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“I’m just grabbing food for Mom and me.”

Beth’s out there with Calvin, on their date. What I’m really doing here is spying, but I’m not about to tell Patrice that. She’d be all over me.

And I’m not actually lying—I do need to pick up dinner for my mom. But was the idea that I could check on Beth and Calvin top of mind when I made the suggestion that we get food from the café?

Does Santa say “ho ho ho”?

“Well, you don’t need to be back here for that. You’re crowding my kitchen.” Patrice makes a wide sweeping gesture with her arm.

When I don’t immediately move, she shoves my shoulder.

“I’ll bring your food out when it’s ready. Now get!”

I take a deep breath and push open the swinging door. I hunch my shoulders, trying to shield myself from the sight of those in the dining room. Calvin is seated facing this direction, which means Beth has her back to me. I’m so busy trying to keep my eye on the pair and my head hidden that I stumble into the garbage can near the register. It skitters across the floor and tips over. My mom’s high school help shoots me a questioning look. Her eyes widen when she sees who I am.

“Oh my gosh, Gabe McKenzie!” she shrieks.

I cringe at the attention before rearranging my mouth into a smile.

“Sorry about that.” I bend and reposition the trash can, scooping up the scattered receipts and a ridiculous amount of gum wrappers, undoubtedly from Patrice.

“No worries at all, Mr. McKenzie. Wow, I can’t believe you’re here. I mean, it’s great. I just . . . I can’t believe I’m talking to you.”

I offer her a smile, flicking my gaze to her name tag. “It’s nice to meet you, Raelynn. Please, call me Gabe.”

“Oh my gosh. This is insane. Do you, um, need anything?” She motions to the pastry case. “Cookie? Brownie?”

“Nah. Thank you. I’m just waiting on food for me and my mom.”

Patrice bustles out of the kitchen with a to-go bag hooked over her finger.

“Gaber, are you still getting in the way? Let Raelynn work.” She shoos me out into the dining room, handing off the food. “Give Elena our best. Tell her we have everything under control.”

“Will do. Thanks for this.”

At this point, every eye in the café is on me. I’m used to this, but I was really trying to keep a low profile. I flick my gaze to Calvin and find him grinning at me.

He holds up his hand and waves me over. “Fancy seeing you here, man. Beth and I were just talking about you.”

I come to a stop at the edge of their table.

I get my first look at Beth’s face, and she’s not wearing her glasses. I’m so thrown off by the sight of her spectacle-free eyes, I’m momentarily speechless. She doesn’t look like herself.

She furrows her brow at me, and I blink, glancing back toward Calvin and rapidly trying to recall what he said to me.

Saw me. Were talking about me. That’s right.

“Uh, you were?” I tip my head, gaze sliding back to Beth.

“Yeah, Beth was telling me how your concert was a huge hit at the Christmas Market. It’s cool that you did that for the town. You know, I considered going into music, too.”

“Did you now?”

“Yeah. I played piano for years growing up. My mom thought I was going to be the next Billy Joel. Everyone said I had the talent for it, but I didn’t want to do a career that was so unpredictable, you know? Mad props to you, though. You’ve obviously made it work.”

“Thanks,” I grit out. Is there anything worse than a person who uses a compliment to be backhandedly demeaning? I think not.

I chance a look at Beth. Her wide eyes are darting between Calvin and me, and I hate Calvin for drawing more attention to my career, which, if I’m not mistaken, is Beth’s biggest hurdle where a relationship with me is concerned.