I saw Piper walk in the front door at two, and my heart jumped in my throat. I was glad I’d saved one of each, because we’d sold out hours ago.
“Afternoon,” she said, though her smile didn’t reach her eyes. She eyed me carefully, as if judging each of my actions.
“Hey. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Really?” she asked, standing up straighter. She looked at Kelsey, who was definitely listening. “What for?”
I gestured to the cabinet. “I added baked goods to the menu. That’s where I was the last two days.”
“Oh,” she said. “Wow, that makes sense. Did you already sell out? I’m gonna have to come in earlier to get some.”
“I saved you one of each.”
She laughed, but her cheeks darkened. “I know you probably had this in the works for a while, but I’m going to pretend it was just for me.”
“You don’t have to pretend. It was.”
Behind me, Kelsey dropped a cup. She would make fun of me later, but I didn’t care.
Piper’s smile slowly fell off her face. “What?”
“Yeah. I want you to have an option. And if you don’t order anything, I’m adding it in.”
“So you weren’t planning on adding a food menu the whole time?”
“I should have been, but no. You gave me the idea. When we talked about ... stuff.”
She only stared at me, and I wondered if I’d gone toofar.
Or if I’d chosen the wrong thing.
“If you don’t like baked goods,” I continued, “I could see about adding protein options or something else. I could probably get away with sausage and biscuits ...”
I trailed off when I caught her expression. Gone was the shock, but she didn’t seem happy either. Her eyes were wet, tears threatening to spill over.
My heart jumped in my throat.
“Kelsey, can you watch the front?”
“Yep, got it.” She took my place immediately and I rushed to get to Piper.
“Come on, let’s go to the back.” I used the softest voice I could and led her away from other people. When we were alone, her shoulders began shaking. “Was it too much? I thought it might help, but if I overstepped?—”
I was cut off by her throwing herself at me. Her arms wrapped around my middle, pulling me into the tightest hug I’d ever been in.
Suddenly, it hit me that this was a very different kind of crying.
I couldn’t sit with my shock for long. The last time we’d hugged, she needed to be talked through it, and I didn’t think I could handle feeling her so tense in my arms again.
“Piper? You okay?”
“Thank you.” Her voice was thick with emotion. “That is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“You deserve way more kindness than just this,” I said. “Can I hug you back, or is this a you thing?”
“Please hug me back,” she said. I wrapped my arms around her, pausing when her breath hitched. Then she relaxed into it. “I can’t believe you would do this for me.”
“I don’t mind.” And that was true. Even through all of the work this had taken, I didn’t regret a single thing.
