The Gardens Part 2 of

Coffee, Pie & Surprise!!

Part 2 : The Greenhouse Café.

The Greenhouse Café looked even cozier than usual. Warm golden light spilled from the windows. Plants climbed bookshelves and hung from ceiling hooks. Small candles flickered inside mismatched glass jars, casting soft shadows across the walls.

The smell of cinnamon, coffee, and fresh pie wrapped around the room like a blanket.

For the first time all evening, Maren relaxed.

The café was becoming her favorite place in The Gardens. Not because of the coffee….Though the coffee certainly helped. It was the feeling. The sense that no one had to earn a seat at the table here.

Lonely people wandered in and somehow left with new friends.Broken hearts arrived and found conversation.

Even the ghosts seemed welcome….Especially ghosts , now apparently.

Mateo was already behind the counter.

“I don’t care what just happened at the fountain,” he announced. He pointed toward the pastry case.“Everybody’s eating!”

Nobody argued.

“I’ve got apple pie.”

A plate appeared.

“Pumpkin pie.”

Another plate.

“Pecan pie.”

Yet another.“

And because we almost experienced supernatural doom, everybody gets whipped cream!!”

A delighted smile spread across Lucinda’s face.

“Finally…” She placed a dramatic hand against her chest.“A civilized man!!”

Mateo grinned.

“I’m Mateo.”

“Lucinda Fox.”

She studied the pie selection.

“I suspect we’re going to get along beautifully.”

Within minutes every table was occupied. Extra chairs appeared from nowhere.Residents squeezed together.Stories overlapped.Coffee steamed. Laughter bounced off the greenhouse windows.

Maren ended up sitting beside Theo again…She wasn’t sure how. Nobody had assigned seats.It had simply happened. Their shoulders brushed occasionally.Neither moved.Neither seemed particularly interested in moving.

At the center of it all sat Lucinda.Of course she did.Did anyone really expect otherwise?

A woman didn’t emerge from a magical fountain in a ruby dress and then quietly disappears into the background.

Lucinda seemed to attract attention the way lanterns attracted moths.

Not intentionally.She simply existed at a volume the rest of the universe felt obligated to acknowledge.

Mateo placed a steaming mug in front of her.“House blend.”Lucinda wrapped both hands around it.Then went strangely quiet.The conversations around the room continued for another few moments before people gradually noticed..She wasn’t moving.

She was staring at the coffee.“Lucinda?”Iris asked gently.The ghost blinked. Looked down.Then back up.“I can smell it.”The room fell silent.“What?” Theo asked.

Lucinda laughed softly.A little disbelieving.“I can actually smell it.”Slowly she lifted the mug.As though it might disappear.As though she didn’t entirely trust it.She took a sip.And froze.The silence deepened.Lucinda lowered the cup.Very carefully.“Oh.”Mateo immediately looked concerned.

“What?”

Lucinda stared down into the coffee.“I can taste it.”

Nobody spoke.

“You can?” Eloise whispered.

Lucinda nodded.Still looking slightly stunned.“It’s been so long.”

The room softened.Just a little.For a brief moment all the glamour slipped away.The sharp wit.The dramatic entrances.The effortless confidence.And beneath it Maren caught a glimpse of something else.Someone who had missed ordinary things…Someone who had missed small pleasures.Someone who maybe hadn’t expected to experience them again.

Lucinda took another sip.“Oh, that’s dangerous.”The entire room burst into laughter.

“Why dangerous?” Mateo asked.

“Because now I want another one.”

“You’ve had two sips.”

“Don’t judge me.”

Mateo laughed.

“I like her.”

“I like you too.”Lucinda pointed toward the pie display.

“And we’re about to become even closer.”

The laughter returned immediately.

Bigger this time.

Warmer.

Maren found herself laughing too.Really laughing.Not the polite kind.Not the kind she’d forced through awkward dinners and painful endings.The real kind.The kind that made her cheeks ache afterward.She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed it.

Across the room, Theo noticed.And smiled..Maren felt her heart stumble unexpectedly.

She looked away.Then spent the next thirty seconds wondering why she’d looked away.

Above them, perched along one of the greenhouse beams, Violet watched everything unfold.

She watched Iris interrogate Lucinda.

She watched Eloise nearly drop her glasses twice.

She watched Mateo become increasingly protective of his newest customer.And she watched Lucinda laugh. Bright and easy. Like she’d always belonged here. Like she’d somehow missed The Gardens as much as it had missed her.

For reasons she couldn’t explain, that made Violet smile.And across the room, Lucinda looked up…Directly at her.For a heartbeat, the noise of the café seemed to disappear.Then Lucinda smiled.Not the dazzling smile she gave everyone else.A smaller one.Warmer.Almost private.Violet felt something flutter unexpectedly in the place where her heart used to be.And for the first time in seventeen years…The future suddenly seemed a little more interesting.🌹☕❤️👻

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