“My little hellion,” her mom interrupted as she gave Aria a playful little jiggle, making her laugh.Oh, well, that was a nickname for a kid.“Why don’t we let the nice man work?”
“Oh, I’m done.” I made quick work of putting the cover back on and stepped off the stool. I shoved the screwdriver in my back pocket, and my hands fell to my hips as I stared at both of them. “First time in Wilde Bay?”
“Yeah,” Aria said. “My daddy got our house together before we moved here.”
“That was nice of him.”
“Do you know a lot about chickens?”Yup, talking to kids always came with whiplash.
“I don’t know a single thing about them,” I told her. “Except that I love a good omelet.”
“Ew.” Her grimace was dramatic. “Eggs are gross. I like pancakes. I like birthday pancakes.”
“And exactly what do birthday pancakes entail?” Considering some of the things I knew the moms at Carson’s school did for their kids, I was almost afraid to ask. I knew I was a simple man, but shit.
“They’re pancakes with sprinkles in them,” she informed me happily. “And I eat them with Cool Whip instead of syrup. Syrup is yucky.”
“I like to take my pancakes, drizzle them with strawberry syrup and chocolate sauce, and then eat them like a taco.”Yeah, some things just stuck with you, no matter where they started.
“You can’t eat tacos for breakfast, silly!” She giggled loudly.
“You can’t knock it until you’ve tried it once,” I said. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
“Nope,” she replied. “He was on the stool when we came in.”
“Eduardo!” I called. As soon as he was looking at me, I gestured to the two of them. “Put their order on my tab—”
“You don’t have to do that!” her mom interrupted.
“Oh, I know,” I said as I went to grab the to-go coffee waiting for me on the counter. I ordered the same black coffee every day, so Eduardo knew exactly what I wanted, even if he tried to talk me into something fancier. “Consider it a thank you for the laughs this morning.”
“I am very funny,” Aria replied.
“Well, thank you,” her mom chimed in. “We appreciate it.”
“You two have a good day.” I gave them a small nod and headed to the door.
“Wait!” Aria shouted, making everyone in the café stop. I rotated on the balls of my feet as she came running toward me. There was something oddly familiar about those blue eyes of hers as she scrutinized me, but I brushed it off.
“Yes?” I asked.
“Down here.” She made a huge gesture to get me down on her level.Ah, kids and their big personalities.Still, I crouched. “I have a thank you present.”
“That’s incredibly ominous from someone holding a monster bear.”
“He’s a zombie bear.”
“That doesn’t make it any better.”
“And I don’t know what omin-omin-omininin—”
“Ominous,” I finished for her, ending her struggle.
“I don’t know what that means.” She gave a big shrug.
“You don’t have to give me anything,” I said.
“I know. You need to close your eyes. That’s the only way the magic works,” Aria whispered. She stared at me, all kinds of expectant.I was going to regret this.Deep down, I just knew it. But I still closed my eyes.
