Theo looked up.“What?No, of course not.I lo—I mean, Peter’s nice.I like him.He’s really… He’s Peter.”
“Aww, look at you,” Corvin said.
Celeste nodded.“Yes, do look at you.I think this can be fixed.”
“How?Seriously, how?Whenever I tell him I’m fine or that I don’t need anything, he just…he gets nicer, and then I feel bad for even saying anything in the first place, you know?”
“He’s such a fluff ball.”
Corvin snorted.“Peter the Terrible a fluff ball.Hah!”
Celeste leaned on the kitchen island.“Tell him you want to take on a part-time job.Or better yet, tell him I asked you to.”
Theo blinked at her.“You…asked me to?”
She shrugged.“Sure.You can work behind the bar.I trained you.You know how to talk to people, and there’s usually a bartender there come evening.”
This could work.I’d get to go out of the house and—“But he can’t come here, right?When I work.”
Celeste chuckled.“I’ll take care of that.But someone is going to have to drive you home after each shift, I don’t think that’s negotiable.And, of course, while I’m sympathetic to your issues, I’d like to see you get your degree, yes?”
“Yeah, of course.”Theo nodded.“Yeah.This…this could work.”
She put her hand on her hip.“What I can’t do is keep him from trying to offer you something at his firm though.He’d probably rather pay me to hire someone else and employ you himself.”
Corvin nodded.“Yeah, Peter’s intense like that.”He eyed the credit card Theo was moving from one hand to the other absentmindedly.“I’d buy so many books with that.”
“You want it?”Theo said.
Corvin eyed the card more closely.“I do, but also no.Books have to be earned.You have to really want them, and you have to have the time to read them and give them a good home on your shelf.”
Celeste put another cookie on each of their plates.“You two finish these, and I’ll pack you the leftovers.Theodore?”
“Hmm?”
“What did you two talk about when he hired that chef for you?”
Theo shrugged.“Oh, just…about school, about his job.I told him to google the Dutch angle, and it made him laugh.”
Corvin swallowed a mouthful of cookie.“What’s that?”
Theo shrugged.“Google it.”
He watched Corvin pull out his phone and do just that while Celeste rounded the kitchen island to look over his shoulder.
Corvin chuckled.“Oh, I get it.This is funny.”
Celeste huffed.“I was right about Peter and you.You’re perfect for each other.”
Theo waved the sleeve of his sweater at her.“He made me wear this in case it gets too cold.”
It was difficult to read her expression with her beard sometimes, so Theo wasn’t sure what exactly she was thinking.
“Just my point,” she said.
Chapter 3
Notmuchlater,theywere on their way back down, Corvin with half the cookies and the recipe and Theo with the remaining cookies and a sliver of hope.
