Chapter Fourteen - New Beginnings

Fourteen

NEW BEGINNINGS

Grace Coffee House

The Grace Coffee House grand opening celebration was on a Saturday. Demetrius knew most of the fishing fleet didn’t go out to sea on Saturdays so he’d decided it would be the best day for the festivities. Advertising in the Paine Harbor Gazette he was offering free drinks for the first one hundred people. Demetrius had recruited Sarah, Sandy, Oliver and Andi to help staff the coffee house for this momentous occasion. When the door opened at precisely 9am, Demetrius was shocked to see a line of people stretching down Main Street into the next block.

“Apparently,” he said to his excited friends, “the newspaper ad worked!” A steady flow of Paine Harbor citizens poured through the doors all morning and into the afternoon keeping the staff hopping.

About an hour later, Reverend and Mrs. Sharp came in with smiles on their faces. After getting their drinks personally made Sarah; they stepped over to the piano. “Oh no,” someone from the back of the room piped in, “Not church music” which of course brought laughter across the busy coffee house. No one was prepared for what occurred next. Greta began to play, Axel opened his mouth and in his strong voice sang out with a medley of songs from The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and oddly enough, Godspell. The room grew quiet in appreciation. After about twenty minutes, Sarah asked Demetrius if she could join her family for a few minutes. He nodded in affirmation.

“Scoot over mom,” Sarah said with a smile. When she sat down, it was Sarah that changed the format to songs of worship and praise. She opened her mouth and sang in a powerful voice words of faith, hope, love and redemption. Her parents were so caught up enjoying the moment she finally said, “Are you going to join me or not?”  They did.

When the music came to a conclusion, the people gathered in Grace Coffee House erupted with applause and shouts of appreciation. The Sharp family looked at one another unsure of what to do next, when Reverend Axel asked his wife and daughter to step aside and he sat at the piano and amazed everyone with a rousing honky-tonk piano rendition of the Beatles' song, Maybe I'm Amazed. The entire crowd stood to its feet and joined in as if it were a sing-along.  

As the unplanned concert ended, people came to congratulate the Sharp's with handshakes, pats on the back and words of appreciation. Someone had jokingly placed an empty coffee cup on the top of the piano and it was soon filled with unexpected tip money. The Sharp's were overcome with joy.

Just then, Demetrius spoke up. “May I have your attention, please?” As he waited for the crowd to quiet down he made eye contact with Andi, whose smile encouraged him to move forward.

“People of Paine Harbor, welcome to the Grace Coffee House, I'm Demetrius Grace and this is my shop. That's my brother Oliver and his wife Sandy. We, as I am sure you know, are new to Paine Harbor. I'm from Colorado and they are from Southern California.” Demetrius said by way of introduction. “I've dreamed of opening a place like this for years, in fact, my late wife and I had talked about it in Colorado, but it was unexpectedly cut short. I never thought I'd end up on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, but I'm certainly glad to be here today.”

Oliver was observing the crowd as his brother continued. “So far so good,” he thought.

Demetrius continued, “I want you to know our dream is larger than simply a good coffee house, we want this place to be your place; a safe harbor. A place for encouragement, for kindness and for, dare I say, a place for love? Please, consider this place to be your place. Thank you for your support today. I look forward to meeting you and getting to know each of you. Plus, I'm going to teach you to appreciate really good coffee! Well, I've said enough. Enjoy yourself!” Applause rang out again. “This just might work,” Demetrius thought to himself.

It was at this precise moment when Mrs. Gourmand walked in the front door. As the people of Paine Harbor became aware of her presence, the Coffee House got quiet. She looked around, surprised by the large crowd gathered and walked to the counter. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Gourmand, welcome to Grace Coffee House.” Sarah said politely.

“Thank you, young lady. So, you serve coffee, do you?” she said inquisitively.

“Oh, yes we do,” Sarah replied excitedly, “and it's quite good, if I say so myself.” She began to explain some of the options to Mrs. Gourmand, when she was interrupted,

“Aren't you the Reverend's child?” Mrs. Gourmand said curtly as Sarah nodded affirmately. “Make me what you like, will you, dear?”

“I'd be delighted to. Why don’t you find a comfortable place to sit, and I'll bring it to you.” Sarah suggested.

Nearly everyone watching was secretly hoping she wouldn't sit by them, when Oliver spoke out, “Mrs. Gourmand, we'd be delighted if you sit with us.” He stood up to offer her a seat and she joined them. He said, “Oh, and I want you to meet my wife, Sandy.”

“It's nice to meet you Mrs. Grace. Your husband is quite the investigative reporter, isn't he?” Turning to Oliver she said, “I am sorry our meeting was so abruptly concluded. I've been thinking about your questions and I think I might be able to provide some additional insight. Please call my assistant to reschedule.”

Moving back to face Sandy she inquired of her pregnancy. “My goodness, Mrs. Gourmand, it's true, we are expecting for the first time. But how did you hear about it?” Sandy said.

“You'll soon learn. May I call you Sandy?” She awaited Sandy's nod and continued,  “In this place secrets are hard to keep. Oh, by the way, Sandy, please call me Penelope. I think I like you.”

Sandy looked at Oliver in wonder at his previous description of her and then replied, “Penelope. What a beautiful name. Is it a family name?” The two unlikely friends began talking and sharing about everything from family history to how to get fresh vegetables on the island and, of course, pregnancy. Oliver shook his head in amazement.

When Demetrius locked the door at five o'clock, the Grace's, along with Sarah and Andi collapsed in one of the more comfortable seating areas, utterly exhausted and somewhat amazed by the success of the day.

After each person shared his or her experiences of the day, Andi spoke up. “This is why you are here. It's already happening. Look at Sarah's family – they are the first of many! Grace is coming to Paine Harbor. God is at work! That is for sure! And at the same time, you need to be prepared for the push back. Pain has been king here for a long time and it won't give up easily. Be sure to be prepared, not afraid, but prepared.”

They all nodded in agreement and Sandy looked at her husband and said: “Oliver, take me home. I'm beat.” After joyous and tired hugs and kisses, they each left for their homes of rest.