Chapter 5
SAME CONFIDENCE
“Hello again,” Dean said to Molly when she walked into the bar around two. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you again.”
Secretly he’d been hoping he would, but so many people came through his bar that he usually lost track of them after a while. Unless they were there weekly, like a few.
“I had the afternoon off,” she said, “and thought I’d come by and try out lunch. That is if I can sit at the bar and eat? I suppose I could get a table though.”
“You can sit right here and keep me company,” he said. “You managed to hit a lull in the day. Most of the lunch crowd is clearing out and it will be a few hours before the dinner rush starts.”
She looked around. “This is a lull? It seems pretty busy to me.”
“When there are no lines for seating, that’s a lull. Few come sit at the bar this time of day unless they are by themselves.”
“So, would that put me in the loser category?”
He laughed at her. “I’d say you’re hardly a loser.”
She was wearing a pair of black pants that could only be classified as skinny with the way they molded to her body.
A light green silk top was tucked into the waist, the top two buttons undone flashing her creamy-colored skin, the slight swell of her breasts visible through the parting of her shirt as she reached for the menu.
Her hair was down again, not as made up as it was last week when she’d ditched her date, but more like an everyday look for her. It was straight and parted to the side, tucked behind an ear, but looking soft and shiny as it fell over her shoulders.
There were simple silver hoops at her ears, a little bit of makeup and no lip gloss this time. Bummer.
“Thanks,” she said. “Any recommendations for lunch?”
“The crab salad wrap is a big seller,” he told her. “I’m pretty sure there is some left.”
“They don’t serve it for dinner? I mean the lunch specials don’t go into dinner?”
He grinned at her. “Not usually. My executive chef has a bit of a temperament about his menu. He just runs with it and no one crosses him.”
“Your executive chef?” she asked.
“Figure of speech,” he said. No reason to say more.
“So you run this place?” she asked.
No one had ever come out and asked him that directly. It wouldn’t be a lie. “I do.”
“I’m sure it’s got to be fun.”
“Fun?” he asked. “I suppose so.”
It definitely was more entertaining than going into medicine, in his mind.
He got to meet all sorts of people. He got to stay back and not get attached to anyone if he chose not to. And he got to call his own shots.
Something he’d waited for his whole life.
Except those years were long gone now.
He had other responsibilities at home and calling his own shots came with thinking of others first.
He was still staring at Molly, waiting to see what she ordered.
“I guess you talked me into the crab salad wrap with sweet potato fries.”
“What can I get you to drink?” he asked.
“Just a seltzer. It’s a little early in the day for Chicken Cock.”
“You said that with a straight face yet you’re blushing.”
She smiled. “The body doesn’t always react the way we want.”
The color in her cheeks intensified, but he wouldn’t point it out.
“Tell me about it,” he said, walking away to put her lunch order in. He brought back her seltzer. “So you said you had the afternoon off. And you came in here. Any reason why?”
It came naturally to him to flirt. Part of the job.
Yet there was something about Molly that made him really want to know.
“Maybe I was in the mood for food I didn’t have to cook or put together myself. Or maybe I wanted some conversation with a man who wasn’t going to brag to me about how wonderful he was.”
He put his hand to his heart. “Compliments will get you everything,” he said.
“I bet you’re the type of guy who doesn’t need to say things for other people to believe it. They just know by looking at you.”
“I like to think so,” he said. “But then I’ve told myself for years if they don’t like me then they can go take a flying leap off a tall bridge headfirst into a pile of rocks.”
“That’s a good attitude to have,” she said.
“I bet you’ve got it. You seem to have your shit together.”
She tilted her head. “Do you think?”
“I’m a pretty excellent judge of character.”
“Good to know,” she said, taking a sip of her seltzer and making him wonder if she was flirting or playing with him.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, he pulled it out and saw Carly calling.
“Shit. Sorry, I need to take this.”
He waved over Kyle to watch the bar while he stepped away. “Sorry to bother you, Dean,” Carly said.
“What’s going on? Is Jonah okay?”
“He’s fine. He asked if he could stop over. We are on the way home from Pre-K.”
He normally got a text that they were home, which had his heart pounding that maybe they’d gotten into an accident.
“Hi, Dad,” Jonah yelled. “Can we stop in? I want a burger.”
He smiled. He couldn’t say no to his kid. There was no reason they couldn’t and go sit in the back for an early dinner. He was getting out at six tonight anyway and he’d never turn down time with his son.
“Sure, come on over. We’ll find you a seat in the back.”
“I want to be at the bar with you,” Jonah said.
“You know you can’t,” Carly said. “Not when it’s open.”
“I’ll see you soon,” he said and hung up then went back to the bar and spotted Molly.
There was no hiding anything. His son was going to come running in and call his name like he always did.
There was a lot of his life he hid, but his son had never been one of them. It wasn’t something he could do, nor would he.
He’d never want Jonah to think Dean was embarrassed because he wasn’t.
“Everything okay?” Molly asked, sipping her seltzer.
“Yeah. It was just my sitter.” He never said nanny. Nor did he tell anyone about his house, where he lived, or bring a woman there. There would be too many questions for a manager of a bar.
“Oh.” Her eyes dropped to his left hand.
“I’m single. Single father. Kind of a long story. But I don’t hide it. He’ll come in here yelling my name.”
“And the smile on your face says you love every minute of that.”
“You’d be right.”
If he expected her to turn away knowing he had a kid. Or drop their conversation, it hadn’t happened.
“What’s his name? You said ‘he’ll’ come running in.”
“Jonah.”
“I like that name.”
He had too. That’s why he picked it.
It’s not like Corinda wanted any part in their child.
When it was said and done, she was nothing more than a paid surrogate. It was a damn good thing she didn’t know how much he was really worth, but he was smart enough to have it all done legally and tight.
The woman was out of his life and he hoped for good. Since he hadn’t heard a word from her since a few months after giving birth, it was a good bet.
The front door opened a minute later when he was filling an order, Carly holding it and Jonah dashing in, shouting, “Dad. I’m here.”
He moved out from behind the bar and squatted down for his son to come closer, gave him a high five, then tucked him under his arm like a football.
“So you want a burger? Didn’t you eat lunch?”
“I did but I want more. Can you eat with us?”
He turned to see Molly watching him, a soft smile on her face.
“Daddy is working,” Carly said. “I told you that. I’m sure he’ll come say hi, but he’s got things to do.”
“I do,” he said. “But I’ll come say hi. Let me get you a table.”
He nodded to Molly, brought Jonah and Carly in the back, put them in a booth, then watched as Margo moved over to get their order.
“Boy, he’s a cutie,” she said. “Looks just like his father.”
“Thanks. I think so too.” And helped him not see parts of Corinda in his kid daily either.
“I’m sure all the women love seeing you two together,” she said after a minute. As if she had to think about the right thing to say.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Very few ever last long enough for me to tell them.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Maybe I’m not as interested in them as they think,” he said smirking, sending her a wink then walking away to get an order.