Tess opened one eye and closed it again. She pulled her arm out from under her duvet and slapped the top of her cell phone. The alarm kept ringing. To her sleep-deprived, slightly woozy brain, it sounded like a chicken being strangled.
She pulled herself upright and rubbed her eyes. It was four-thirty. Normal people didn’t get out of bed at this time of the morning. Normal people stayed in bed until sunrise. But not her. She had a list of food to bake, a café to get ready and a headache the size of Mount Rushmore pounding in her head.
She picked up her phone and slid the red circle across the screen. Wonderful silence filled her bedroom and she was tempted to fall back onto her pillow. If she was really fast in the kitchen, she could have another thirty minutes in bed. It would be like a real sleep in. She could dream about Connie’s wedding, the lovely dinner they’d enjoyed at Angel Wings Café and the dance floor that had appeared out of nowhere.
Just as her head hit her pillow, her cell phone rang. She couldn’t believe someone would call this early in the morning. Didn’t they know she’d had a late night, that yesterday she’d been part of an amazing day. And that maybe she might want to help someone else, to do it all over again.
She frowned at her phone and tried to work out who would be calling at this time of the morning. If it was telemarketers from India, she was hanging up. She let the phone ring for another few seconds before answering it.
“You’re not in your café.”
Tess pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the screen. Logan’s number was blocked. “Do you know what time it is?”
“That’s why I’ve been knocking on your door for the last five minutes.”
Tess couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. “Why are you standing on my stairs?”
Logan sighed. “Just open the door.”
That, Tess could understand. She stumbled out of her bedroom and unlocked the door. A cold blast of air followed Logan into her apartment. She rubbed her eyes and stared at his damp T-shirt and running shorts. “Do you ever sleep?”
“Forget my sleeping habits. Aren’t you opening the café today?”
Tess ignored his lazy appraisal of her soft cotton pajama bottoms and tank top. She headed to her kitchen and turned the coffee machine on. If she couldn’t go back to bed, she’d wake herself up with enough caffeine to kick-start her brain. “I’ve got plenty of time thanks to your chronic insomnia.” She yawned. It was the type of yawn that was telling her to go back to bed.
She focused on the amused grin on Logan’s face. “You didn’t leave here until after midnight. Why are you looking so normal?”
“Guess I’m used to less sleep than you are. You do know what the time is, don’t you?”
“It’s four thirty.” She pulled a couple of mugs out of the pantry and leaned against the kitchen counter.
Logan walked toward her holding out his wrist. “Wrong. It’s five forty-five. That’s quarter to six for those of us who’ve slept in.”
Tess grabbed his wrist and stared at his watch. She blinked once before panic set in. “Oh, no. I’m going to be late.”
She forgot about her lack of sleep. A surge of adrenaline replaced the caffeine she’d been looking forward to. Annie would be arriving in an hour. She didn’t have anything ready for her breakfast customers. The oven wasn’t even turned on.
“What can I do to help?” Logan stepped back as she raced past him.
“Call Annie. Ask her to come in early.” She made a detour to the coffee table, picked up the keys to her café and ran back to Logan. “I’m going to jump in the shower. Unlock the front door and turn the oven onto one hundred and eighty degrees. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
She ran back to her room, grabbed some clean clothes, her hairbrush and a couple of Tylenol.
While the shower was warming up, she brushed her teeth. The sink put her directly in front of the bathroom mirror. Her face was in after-party mode and it wasn’t a pretty sight.