After I’ve recovered from the surprise of Adam’s instruction—because, let’s face it, he’s basically told me to go home like a kid—I’ve realized he has a good point. So I walk back inside the house, look for Ben and ask him to get my sister so we could go home.

Ben is dismayed, but he doesn’t ask why. He even brings us home himself. If he is annoyed with me for my early exit, he doesn’t show it. He’s like genuinely nice.

My sister pesters me with questions on why we left the party too soon, but I don’t tell her about my encounter with Adam and the fact that he seems to know me and Colbie. Talking about him and thinking about him are two different things though because I can’t seem to get him off my head.

Now, a few days after the beach party, I’m still at square one. My objective to do research on the band has gone to shit, which means I have to look for other ways to find out about Adam and his music.

The first order of business is to go back to the scene of the crime—the café. It’s hot outside so I opt to wear jean shorts and a sleeveless top with a plaid, long-sleeved shirt tied around my waist in case it gets cold. I wear my sneakers, grab my back pack and head out. The heat is a bit uncomfortable so I put my hair up in a messy bun to remove the hair sticking on my nape.

I walk into the café and I’m greeted by cool air. I breathe a sigh of relief. Only a couple of tables are occupied so I steer towards the corner booth closest to the bar—my favorite seat because it’s near the glass fronting the coffee shop. I sit down and pull out my laptop, placing it carefully on the table. I’m waiting for it to boot up when I hear a “Good morning” coming from the bar. I look up to see the smiling face of a woman manning the espresso machine. I smile back at her and stand up, my eyes finding the menu behind her. I order a café latte.

Punching my order in, she says, “I’ve seen you here a couple of times already. Are you here on vacation?”

I nod. “I came here a couple of days ago with my sister. We come and stay with our aunt every summer.”

“Then you’re familiar with the town. You probably know more people here than I do. I’ve only been living here for almost a year. I’m Ann by the way.”

“I’m Riley.” I take her hand and shake it. “So you moved here to run the coffee shop? I knew the previous owners, old man Henry and his wife, Maggie.”

She smiles a very warm smile. “Yeah. I know people here call them that. To me they’re just Gramps and Gran.”

Ahh. She’s their granddaughter. It’s like fate has dropped the opportunity on my lap.

I breathe deep, mustering my courage, and begin to tell her about my situation.

“I was really surprised the other week when I saw the wall was no longer there.” I tilt my head towards the wall to my left. “Well, technically it’s still there, but the notes and messages are gone.”

“Ahhh. That caused quite a stir.” She takes a quick glance at the wall, appearing contrite. “Go on and sit. I’ll get your drink.”

“Thanks.”

Ann starts making my drink but continues to talk while I sit. “You should know, I love Gran and Gramps so much. I love them more than my own parents. Sad, but that’s just the truth. I would never do anything to upset them. This café was their life. They put in so much sacrifice to keep this café afloat, but the reality is that the past few years were very difficult for them.”She walks over to the mugs and I nod to indicate that I don’t mind using a reusable cup. She smiles at me and pours my drink.

“Anyway, I came in fresh from college to help them run the business. Coming from business school, I immediately knew what I had to do to keep the profits up and the expenses down. This meant some major renovations.” She gestures around the café.

With my latte done, she brings me my cup and takes a seat opposite mine. She goes on. “The family had a few discussions about my decision-making, but in the end they all agreed that if I were to take over the business they must trust me.”

She looks at the wall.

“And that wall, while very quirky and sentimental, had no value to me in a business standpoint so it was logical to make use of the space better.” She sighs. “What I didn’t realize is that the people here have grown attached to the wall. When we re-opened, people were upset that the wall had been renovated as well.”

I smile in understanding. While I get why some of the customers—myself included—would feel that way about losing the wall, I also understand why Ann had to do it.

She settles back in her chair. “The first few weeks were tough. With the wall gone, a lot of people felt less attached to the shop. But my brother came up with a great idea to bring back the customers. He came up with Acoustics Night every Friday.”

My eyebrows shoot up because, of course, she means Adam. I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but who else could she be talking about? Like I said, my mind’s always on the guy these days. Good thing Ann isn’t looking or she’ll definitely notice my interest in this brother of hers.

“The best thing is, Acoustic Night helped him out too, him and his band the exposure they needed. Now business is picking up and we’re getting more people in during the weekends—the younger crowd, of course.”

If Adam is indeed Ann’s brother, then it’s not coincidental that he made a song using my lyrics. The guy has access to every single thing posted on the wall.

I file that thought away and focus on Ann. “I’ll be honest. I was really heartbroken to see the wall gone when I first got here, but I understand why you did it. I just wish I’d saved my posts.”

Her eyes light up. “Oh. You used to post there?”

I give a small smile, feeling suddenly shy. “Yeah. It was actually a regular thing for me. At least, when I’m in town.”

“I guess you’re quite upset that you’ve lost all those notes, huh?” she says playfully.

I’m a bit irritated that she seems to get some sort of sick pleasure from my misery, but I force another smile. “Yup. I wish I could’ve written them down on my notebook or something.”

She claps her hands in delight and looks at me with pride. “Then you definitely should check out our website and click on The Wall. You’ll find all the notes posted there.”