Page 70 of Sweet Spot

“Yes. Distributor.”

“If it’s stuff you need for that, I’ll drive over there myself and get it right now,” Dad said, sounding a little riled up as he sat forward on his chair, adjusting his glasses. I looked at him with a smile, trying not to laugh at how adorably huge his already-big eyes looked behind those thick lenses.

“It’s really okay, Dad. I don’t need it. The chocolate I’m about to make for the distributor is all getting made in a commercial kitchen. I’ll probably be starting as soon as possible because they’re gonna be big batches. In fact, I’m probably going to need to hire extra hands, which is exciting because it’ll be my first chance to…” I trailed off because Dad was nodding along in the way that he did when he wasn’t listening. I laughed as he pointed curiously at Lukas.

“He have kids?”

“No, why?” I asked, turning to look into the dining room again. My little cousin, Henry, had come around for the tenth time with a new toy to show off to Lukas.

“He’s good at pretending to be interested,” Dad said genuinely. “I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the things Henry shows me. Kid’s cute but I’m just not good at that stuff.” When he frowned down in his lap, we both fell quiet for a bit. “But hey, you know I’m not a very good dad. What do I need to tell you for.”

I took his hand. “Hey. The way we started doesn’t have to be the way we end. I know we have a lot of time to make up for, but we can start visiting each other more from here on out. We don’t have to stay stuck in our ways.”

“But our ways are the easiest things to get stuck in,” Dad laughed. “I’m teasing. I think you’re right. We’ll start seeing each other more from now on, and it can start with me bringing that box from Ritchie’s house to you in Manhattan. That’s a good start, right?”

“As long as the box isn’t too heavy,” I grinned as Henry came running to us.

“Uncle Luke said – ”

“Whoa, hey, Uncle Luke?” I snorted, unable to contain my surprise. When I looked up at Lukas, he grinned and shrugged. “Sorry, Henry, I interrupted you. What did, uh… what did Uncle Luke say?”

Henry held up his toy Harley Davidson for me to hold. “Uncle Luke said his friend has this one in real life! Like a big one you can sit on. He said if Mommy lets me, you can come with us to see the bikes in real life. And maybe sit on them.”

“I see.” I shot a funny look at Lukas that he cocked his head at. “That sounds good, Hen. You let me know when Mommy thinks it’s a good time to look at the bikes and I’ll make sure I have the day off.”

“Yesss.” Henry pumped his fist with a victory snarl on his face that we all laughed at. As if that weren’t cute enough, I was then treated to the sight of Henry racing over to Lukas, taking his hand and walking him down the hall to his room. “I’ll let you come to my room to look at the rest of my toys,” he offered grandly. “I don’t like people touching my toys but you can play with them.”

“Whoa,” Aunt Lynn raised her eyebrows high. “Did your boyfriend finally teach my son how to share? Because we’ve been getting calls from school about that problem.”

“Well, I’m glad we could be of some help,” I grinned as Dad tugged on my arm. He pointed down the hall.

“That one? I like that one so much better than Ritchie.”

“Oh, trust me, Dad. I do, too.”

“You hold onto that one.”

“Yeah, that’s what the diner waitress told me, too.”

“Hah?”

“My waitress at the diner. She told me to hold onto him with both hands.”

Dad nodded. “Well, if she was my age or older, then listen to her. People our age – we know our stuff.”

I giggled, especially as Aunt Lynn nodded down the hall with a finger to her lips, suggesting I follow her to spy on Lukas and Henry. I gladly did so, going as far as to slip out of my shoes to tiptoe quietly toward Henry’s room, my heart melting when I spotted Lukas sitting on the floor across Henry, his knees bent and his muscled arms draped over them as he helped Henry assemble a toy truck. Next to him, Henry watched in awe, handing him the pieces. All the while, the two conversed casually about some new recess policy at Henry’s school – no more dodgeball, apparently.

I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. Or maybe squealing, I wasn’t sure. I was so touched and so charmed, in actual pain over how damned cute this was.

“I took pictures,” Aunt Lynn whispered in my ear, flashing me the screen of her phone. “I’ll send them to you now.”

“Thank you,” I giggled under my breath, but it was then that we got caught.

“No girls!” Henry yelled. But after Lukas whispered something in his ear, he sighed and said. “I changed my mind. You can come in.”

I’d imagined we’d be in and out of Uncle Ted’s house in about an hour but we wound up staying for more than three, having coffee and homemade apple tart in the dining room with Dad, Uncle Ted and Aunt Lynn after putting Henry to bed. I stiffened when Aunt Lynn brought up kids and when Lukas was looking to have them. But he smiled and played it off breezily, squeezing my hand under the table to let me know he was okay.

When we finally left, we sat in the car for a bit before driving – our routine now, I guess.