Now, they were business competitors, and the town benefited from their very tasty attempts to outdo one another.
“Dad said you bought Wilma-Jean diamond earrings for her birthday,” Felix said, smiling shyly. “Admit it, Sammie. You love her.”
Sammie sniffed. “Of course I love her. I don’t want you dying because of her pitiful cooking.”
They chatted for a moment, then Sammie took their order and headed back to the kitchen.
Demarien settled his head on Joe’s shoulder. “How’s the store doing?”
Joe kissed his forehead and wrapped an arm around him. “It’s going well. We still sell the best-quality meat and produce in town, and the Farmer’s Market sets up in our parking lot on Sundays. That always brings people in. Oh, I’ve also been expanding the vegan options, too, since we’re getting more tourists from Portland.”
“That new Safeway can suck it,” Demarien said, laughing at the pride in his dad’s voice.
“Exactly.” Joe smiled. “I just made Rochelle a manager.”
Demarien’s eyes widened. “Rochelle? You really trust her with that responsibility?”
“Was she really that bad when she was younger?” Milo asked, arching a brow. “She always seemed nice to me.”
“That’s because she saved all her annoyance for me.” Demarien made a face. “Dad, I’m glad you and Mom never gave me a little sister.”
“Your cousin isn’t a little kid anymore.” Joe gave him a pointed look. “She’s doing a great job, and it’ll give me more time to spend with you and my grandbaby.”
Demarien sat up and stared at his dad. “Seriously?”
Joe cupped his face in his hands and kissed Demarien’s forehead. “I missed a lot while you were growing up. Dahlia stepped in and helped, but it wasmyresponsibility.”
“You had to work,” Demarien said, shaking his head as his heart beat fast in his chest. He had never held those lost moments against his dad, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted Joe to spend more time with him.
“I needed to provide for us.” Joe nodded and patted Demarien’s cheek before picking up his menu. “Now, I have several well-trained employees and Rochelle to run the store. I’m gonna be here for you, son.” He looked at Demarien’s friends. “I’ll be here for all of you. I owe it to Dahlia.”
Puck blinked a few times, then a tear trickled down his cheek. “I love you guys so much.” His lip trembled. “What the fuck is wrong with me? My heart literally hurts with love.”
Joe started laughing. “It’s called mood swings, Puck. My Maylee had them when she was pregnant with Demarien. They lasted the whole dang pregnancy.”
Puck groaned and covered his face with his hands. “Feelings are stupid.”
Demarien laughed with the others when Puck leaned into Milo and buried his face against his neck.
He smiled widely. “This day just gets better and better. My first day in town, and I get a date with Boone Harding, and Dad tells me he’s going to spend a lot of time with us. I bet Dahlia’s caretaker replaced the exercise room with a giant chocolate fountain. That would top this day off perfectly.”
Joe snorted. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up that Bernard did any more than he absolutely had to while he was there.”
Milo patted Puck’s back and looked at Joe. “What do you mean?”
“Well, he cut off all access to Dahlia’s property when your aunt moved to Portland to be closer to you boys,” Joe said. “We’ve tried to check up on things, but he made it impossible. I could only see a bit of the main house from the bay, but it doesn’t look good. The beach house close to the cove is looking rough, too, but everything’s so overgrown, it’s hard to tell.”
Demarien frowned. “That’s the house I wanted.”
Puck sat up straight, eyes still red from crying, as he rubbed his hands together in glee. “I’ll take care of the overgrowth. By the time I’m done, the property will look as nice as it did when we graduated high school.”
Felix bit his lip. “I can handle repairs on the house. We’ll be okay.”
Milo nodded. “We’re in this together. Aunt Dahlia sent Bernard a lot of money over the years for upkeep, so it can’t bethatbad.”
Joe winced. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Their server arrived before they could continue the discussion, and Demarien pushed away the niggle of worry. Today was too good a day for worrying.
