[Open - Irish Coffee]

[irishcoffee]

Maggie finished the chalk easel for the front of the cafe, embellishing the announcements of specials with sunny wildflowers and scrolled ivy leaves. As she walked it out to put on the sidewalk in front of the store, she stopped to let the sun warm her face.

It had rained in Faelan's Folly for a week - starting with storms full of thunder and ear-splitting lightning strikes until tapering off to yesterday's lighter clouds and soft soaking rain to last night's light drizzle.

She'd spent most of her off time during the week near the monument, the flat stone just off the park grounds that was, for all intents, the heart of the Folly. There were rumors about it, of course, some of them right on the mark. Not that she'd ever confirm it.

The monument was also where she rechared, reset her magic and reconnected with the elements that bowed to her. At midnight last night, she knew it was time to get back to business, back to herself, and move herself forward.

Maggie pulled water from a nearby puddle, rinsed the chalk from her fingers, and settled in to help her morning regulars get the caffeine they needed to start their day.

Comments

[irishcoffee]

Maggie just laughed softly; it was kind of adorable the way he had no idea about his appeal to others. "I'm sure they will. Can you let me know when you do? I have a feeling this might be fun to watch."

[detectivecontrary]

"Right, I'm sure you'll love seeing her get all protective of me," he said. Levi wondered if she wanted to be there in case anyone got hurt or Bella got out of control. Levi was positive that wasn't going to happen, but he knew that he was the only one that saw Bella the way that he did.

[irishcoffee]

"Something like that," Maggie smiled and leaned back. "All teasing aside, it's good to see you so happy. It's like being under a cloud during the spring. You don't realize how cold you are until the cloud moves and you're standing in the sun again."

[detectivecontrary]

"I doubt you two would ever be best friends, but I'd like to hope you won't hate each other."

Levi wasn't sure if that would even be possible, but he could dream. It wasn't as if they'd cross paths all that often. He and Maggie didn't have any mutual friends they hung out with as a group. Actually, they didn't have any friend period they hung out with as a group.

[irishcoffee]

"She makes you happy," Maggie shrugged, "that already puts her several points above the baseline. As long as she doesn't hurt you, or worse, she'll stay there. But I won't lie and say I won't have moments where I worry."

She hadn't had much conversation with the vampire when she'd arrived, but she knew enough that for the first six months she'd been here, Bella had been on probation of sorts. Daily to weekly check-ins until she realized that the other vampires feared her and she'd taken care of a cougar that was stalking a few small children near the tree line. After that, Bella'd been free to come and go as she pleased. But that hadn't meant that Maggie'd stopped keeping track of her.

[detectivecontrary]

"I understand. I know you'd be that way about her even if she wasn't a vampire."

Which, he hoped was true. There was a whole mess of things to consider, like what happened five or ten years down the road if it lasted that long? He wasn't thinking about that for now though, right now he was just enjoying the present. The future would work itself out. Somehow.

"Can you imagine how pissed my family is going to be though?" he asked with a grin.

[irishcoffee]

That had Maggie giggling. "Your mother is going to have kittens. A whole litter of them. I know she saw you at the Ball. Did she say anything then? Or since?"

She'd never been any too fond of Levi's parents, but since the feeling was mutual, she didn't lose a whole lot of sleep over it.

[detectivecontrary]

"No more and no less than I usually talk with her," he said with a shrug. Which meant never, unless it was a social function or family dinner where the family needed to seem unified. Even then, he often didn't show and they just explained it away with work.

"Maybe I should get it announced in the society pages?"

[irishcoffee]

"You want her head to just full out explode, don't you?" Maggie teased. "I have to ask, though, how you'd word it? Eligible bachelor now off the market thanks to a certain sparkling vampire?"

[detectivecontrary]

"She would be disappointed, my father would murder me," he said with a laugh. Part of him wondered though if his father really would go that far. The man was absolutely nuts about purity. He should probably warn Bella to be careful.

"But I think just a full page spread picture of us with a small caption about how happy we are would work fine."

[irishcoffee]

Maggie smiled. "Full color of course, to showcase the golden eyes? Unless you wait for them to go black first. That'd be an interesting angle...," Maggie grinned.

"Whichever way, I'll be sure to have the arsenic on for when she comes to yip at me for letting danger into the town."

[detectivecontrary]

"If it helps at all, my mother actually prefers you to Bella," he said, shaking his head. His mother probably would march down here to chew Maggie out, not that it would do her much good.

"But I think maybe a line about something like 'The Next Generation of Astors'."

[irishcoffee]

"That's not saying much," Maggie snorted. "That's like saying someone prefers having their fingernails pulled out to slivers being shoved under them. Both are torture," she finished that one with a wink. "Now you're seriously making me wish I'd taken graphic design instead of baking in college."

[detectivecontrary]

"I'm not, I'd much rather have your backing than any graphics you design," he said, snatching up another pastry and taking a bite of it. Even people who hated Maggie had to admit that she had the best pastries and coffee in town.

[irishcoffee]

"I think I'm going to enjoy it when your metabolism catches up with you one of these days," Maggie joked, watching half the pastry disappear into his mouth. Though she knew, looking at his father, that that wasn't likely. Mr. Astor was the same lanky thin his son was.

She reached over then, squeezed the hand not holding the pastry. "Thanks."

[detectivecontrary]

"I don't know, I'm getting quite a bit of exercise in with Bella," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her before squeezing her hand back. Hopefully just knowing that he was concerned about her would keep her from doing anything she really regretted.

"And you're welcome, Mags. Anytime."