The Shadow Sisters

[E2] Chapter 7 - Sheriff Wilson

Sheriff Wilson stopped into the Collon Cafe, as he did almost every morning, for a spiced ginger and cinnamon latte. Saturdays were no exceptions. Even on the rare days that he wasn't working, he often made the trip in. On desperate occasions, where that wasn't possible, he attempted to make his own at home, which of course, yielded disastrous results.

It was a necessary part of his day, as necessary as the morning shower or feeding Toby.

A cynic might have pointed out all the money that he'd spent on them over the years could've added up to a considerable savings account, but in his humble opinion, life was about the small, ritualistic pleasures that transported a person from one side of the clock to another.

What did he even have to save for anyway? Kids? He had none. Travel? It's not like he ever left Willow Town.

As he arrived into the cafe, he spied a golden-haired Aimee seated behind the counter, reading a novel. Sometimes it was Samuel. At one point it was David. Before that it was Carragh and Peter. Sometimes it was that student, Demi, who was studying philosophy at Cormac Kavannah.

But mostly it was Aimee, and even though it was delicious regardless of who made it, it was extra magical when made by her hands.

"Hello, Aimee," he said in his loud, boisterous voice which filled up so much of the small space.

Without even glancing up from her novel, she said, "Hello, Sheriff. Will it be the usual then?"

"The usual, plus an Americano, please."

She nodded, set down her book, then proceeded to make it.

He gazed around the empty cafe, observing the rich mahogany tables and matching chairs. Then, there were the posters of old seventies and eighties bands, such as Pink Floyd, The Doors, Sonic Youth, and Metallica. The nineties even received their fair share of representation in the form of Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains.

"It's quiet in here today," he remarked.

She offered her fairly convincing fake laugh, which he still appreciated, because he'd been making that same joke for years now.

He was always the first customer of the day as he arrived, like clockwork, a couple of minutes after opening. It was just rude, to wait outside before the doors opened, in his opinion. So he'd boiled it down to a fine art, to leave it a few minutes for the staff to set up and enjoy a bit of ambience of peace and quiet, before his intrusion.

On the rare occasions where someone actually did beat him to the punch and he had to stand in line, he would approach the counter afterwards and shake things up a bit by saying, 'it's crazy in here today.'

Samuel actually genuinely did find that one funny. He'd laughed hard, perhaps more from surprise than anything else, the first time that Wilson had cracked it.

"There you go, Sheriff," Aimee said, handing him over the two cups.

"You're an angel," he said, relieving her of them.

"Oh, it's nothing. You have a good day," she said, before returning to her book.

"You too, sweetheart."

He returned to the patrol car outside, where Officer Morrow sat patiently waiting in the passenger seat. Officer Jackie Morrow was still a rookie, but if she stuck around with Wilson long enough, no doubt she would begin to learn the ropes.

Sheriff Wilson handed her the cup.

She glanced at his. "A spiced latte again?"

"Always."