Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
CONSTANTINE
Fake it till you make it. Isn’t that what they say?
I don’t feel the confidence and carefree attitude I’m determined to show Julius, but there is one thing I don’t have to fake. This will be the best batch of triple chocolate brownies he has ever tasted.
I know my way around a kitchen, so I throw out the burned brownies and give the oven a quick clean. The oven timer is counting down from four hours, so if I were a betting man, I’d say the kid who ran out of the kitchen like a bat out of hell didn’t see it was set for the brownies and set it for the toast currently in the trash, still smoking a little.
On top of mixing up the timers, he set them to hours instead of minutes. No wonder the kitchen looked like it was on fire when I arrived at Bittersweet, hoping for the break I so desperately need.
Five minutes later, Julius has freshly buttered toast for his customer and the area is spotless and ready for my magic. Just one more thing.
Take the stinky trash out so I can breathe again.
When I return to the kitchen, Leo is sitting on the stool by the kitchen island.
“You never said he was hot. Like Mountain Men magazine hot,” he says, holding a half-empty water bottle.
“That’s not a real thing.” I look inside the cabinets to find the ingredients I’ll need.
“Not the point. He’s hot.”
“Is he? I didn’t notice.”
Leo laughs. “Sure you didn’t.”
Okay, I did. But I’m not going to own up to it. Besides, it’s not like I can flirt with the man I’m counting on to give me a job and a place to live, is it?
“Are you going to help or just stand there?”
Leo tenses, his hands gripping the bottle tight until it bends under his fingers. He seems to notice what he’s doing and releases the bottle, hiding his hands between his legs. “I can’t. What if…?”
This is something he’s doing more of. Hiding. Pulling away. I’m still not sure the move to Stillwater is a good one for us, for him, but I have to try.
Buckle up, Constantine.
“Do you have any cuts on your hands?” I ask.
“No.”
“Did you take your meds on time?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, right now, our biggest worry is me getting this job so we have somewhere to sleep tonight.”
He nods. “Right.”
“Besides—”
“It can’t spread through food preparation. I know.”
Sometimes, I’m not sure if he struggles to apply the stuff he knows to real life or if he’s being a little shit like teenagers often are.
I open the fridge and grab the butter. There’s also a block of cheese, which gives me an idea.
“Have you ever baked scones?”
Leo snorts. “Sure, I like to whip up a batch for stress relief. You know, between classes, doctor appointments, and Mom abandoning me.”
“Leo.”
“Sorry,” he sulks. “This just sucks. You had your life, and now you’re stuck with a sick kid. How did you even find out about this place?”
I go around the counter and wrap my arms around him. He inherited the Galanis genes, so he’s never going to be tall, but he’s still far too small for his age.
“A lot of things suck right now, Leo, but having you in my life is never going to be one of them, okay?”
He nods against my chest and holds me back tight. We’ve been traveling a long time, so he’s as tired as I am.
“Okay, how do I make scones? What are scones, anyway?”
I grab my phone and pull up my recipe from the notes app. “Measure these ingredients for now.”
The sound of the coffee maker, the ice blender, and people from the front of the coffee shop becomes our background noise. I put everything into the brownie mix, making it a double, and then I help Leo with the cheese scones.
While everything is in the oven, I fix Leo a sandwich. I hope Julius doesn’t mind. I’m too nervous to eat right now, but Leo needs to. Then he tells me he wants to go for a walk to explore, and I know he’s responsible enough to not get lost or do anything stupid.
I get lost rearranging the cabinets and making an ingredients list, and I don’t notice the noise outside has died down until a small cough gets my attention.
“Oh, hi. All good out there?”
Julius has his arms crossed as he leans against the doorframe in the same position I was in just over an hour ago.
“It smells nice in here,” he says.
“Hmm…I’d say heavenly, but I’ll take nice.”
He raises a brow, and when his lips curl into a small smile, two dimples appear on his cheeks.
He fucking has to have dimples.
Pushing aside the way his dark-brown eyes look like they’re trying to figure me out, I place a brownie on a plate with one of the cheese scones and hand it to him.
I try to keep still while he breaks off a piece of the brownie and puts it in his mouth.
“Wow. This is…” he says as he chews, making a chef’s kiss gesture with his hand. “This is better than my brownies.”
Considering what I’ve heard about his brownies, I suddenly feel a lot more confident. This job is so mine.
He tries the scone, which would go better with some butter, but I used the last of what he had in the fridge. He finishes it off like he hasn’t eaten in days.
“I didn’t realize how hungry I was. Thank you.” He puts the plate on the worktop and looks around. “Where’s your kid?”
“He went for a walk to explore the area.”
I glance behind Julius and see the coffee shop is empty. When I look back at him, his gaze is intense and laced with curiosity.
“Who are you, Constantine?”
I take a deep breath and hold my hand out. “Connie Galanis. I’m the guy who’s been avoiding your calls.”