“Do you think she’d mind?”
Both Kleins snorted. “Are you insane? Mom loves your kid more than she loves us,” Canon motioned between him and Bond. “Well, no, she loves Nemi more than she loves Jarrod and Reid. We’re her favorites, but don’t tell the other two.” He winked, but aside from that, there was no real indication he was joking.
Sharing a disbelieving look with Cason, I agreed. “Okay, but only so long as she doesn’t mind. If she’s got something else on that day, I can always drop her into the salon with Sayla for an hour or two.”
Gesturing at Bond with his thumb, Canon divulged another secret. “This guy ordered coloring books for her and one of those huge tubs of crayons. If Nemi doesn’t use them, he will.”
This was a side of Bond I hadn’t given him credit for when I’d first met him, likely because I’d never have guessed it even existed. Yes, he’d be outrageous and acted like a swinging dick, but under it, there was a guy with a huge heart.
Katy had filled me in on what the brothers had done for her and her grandmother before she’d died, and then the sweet things they’d done after it and during her wedding, and, well, Bond Klein wasn’t the man I’d thought he was. All of the rumors about the partying, love ‘em and leave ‘em Kleins just didn’t match the ones I’d gotten to know.
I’d begun to think this way after the barbecue at the Townsends when he’d been so great with Nemi, but seeing it versus hearing about it made a huge impact. He was kind, considerate, very sentimental, and he genuinely cared about the people in his life.
Katy had explained how he’d wanted to be taken more seriously and to settle down his crazy lifestyle, so he’d opened Kleins with Canon last year.
The sentimental side came when he’d said no to a typical menu and had, instead, gone to Jamaica while Canon had gone to Germany, and they’d learned the best recipes for the restaurant to signify their heritage. Granted, they still had American cuisine and other things available, but most of it revolved around where their parents were originally from.
I’d also discovered something else recently. Like with all places, Piersville had members of the town who were disabled and unable to get to the restaurant. Every other week, if the people were up for it, either Canon or Bond would go and collect them and bring them into the place to eat.
On the weeks where that didn’t happen or if they weren’t up to coming in, they delivered food to them and set it up like they were at the restaurant. And they never charged them for any of it. That little tidbit had come from Gloria, who’d sworn me to secrecy. She’d been ordering a birthday cake from me for one of them at the time, and it’d just slipped out.
So, sure, we all went through a phase where we let our hair down and partied, I’d be a hypocrite if I looked down on him for doing that. But I couldn’t now look at him and just see the perverted gladiator. I saw a guy who deserved to have a good time when he was working, because when he was, Bond gave it everything he had. And he was becoming a great friend.
Smiling brightly at him, I made up my mind.
“See you on Friday, then.”
I’d decided weeks ago that thinking about Bond Klein wasn’t conducive with being a single momma who wanted to stay that way, so I made a point of thinking about anything but. That’s what I did as I drove home, and through some miracle, I made it home in one piece and downed my stomach meds, before picking up two more cakes I had to deliver before I collected Nemi from daycare.
It was vital for her to socialize with other kids, so she went there two days a week just now. I could increase her days, but right now, I was selfish with her. I loved our time together, with her learning about what I did, helping me in her own sweet way, or even when she watched cartoons in her little armchair set up in the corner of the kitchen. It was our time together, and I just hated to give it up right now. She was starting pre-school in August, so I was trying to get as much time with her as possible, and she loved helping out or just sitting in the room while I worked.
Once the other deliveries were done, I headed to collect my baby. The whole way home, she crowed excitedly about Friday and seeing James Bond, Gloria, and the ‘pirate canon,’ making me laugh at her nickname for Canon.
That laughter soon stopped when we got home and saw my friend, Hooch’s owner, waiting for us on the doorstep with the dog sitting beside her. It’s not that I was upset at seeing her, it was the fact all of his stuff was in boxes beside her.