Page 76 of The Birthday List (Maysen Jar 1)

“I’d better head to the office to pay some bills. Holler if you need help.” Molly filled a glass from the large pitcher of lemon water, then smiled at Cole as she disappeared into the kitchen.

“Hi, Cole.” Helen peeked out from under her eyelashes as she rolled silverware behind the counter.

“Hi, Helen.” He smiled at her and the pink in her cheeks turned bright red.

“Can I get you something?” I asked Cole.

He sank into the stool across from me—the one next to Randall’s, which Jimmy had claimed as his own—and sighed. “I’ve got a bitch of a headache. I thought some caffeine might help.”

“Sorry.” My hand reached for his temple but froze when I was inches away.

That’s what I’d always done whenever Jamie had gotten a headache. I’d rubbed his temples and combed his hair with my fingers until the pain had eased away.

My eyes wandered from my hand to Cole’s gaze. His eyes were waiting, quietly begging for my touch. With a racing heart, I placed my palm on the side of his face. My thumb was at his temple as my fingertips threaded into his hair and massaged his scalp.

Cole closed his eyes and relaxed his head into my hand. When he let out a sigh, the whole restaurant disappeared, leaving just me and Cole—my hand in his soft hair.

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes. “Thank you.”

“Better?”

He nodded. “Much.”

“Good.” I reluctantly pulled my hand from his face. “What kind of coffee do you want?”

“Surprise me.”

Smiling, I turned back to the espresso machine, getting to work on my personal headache killer—a triple-shot mocha with an extra pump of chocolate.

As I worked, a deep-seated contentment moved into my bones. Having Cole in the restaurant felt . . . right. In the two weeks that I’d tried to push him away, I hadn’t felt like this except for the times when Cole had come in for dinner. Those nights I’d been too “busy” to sit with him.

Who knew what would happen between us. Maybe Cole and I would end up just being friends. Maybe he’d not want kids or turn out to be a slob or transform into a Fantasy Football fanatic during football season. No one knew what we’d become.

But I wanted to find out.

And I trusted that he’d take care with my damaged heart.

His coffee done, I set it down, then went to the fridge to get him one of the banana cream pies I’d made earlier. “Here. Caffeine and sugar. You’ll be good as new before you leave.”

He grinned and dug right into the pie. “Damn, woman, you can cook.”

“I’m glad you came in. I need to ask you something.”

He stopped chewing. “Uh-oh.”

“It’s not bad and you don’t have to say yes. I can always ask Finn.”

He shook his head and swallowed. “No, I’ll do it.”

“You don’t know what it is.”

Cole shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Sure it does.”

He shrugged again. “Not really.”

“What if I ask you to buy me tampons?” Jamie had always refused to go down the feminine products aisle at the grocery store. I was sure Cole would be the same.