this. “I’ll make a note to check and see what’s in the storeroom. Do you have the paper place’s phone number?”
He shook his head. “I can look it up if you’d like.”
“Later,” she said. “Let me see if I have it before we get Kyle in a tizzy, okay?”
“You’ve got it, boss.”
“Go back to work, Danny,” she scolded.
“On it,” he said, turning and leaving her alone in the office.
Dora made a note to check on the coconut syrup as well as a reminder to make Kyle a mocha if she did. He was a good customer and was always sending people down their way. It was the least she could do.
“I wonder if he’d like those seven layer bars mom always used to make,” she pondered out loud. They had a graham cracker crust loaded with chocolate and butterscotch chips, walnuts and coconut. Dora made another note and smiled. Kyle was going to be her new best friend, it seemed.
Fandom: None
Pairing: Gen (for the time being)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,825
Summary: It’s another day in the coffee shop for Dora and Daniel and their crew.
Author’s Note: Written for the weekend challenge at 1_million_words. My prompts were apple and cornbread and, since I was hungry, this is where it went. Haha. Still not sure where I’m going with this yet. At the rate I’m going the mystery guy could be a demon with the Winchesters on his tail. Thanks to Dreamy for the word wars today or this chapter wouldn’t have happened.
Continued from here.
“Oh my god, what smells so good,” Daniel asked, coming into the kitchen.
Dora grinned up at him from where she was bent over the open oven door. “Something new: apple cornbread muffins. Thought they’d be good for the winter holidays.”
“Please tell me those are ready to come out and be taste tested,” Daniel begged.
Snorting, Dora grabbed an oven mitt and grabbed the first tray of muffins. “Give them a couple minutes to cool first,” she cautioned. “As a bonus, if you wait long enough for me to get these out and the next set in, I’ll let you have some of the special apple cinnamon butter I made to go along with them.”
“Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“No,” she said, sliding two new trays of muffins into the oven and setting the timer. “Not lately anyway.”
“Well, I love you,” Daniel said, heading over to where she kept the plates and retrieving two.
“You only love me for my baked goods,” Dora clarified, “but I can live with that.”
“Speaking of which,” Daniel said, switching gears as he waited for his treat. “Have you seen Mr. Hottie lately?”
She shook her head. “If he’s been in, it’s been when I was back here.”
“Well, you know that if I spy that hunk of man meat, I’m coming to get you,” he informed her. “Should I let the others know?” He raised one brow, waiting.
“No,” she almost shrieked. “God no, Danny.”
“Okay, okay,” he laughed. “Sorry.”
Her shoulders slumped. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t know why he causes such a knee-jerk reaction in me, but he does.” She took the plates from Daniel and set them on the counter beside the cooling racks. Removing two muffins from the tin, she put one on each plate, splitting them in half with a knife. “Here, try it without the butter first. I want to know what you think of the muffin itself.”
Giving her a skeptical look, Daniel tore off a chunk of moist, crumbly cornbread and stuffed it into his mouth. Although he was fond of saying ‘butter makes everything better’, he smiled as he chewed. “Oh my god, Dora, this is amazing. I love the little hint of sage in there.”
“Can’t have cornbread without sage, right?” She handed him a small cup of her special butter. “And it goes so well with the apples, too.”
“What’s in this,” he asked, spreading it on his muffin.
“Butter, applesauce, honey, and a touch of cinnamon,” she said. “And it’s only for these muffins. You and the other girls are not to be handing it out willy nilly.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Daniel teased. “It is almost as good as these muffins. Definitely a perfect pairing.”
“So you think they’ll sell?” Her creations were a part of her and it always bugged Dora when something she loved didn’t go over as well as she’d hoped.
“I think you’ll be sold out by lunchtime,” he predicted. “And not just because I will be trying to snag one every time you turn your back either.”
“Go get the shop ready to open,” she said, waving him out of her kitchen. “I’m almost done in here.”
“What are you looking for,” Dora asked Joey, one of her part-time baristas, as she was rummaging through the pastries.
“More of those cornbread things,” she said, glancing over at Dora. “I thought they were on this rack?”
“They were,” Dora said, “but Danny took the last few out half an hour ago.”
“Ah, got it,” Joey said. “What should I tell the customer?”
“That we’re out but there should be more tomorrow,” she said, giving her standard response. “You can also let them know that I’ll be making extra tomorrow. Who is it?”
“Mrs. Kransten,” Joey said with a smile.
One of her favorite regulars, Mrs. Kransten was a widow with a lot of time on her hands. She liked to come in midmorning for a cup of Earl Grey and a pastry. “Do we still have some of the blackberry sage scones she likes so much?”
“We do,” Joey confirmed.
“Beautiful. She’ll be happy then,” Dora said. “But let her know I’ll save one for her tomorrow.”
Joey returned to the front and left Dora alone as she made her baking plans for the next day. She was almost through her list of what had to be baked when she heard Daniel’s voice.
“Told you so,” he crowed.
“I never doubted you,” she shot back, grinning. There were times when she didn’t think her buddy knew anything about running a café, but he was always on point when it came to what would or wouldn’t sell in their little shop.
“Right,” he drawled. “Like the time you told me I was crazy when I said those Swiss and ham croissants were going to be a hit?”
“In my defense, I was afraid they’d be a hit and was hoping I was wrong.” She pulled out a tray of blueberry scones and counted. “Do you have any idea how much work croissants are?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I hear you bitching about it all the damn time!”
“Daniel,” Joey called from the entryway. “I need your master skills at the espresso machine.”
“On my way,” he told her. To Dora he said, “Sometimes I do know what I’m talking about.”
She had no doubt he was right. Glancing at her watch, she noticed it was nearing eleven o’clock. Stomach rumbling, she finished checking the scones and went out front to see if she could be any help. As always, Daniel and Joey had everything under control.
“Danny,” she said, catching his attention while he worked on a latte. “I’m going to make myself a sandwich and eat before the lunch rush hits.”
“Good idea,” he said. “You want a drink to go with it?”
She shook her head. “I’ll pour myself an iced coffee,” she said.
“If that’s what you want,” Daniel joked. He knew her entirely too well, however. She was just pulling her turkey and cheddar off the Panini press when he set a cup down beside her. “Your Nutella iced coffee, ma’am.”
“Daniel…”
“What,” he asked, looking innocent. “You said you wanted an iced coffee. I made it for you.”
“You added Nutella, Danny.”
He grinned. “I did and I know you love me for it.”
“I do,” she laughed, despite herself. Suddenly, she was glad she’d resisted adding bacon to her sandwich. “I –”
“You what?”
She shook her head, unable to speak. Frowning, Daniel turned and followed the direction of her gaze. “Ah, now I get it. Mr. Hottie is back.”
“Shut up,” she whispered. “I don’t want him to hear you!”
“Go, eat your lunch. We’re busy enough in here that I’ll be able to get his name for you, Mrs. Scaredy Pants.”
“I am not,” she shot back, grabbing her drink and her lunch. Although, honestly, she was. Her last relationship had crashed and burned pretty hard, leaving her unwilling to get involved again. But this guy, there was something compelling about him. It wasn’t just that he was good looking, but he was friendly and had this kindly air about him as well. He intrigued her.
Which was dangerous, she reminded herself. Clayton had intrigued her as well, and look where that landed her.
“Argh,” she muttered, letting herself into the back room. Putting her plate and her drink down on her desk, Dora pulled out her chair and slumped into it. “Please don’t let Danny do or say anything I’m going to regret.”
“So,” Daniel said, leaning against her office entry.
“So… what?”
“So, I got his name,” he clarified. “Do you want to know?”
She pressed her lips together, thinking about how she should respond. “Of course I want to know. You know that I try to be familiar with the names of all my regulars.”
“He’s been here twice,” Daniel said, deadpan.
“That makes him on his way to being a regular,” she said, trying not to sound too whiny.
Daniel chuckled. “I hear ya girl, we all have our dreams, right?”
“Yeah, I suppose,” she said. “So, what is it?”
“Noah,” Daniel said, coming into her office and sitting in the empty chair reserved for employees. “Fitting, too. Nice, strong name for a hunky man.”
“You can stop now,” she told him. “But thank you.”
“Hey, what are friends for, if not stalking your soon-to-be boyfriends?”
Dora side-eyed Daniel. “He is not coming here to date me,” she said, hating that she knew it was true. “No matter how much either of us might like that.”
“Sure,” Daniel said, shrugging. “Whatever you say. I’m willing to wait and see what time and fate bring, however.”
She gave him a long-suffering look and shooed him towards the exit. “You’d better get before Joey comes looking for you again.”
“Yeah, she’ll have my hide,” he agreed. “I did actually come back here for something other than Noah.”
Just the sound of his name gave her chills. God, she was pathetic. “Okay, so what’s the reason?”
“Kyle from the stationery store in the strip mall and wanted to know if we were going to start carrying the coconut syrup regularly. He got hooked on it during the summer and has been wanting a coconut mocha for a week now.”
“I think there’s one bottle left in the storeroom,” she said, scratching her chin. “Have you had any more requests for it outside of Kyle?”
“I’ve had a few,” he said. “And I know there are several that would get it if it was on the menu permanently.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it,” she said. Although it wasn’t her coffee house, she was the one who ran it for the most part. She was lucky that Jensen, the owner, let her use her best instincts when it came to making choices like this. “I’ll make a note to check and see what’s in the storeroom. Do you have the paper place’s phone number?”
He shook his head. “I can look it up if you’d like.”
“Later,” she said. “Let me see if I have it before we get Kyle in a tizzy, okay?”
“You’ve got it, boss.”
“Go back to work, Danny,” she scolded.
“On it,” he said, turning and leaving her alone in the office.
Dora made a note to check on the coconut syrup as well as a reminder to make Kyle a mocha if she did. He was a good customer and was always sending people down their way. It was the least she could do.
“I wonder if he’d like those seven layer bars mom always used to make,” she pondered out loud. They had a graham cracker crust loaded with chocolate and butterscotch chips, walnuts and coconut. Dora made another note and smiled. Kyle was going to be her new best friend, it seemed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2018-11-25 01:31 pm (UTC)Noah is nice strong name for a hunky guy. ;)
no subject
Date: 2018-11-25 03:13 pm (UTC)I agree, it's one of my favorites.