“No, his daughter. His wife died, and he’s raising her on his own. That’s why he moved back here, to give them a fresh start. Austin grew up here, but moved away when he was eighteen. He owns a landscaping business, so he’s building his client base here, but he also does web design work, so he can do that remotely. He wants to give his daughter a good life.”
“Not spoken much, then?”
“Piss off. This is just chit-chat at the counter when he orders his coffee.”
“I see.”
“He’s straight.”
“Oh, honey. That man wants you under him, begging for it.”
“Sshhh,” said Liam, going bright red and looking around.
“I thought this was an open and inclusive town.”
“It is, but it’s also full of gossips. I don’t want people going around saying I’ve been hitting on the single dad. Besides, a few of the women have got their eyes on him.”
“Well, I think he has his eye on someone else,” said Milo, nodding at Liam.
“He was married to a woman.”
“Ever heard of a bisexual?”
“What? No, you think? Nah, he can’t be. I mean, look at him. There’s no way he’s into cock.”
Milo chuckled. “He’s probably more of an arse man.”
“Milo. Stop shit stirring.”
“Okay, I’ll let it go, but I’ll say one last thing. Don’t make assumptions. That guy is into you, so if he asks you out, don’t brush it off with your usual ‘I’m not good enough’ crap you like to do.”
“Fine. Now, you want to tell me why you schlepped all the way here? If you’d wanted to check in, you could have done that on the phone.”
“How are you doing?”
“Just taking it a day at a time. I’m worried about Dad. He can’t come back in here yet. One of the staff called out sick today, so I had to come in and cover for them.”
“He might just need some more time. It’s only been a couple of months.”
“It’s bizarre, you know. Sometimes it feels like it just happened, and other times it’s like she’s already been gone for years.”
Milo reached across the table and gave his friend’s hand a reassuring squeeze.
“What’s going on with you then, Milo?”
“We can’t talk here.”
“Okay, well, I have to cover the lunch shift, and then we can go back to my place.”
Liam had his own annexe on his parent’s property, which he still used whenever he visited. He would spend at least one weekend a month visiting them.
“How are things at the flat?” asked Liam.
“Shit. Kieran still thinks I’m a home wrecker, and Hassan wants to move to a smaller place so we don’t need to have anyone new move in.”
“Yeah, he called me about that. Asked me to cover my share of the rent until the lease was up.”
“He did what?”
