My alarm went off at 7 am and I groaned, turning it off and laying there with my eyes closed.

I woke up early every day to exercise and while normally this would be fine, the move and building furniture had left me exhausted.

With a sigh, I lay there staring at the ceiling, debating what I needed to get done for the day, "I could go buy more work clothes. I need better shoes," I muttered to myself, chewing on my lip, "Maybe I could go see the cafe? Would that be weird?"

Shaking my head, I climbed out of bed, stretched, and went into the bathroom, getting ready for the day. After washing my face, I braided the top of my hair, pulling it into a ponytail before heading into my bedroom and grabbing a white shirt, my favorite cream-colored cardigan covered in red top mushrooms, and pants that matched.

Once I had laced up my combat boots, I gathered up my stuff and locked up the apartment heading to the cafe.

The drive took me 2 minutes and I smiled when I got there. It was painted a soft green, standing out against the brick buildings on either side. It wasn't the biggest shop, but clearly busy, the small line reaching out of the door.

I hopped in line, patiently waiting my turn and as soon as I got to the register, my breath was knocked from my lungs by the man working behind the counter.

He had beautiful deep emerald eyes, and his onyx waves were pulled into a low ponytail. The light amber of his shirt stood out against the olive of his skin, a crooked smile plastered on his face as he looked at me.

"Hi! What can I get started for you?"

"Oh. Um… iced chai latte?" I muttered.

"You got it. Can I get a name?"

"Shiloh," I pulled my wallet out to pay and he put his hand up, shaking his head.

"Employees don't pay," he laughed.

"How in the world did you know that?"

"Your name is unique. There can't be that many Shilohs running around. I'm Kai."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you," I smiled, moving to the side so someone else could order, "you seem a bit swamped."

"Until you start tomorrow, I'm the only one who works here," he laughed, "we'll be working together."

Oh.

Really?

He's so pretty.

I can't wait.

"Well, that's nice to hear," I smiled.

I waited for Kai to make my drink and once he was done taking a lot of orders and making coffee, the cafe finally died a bit, giving him time to clean.

"Jesus. Always that busy?" I leaned against the counter watching him.

"No,” he laughed, puttering around, “there’s a new museum opening down the road. So people are stopping in here to get drinks before heading over there. Normally, it’s only busy when the college opens back up.”

“Ah, I figured as much. That’s how things were back in Idaho too.”

“Are you going back anytime soon?”

“I have 2 more years to finish my degree, so no. No plans to leave,” I shrugged, taking a sip of my latte, “oh it’s so good.”

“Have you ever worked in a coffee shop before?” he smiled at me, a wide-open one that made my heart patter.

“Yes. The last 5 years. I was the manager actually, but…”

“Personal things brought you to Oregon?”

“Yep,” I laughed, “personal issues.”

“I can relate. Welcome to Eugene. I’ve been here for… hm… 5 years? I came out here when I was 20.”

“Can I guess where you’re from? You have a thick accent.”

“Go ahead.”

“Virginia.”

“No.”

“Vermont?”

“Nope but closer.”

“Massachusetts.”

“You’re the winner of a cookie,” he grabbed it out of the cabinet and handed it to me, “I grew up outside of Boston.”

“You’re far from home,” smiling, I took a bite of my cookie.

“As are you,” he poked my nose, “but it’s better here. I finished up college and now I own a pretty little coffee shop.”

“Wait! You own this place?” my eyes grew wide.

“I do. I just have Juniper handle all the paperwork. She’s better at it than I am. She’s my baby sister after all. Plus, she’s good at gauging people. She must have seen something in you in order to hire you and I can see why. You’re technically my first employee. I pay well, I’ll make sure you get days off when you need them, and you can always come to work if you need the extra money that day. I haven’t bothered to hire anyone because I’ve only been open a year. It’s just been Juni and me. I might call you to have you come in when I need to go to my physical therapy appointments but beyond that, you’ll have a set schedule. How often do you wanna work?”

“Well… I live alone. I have no one so I guess as often as possible. Except for Tuesday and Thursday after the semester starts. Those are the only days I have to go to class on campus.”

“What’s your major?”

“I’m nearly done with it. Earth science. I’m going to be a conservation scientist.”

“Well. You protect those forests and animals,” he smiled, “you’ll always have a job here. Even if it doesn’t work out as a scientist.”

“You haven’t seen me work yet,” I laughed.

“Eh. You’re sweet and nice, and come with the best recommendation you could have as a former manager. Hey weird question, do you know how to do the financial part?”

“Of course. I had 20 employees under me. I know how to handle any financial issues that could arise. Why?”

“Yeah so… come with me for a second,” he pointed to the back and I followed him.

The entire desk in his office was covered in stacks of receipts, order forms, and previous financial records.

“What in the…” I whispered.

“I never learned how to submit receipts for tax reasons. Or any other financial stuff really. I mean I can do it, but I struggle,” Kai rubbed the back of his neck.

“Hm… okay,” I nodded, “instead of me working the front of the shop for the next,” poking at the papers, I let out a sigh, “5 days, I can set you up with a program that will help you be able to upload them and it will handle it for you. I can backlog everything as well but it’s going to take me some time.”

“Really! I can pay you extra.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re my boss. I’m happy to help.”

“I don’t like that term. No. I’m your coworker. No bosses. We’re all management. Juniper is my HR manager, I run the front of the shop and do all of the ordering, so you can be the financial manager as well as work the front from time to time. If you have things to take care of back here, that will take priority over making coffee and stuff. I need your help,” he smiled at me sheepishly.

“That works for me,” I held my hand out and he shook it, “oh, um on my Wednesday shift can I leave an hour early to get to an appointment I have?”

“Sure I don’t mind. Is it important?”

“It’s for this,” I lifted the left leg of my pants and he stared at me wide-eyed.

“Oh. I didn’t know.”

“No one really does. But I don’t hide it. I try not to use my wheelchair at work if I can avoid it. But I might have my crutches from time to time if I’m tired or the prosthetic is pinching. I need to get a new one soon but it can wait.”

“The entire cafe is wheelchair friendly. Did Juni tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“She’s paralyzed from the waist down. That’s why she lives with me so I can care for her. Not that she needs that, she’s fiercely independent, but her doctor feels it best she doesn’t live alone.”

“Oh. No, she didn’t tell me. It’s not the most important part of us after all,” I smiled, “I just thought you should know. I don’t need special things, I’ve had the prosthetic for 10 years, and I function fine but I do get tired toward the end of the week. I just didn’t want you to be surprised if I came in here in my wheelchair. On those days, I’ll work back here on financial things.”

“Whatever works for you, works for me. Just need help around here. Did you have plans I’m interrupting?”

“I just needed to get some shopping done but other than that nope. I have nothing to do until tomorrow morning at 6 when I start working.”

“I’m closing down the shop early, in about half an hour, to take Juni to the mall actually. She needs some things before the semester starts. Do… Do you want to join us? Kind of a get-to-know-each-other outing? We’ll all be together all the time. Well, no, mostly me and you. Juniper likes to do her work from home. She gets bored sitting here waiting for me. I’ll buy you lunch.”

“Oh. Sure,” I smiled brightly, “I’d love that.”

“Perfect. Oh my god, I’m so stupid. I never properly introduced myself. I’m Kai Winters,” he held his hand out once again and I shook it.

“Shiloh Hartley. If you ever see anyone who looks just like me but missing a front tooth send him away. Twin brother. Not dealing with him anymore.”

“You got it,” he rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb before pulling away, “you’re welcome to hang out back here until I close up, or sit up front and keep me company. I get bored in here.”

“Sure,” smiling, I followed him back to the front of the shop and took a seat at one of the tables, watching him clean and get things ready to close, “ya know,” I called, watching him turn off an espresso machine, “shutting it down goes faster if you purge the water first.”

“What do you mean?”

Walking over, I moved Kai’s hands aside and grabbed the steam wands, holding them in the on position until the steam ran out, “it cools faster. Then,” reaching around him, I turned the sink on to hot and filled up as much as I needed, before flushing out the machine, “after that we close the main water line so it doesn’t drip in, adding settled water,” after shutting off the water line, I turned the machine off and reached under, hitting the kill switch, “and now you don’t need to worry about it shorting out when you’re not here.”

“Whoa… I haven’t been doing that… damn I feel stupid,” he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I learned that from the older lady who ran the cafe I used to work in. It’ll help the machine live longer. That’s all.”

“Thank you, Shiloh,” he smiled.

“Shi is fine. I’m not big on Shiloh.”

“Deal. I don’t get a nickname. Since my name is only 3 letters,” Kai shrugged and kept cleaning.

I moved back to my table and my phone went off in my pocket. Pulling it out, I sighed softly when I realized it was my ex-boyfriend William.

-W: Come home. I miss you, baby.

-S: No.

-W: But Isaac is annoying. You’re so much more put together than him. I need you.

-S: I don’t need you. You fucked everything up.

-W: I didn’t do anything to you!

Slamming my forehead into the table, I could hear Kai laugh and I looked over to find him watching me.

“What?”

“Why do you look so down?”

“Have you ever been cheated on?” I chewed on my lip, my head still laying on the table, “sorry. That’s inappropriate. You’re my boss.”

“Not your boss,” he threw a straw at me, “and yes. Why do you ask?”

“My… ex cheated on me with my twin brother and now they want me to come home. It happened months ago, but that’s why I came here. 5 years down the drain. All because… no. Inappropriate.”

“What in the world? What kind of woman would do that?”

“Man. He’s dumb. He assumed that because we’re twins, it didn’t matter.”

“That has to hurt worse though. You’re closer than most siblings,” he came over and sat across from me.

“He was constantly cheating. I’ve been over it for 2 years. But… he was the only person I'd been with. Since I was 17. So I didn’t know better. I have no concept of real relationships. I just knew that being cheated on felt wrong.”

“You don’t have to understand relationships to be worthy of respect,” he patted the back of my hand softly, “I’m truly sorry that happened. But it did bring something good.”

“What’s that?”

“It brought you here. You can have a lovely life here. Oregon is amazing. I’m never leaving. There are too many amazing places to visit, to camp, to hike. People are friendly and welcoming here. You’ll find a good man who can give you that attention and affection you deserve.”

“Thank you, Kai,” I wiped a tear away on my sleeve.

“Duh,” he smiled, “we all want to be loved. We are all worthy of it.”

“I’m sure your partner feels that from you. You have the most calming, gentle energy I have ever felt.”

“Don’t have one of those. Most people won’t date me when they realize that my sister lives with me for now. She’s 20. Barely old enough to go off on her own. I want her to live with me until she graduates college. 2 more years. I can wait.”

“You’re a good brother, but that’s ridiculous. I would think they’d want to get to know her if they wanted to be a part of your life. She’s so sweet! We’ve been texting about me moving out here and she’s so nice. I really like her and can’t wait to meet her.”

Kai stared at me for a moment before he burst out laughing, a bright sound that filled the cafe, “sorry, sorry. She said the same thing about you and really hopes that you can be friends.”

“I hope so too. I don’t have any of those.”

“Sure ya do,” he got to his feet and softly squeezed my shoulder, “you have me.”

Kai finished cleaning and closing up the cafe as I watched him. He was entirely in his element, his movements swift, and fluid. He had clearly created a routine for himself, one that worked well and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him.

“Are you ready?” he leaned out from the back office, pulling his jacket on.

“Oh yes.”

“Why don’t you follow me to my house? I have to pick up Juniper. Then we can head to the mall. If you’re comfortable with it, you can leave your car in my driveway and we can just take my van.”

“If that’s what you think is best,” I smiled, following him out of the cafe.

I followed Kai to his house, gasping when I pulled into the driveway next to him and caught sight of the house.

How in the world can you afford this?

It’s beautiful.

The exterior was a mix of bricks and light wood with black trim. The garage door and front door matched the trim, the door larger than I had expected, and there were windows with frosted glass alongside it. There was a huge tree in the front yard, a circular bench surrounding it, and lights at each corner of a white picket fence.

“Kai,” I whispered when I joined him on the porch, “this is gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” he smiled, “took a lot of money, but it’s perfect for Juniper.”

He led me inside and I froze in the doorway, looking around.

The entire interior was open, giving views into the living room, kitchen, and dining room. The floors were a light hardwood, the walls a soft white, and every room had recessed lighting.

“Holy crap,” I smiled, looking around, “I am so jealous.”

“Just be careful over there,” he pointed to a half wall built off of the living room and I walked over looking down, “I have an entirely furnished apartment down there. We stay on the main floor, but I had that spare area and decided to turn it into its own space. There’s a bathroom and everything. Only the kitchen is shared. It even has a private entrance off the back. I’m pretty proud of it.”

“I’ll keep in mind to avoid the stairs,” laughing, I went further into the house, poking around.

“Juni!” Kai yelled.

“What?” Juniper yelled back, making me laugh again, “holy crap is someone else here!” She came from a room down the hall and her eyes grew wide as she looked at me, “you’re gorgeous.”

“As are you,” I smiled.

She looked exactly like Kai, however, her hair was much longer, done in a high ponytail, and her smile was not as wide.

“I’m Shi,” I waved.

“Wait… Shiloh! Holy shit!”

She’s so cute.