Second Chance Summer - Olivia Miles Page 0,1

out through the open window that separated the kitchen from the front counter, catching a glance from her older sister, who had just come in by the looks of it.

“Britt’s here,” she told Maddie. “And Robbie,” she added, noticing Britt’s ex-boyfriend turned boyfriend again. More than that, he also now helped Britt run Conway Orchard since their father’s retirement.

“Is Keira with them?” Maddie perked up. Robbie’s seven-year-old daughter was a favorite at the café, and a professional taste-tester, too, even if she was rather easy to please. “I saved the last flower-shaped sugar cookie for her just in case they stopped by.”

Amelia grinned at her sister. “Just like Dorothy used to do,” she said, referring to the original owner of the café, and its original namesake. Maddie was the youngest of the four Conway sisters, and more than three years below Amelia. “Do you remember how she used to always save you an oatmeal cookie? Claim it was the very last one, even though we all knew she had tucked it away?”

Maddie nodded. “They were the best. Almost as good as—” She inhaled sharply and grabbed the wax paper bag containing the flower cookie from the counter.

Maddie didn’t need to finish the thought for Amelia to know what she meant. The cookies that used to be made here at this café were almost as good as their mother’s cookies had been, but they couldn’t compare. Even she hadn’t dared to try, despite all her love for this café and her work in the kitchen. But Maddie…Maddie had carried on the dessert recipes that her mother had taught her over the years from their home kitchen, and Maddie’s pies and cookies and cakes were every bit as good as their mother’s.

“I’ll go make the rounds,” Maddie said, before pushing out into the dining room.

Amelia went back to plating orders, her heart a little heavier than it had been a few minutes ago. She’d only been sixteen when her mother had died, and each of the sisters had taken the loss in their own way. Britt had left town first chance she’d had, and stayed away. Cora had kept their mother’s Christmas traditions going even when the rest of them had felt too sad to put up a tree, and Maddie had continued to bake the recipes that their mother had loved to share.

And Amelia…Amelia had taken care of the nest in Britt’s absence, tending to the younger girls, going through the motions, trying to keep her head on practical things, and her heart out of everything.

But when this café had gone on the market shortly after she’d graduated from college, she knew that it was meant to be hers and that her father wouldn’t mind her leaving her job at the orchard to pursue her dream. It was in these four walls that her mother would bring them after school, to have a snack, to talk about their day. It was in this café that she had gone from talking about boys pinching her during storytime to boys catching her eye. It was a place of comfort and hope, a bright spot even in the darkest nights, much like the fireflies that lit up the sky.

And it was all hers now. Hers and hers alone.

“Yoohoo!”

Amelia had learned by now not to let the singsong greeting from her father’s girlfriend startle her—too much. She looked up to see Candace’s face through the window. The woman had let herself back around the counter again, and it would appear that she’d had her hair done today too. The curls were bigger and bouncier than ever.

“Hello, Candace,” she said with a distracted smile. It was usual for her family to stop by the café for dinner a few nights a week, but having everyone here at the same time wasn’t exactly typical, and Amelia and her sisters were still warming up to the woman their father had been dating since only June.

“Oh, you girls! Always so formal! You know you can call me Candy!”

Amelia met Candy’s wide smile, and despite her own reservations, she couldn’t help but grin. “You know me. When I’m on the job…”

“Always so professional! I know!” Candy hovered in the window pass, blocking Amelia’s view of the tables. Her father was already sitting at the counter, she saw.

“Maddie will be right over to take your orders,” she said, hoping this was all that was needed to get Candy out from behind her counter and back to her seat, like a paying