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Marcos chuckled. “It is good. It’s all good. Don’t look so sad.”
Antonio shrugged. “I’m sorry. As long as you’re okay with it, that’s all that matters. I guess I’m hearing your news and wondering how I would feel.”
“I know, and I felt like that when I first found out, but I’ve had years to get used to it.” He looked at his watch. “I think it’s okay for me to go over to Molly’s now.” It was still a little early, but he didn’t want to sit here talking about this anymore. He hated his brother feeling sorry for him. He hated feeling sorry for himself. He’d come to terms with his infertility when he was with Caterina. Now that he was with Molly again, knowing that they would never have a child of their own was a whole new level of pain he had to work through.
Chapter Eleven
Molly checked her watch. She was nervous about tonight. Marcos had come in for dinner each night since he’d been back. She loved it. He set himself up in a booth in the corner and minded his own business. He’d catch her eye now and then and give her that smile of his that still melted her insides. Last night, Chelsea and Grant had joined him. It’d been good to see him chatting and laughing with them. She had a feeling he and Grant would become good friends.
Tonight was different. Tonight was the first time Grady was working with her. The first couple of nights he’d been off, and yesterday he’d been rostered on for the early shift. Tonight was the first time Marcos would meet him, and she was hoping it would go smoothly—that they’d both behave themselves.
She pushed her way into the kitchen and stood there for a moment. She was being silly. There was nothing to worry about. Grady was a flirt, and Marcos had been a touch jealous. That was all.
Grady came in behind her. “It’s a busy one, Molly Moo. Have you ever thought about expanding?”
She laughed. “Nope. This is as much as I can handle, thank you. And besides, even if I did want to, there’s nowhere to expand to, and I wouldn’t give up this location.”
“No, I know that; you’d be crazy to, but I heard that next door might not be a coffee shop for much longer.”
Molly raised an eyebrow at him. “Really? And where did you hear that?” She hadn’t heard anything.
He winked at her. “I know people.”
She laughed. “Does that mean it’s pillow talk?” She hoped so.
He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I shouldn’t be telling you either way. It’s not public information yet, but I thought you might want the inside scoop. In case you do want to expand.”
She shook her head slowly. She’d said no automatically when she thought it wasn’t an option. Was she interested if it were possible? “No. I don’t think so. I have enough on my plate at the moment. This place does great, but there’s no guarantee that going bigger would increase profits enough to justify it.” She smiled. “I’d rather stick with what I know works for me.”
Grady smiled. “Speaking of which, is Marcos coming in tonight? The girls told me he’d been here every night that I haven’t. You’re not trying to hide him away from me, are you?”
She made a face. “Yes, he is, and no, I’m not. It’s just the way it worked out. You’ll meet him later, and you’d better play nice.”
Grady laughed. “You make it sound like I’m a kindergartener.”
“That’s because you behave like one sometimes. I want the two of you to get along. No stupid macho stuff, okay?”
He nodded obediently. “Okay. I won’t start if he doesn’t.”
Molly shook her head at him and went to collect the order the chef had just put up. She hoped Marcos wouldn’t have a problem, but she still felt a little uneasy. That bothered her as she took the plates out. She should be able to trust him. Why didn’t she?
She delivered the dishes to the customers and then went back to the servers’ station. Had Marcos done anything since they’d been back together that would indicate that she shouldn’t trust him? No. He hadn’t. He’d been awesome. He wanted them to get back together for real. He wanted them to live together, get married, have a family, but he was being patient. He didn’t bring those things up until she did. He’d made clear what he wanted, and now he was going along with what she needed—which was taking their time. She smiled. He wasn’t a patient man, and this was probably harder for him than she was giving him credit for. She needed to relax—and start to trust him more.
She looked up as the front door open. He was here. She wasn’t the only one who noticed him come in. Quite a few female heads around the room turned in his direction. He was a good-looking guy, no question about it. He stood right around six feet, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. Tonight, he was wearing old, faded blue jeans and a white shirt that made his olive skin look darker and his hair look jet back. His gorgeous brown eyes sought her out, and he smiled when he spotted her. She went to greet him, and he bent to kiss her cheek. She’d love to jump on him like she did when he came to her house. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist—and she had to admit that it was partly due to the way a blonde in the corner was looking him over like she was considering doing the same thing.
He smiled down at her. “Am I too early?”
“No. I’ve been looking out for you.” She checked the tables. There was nothing free in her section, but there was an empty booth in Grady’s. She took him by the hand and led him to it. “This isn’t my section, but I’ll let Grady know.”
Marcos raised an eyebrow. “You don’t need to take on another table. I can wait like everyone else. Let Grady take care of me.”
She gave him a stern look.
He chuckled. “Yes. I’m curious about the guy, but I promise I won’t cause any problems. If I’m going to cause extra work for you by coming in here, then I’ll have to stop, and I don’t want to do that.”
She smiled. “I don’t want you to. And I do trust you.”
He met her gaze, and she nodded, glad that he understood that she was making a point that was about more than him meeting Grady.
