“Stop it.” She looks horrified as she gazes over her shoulder to make sure he didn’t hear.
When she puts his order on the counter, he looks down at it. “Well this is entirely too much for one person.” He glances at me. “Think your mom would mind if you took a break?”
Her eyes dart around, looking shy now.Wait… Jordan look shy?
“No,” I say without missing a beat filling my current order. “Her mom wouldnotmind.”
“Um, okay,” Jordan says, now looking nervous as well. “Why don’t you go grab a seat? I’ll be there in a minute.”
He happily takes his order and walks across the shop, looking back at her over his shoulder once before sitting in a booth.Ourbooth. Mine and Trevor’s. Oh, the thoughts swirling in my head right now.
I try not to laugh when Jordan checks herself in the mirrored wall on her way around the counter.
For the next thirty minutes, I find it very hard to concentrate on work as I watch the two of them talk, laugh, and flirt over coffee cake and macchiatos.
At one point, her hand flies to her mouth, as if surprised, and she spares a quick glance at me, her head shaking, her expression a harbinger of disbelief.
I’m truly amazed by what I see in my daughter right now. She has a glint in her eyes that matches his. A different inflection in her laugh. A lustrous smile.
She’s had boyfriends now and again, but none of them—not even the one she dated for almost a year—had her positively glowing the way this man does.
Watching them in our booth is like seeing myself and Trevor when we were kids. It almost brings tears to my eyes.
“Who’s that handsome fellow?” Cathy Milam asks as she collects her daily order for the bank down the street.
“All I know is that his name is Finn, and he’s new in town.”
“They sure do look good together, don’t they?”
I can only nod and do my best not to be super obvious as I continue to stare at them between orders.
“Hey,” a familiar voice calls from behind as arms wrap around my waist.
I turn in Trevor’s arms and inhale his fresh scent. “Hey yourself,chief.”
He plants a kiss on my forehead and sighs. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that.”
“Today chief of cardiothoracic surgery, tomorrow chief of the entire surgery department.”
He chuckles. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
I look up at him and study his face. How handsome he is. His hair is no longer stark brown, having been invaded by grays for almost ten years now. And his eyes may have deep creases at the edges, but I rest easy knowing they haven’t come from work or stress, but from all the laughter we’ve shared. All the smiles he’s bestowed upon us.
“Do you know how proud I am of you?” I ask, feeling particularly prideful overallmy family today.
“Right back at ya, Mrs. Criss. You’ve done a spectacular job with this place. Not to mention with our amazing kid.” He glances around behind the counter. “Where is our tenacious daughter?”
I nod toward the seating area out front.
Trevor’s eyes laser-focus on the booth, then his jaw slackens. “What is Jordan doing with Finn Collins?”
“Youknowhim?”
“Yeah, well I hope so. He’s my new cardiothoracic fellow.”
Now it’smyjaw that hits the counter. “Oh my god, really?”
Trevor starts around the counter with the purposeful stride of a man on a mission. I grab his arm and hold him back. “Don’t. Leave them. Can’t you see what’s going on?”
