“Yep.And spoiler, it’s not that long a proposal. But she couldn’t just say, ‘Yes, Con, I love it!’ or ‘No, Con, it’s trash!’ I have to wait until next week.” I shrugged.
“And if she says no? You want me to hold this full-time spot?”
“If she says no, I’m going out on my own,” I told him.
Mitch smiled again. “Good man. So should I plan to hire a full-timeranda part-timer?”
“Nah. You’re not getting rid of me that easily. Gotta get some clients first. I’ll give you plenty of warning before I give up the part-time gig.” I stood up, rubbing a hand over my weary eyes. “And for now, I’m gonna go home and get some sleep.”
“Home.” Mitch tilted his head to the side. “You mean,home?Or to Micah Bloom’s shop, where you spend an inordinate amount of time?”
My jaw dropped.
Okay, yes, I’d been getting a little careless about where I left my car when I was at Micah’s, and I’d stopped sneaking in and out under cover of darkness a couple of months ago. But I’d sort of imagined that since no one had said anything, no one had noticed. Clearly not.
And I probably should have been more worried about that.
“O’Leary’s top investigator, right here.” Mitch pointed to himself. He grinned smugly and made a circle in the air with his hand, indicating my open mouth. “FYI, first law of secrecy is not to look overly guilty.”
I shut it firmly.
“Micah’s a good guy,” Mitch said. “For what it’s worth.”
I hadn’t realized exactly how much I needed to hear those words from someone, not because I didn’t already know them to be true, but because the need to keep my feelings for Micah a secret was strangling me these days.
Next week, I told myself. Next week, once my mother had made her decision for better or for worse, I was going to tell Micah exactly how I felt about him, and let the rest of the world know, too.
“He really is,” I agreed, grinning. And I decided my guy deserved some decent pastries.
I left my car in the lot at the station—I mean, since Mitch already knew, why not?—and walked the short distance toFanaille.
The morning was a diamond-bright assault on my senses. Sunlight reflected off the snow banks piled on either side of the street, and off the icicles hanging from the rooftops, singeing my eyes. My hands were red and numb, despite being in my pockets, and the air was so cold, I could feel crystals forming in my throat as I breathed it in. For a moment I seriously considered whether Ross Landscaping could use a Florida branch. And then I remembered that everything—and everyone—I loved was right here.
The line atFanaillewas predictably long as the weekday regulars grabbed their coffee and goodies before starting their days, and my stomach was grumbling as I took my spot at the back.
I spotted my brother Julian at one of the little tables in front of the window, and nearly called out before deciding not to interrupt. He was holding hands on top of the table with Daniel, his big, blond god of a boyfriend, and paying more attention to the man than to the muffin and coffee in front of him.
Christ, Jules looked happy. I’d been a tiny bit worried last month—not as bad as Mama, who’d been ready to rouse the villagers with their pitchforks and descend on Daniel’s cabin out for blood, but still worried—when he and Daniel had seemed to hit a rough patch. But ever since the beginning of the month, when Daniel had gotten back from his trip to the city, he and Julian had been pretty much inseparable.
I wanted that.
Julian’s muffin reminded me of the muffins Micah and I had shared out at the lake and—yeah, okay, I was basically the sappiest person in the entire universe—but it made me think of how everything had really started changing for me that day. That was the day I’d realized just how much I could trust Micah, not just to handle me when my own emotions were so knotted I couldn’t think straight, but to handle my past and my future, too.
For the longest time—Christ, almosttenyears now!—I’d been pushing back every negative emotion, thinking that if I was cheerful, positive Constantine, I’d somehow forget just how fucked up my life was. I’d gone from one day, to the next, to the next, never really wondering whether I was on the right path or onany path at all.
Then Micah had come into my world and messed me up. Made me remember that paths were athing, challenged me to call things what they were, and believed that I could be more than the robot I’d allowed myself to become.
“Morning, Con! What can I getcha?” Ash Martin greeted me, wiping his hands on a white towel he’d slung over his shoulder. “Got some raspberry cake things—”
“Lemon-raspberry breakfast rolls,” Caelan James corrected without looking up from the cash register where he was ringing in a different purchase.
Ash grinned at Cal, his eyes tracking from Cal’s red hair down to his face.
“That’s what I said. Raspberry cake thingies.”
Cal frowned and glanced at his boyfriend in annoyance, then rolled his eyes when he saw Ash’s grin. “Pretty sure you’re doing this on purpose to annoy me, Ashley.”
Ash pretended to consider this. “Pretty sure you’re right,Caelan.”
