A cure for writer's block

When Kelly settles into her usual café booth to write, she never expects her fictional romance to turn into real-life inspiration!

- Barbara Barata

Kelly stepped carefully through puddles from the afternoon's rain showers to the entrance of the Postage Stamp Café. Once inside, she took a deep breath, savoring the enticing aromas of their famous potato soup and baked goods. And—she wrinkled her nose a bit—about a gallon of the body spray popular with middle schoolers.

"Hi, Miss Taylor!"

Kelly smiled at the boy exiting the café with a woman she assumed was his mother.

"Hello, Mason."

For the last eight years, Kelly had taught English at the local middle school, and she always ran into students when she was downtown.

She crossed to her favorite booth, giving café owner Tom a little wave, and set down her things. Once in line, she covertly studied Tom as he worked behind the counter.

He had brown hair, brown eyes, a trimmed beard and a physique a friend described as “hot teddy bear”—handsome, tall, solid and huggable. She had to agree with her friend. His face was animated as he chatted with customers. No matter how busy it was, Tom always seemed relaxed and engaged. And he somehow looked great in an apron!

When it was her turn to order, Kelly smiled. “How's your week been?”

“Pretty good. A broken freezer, but it was an easy repair. You? Did you get all your papers graded?”

“Yes, phew!” She beamed at him. “And your cookies were a hit at the yearbook club bake sale. Thanks again.”

The woman behind her cleared her throat impatiently, so Kelly quickly ordered the soup and started to turn away.

“Oh—” Tom said. “I'm trying out a new apple-cran-berry pie recipe. You want a piece later?”