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Something ticks in my chest. “What do you mean by that?”
“By what?”
“When you said she isn’t me.”
“You were extremely good at what you did. That’s what I mean. You always anticipated problems before they arose, and kept everything running smoothly. The entire company was better because of you.”
Again, that tick in my chest. A bit fiercer this time. “I’m glad I made a difference.”
“You’re making a difference now, too. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
It’s overwhelming, hearing him say things like that to me. I felt so underappreciated by him for so long, and now everything is completely different. It’s making me feel…God, all kinds of things. Fizzy. A little lightheaded. At a loss of what to say.
Thankfully, our server comes by just then, providing a break in the conversation as she sets down our plates of hot food.
“Can I get you folks anything else?” she asks.
Henry and I both say no and thank her. She smiles at us, then looks at Aria, who’s still content in her car seat.
“She is so adorable, by the way,” our server says. “How old is she?”
“Five weeks,” says Henry.
“Oh my goodness! She’s so new. Congratulations. The three of you make a beautiful family.”
Oof. I feel my neck heat at her compliment, but force a smile onto my face. After she walks away, I glance at Henry, feeling uncomfortably ashamed that someone would assume that Aria is our child. Henry has a strange expression on his face—one that I can’t read.
“Easy mistake to make,” I say quickly.
“Right,” he says, and reaches for the bottle of ketchup by the window. “Two adults, a baby—it’s only natural.”
“Anyway, I’m sure she says that to everyone,” I go on. “Always a good idea to compliment your customers, right?”
“Right,” he says again. “Call them a beautiful family, get a bigger tip.”
“Exactly.”
But as I bite into my hamburger, I can’t help but wonder if she meant it.
When I wake up the next morning, I’m still so bewildered from seeing the more thoughtful and morehumanside of Henry that I don’t realize it’s Saturday until I carry Aria downstairs and find Henry cooking in the kitchen. He’s preparing a fullbreakfast: eggs, bacon, buttered toast, sliced fruit, coffee. I’m both surprised and impressed. Henry has never struck me as the kind of man who cooks.
Watching him move so effortlessly around the kitchen makes my hot boss even hotter. And seeing him dressed in a white t-shirt and gray sweats? It’s almost too much for me to take. His shirt stretches across his muscular arms and I have to force myself to not stare at the bulge in his gray sweats. Damn, he looks good.
“Morning,” he says, smiling over his shoulder. “How do you like your eggs?”
“Fried, please,” I say. “Wow. This all looks great. Thank you, Henry.”
“My pleasure.” He steps away from the stove to pour a glass of orange juice. After he sets it in front of me, his eyes fall to my necklace, and he says, “You know, I’ve always wondered about the charms on your necklace. Is there any significance to them?”
Reflexively, I reach up and touch the small charms. With a smile, I say, “The four-leaf clover was from my parents when I graduated high school. Later, I added the paw charm after my dog, Mochi, passed away. And a dear friend of mine gave me the star charm right before she moved across the country.”
He looks touched. “That’s sweet.”
A few minutes later, everything’s ready, and we’re both digging into the delicious breakfast he just made while Aria lays contentedly in a baby bouncer between us.
“If there’s anything you need to do today, I can look after Aria,” Henry says.
I nod gratefully. “I do actually have a few errands I should run. But I was also thinking it would be nice to bring Aria to the park, since it’s such a pretty day.”
