She handed my phone back to me.Bless you both.
You are very kind, I said to her.
“Excuse me?”
I turned, and found a man standing behind me. He was maybe in his mid-forties, with grey hair and stubble, and bright blue eyes.
When I stood up, he looked at Annabeth, then smiled at me.
“You must be Myles,” he said. “I’m Stephen. The counter person told me you’re the one who helped my mom with her order.”
“Hey, yeah.” I offered him a hand, which he shook. “It was no problem, really. Your mother is absolutely lovely.”
He chuckled. “That she is.”
“One order for Annabeth. One order for M. Reyes. Collection counter is No. 3.”
“Umm, I should go,” I told Stephen. “My order’s here, and I’m pretty sure if I leave my niece alone any longer, she’s going to trash my van as a punishment for keeping her waiting.”
He laughed good-naturedly. “I get it. And hey, thanks again for the assist with my mom. I appreciate it.”
“You got it.” I turned to Annabeth.I have to go, but it was nice to meet you, I signed to her.
She got to her feet, and Stephen and I helped her walk around the table. She smiled at her son, then at me, and took my face in her hands before placing a gentle kiss on my forehead.
Thank you again, she signed.
I squeezed her hand once, and then waved at her and Stephen before making my way over to counter 3.
As I grabbed my order and left the café, I couldn’t help but notice a bounce in my steps.
Man, I couldn’twaitto tell Rina about this.
31. Honeydew
Ishut the van’s engine and got out before locking it. I jogged up the small flight of stairs, and once I was near her front door, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent her a text.
Me:Knock-knock.
I hadn’t spoken to Rina much during the day, what with me being busy photographing my annoying niecefor the gram. And, because Rina was going to be at the shop tomorrow morning, and I would hardly get to see her with all the work that I had to do in the storeroom, I’d decided to spend some time with her tonight.
It was after 11. Rina had texted me twenty minutes ago asking me to come over. Only after being perfectly sure Mr. Ribeiro had gone to bed, of course.
Rina:Who’s there?
I chuckled.
Me:Honeydew.
Rina:Honeydew who?
Me:Honeydew wanna build a snowman? Or ride my cock until it’s dawn?
Rina:OHMYGOD.
Her next message was a string of cry-laughing emojis.
Rina:Why are you like this?!
