Saturday morning, right around nine o'clock, Riley arrived at the Bon Bon, just like normal. She ordered a half dozen croissants, a half dozen blueberry scones, and a half dozen lemon cream beignets. But instead of going home immediately, she lingered in the store, chatting with Katt and watching the front door...almost as if she expected someone ? or maybe something ? to come through it at any moment.

Finally, a uniformed man carrying a clipboard came inside and looked around for a moment. Spotting Katt, he went over to the counter and said, ?I gotta delivery for the owner. You her?? Riley watched all of this with a definite twinkle in her warm, caramel-coloured eyes and a little self-satisfied smile playing about the corners of her full lips. The Cat was up to something...and it made her smug.

When the delivery guy brought in a huge box on a hand-trolley, Riley bounced up and down, clapping her hands excitedly. "Yay! It's here!" she gushed and immediately went over and began opening the box.

When she'd pulled all the packaging off the object inside, she set it on the counter in front of Katt. "Ta-da!" she said, making Vanna White hand motions. "What do you think? Isn't it gorgeous? And it'll improve your sales and your rate of return! Happy Grand Opening, Katt!"

Inside the box was this:

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-14463325294384_2161_15956230.jpg

"You know, I haven't the foggiest idea." Riley's face slipped into a frown and she dug through the box, flinging packing peanuts and bubble wrap hither and yon until she surfaced once more, clutching an instruction booklet.

The frown deepened and Riley flicked an embarrassed glance at Katt. "You...um...You don't happen to speak Chinese, do you? Or...um...Italian, maybe?" She held out the booklet to Katt, showing her the Chinese ideograms that covered the page, and then flipped through to the section that looked like it was written Italian. It certainly wasn't Spanish or French; Riley could have translated those with no problems.

With a little shrug, Riley set the booklet down and made a thoughtful face. "Oh! I know! I have the perfect plan! You'll absolutely love it, Katt. I promise!" Uh-oh. There was a very dangerous glint in Riley's eyes. Katt had better run away before it was too late!

Riley frowned softly and then shook her head. "No, it's a good surprise. It's not even really a surprise, though. I mean, it's not like I'm going to make you wait before I... Oh, never mind."

She dug in her bag and pulled out a little calculator, a checkbook, and a pen. "So, here's the deal. You've just opened and probably can't afford to hire someone to run this machine for you and I'm very, very expensive and otherwise engaged, right? I'll pay a year's salary for a barrista to run this and help out in the shop, too. Yay!"

She flashed Katt a big grin and then did some quick calculations and finally came up with an amount, which she scribbled on the check before ripping it out and handing it to the girl.

"It's not a loan, so you don't have to worry about repaying me," Riley said, still holding out the check to Katt. "It's salary for the person you hire to run this machine and help out in the shop when you get busy - and I know you're gonna get busy. That's what a barrista is, by the way - someone specially trained to use one of these things."

She waved the check once more. "C'mon. Take it. I want you to do well and I think that offering frou-frou coffee drinks along with your amazing pastries will definitely help with sales. If you still feel like you want to pay me back, you can give your day-old breads and stuff to the Rose House Orphanage or to Second Chances, okay? We'll be even then. But please, let me do this for you." Riley batted her lashes at Katt and put on a sweet smile. "Pretty please?"

Riley shook her head and laid the check down on the counter in front of Katt. "Nope. Nothing free, no need to ever pay me back, either. I want your business to succeed, Katt. I want you to do well." Riley's expression softened for a moment and she said in a gentle voice, "You need it. You deserve it."

Then she picked up her order and headed for the front door of the shop. "I'll see you next week, okay? Same time, same place!" She blew Katt a kiss and slipped out into the warm Saturday morning, a huge grin on her face and a very hopeful feeling in her heart.