Kay’s Story (Part Twelve)

Stop! This is the twelfth episode!

Looking for the beginning of Kay’s Story?

• Kay (Part one) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)
• Kay (Part Two) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)
• Kay (Part Three) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)
• Kay (Part Four) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)
• Kay (Part Five) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)
• Kay (Part Six) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)
• Kay (Part Seven) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)
• Kay (Part Eight) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)
• Kay’s Story (Part Nine) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)
• Kay’s Story (Part Ten) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)
• Kay’s Story (Part Eleven) (thinkinlikegavroche.wordpress.com)

The mood in The Caffeine Fiend Bookshop Café was bustling with that small-town homey feeling. Smells of coffee and new books wrapped around Kay like an embrace as she shoved open the door.

Clink–chink! A bell hanging from the door handle cheerfully announced her arrival.

After sliding into a table for two near the window, she began flipping through a handcrafted menu. Pen and ink illustrations of cappuccino and muffins danced temptingly in the margins.

A waitress dressed in bell-bottoms and a purple tie-dye top greeted Kay by name. Her half apron was dark blue and embossed with the café’s name. She set a mug on the table and held the coffee pot up in a silent question. “Ooooh, yeah. I need coffee today Kelly!” Kay smiled and yawned reflexively.

“Just you today, Kay?”

Steam swirled as she filled the mug with the boiling fresh brew.

“Nope, actually, my mother should be here anytime. I’ll wait for her to order my food. Is that a new uniform?”

Kelly snorted. “What, my vintage 70s look? Yup, its part of the new “image”, apparently. I guess they are trying to make us more of a tourist-friendly New England hippie joint and less of a faux Starbucks.”

“Really? I like this place just the way it is! Not that you don’t look cute.”

The petite waitress rolled her eyes and shrugged. “It could be worse, right? Well, I’ll be back when your mom gets here. Holler if you need a refill.”

Kay  glanced at her watch and sighed. Her mom was late. Her fingers curled themselves around her cup and she stared dreamily out the window. The street was fairly empty. A few children were chasing each other on the sidewalk as their tired looking mothers looked on and tried to hold a conversation.

Busy. That word didn’t even begin to describe the blur of activity planned for this day.

When she called to make an appointment earlier, it had turned out that Kay knew the Childsafe inspector. They had been playing together since they were both in diapers and he was a relative of some sort. She never had been able to figure out exactly how he fit into her tangled family tree, but she could vividly remember the ridiculous swimming trunks he’d worn to the last family reunion several years back. After some good-natured teasing and catching up, he offered to bump her to the top of the list.

That must have been a sign of some sort, because everything from there on out went very quickly. Kay’s boss even said she could have some extra time during her lunch break, so that she could run home for the inspection. That appointment was set for 1 pm.

Then, right after work, a construction contractor from her church was coming over to do an estimate turning the unfinished attic into a baby’s room.

This, however, was the part of the day she’d been dreading most of all. Not only did she have to try to patch things over with her mom from their last phone call, somehow she also had to tell her that she was proceeding with the adoption. Just the thought of the upcoming conversation was enough to tie her stomach in tight twisting knots.

To be continued…