“He’s been giving her horseback riding lessons, and as of late, he’s trying to help find Pudding.”

Her eyes somehow widened further. “He definitely likes you.”

I let out a nervous chuckle as I twisted my wallet in my hand. “No. Definitely not. He’s just helping Avery.”

She cocked a brow. “Helping Avery or trying to get close to you?”

I scoffed, shaking my head. I rounded the counter, heading into the back, but Penny just followed. 

“He’s not trying to get close to me.”

“What would be the harm if he was?” she asked.

“Nothing.” But everything.

I set my wallet in my tiny locker and grabbed my apron to tie around my waist. 

“Come on, Sage. You haven’t dated anyone since I’ve known you.”

“Three years is not an abnormal amount of time to be single.”

“Yes, it is.”

I turned to her, my fingers finishing off the knot on the apron. “How long have you been single?”

She frowned as she shoved her own apron in her locker. “This isn’t about me.”

Pulling the strings taut, I brought my hands to the front pocket to be sure my pen and notepad were in there. “I’d much prefer it wasn’t about me either.”

“Come on, Sage, give a girl something.”

“He’s cute,” I blurted. 

I could’ve said anything but that. Literally anything.

A satisfied smile stretched Penny’s lips. “Okay.”

“Now get out of here so I can start my shift in peace. You’re almost as bad as Gemma.”

Penny gasped, slapping a hand over her heart. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

I rolled my eyes at the sarcasm lacing her tone.

“Let me know how Callan’s night goes,” she said as she turned to leave.

“Not my night?”

She looked over her shoulder at me, one hand on the swinging door. “Or your night with him. Whichever.”

The corners of my lips turned down in a frown as she disappeared through the door.

Penny was such an instigator.

***

Three hours flew by and I surprisingly wasn’t as anxious as I thought I’d be leaving Avery home with Callan, thanks to his promise of text updates every thirty minutes. A text came through every half hour on the dot and not a second later. Of course, I’d thanked him for each update, but it meant the world to me that he was doing this.

The problem with trusting any babysitter was that I’d want to know what was happening every second while I was away, and that was probably the last thing any of them would want to do—update the mother constantly. But Callan did it willingly. I hadn’t even asked for them, he just did it. Everything he’d done today, between watching Avery for me and bringing me a get-well basket, showed just how thoughtful he was. 

What guy did that? Because I was convinced men like that didn’t exist.

But here Callan was, right in front of me, teaching my daughter how to ride horses and voluntarily stepping up to watch her for me so I didn’t have to bring her to work. 

Not to mention that he’d suggested I take a bath instead of sticking around to help out with the cat situation. And the fact that I got to nap? I hadn’t had time for a nap since before Avery was born, but even then, they were few and far between because my ex didn’t think they were productive.

I didn’t want to confuse myself by getting caught up in the small things Callan did for me. He was just helping out for the time being, and then he’d be gone. I couldn’t have him teach Avery for free forever, and I wouldn’t be able to afford lessons once I had to start paying for them, so this kindness from Callan had to stop at some point.

I just feared I’d miss it too much when it did.

Callan was everything a woman could want: handsome, overly caring, thoughtful, and he worked on a ranch teaching children to ride horses. If your ovaries didn’t explode over that, there was something wrong with you.

Sure, we got off on the wrong foot when I spilled coffee on him, but he hadn’t held it against me. We’d both had a bad morning, and we started fresh after Avery’s first lesson, but now I was starting to enjoy the little things he did, and that was dangerous.

I couldn’t let myself get used to this. He was only temporary.

I stayed on top of the dishes and wiped the counters after each customer. I was not in the mood to stay late today, given I wanted to get home and make sure Callan and Avery hadn’t burned the house down.

It was always slow in the afternoons, which was why Erica changed our closing time to five p.m. instead of seven about a year ago. It was costing us too much to stay open that late with not much foot traffic to justify it. I wasn’t complaining though; it just meant the second shift was shorter if we split up the day. Most of the week, we’d work through from opening to close, but a few days a week, they were split, so one of us would have mornings and the other the afternoon. It was well balanced between Gemma, Penny, and myself, but the days that Gemma flaked, I’d have to cover if Penny couldn’t come in, which sucked, but I appreciated the extra money. The schedule helped during the school year, but wasn’t the most ideal in the summer when I’d have to drag Avery to the cafe midday.

My phone dinged with a text on the counter beside me and I picked it up, seeing Callan’s name across the screen.

Callan: Avery is telling me all the names of her My Little Pony’s. Peanilla was an interesting one

I smiled down at the phone, typing out a reply.

Me: Just wait till she gets to Chicken

Three little dots appeared and I stared at them, waiting for his response.

Callan: I guess that goes hand in hand with the cat’s name being Pudding

My cheeks ached as my smile widened, but before I could begin typing back, the cowbell above the door clanged. I locked my phone, slipping it into my apron.

“Good evening,” I said to the man. He was wearing a black zip-up and blue jeans, and his dark hair was cropped close to his scalp.

“Hello, there,” he greeted as he approached the counter. His eyes searched the small pink dining area before landing on me, glancing at my name tag.

“Midday coffee?” I asked.