“Leo.”
“Sorry,” he sulks. “This just sucks. You had your life, and now you’re stuck with a sick kid. How did you even find out about this place?”
I go around the counter and wrap my arms around him. He inherited the Galanis genes, so he’s never going to be tall, but he’s still far too small for his age.
“A lot of things suck right now, Leo, but having you in my life is never going to be one of them, okay?”
He nods against my chest and holds me back tightly. We’ve been traveling for a long time, so he’s as tired as I am.
“Okay, how do I make scones? What are scones, anyway?”
I grab my phone and pull up my recipe from the notes app. “Measure these ingredients for now.”
The sound of the coffee maker, the ice blender, and people from the front of the coffee shop becomes our background noise. I put everything into the brownie mix, making it a double, and then I help Leo with the cheese scones.
While everything is in the oven, I fix Leo a sandwich. I hope Julius doesn’t mind. I’m too nervous to eat right now, but Leo needs to. Then he tells me he wants to go for a walk to explore, and I know he’s responsible enough to not get lost or do anything stupid.
I get lost rearranging the cabinets and making an ingredients list, and I don’t notice the noise outside has died down until a small cough gets my attention.
“Oh hi. All good out there?”
Julius has his arms crossed as he leans against the doorframe in the same position I was in just over an hour ago.
“It smells nice in here,” he says.
“Hmm…I’d say heavenly, but I’ll take nice.”
He raises a brow, and when his lips curl into a small smile, two dimples appear on his cheeks.
He fucking has to have dimples.
Pushing aside the way his dark-brown eyes look like they’re trying to figure me out, I place a brownie on a plate with one of the cheese scones and hand it to him.
I try to keep still while he breaks off a piece of the brownie and puts it in his mouth.
“Wow. This is…” he says as he chews, making a chef’s kiss gesture with his hand. “This is better than my brownies.”
Considering what I’ve heard about his brownies, I suddenly feel a lot more confident. This job is so mine.
He tries the scone, which would go better with some butter, but I used the last of what he had in the fridge. He finishes it off like he hasn’t eaten in days.
“I didn’t realize how hungry I was. Thank you.” He puts the plate on the worktop and looks around. “Where’s your kid?”
“He went for a walk to explore the area.”
I glance behind Julius and see the coffee shop is empty. When I look back at him, his gaze is intense and laced with curiosity.
“Who are you, Constantine?”
I take a deep breath and hold my hand out. “Connie Galanis. I’m the guy who’s been avoiding your calls.”
3
JULIUS
“You’re…Connie? I mean, Constantine.”
He nods. Well, he’s definitely not what I had expected when Fletcher told me he had a friend who was perfect to help me in the coffee shop.
