I averted my eyes and struggled to repress the smile that so wanted to break through. “I don’t know what you mean.”
He made a sound in the back of his throat. “Oh, I think you do.”
“You know, Mom cornered me at your house the other day and all but demanded I pop out a baby. I think she’s actually lost her mind. Should we be worried about dementia? She said she didn’t even care if I got married first. She just wants grandkids right now. Has she done the same thing to you?”
The look of horror that passed over Will’s face would have been comical if I couldn’t relate so completely. “What?”
“Yeah, she cornered Lola and me in your kitchen and started telling us how she needed babies before she got too old to play with them. She was like actually mad about it too. Like we were somehow behind schedule in giving her grandchildren.”
His skin had turned a sickly shade of green. “Kids, though, right? Like who’s really ready for that kind of responsibility? We’d have to be out of our minds to have kids, am I right? I mean... now... with the state of the world. And this bar. How would that even work? You can’t bring a baby to a bar. And then would I just be not home every night? Like never be a part of this kid’s life? How would Lola even handle being a mom with all her current responsibilities? This kid would have to grow up in daycare and with nannies and never get to be with his mom or dad. And—”
“Yikes,” I cut in before he launched into a full-fledge panic attack. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to trigger you.”
He grasped for a clean glass and shot the beverage gun directly into it. Water whirlpooled around until it overflowed. Then he dropped the gun and gulped the water. It sloshed all over the front of his shirt. “It’s fine,” he promised, wild-eyed and jittery. “I’m fine.”
What was going on with him? Was he really that afraid of having kids? “Mom, though. Is your answer, I mean. She would watch the kid so you guys could still keep your jobs.” I thought about what I said and quickly added, “Not that Charlie and I would fire you because you had a baby. Obviously, things would change. But it would be for a good reason. We’d figure it out. Geez, Will, calm down. It’s not like you need to worry about it for a while.”
If possible, he looked more freaked out. Then he walked out from behind the bar and straight out the front door and down the block. Where was he going? Why was he leaving? What the hell?
Case walked in a couple of minutes later. I still hadn’t moved from my spot at the bar where I was currently wondering if both of my brothers needed to be committed.
“Hey, you ready for this?” I asked him by way of greeting.
He held up an official-looking pad of paper. “So ready. My goal is to be fully staffed by the weekend.”
“Wait, how many employees are you planning to hire today?”
He made a nervous face. “Four to five?”
“Are you serious?”
His mouth broke into a grin. “I’m just kidding, boss. I’ll be happy with anything. Part-time. Full-time. A little rat in a chef’s hat. I’m not picky.”
“Ratatouille?” I guessed at his reference. It was low on the list of favorite kid movies for me, but literally every chef I knew freaking loved it and referenced it all the time. It was the definition of cult following.
He nodded. “What time is the first one scheduled?”
“In about ten minutes.”
He nodded again, and I could see his mind mentally scheduling his afternoon through his eyes. “Okay, I’m going to start some prep, but I’ll be back in ten.” He started to walk toward the kitchen, mumbling, “I should have come in earlier.”
His stress made me feel better about this hire. Honestly, it was amazing we’d lasted this long with only Case. Guilt panged through me for how much we’d asked of him. But also astonishment for how much he was able to handle for so long. He was genuinely an impressive chef. And if we did manage to hire someone, he definitely deserved a raise.
So did I. But I’d wait to fight that battle for another day.
I set up at one of the high-top tables near the bar and pulled out my notes and notebooks. I was a notebook junky and tended to buy a new one every other week. Sometimes I filled them out completely and then saved them for... who really knew why. But sometimes, I would get them for one singular purpose—like interviewing several potential candidates—and then carry them around for a week to ten days before buying a new one and forgetting all about it.
My phone pinged with a text. I looked down expecting Jonah, but it was from Charlie instead. I was surprised since he was just in my office and could have easily walked out to talk to me. Well, until I saw the content of the message.
It was a black and white video clip. I realized after a few seconds that it was security footage of our bar.
Anxiety spiked in my belly as I tried to figure out why Charlie would send me this. Had something happened? And was it going to be expensive?
The longer I watched the short clip, however, the more I realized it was of a blurry image of two people. Two people were making out in the alley behind the bar.
Oh, my gosh, it was Jonah and me. The night he’d stuck up for me, and we’d gone back to his place.
We’d gone out the back entrance and kissed for just a little bit. Not even a full-on make-out session. We’d even managed to keep our clothes on.
