8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
Soren
Coaxing Sam to join me at the Blue Star Diner was a major accomplishment Sunday morning, and I was quite proud of myself as we sat across from each other in the booth.
The décor was pretty much my favorite part of the place. With its small-town vibe.
Gabriella greeted us with a huge smile. “Well, Soren, so glad you’re here. We’ve been missing you.” She pivoted her attention to Sam. “Welcome. I’m not certain I’ve seen you here before.” Her dark hair shone.
Sam managed a smile. “I’m from Hartsville and don’t make my way to Foggy Basin often. This is my first time here. At your diner. It’s really cool.”
His enthusiasm warmed me. He hadn’t wanted to leave the kittens, but I’d convinced him that us being here was the equivalent of us both being asleep and that we wouldn’t be gone long. Certainly, we’d be home in time for the next feeding.
I grinned. “Care to make a recommendation, Gabriella?”
“Now, you know I’m going to say everything is amazing—because it is. But I’d say, if it’s your first visit, that the pancakes with real maple syrup, crispy bacon, and fresh hash browns are to die for.”
Sam closed his menu. “With a cup of coffee?”
“Absolutely.” Gabriella pivoted his attention to me. “And you?”
“Waffles with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Yes, to the bacon. Orange juice as well as coffee.” I handed the menu to her.
With just a bit of a flourish, she snagged them and headed to the kitchen.
“She’s friendly.” Sam tapped his finger on the Formica tabletop.
“She’s a hoot. One of the first people I met when I moved here. I try to come in at least once a week. To keep my social skills sharp.”
Sam cocked his head.
“Like I said, I tend to just work at my computer all day. One of the reasons I got Tibby was so I’d have to get up and exercise three or four times a day.
Labs have tons of energy. Then I try to run into town when I can, to meet with people.
Oh, just hold on a sec.” I held up my hand. “Hey, Kendall.”
The handsome firefighter with his blue eyes and a shaved head turned at my call. His face broke into a huge grin. “Hey, Soren. How’s Tibby doing? Did she pass her therapy-dog training?”
I puffed out my chest. “With flying colors. Now, I have to ask—I heard someone bought the old winery property next to you. Do you know who it is?”
He wrinkled his nose. “No idea. It’s driving me nuts.” He said it with a shrug.
Roger, his buddy, nudged him. “We’re taking bets.” The Black man, who had some serious muscles, grinned.
“Really?” That had me intrigued.
Arnie, another one of the firefighter friends, who was even more solid than Roger, laughed. “Just kidding. Whatever we can do to get him riled up. He’s worried about the sanctity of his reptile sanctuary.”
Both Roger and Kendall groaned.
“Oh, is that Reptile Rescue?” Sam grinned. “I thought I recognized you. Sorry, I have trouble placing people when they’re not at the store.”
Kendall’s grin was back. “Right, sorry, Sam. Yeah, these guys like to give me shit. You want in on the betting? So far, I think old lady day spa is winning.” He pointed to me. His grin, though, betrayed the lie to his words.
I snorted. “I’m going to find out who bought the property. You forget that I have mad hacking skills.”
He sat straighter. “Yeah? Could you find out?”
“No.” I laughed. “I’m joking and you need to relax. I’m sure everything will work out.”
“Right?” Arnie snorted. “That’s what we keep telling him. He’s just worried about his scaly friends.”
“Two cups of steaming hot java.” Gabriella put the cups down on the table. “Hey, Kendall, how are the monsters?”
Kendall rolled his eyes. "They're not monsters. They're perfectly harmless reptiles." But he caught my gaze. “If you change your mind—”
I waved him off. “I don’t fancy a visit from the FBI.”
“Yeah, but you do that kind of stuff for a living.”
“The answer is no. I’m sorry I joked about it.”
Sam cocked his eyebrow.
I gave him that look.
“Yeah. Whatever. I guess I just have to be patient.” Kendall huffed and then turned back to his buddies.
Gabriella had headed back to the kitchen and Sam continued to stare. “You’re all ethical this morning.”
I laughed. “I’m always ethical. I really do love my business—and not being in jail. So, snooping into places where I haven’t been invited and remaining a free man are exclusive to each other.”
“Ah.” He tapped his nose. “Good to know. My personal laptop barely runs the internet. I only use it for doing work stuff and the odd search. The FBI would find me very boring.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” I sipped my coffee. “There is truly nothing better than a great cup of coffee, and I have to say Blue Star’s is some of the best around.”
Sam sipped and his eyes widened. “Yeah, okay, I’ll second that.”
“And I have your food.” Gabriella grinned. She placed the pancakes in front of Sam. “I added a side of blueberries in case you would like them. Otherwise, I’m quite certain Soren will indulge.”
She placed my plate before me, and the heavenly smell of bacon assailed me. My saliva glands kicked into overdrive. “Perfection. As always.”
“Oh, I nearly forgot your OJ.”
Sam raised his hand. “May I have one as well?”
“Of course. Back in a flash.” True to her word, I’d barely poured syrup over my waffle before two glasses of orange juice were added to the table.
I mock toasted Sam. “To surviving our first week of parenthood.”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he cast his eyes down and his mouth drooped.
Well, fuck. That wasn’t supposed to happen. What did I say? “Sam?”
“Mmm?” He blinked. “Sorry. Just a flash of a memory. I thought much the same thing after my first week of being responsible for Quinta. And was totally overwhelmed at the thought that she was just nine and I had years and years and years more of that ahead of me.” He cut a piece of pancake and dipped it in syrup.
“I wasn’t fully recovered from my injuries—and so everything was tough.
But I didn’t want Quinta in foster care any longer than she needed to be.
We’d always been close. I mean, I was just ten years older and so we liked to hang and do cool stuff.
I wanted to remain the cool uncle, but now I was facing financial decisions, parenting choices, and stuff I’d never even contemplated. ” He put the piece in his mouth.
“Wow.” I scratched my jaw. “That sounds totally overwhelming. I can’t imagine taking all that on now—and I’m nearly forty.”
He shrugged. And finally met my gaze. “I don’t think age has that much to do with it. I mean, you have more life experience. But you haven’t had kids—” His jaw dropped. “Oh, God. I never asked if you had kids. I just assumed—”
I waved him off. “You assumed correctly. My wife and I couldn’t have kids.
Just…one of those things. We turned our attention to our careers and dedicated a lot of time to cultivating friendships with other childless couples.
Some were by choice and some were like us—it just didn’t work out.
I will say that people feel free to make a lot of assumptions when they meet a married heterosexual couple with no kids. ”
“That’s true. Just like people made a lot of assumptions about a kid, barely nineteen, planning to raise his niece.
I considered adopting her because I wanted to give her that protection—so no one could take her away from me.
We still get strange looks, though, because until recently, I didn’t really look my age, and she’s always looked more mature.
” He sniffed. “I fought so many battles as her guardian. Against well-meaning people who thought they knew what was best for us. Well, fuck them. Oh, shit.” He pressed his fingers to his mouth and his gaze darted around the diner.
No one was paying us any mind. One of the reasons I loved Foggy Basin. We were just two guys having a meal. If people were making certain assumptions about us, that was on them.
I smiled. “I think you’re good. You had it rough?”
He nodded. “Lots of people questioned my ability to parent. I tried to point out that plenty of teenage parents raised great kids. And that Quinta had a head start because she’d had the best parents ever.
” Again, he sniffled. “When I turned eighteen, Lucius and Marcella sat me down, and we had a long conversation. See, our parents were older. Like, I was a surprise baby when my mom was forty-five. And yeah, sixty-three isn’t that old…
but my brother- and sister-in-law were inherently cautious people.
They said they wanted to add me to their will as a potential guardian to Quinta—in case anything should ever happen to them.
“I thought they were nuts. Truly. But I loved them both, and so I sat there while they took me through their hopes and dreams for their daughter. All the things they hoped might happen for her. All the things they expected me to do. I paid attention. Mainly because I kept thinking there might be things I could do at that moment. Or that this was what true love looked like and maybe someday I’d be lucky enough to have a Quinta of my own.
” He blinked. “I always assumed I would have kids. That’s just how we rolled in my family. ”
After a moment, I reached out to grasp his shaking hand. “And you have a child—so to speak. Well, she’s grownup now. And from everything you’ve told me, it’s clear you did a great job. I’m sure your family would be very proud of you. It can’t have been easy.”
He closed his eyes and pressed his other hand to his forehead.
“Nope. Not a single day of it. You’re right, though.
I think they would be proud—of both of us.
We got each other through a horrible period in our lives.
We’ll never forget them…but the pain has lessened.
I don’t think about them as often—and when I do, it’s remembering the good times.
Not the horrible accident that stole them away from me.
From us.” He opened his eyes. “Your food’s getting cold. ”
I squeezed his hand. “Some things are more important than hot food.” I tried for a casual shrug. “These waffles are so good that I’d eat them stone cold. Same with the pancakes.” I grinned and, with some regret, released his hand.
After a moment, he smiled. “Are we taking a slice of bacon home for Tibby?”
“Of course. Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Hey, Soren.” A deep voice pulled me away from staring at Sam.
“Zane! Hey, how’s it going? I’m sorry I haven’t been in. I, uh—” I pointed at Sam. “Do you know Sam Mosley?”
For a moment, Zane appeared confused. His hazel eyes clouded. Then he smiled. “Oh wait, you run the pet store over in Hartsville.”
“That’s me.” Sam smiled.
“I run the feed store in town. I stock standard pet food, but if anyone needs something specialized that I can’t get, I send them to you.”
“Oh.” Sam smiled. “Thank you for that.”
Zane grinned. “I always want to take care of my customers—even if that means sending them somewhere else. Oh, I haven’t introduced Devin. He’s British, and I gave him a job.”
I gave Devin a once-over.
He was broadly built. A contrast to Zane’s slender frame. Devin had black hair and beard as well as soft dark-brown eyes.
So cute.
And the way Zane kept glancing at him. Is there more than the boss/employee relationship going on?
I’d have to ask because I’m dying to know.
I didn’t tend to meddle in other people’s affairs—because I certainly didn’t want them sticking their noses into mine—but I was very curious about this Devin fellow.
“Hey, our booth is available.” Zane gestured. “We’ll see you around? Nice seeing you both again.”
“Cheers.” Devin’s grin matched Zane’s as they headed for a table.
“Nice guys.” Sam sipped his orange juice. “Everybody’s so friendly.”
“They are.” I snagged a slice of bacon, wrapped it in a napkin, and shoved it in my jeans pocket. “For Tibby.”
He gestured to his. “May I take her a slice as well?”
“Maybe I’ll just give you mine. She gets plenty from me already.”
“Thanks. That’d be…really sweet.” He gazed around the diner. “I’ll try to come here more often. Hartsville isn’t that far away.”
“We’ll just have to give you an incentive for visiting.” Boldly, I winked.
Sam bit his lower lip.
If not for his dark skin, I’d bet I’d be able to see him blushing. Unlike me who, with my bright-white skin, showed every damn emotion. My wife used to tease me about it mercilessly.
Gabriella arrived at our table. “Everything okay? You looked like you were talking super intensely, and now your food’s gone cold.” Her brown eyes expressed concern.
“All good.” I gestured to the food. “Maybe we can get it to go?” I turned my attention to Sam. “I know it’s a little early in the day…but would you like dessert? They make some amazing pies.”
His eyes lit. “Maybe we can share?”
“Sounds perfect.” I turned to Gabriella. “What flavors do you have?”