Among the Emeralds

Coffee Beans and Calm

The Encanto was bustling after the reconstruction of La Casita.  The Madrigals were slowly changing their involvement with the community; still heavily involved as healers and helpers, but taking time out for family and their health.  The village was growing as well, now that the mountain pass had broken.  At the urging of Alma and the other elders of the community, a tall palisade had been built across the crack, with a regular rotation of people to guard it, but people trickled in here and there, allowed in only after intense vetting.
 
Elena Pascual was taking full advantage of the extra traffic to grow her businesses.  Already she had taken out a loan and bought two shipments of books and one of exotic coffee, with more set up for her to pick up herself along the way.  In a town as small as Encanto, one had to wear many hats if they wanted a niche business to succeed, and so Elena ran a small bookshop that also held Encanto’s bibliotheca and a small coffee shop, because all good books are improved with good coffee.  Café de Libros was a straightforward name for the place, but Elena was a straightforward person, so it suited her just fine.

She did a steady business, more so in lending books (and their late fees) and selling coffees than selling books, but she was happy with that.  More townsfolk were showing an interest recently, with curiosity and the availability of travel now making selections wider and livening imaginations, and she was comfortable as long as she was careful.  She kept her small apartment over the shop frugally, her only extravagance treats for her pet, Chacha the Fuertes parrot.  Chacha liked to nibble on book corners if left to her own devices, and was kept in a large rope enclosure in the apartment at night, free to fly during the day. 
 
Since the rebuilding of La Casita, all of the Madrigals had, at one point or another, made their way to her shop.  Isabela was quickly devouring her gardening and botany section, and had started in on the natural remedies section with her mother Julieta and little cousin Antonio, who each either bought or borrowed their own stack of literature.  Julieta seemed a bit sheepish at her pile of true crime fiction, but Antonio lapped up his adventure and dinosaur books and came back for more, his reading level already very advanced for his age.  Chacha liked to perch on his head and snuggle into his hair as he read books out loud to her.

Luisa and Camilo would sometimes come in to the coffeeshop side to relax at the end of the day, sipping mochas and reading new comics with their feet kicked up before heading home for supper.  Elena always smiled at the unlikely duo.  Middle children stuck together, it seemed.   She would always weaken Luisa’s coffee so she could get a good night’s sleep, and doubled the cocoa and milk in Camilo’s.  the poor kid was always starving, and any extra calories would help.

Pepa, out of respect for the nature of the shop, would only send in her husband Félix for their drinks and always remembered to borrow the special book protector that Elena had ordered for her.  She didn’t want to buy it outright, afraid the glass would get broken if it lived in Casita.  It certainly made it easier for Dolores to hide in the corners with Mariano, giggling as Félix would shoot her a covert wink.  The courtship was progressing quickly, but both of them wanted a little more privacy to just be themselves that neither of their abuelas would find proper.  Elena wasn’t telling.

Mirabel and her abuela Alma had been the second most frequent visitors, coming at least twice a week to sit, talk, and get to know each other again.  Elena did her best to not listen in and to give them a brightly lit corner table in the café.  It was certainly awkward at first, but by the two had quickly found a love of textiles, and could now be seen working on projects together for hours.  In the café, it was understood to leave the two alone while they worked in the sunlight, fingers flying and needles whizzing through fabric or crochet hooks clacking as yarn became blankets and smiles became laughter at old family stories and bright new ideas.  If Alma gave her the cold shoulder in the meantime, that was fine.  The two of them had never gotten along after she’d taken over the shop.  Mourning for her parents had removed all sense of decorum, and one day, she’d let Alma have it after seeing her overlook and ignore little Mirabel on a trip, who only wanted to show her abuela the project she wanted to make for her from her craft book.  She’d seen the door ceremony and everyone’s reactions to it, and had been just seven levels of done with what she’d heard.  That the two were repairing their relationship now made her happy.