Between the long hours and the stress with Emily, it had been a long, long day. Austin hadn’t come by the cafe, and she’d taken her phone out a half dozen times to text him but never quite followed through.
She reached for a pitcher of lemonade in the fridge and poured herself a large glass. Maybe she’d sit out on the lanai and just relax a bit.
The doorbell rang and she frowned. She didn’t usually have late visitors. She went to answer it and swung the door wide.
There stood Austin. Holding a bag. Looking ever so handsome and…distant.
“Do you have a minute?”he asked with an overly formal tone.
“Sure, come in.”She led him to the kitchen.“I was just having some lemonade. Want some?”
“Uh…sure.”
She poured him a glass and handed it to him, their fingers brushing slightly. She snapped her hand back as if it were on fire.
“So, I’m getting ready to leave town.”
“You are?”She wasn’t prepared for the sharp pain that surged through her.
“Yes, I think it’s time to move on. I have most of my accounts here wrapped up to the point I can handle them from a distance.”He thrust out the bag toward her.“But I wanted to give this to Emily. It’s a book on computer coding. One of the best I’ve seen. I thought she might like it.”
“That was nice of you.”She took the bag and set it on the counter.“I’m sure she’ll be sorry to see you go.”
“I’ll miss teaching her. She was a quick learner. You have a great daughter.”
She knew that. And knew that eventually she and Emily would sort things out. They always did and she just hoped they did this time. The sooner, the better.“She is a great kid.”
Austin stood there awkwardly looking around the kitchen, avoiding looking directly at her.
She screwed up her courage.“So…the other night. You kissed me.”
He only nodded.
“And I thought that it meant something. I thought there might be something between us. The start of something.”She shrugged with a little laugh.“Or…something.”
He looked closely at her, then walked over and set his glass on the counter.“Listen, I know that Brett is back. That he’s moving back here. That’s great for Emily, right? And…I saw you and him at Jimmy’s. He was holding your hands. I don’t want to get in the middle of that. You have every right to give things a chance. Become a family. I’m just sorry our timing was so off.”He gave her a small smile.“Because I did enjoy spending time with you. And the kissdidmean something to me.”
“You saw me at Jimmy’s? Why didn’t you come over?”
“I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“You wouldn’t have interrupted anything. And if you’d stayed, you would have seen me snatch my hands back. There is nothing between Brett and me.”
He looked at her skeptically.
“You don’t have to worry about Brett. He’s…well, he’s Emily’s father, so he’ll always be in our lives in some way. But that has nothing to do with me. I don’t have feelings for him except his being Emily’s dad.”
He swept his gaze over her face as if searching to see if she was telling the truth.
And taking that risk, she plunged on.“I…I have feelings for you. I care about you.”
“You do?”His eyes widened in astonishment.
“Yes, you foolish man.”
His mouth spread into a wide grin.“That’s just perfect, because I have feelings for you, too. I want to see where this is headed.”
“So are you still leaving?”She cocked her head to one side.
