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“Your dad will explain,” I quickly tell him.
Michael glares at me before turning to his son. “Well, your mom and I did something bad,” he starts.
“What bad thing did you do? I thought adults didn’t do anything bad,” Noah asks excitedly.
“Well, we do. Sometimes we fu—do bad things,” Michael hurriedly corrects himself. “And people get hurt. Your uncle is feeling hurt right now, but your mom and I will get him to forgive us.”
Noah’s eyes narrow. “You still didn’t tell me what you did.”
Michael groans into his palm. Sucks to have such a smart son.
“We’ll tell you later,” I tell Noah as I set down a plate of pancakes in the middle of the table.
Hopefully, he’ll have forgotten the conversation by then.
After breakfast, Michael drives Noah to school. I clean up the house and shower so I can head over to the coffee shop. A part-timer should have opened the shop at 6 a.m., so I take my time getting ready. I find someone waiting for me when I arrive.
“Matt,” I say in surprise. He was sitting at one of the tables by the window, but he gets to his feet as soon as he sees me. His green eyes are stormier than usual and a little cold. “You’re really… early.”
I hadn’t expected him to be here so soon. It’s 9 a.m. and the Matthew I knew was never awake before ten. He used to cruise through life back then. His brother was always so responsible. Michael took care of everything and everyone, leaving Matthew to be the fun, easygoing one.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he states. His voice is emotionless and detached.
I take a deep breath. “Alright, let’s sit down and talk. Would you like some coffee?”
When he nods,
I tell him I’ll be right back and head over to greet my part-timer.
“Hey, Cleo. How’s it going?” I ask her. Cleo’s in her early twenties. She just finished college and is trying to find a stable job somewhere. In the meantime, she works part-time at the coffee shop with me.
“Fine. We had a bit of a rush earlier,” she informs me.
I immediately feel bad. “I’m sorry. Were you able to handle it alright?”
She smiles and nods her head. Her ponytail swishes behind her. “It was alright. My boyfriend came with me to work so he helped,” she assures me.
“Okay, can I get a cup of coffee? And then you can get off work,” I tell her.
She nods and quickly prepares the coffee before handing it to me. She gestures at Matthew. “He looks rough.”
“Yeah,” I say on a sigh.
“You seem really close with the Crane family,” she notes.
She’s probably trying to compile information so she can gossip about it later. The residents of Arcola will find anything to make their lives more interesting.
“Yeah, I used to be,” I answer vaguely before returning to Matt.
He sits up as I approach. I place the coffee in front of him and sit down.
“It’s nice how you’ve redecorated the place,” Matt states, gesturing at the modest changes in the room.
I sigh. “Matt, can you please yell at me? I can’t handle small talk right now.”
He falls silent for a few seconds. “I’m not here to yell at you.”
“You’re not?” I ask unsurely.
