A movement to the side of me took my attention away from the conversation, and I turned just in time to see what looked like a shoelace of drool drip from the corner of the beast’s mouth onto the floor. Another one appeared on the other side and did the same thing, making the sandwich sit heavily in my stomach. Like it’d turned on the slaver faucet, as soon as one side dropped, the other side produced another.
There wasn’t one thing about that dog that wasn’t disgusting, and this was proof.
“Aw, is handsome hungry?” Heidi asked, and again, the distraction worked against me.
Dropping the half-eaten sandwich down on my plate, I wiped my hands on my napkin and reached for my glass of water. “Not anymore, I’m not.” When no one said anything, I looked up to see three amused female faces focused on me. Sighing, I sat back heavily in my chair. “You were talking about ‘it’ again, weren’t you?”
And that’s how it went. The damn canine ruined my life that day, as well as my appetite. But I still got to spend time with one of my favorite people in the world and two who were heading toward the same category.
There was absolutely no way to describe how I felt when I gave Nemi that bandage I’d ordered for her, though. She screamed and held her foot out, demanding that I put it on her immediately.
Yeah, I could totally do this… especially when I saw the soft expression on Heidi’s face when I’d finished changing the bandages on her daughter’s foot. Behind her, Mom nodded approvingly and gave me a wink, too.
Little steps. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it was best for me to prove I was capable of having both of their backs slowly.
Chapter Eight
Heidi
Three weeks later…
Walking into Kleins with the first two boxes from my car, I almost tripped when I saw Canon and Bond sitting at the bar with another man who was nearly as handsome as the brothers. How was a woman meant to survive that kind of hit? And what were the odds that DNA would be as generous as it was to a whole family and a random guy who was pointing at bottles?
Giving myself a mental shake, I resumed walking, smiling when I saw yet another DNA winner behind the bar—Casy. I wouldn’t say we were friends in any way, but he was easy to talk to and always had a relaxed air about him and a smile, so people naturally navigated toward him, which was probably why he made the tips he did, even stuck behind the bar.
“Stop,” he clipped, holding his hand up in the air and making his way out from behind the bar. “What did we say about you carrying things in by yourself?”
“That I’m a fully capable human being who can carry boxes with cakes in them without crying out in pain?”
Taking the boxes out of my arms, he rolled his eyes at me. “That’s true, but we also said you’re a single mom who never gets to rest and relax, so when there are people around who can carry shit for you—you let them do it.”
I’d just opened my mouth to shoot back a response when a deep chuckle sounded behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Canon, Bond, and the other man smiling at me.
“He’s got a point,” Canon said, taking his life into his own hands. Seeing my eyes narrowing on him, he shrugged. “Why carry the boxes when we can do it for you. Are there more outside?” When I nodded, he smacked the other two men on the shoulders. “That’s our cue to go and bring them in for Heidi.”
Sighing, I crossed over to a barstool and hopped up onto it, drumming my nails on the bar top while I waited. I was so used to being active and doing this part of my job that I didn’t know what to do with myself.
Then I had an idea. Jumping back down, I jogged over to the refrigerated glass display case the desserts were kept in. Because the delivery was due today, all of the wooden cake stands inside it had been cleaned, so all I had to do was lift them out and take them back to the bar two at a time to put the new cakes on.
This was one of the parts of my work that I loved. It didn’t matter what the cake was for, setting it up was a huge source of pride for me. Plus, some of the ones I’d made needed to be put together before they were fully ready for their customers, so I was killing two birds with one stone.
Turning the first stand around until I got the side I wanted at the front, I switched off and began to unbox the cake and place it on top. Canon and Bond had found unique stands for the restaurant, eschewing the ‘norm’ of ceramic and glass, and going for ones made from the roots of trees. They were strikingly beautiful and totally fit the vibe of the restaurant, plus they suited the cakes.