He looked happy. He looked happier than I could remember seeing him, and that was good. Liam had always been my friend, and maybe he wasn’t meant to be my husband, but he deserved good things.
For fifteen minutes, I could be happy for Liam instead of mad at Harvey.
* * *
“Do you need a time out?”Dante asked, putting himself between me and the espresso machine.
The espresso machine I’d just been hitting hard enough to hurt my wrist, because it’d suddenly stopped working on me.
It did that sometimes, and Iknewhow to fix it—which didn’t actually involve beating the shit out of it until it decided to cooperate again.
But I was frustrated, and it wasn’t making my day any better.
“I need a working espresso machine,” I snapped.
“You need a time out,” Dante said, face firm. He was normally an easygoing man, but there was no arguing with Dante when he made up his mind like this. “Sit in the corner and I’ll bring you tea.”
“Coffee,” I tried. There was still cold brew in the fridge, I’d drink that.
“Tea,” Dante said, still firm. “You’re worked up enough, I’m cutting you off.”
I huffed, but didn’t fight Dante off as he ushered me into the corner booth—the one I’d shared with Harvey a week ago.
Had he really only been gone since Monday? It felt like months.
“It’s nearly closing,” Dante said, setting a cup of peppermint tea in front of me. “I’ll flip the sign in a minute and we’ll handle the espresso machine in the morning, okay? Are you sleeping? I’m bringing you some of my sleep blend tonight.”
“You don’t have to,” I said. Dante had been hovering, and I understood why—I even appreciated it.
But I was exhausted. Iwantedto crawl into bed and close my eyes and just… stop thinking for a few hours.
So I’d definitely sleep later.
Dante made an unhappy noise, kissed the top of my head, and left me with my tea.
He meant well. I just… needed to wallow for a little while.
As promised, Dante started closing up around me, and for once, I let him. He was right about me needing to learn to accept help, and my wrist was still bothering me from time to time.
“Uhh,” Dante said aloud from the front of the shop, halfway through stacking chairs on the first table. “Iggy? You might wanna, umm… come over here.”
I drained the last of my tea—itwasgood, and there was no sense in wasting it—and stood, heading over to where Dante was by the window.
The whole world shuddered to a halt when I saw what he’d seen between the fronds of all my window plants.
Harvey.
Harvey standing there in his coat, looking a little lost. The breeze blowing through his hair, the afternoon sun in his eyes.
MyHarvey.
I raced out into the street, stopping just short of leaping into his arms even as he smiled that just-for-me smile again.
Any anger I’d felt toward him evaporated the moment I saw the ukulele in his hands.
“Oh no,” I said, staring at it.
Harvey plucked the strings, grinning a wicked grin at me. “Ohyes,” he said. “Don’t forget you asked for this.”
