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So, this is what it looks like when a baker and a book nerd have a baby.
Gene admired how Amanda and Jo had blended the cafe with the bookstore into one cohesive space. Going into Sanctuary felt more like walking into the comfort of your own bedroom, without the bed. In fact, its coloring, little touches, and furniture pieces reminded him of Amanda’s duplex.
“Hello there,” a voice greeted him. “We’re about to close. Can I help you find something?”
Gene turned to face a woman with long pink hair. He recognized Jo Minami from the yearbook picture he’d browsed through earlier. Aside from the hair color and its style, Jo looked almost the same as her sixteen-year-old self. He wondered if her youthfulness was a blessing of her Japanese genes.
Jo’s smile brightened as she recognized him. “Dr. Gene Rowland, the man who saved my best friend the other night.”
Gene didn’t know why he blushed, but he did.
“She wasn’t in danger. So, not a lot of saving needed.”
“That’s not what I heard.” Jo stuck a hand out for a shake. “Jo Minami. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Gene immediately liked Jo. There was an easiness in her vibe, and he could see why she and Amanda were close friends. While Amanda was busy taking care of everything, Jo was probably the one who reminded her to stop and smell the flowers once in a while. And vice versa, Amanda’s energy would help Jo focus on the tasks at hand.
Gene wondered how his personality would fit in with their dynamics.
Where did that come from?
He quickly said, “This place looks great. This was still Homestead Bakery the last time I was home.”
“You haven’t been home for a while then? Sanctuary opened over a year ago.”
Gene rubbed his temple with guilt. “Yeah, it’s been a while.”
“Glad you came home when you did, Doc,” Jo said. “Or Amanda might’ve been stuck out there for a bit before anyone noticed the wreck.”
“I doubt that.”
Jo turned the OPEN sign around to CLOSE and locked the door. “You’re being too modest, Dr. Rowland.”
“Please call me Gene,” he said. “I would hope anyone would stop and help when they witnessed an accident.”
“You’d hope, but not everyone would. And you did more than stop. You took care of my girl, Gene,” Jo said. “She doesn’t let anyone take care of her, except her mom when she was little. Not even me, her bestie.”
“I see that about her.” Gene almost said it was his job, but he wouldn’t be honest. Maybe he’d done it because he was a doctor at first, but had he stayed with her the next day out of his duty as a doctor? Was he there tonight as a doctor?
“She wouldn’t let me at first either,” he added with a smile. “Hardheaded, that one.”
“Whose head are you calling hard, doctor?”
Gene and Jo turned to Amanda, who was walking toward them from behind the cafe counter. Still sporting an apron around her waist, her hair twisted in the bun, her cheeks pink, she was alluring despite the cut on her forehead and the yellowish bruises around her left temple.
“Yours, Miss Amanda. Yours is categorically quite hard,” Gene teased. “Thank goodness.”
Jo laughed. “I think he got you pegged.”
Amanda looked at him with those green eyes of hers, and Gene’s gut tightened in response.
No, I’m not here as a doctor.
He might still be worried about her injuries, but he really didn’t want to or couldn’t be her doctor.
“Did she overexert herself today, Jo?” Gene broke away from Amanda’s gaze before he embarrassed himself.
Amanda cocked her fists on her waist. “Hello, I’m right here.”
