CHAPTER 76
maverick
Ed, what the hell are you doing?” I exclaimed as I waltzed through the front door of Sparrow & Sage.
Eduardo teetered on the edge of an old stool as he tried to fix an overhead light.
And of course, the few customers already in the cafe didn’t lift a finger to help.
A man of his age didn’t belong on the stool.
I braced my hands on his sides as I ordered, “Get down from there, old man. We’ve talked about this shit.
If you need something fixed, you call me, and then you pay me in damn good coffee. ”
“It’s just a light,” Eduardo dismissed gruffly, even as he climbed off the stool with my help. I was all too aware of the quiet and painful groan he let out with his descent. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“Yeah, and I’m taller,” I retorted. “That means I don’t have to stretch so much on this ancient stool.”
“It’s not ancient—”
“This thing is older than I am, Ed,” I interjected. I held out my hand for the screwdriver he had in his hand. As he begrudgingly handed it over, I said, “Go take care of your customers. I’ve got this.”
He muttered something in Spanish, and I caught some backhanded compliment about being too damn tall for my own good. I laughed. With Kathy pregnant all over again, Eduardo was on his own at the café. He needed all the extra help he could get.
“Are you a giant?” a small voice asked. I paused what I was doing to look down.
A girl, maybe Carson’s age, stared up at me with big blue eyes.
Her blonde curls fell wildly around her shoulders, and the black and purple dress she wore looked like a costume more than a regular outfit.
But what I got stuck on was the creepy-as-fuck bear she was casually hugging.
The fluffy purple thing looked like some mashed-together Halloween decoration.
Who let their kid carry something like that around?
Hell, who bought their kid something like that? “You’re very tall.”
“Or maybe you’re just really short,” I countered, teasing her.
“I am,” she said. “The doctor says that I’m short and small for my age, but Daddy says I make up for it in personality.”
“That makes sense,” I replied and went back to fixing the wires.
“If you’re so tall, does that mean you don’t have a personality?”
“Aria!” a woman exclaimed as I burst out laughing.
Kids really did say the damnedest things.
I glanced down at her mom, giving her a reassuring smile.
The two of them couldn’t have been more opposite, with the woman’s miles of tattoos, dark purple and teal hair, and an old band t-shirt.
“We don’t say things like that! Please apologize to the nice man. ”
“Nah,” I interjected. “She’s right. My personality could use some work.”
“Do they have doctors for that, too?” Aria asked. Well, wasn’t she just a spitfire?
“I am so sorry,” her mom cut in. She took the little girl by the shoulders.
“Don’t be,” I said. “I needed the laugh, so thank you.”
“You’re welcome!” the little girl beamed. “Will you be my friend?”
“Um…”
“We just moved here, and I need friends,” she continued, completely undeterred by the way I faltered.
“My little hellion,” her mom interrupted as she gave Aria a playful little jiggle, making her laugh. Oh, well, that was a nickname for a kid. “Why don’t we let the nice man work?”
“Oh, I’m done.” I made quick work of putting the cover back on and stepped off the stool. I shoved the screwdriver in my back pocket, and my hands fell to my hips as I stared at both of them. “First time in Wilde Bay?”
“Yeah,” Aria said. “My daddy got our house together before we moved here.”
“That was nice of him.”
“Do you know a lot about chickens?” Yup, talking to kids always came with whiplash.
“I don’t know a single thing about them,” I told her. “Except that I love a good omelet.”
“Ew.” Her grimace was dramatic. “Eggs are gross. I like pancakes. I like birthday pancakes.”
“And exactly what do birthday pancakes entail?” Considering some of the things I knew the moms at Carson’s school did for their kids, I was almost afraid to ask. I knew I was a simple man, but shit.
“They’re pancakes with sprinkles in them,” she informed me happily. “And I eat them with Cool Whip instead of syrup. Syrup is yucky.”
“I like to take my pancakes, drizzle them with strawberry syrup and chocolate sauce, and then eat them like a taco.” Yeah, some things just stuck with you, no matter where they started.
“You can’t eat tacos for breakfast, silly!” She giggled loudly.
“You can’t knock it until you’ve tried it once,” I said. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
“Nope,” she replied. “He was on the stool when we came in.”
“Eduardo!” I called. As soon as he was looking at me, I gestured to the two of them. “Put their order on my tab—”
“You don’t have to do that!” her mom interrupted.
“Oh, I know,” I said as I went to grab the to-go coffee waiting for me on the counter. I ordered the same black coffee every day, so Eduardo knew exactly what I wanted, even if he tried to talk me into something fancier. “Consider it a thank you for the laughs this morning.”
“I am very funny,” Aria replied.
“Well, thank you,” her mom chimed in. “We appreciate it.”
“You two have a good day.” I gave them a small nod and headed to the door.
“Wait!” Aria shouted, making everyone in the café stop. I rotated on the balls of my feet as she came running toward me. There was something oddly familiar about those blue eyes of hers as she scrutinized me, but I brushed it off.
“Yes?” I asked.
“Down here.” She made a huge gesture to get me down on her level. Ah, kids and their big personalities. Still, I crouched. “I have a thank you present.”
“That’s incredibly ominous from someone holding a monster bear.”
“He’s a zombie bear.”
“That doesn’t make it any better.”
“And I don’t know what omin-omin-omininin—”
“Ominous,” I finished for her, ending her struggle.
“I don’t know what that means.” She gave a big shrug.
“You don’t have to give me anything,” I said.
“I know. You need to close your eyes. That’s the only way the magic works,” Aria whispered. She stared at me, all kinds of expectant. I was going to regret this. Deep down, I just knew it. But I still closed my eyes.
“No!” her mom gasped at the precise moment dust hit me in the face.
No… not dust.
I opened my eyes, my gaze flicking down.
Yup, I was covered in fucking glitter. Purple and silver flecks of it clung to my hands, my shirt, my jacket, and I didn’t need to look to know it was in my hair and all over my face. Fucking hell.
I blew out a slow breath, pushing back against my temper as it flared. I wasn’t an angry person anymore, but every once in a while, it tried to get the better of me. This was one of those times. She was just a little girl, and I kept reminding myself of that.
“I am so, so sorry!” her mom rushed to say. “Aria, what did we say about throwing glitter at people?”
Just how often did this happen?
“There!” Aria exclaimed, unaffected by the expression on my face or the panic on her mother’s. No, she looked real damn proud of herself. “Now, your wish will come true.”
“I didn’t make a wish,” I said, because why not? I was already covered in glitter. There was no changing that fact, and I wasn’t about to yell at someone’s kid.
“It’s pixie dust, silly!” She giggled. “You don’t make wishes. It just knows what your heart needs, and then it gives it to you.”
“And what does my heart need?” This ought to be good.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I’m only six.”
“Mhmm.” I nodded slowly as I stood back up. “Well, thank you for that.”
“I am so sorry,” her mother whispered. “It’s her way of thinking she’s helping.”
“It’s fine,” I said. It wasn’t fine. This shit was going to cling to me until the fucking armageddon.
“Is there anything I can do to… make it up to you?” she asked. I could see the wheels turning in the poor woman’s head as she tried to figure out how to fix it. I could only imagine how many people this kid had thrown glitter at in the name of pixie dust.
“Just…” I wasn’t even sure what to say. “Just have a good day.”
I turned and left with the sounds of Eduardo’s laughter following me. I couldn’t blame him. In the café window, I caught a glimpse of myself. I looked like a walking craft store.