“Come on,” he encouraged. “For a few minutes. It’s Sunday. No work calls should be popping up today, and if they do, they can wait until tomorrow.”
I hesitated but ultimately agreed. “Sure, just a few minutes.” I glanced over and didn’t see a mug on the table yet, so I grabbed two from the cabinet. I never thought it was too late for coffee, and it seemed like Hal agreed. After filling each mug, I set them on the kitchen table and pulled out the chair to sit across from Hal. “I guess I’m not sure how you take your coffee,” I admitted. “Should I grab some cream or sugar?”
Hal waved his hand. “No need. This is great. Thanks, Gabe.”
Since we were both here, maybe this would be a decent time to bring up the building. Try to see if I could gain some insight into his plans to sell. “I was wondering about the building?—”
Hal shook his head and cleared his throat. “Let’s avoid talking about the building. You’re in town, and I’d like to hear more about what you’ve been up to.”
Avoid talking about the building? But…that was the whole reason I was here. “Avoid talking about the buildingtoday? Or…” I trailed off.
Hal tilted his head, thinking, before answering, “How about until the end of the month. I’d like to use this time to get to know my grandson and the man you’ve become. I won’t have any updates for you until you and Lily get through the list, anyway. Tell me more about living in Milwaukee, your friends, what you enjoy doing when you’re not working.” He brought the mug up to his lips, taking a sip and watching me expectantly.
So much for only being here a few minutes. It seemed like we’d be here a while, so I got comfortable in the chair and wrapped my hand around the mug, using the warmth to center me. “Well,” I started, “I have an apartment in the city and live with my cat Beans. My good friend Liam is watching him while I’m here, actually. Liam was never much of a cat person, but the two of them are bonding with the time they’ve spent together.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pulled up a photo of Beans. It wasn’t hard to find one, considering that was practically my whole camera roll.
Hal leaned over, sliding his glasses on his nose. A smile quickly appeared on his face. “He’s adorable. I never had house cats growing up, but we had plenty of barn cats. Smart creatures. And when you’re not working? What do you like doing?”
“It’s—well, I don’t have much free time with work, but Liam and I usually go out to dinner once a week for burgers. Our favorite spot has these retro pinball machines that we’ll sometimes play, even if we’re not very good. I’ll throw on a movie sometimes or go for a walk along the water.” I scrolled through my photos. “This is the view from my apartment, and there’s a nice trail nearby that takes you along the shoreline of Lake Michigan.”
“That’s a great view.” Hal nodded in agreement, scooting his chair closer to me.
I swiped to another photo. This time it was an event I went to with Liam. “Liam’s company does a fundraiser every year, and he saved me a seat at his table. Dinner was a whole multi-course thing, and I had to get some photos. The food was incredibly good—the best meal I’ve had.”
“No kidding. Looks amazing. Then again, anything from a restaurant or event does, especially since I’m not much of a cook.”
“What are your favorite restaurants in town? Any place I need to check out?” I asked.
“Oh, most definitely.” Hal grinned and reached over for a scrap of paper. “Here. I’ll write down a few for you to check out and my favorite thing to order, so you have an idea.”
I watched as Hal started to make a short list, and I found that I was looking forward to trying his favorite spots.
I wasn’t sure how long we sat at the kitchen table going through photos and sharing stories, but I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would.
15
GABRIEL
Monday
I hadn’t beenable to stop thinking about my conversation with Lily or my whole last week with her. We would take one step forward but then two or three steps back. Part of it was that I didn’t want to get close to her. We also didn’t trust each other.
And yet, here I was at the café, ready for another week. I’d developed somewhat of a routine in the short time I’d been in Golden Falls. I helped Lily get the café ready, helped with the initial rush, got my own work done and answered any calls or meetings, and then helped her clean up for the day. I was ready to do it all again as she brought on her new hire Tiffany, whose first day was today. She should be arriving any minute.
I’d already taken care of the cats for the morning and was standing at the counter, trying to power on the goddamn tablet. I was getting more used to the very delicate pressure I had to use to tap the various buttons to take people’s orders. Soon, my time in Golden Falls would mainly be used to help complete Lily’s list, so I wanted to use this next week at the café to build uponthe handful of relationships with residents I was forming and to strike up more conversations with people, if they were willing.
Lily came out of the kitchen, bringing out a tray of chocolate crinkle cookies and a warm, sweet scent with her. I couldn’t tell if it was the cookies orher. I didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, but…I was starting to second-guess it.
Lily organized the cookies on a glass platter, right next to the slices of chocolate peppermint loaf. Her menu this week, including the specialty drinks, was all about chocolate.
She carefully placed and adjusted each item, leaning back slightly to take a look from farther away. She tilted her head to the side, biting down on her lip as she focused.
I swallowed and turned back to the tablet, shaking my head slightly to get any thoughts of Lily out of my mind. But that was tough to do when her sweet scent was fuckingeverywhere.
“Gabe?”
“Yeah?” I asked, keeping my gaze focused on the tablet. When she didn’t respond right away, I looked over at her. She was facing me and looking down, fiddling with the hem of her apron.
“I, uh, I wanted to talk to you about something,” she stammered, trying to find the words. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, and I wanted to clear things up.”
