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“Why can’t people know? I mean, not the general public, but why can’t a few select people know?”
“Know what?” Elijah breezes through the doors.
“Well, didn’tyoupick a fine time to get here early?” I say, throwing my hands up in disgust. And then I regret it, because his face instantly falls.
“Elijah asked for more hours and I said, especially during the holidays, that would be awesome. We can use the extra help.” Camilla places a hand on his elbow and steers him so that her five-foot-two frame is between us.
“I’m glad you’ll be here more,” I tell him. “I’m sorry for what I said just now. You know we think you’re the best, right Elijah?”
He only gives a wan smile, not meeting my gaze. I make a rash decision to go out on a limb. “And if you ever need anything else, like a listening ear or whatever, we’re here for you, okay? Camilla and I.” I toss a glance in her direction. “We remember how things were after graduating high school. So many expectations, so many people asking questions about future plans . . .”
I trail off because the look on his face is one of pure embarrassment mixed withLady, you don’t know anything about my life.
“Agreed.” Camilla whips her head around to look at Elijah behind her and then back at me. She doesn’t have her hairnet on yet because she hasn’t started baking for the day, so her blonde curls are free to fly around her face at will with every movement. I’m always in awe of her hair.
“So, let’s do our opening dance and get on with this day. The festival is almost here.” Camilla leads us in the dance we used to do in high school at the football games and have done ever since she took over Shorty’s.
“S-H, S-H-O, S-H-O-R-T-Y-S! Shorty’s!”Clap, clap,“Shorty’s!”Clap, clap.
Elijah goes through the movements, but there’s definitely something off about him. I probably needed to pay more attention in my child development class in college, then maybe I could know how to approach him, how to let him know we care.
But for now, I can only show up for him the best way that I can without coming on too strong.
I spend the morning baking cheesecakes, allowing my mind to repeatedly circle back around to Theo and every amazing little and big thing he does. When that isn’t happening—which is hardly ever—I tune into Merre telling us funny stories about her college days when she was a dorm mom.
I get bold around lunchtime and text Theo, letting him know I’m thinking of him and that I’d love to make him a sandwich with one of Danene’s croissants if he’s hungry.
His text is a little lackluster.Ditto. And I wish I could have lunch with you, but I have back-to-back clients for the next few hours. We’ll be in touch.
Not a bad response. It’s fine.
But that’s the problem. It’s fine. Bland. Generic. Our kiss last night wasn’t bland or generic . . . nothing about the man has ever been bland or generic.
During my lunch break, I go upstairs to my place to search the online job websites. I want to work for a PR firm, I want new challenges, new clients. I need my own thing—my own path.
When Theo comes into the bakeshop right before closing, my heart does amayday, maydaysort of thing. Because Theo is definitely not okay. To the naked eye of a random person, sure, he probably seems great.
But I’ve spent the last several weeks studying him on a higher level. I’ve done a deep dive into Theo-dom, and my research tells me something is definitely off.
“How are things?” Theo asks, his voice chirps like a parrot—a falsehood.
“Great. But I can tell you’re not great,” I say.
AndI’mnot great, but I won’t get into that right now with Camilla, Merre, and Elijah in the kitchen.
“It’s the pro bono case. But due to client confidentiality, I can’t say anything about that…” he trails off and then whips his head around and points to one of our little bistro tables. “When you’re finished with work, maybe we can talk?” His eyes have dark smudges under them, like maybe he didn’t sleep well last night.
I nod and punch a few more figures into the app on the bakeshop iPad, the one we have to update every day at closing. But my heartbeat stuffs up my ears, and a sick sense of dread comes over me.
I finish clearing the till and then go to join Theo just as Camilla, Merre, and Elijah walk through the swinging door, mid-laughter, finished with work for the day. It’s as if Theo is standing on the edge of a storm cloud, just from their presence in the room.
What is going on?
That’s when I hear Elijah clear his throat and walk to our table. Camilla and Merre are in quiet conversation back at the counter as he approaches us, his head down, one hand pressing against the back of his neck. He raises his gaze when he reaches us.
“You’re my dad’s lawyer, aren’t you?”
Chapter 24
