Two Weeks Later

Our street fair marketing plan had worked, and business was booming. The café was full of both humans and dragons from opening until closing, and we were making good money—not that we needed to turn a profit immediately with Old Man Burton holding the lease.

“You two did it!” Mrs. Lopez said, watching us count our cash.

She’d stayed on to help out and give us advice, and she was teaching us some really good tricks. Her cookie decorating was way better than any of ours. But we were working on it. All it took was practice, and with the number of customers coming into the store, we were sure to get plenty of that.

Old Man Burton himself held court in the back room every day, reading the paper over a large pot of Earl Grey tea.

“Better than sitting all alone in my house,” he said. “I should have done this months ago.”

Our friends from Mrs. Tawley’s house were regular patrons, and they were starting to bring everyone they knew.

“Soon we’ll need to expand!” I said, half joking. But part of me, a small part, was serious. I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but it seemed like I had a future as a café owner ahead of me. It was nice to realize I was good at something.

Not everything was sunshine and rainbows. Mr. McGuffin was still on the loose, and he was furious. We’d really shown him up that day after the street fair, and he wasn’t going to stand for it. He and Brendan kept coming by to yell at us.

“I’ll take this café if it’s the last thing I do!” McGuffin shouted one rainy day as he stormed through the door. “I’ve never missed a sale, and I never will!”

“Sorry,” Brendan mouthed in our direction.

“Whatever it takes!”

Privately, I wished Brendan would quit his job. But that was a decision that he had to make for himself. In the meantime, all we could do was focus on making Dragon Café the best it could be and hope that people would keep turning out.

One day, just as spring was starting to turn into summer, Old Man Burton shuffled to the cash register.

“Another pot of Earl Grey?” I said.

“Yes, but that’s not why I came up here. I’ve been thinking.”

I waited. With him, sometimes it was better to just let him take his own route to the point.

“Do you want a stake in this café? Since you’ve done such a good job with it.”

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My heart was pounding. Did I want a stake in the café? Of course I did! But I knew that I couldn’t be the only one.

“Yes!” I shouted. “But one thing. You need to give a stake to the Lopez family too. And Clyde, if he wants it.”

I don’t want it, Clyde said. Thanks. And I’ll still help out here as much as I can. But I don’t want anything tying me down like that.

“Fair enough.”

Old Man Burton mulled it over—but not for long. “Deal. We’ll write up the papers today.”

“Did you hear that, Mom?” Gabriel said. “We’re going to own a café again!”

She was beaming. “Let’s make it even better than the Espresso Express!”

“Don’t know that that’s possible. That place was pretty great. But we’ll try.”

I looked around the café. It was chaos, but good chaos. People were starting to come from outside of Daleview—I could see a dark-haired woman sketching something complicated next to a sparkly dragon by the front window. A group of sailors from all over the world sat in the back playing dice right next to a young man conducting a lively dragon singalong. The music was so good that even Old Man Burton was humming along.

“We did it,” I said, almost awestruck. “We really did it.”

We’d created a place that everyone could share.

“Yeah,” Gabriel said. “I think we did.”

That night, we came home to a postcard from Grandpa Joe. It depicted a vibrant tropical sunset, and on the back was a short note.

Loving Bali. Decided to stay another month. I know you can handle it. Any emergencies, call (555) 484-1654.

Your loving Grandpa Joe.

I laughed. Part of me had been a little worried that we hadn’t heard anything from him. But of course he’d just forgotten to write. He’d always been a little spacey. And it was good news that he’d decided to stay one more month. That meant I got to run Dragon Café for a little bit longer.

I’d write back to him if I ever got an address. But I knew I owed my parents a letter.

“What should I say to them?” I said.

Tell them the truth. That everything went great. That McGuffin couldn’t beat us, no matter how hard he tried.

“He might still. He’s still out there. And he looks really mad.”

Then that’s a problem for the future. For now, things are good.

I sat down at the table and got to writing.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I know I’ve been out of touch, but I think you’d be really proud of what Clyde and I have accomplished. I hope you can make it to Daleview sometime soon to visit the café. And we’ll be back in late summer for Lamp-lighting, as always. Maybe we can tell you more about some of our adventures then.

There’ve been a lot of ups and downs this month, but I think it all turned out well. We’ve got good friends here and we’re making more. I’ve learned a lot! I can cook schnitzel now and make mochas, and I think I’m going to take a painting class at the art store. I’d gotten into a routine back in Briar Glen, but I’m really enjoying getting out of my comfort zone. I want to do more of that.

I want you to know how grateful I am for all the support you’ve given me—but I won’t be coming home right away. I like it here, and I think I’m going to stay at least another few months. I’ll let you know how it’s going—and I swear I’m going to write more often.

Hope to hear from you both soon. Maybe we can talk on the phone sometime?

Much love,

Lizzie

I smiled and put the pen down. I’d post the letter tomorrow. For now, it was enough just to think about all that we’d done in Daleview.

“Hey! Lizzie!”

It was Gabriel, shouting up from outside.

“Want to go to a concert tonight?” he said. “Free. Hilltop Park!”

I’m there, Clyde said, climbing onto the railing so he could glide down into the street.

I smiled. “Me too.”