“Black, please,” he replied. 

I typed it into the register and turned, pouring some beans into the machine and starting it up.

“You have a lovely cafe, Ms…” He trailed off, and I assumed he wanted me to fill in the blank.

“You can call me Sage,” I said, leaning a hip against the counter as I waited for the coffee to brew. “But thank you.”

He pursed his lips, giving a small nod.

“Would you like any food with your coffee?”

He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket, keeping his attention on me. “No, ma’am.”

I turned back to the pot, my fingers finding the charm on my necklace. Unease crept through me with his presence. He filled the room, but given he was the only one here aside from me, there wasn’t anyone else to focus on. 

Once it was done brewing, I wiped my hands on my apron before pouring the coffee into a paper cup, then popped the lid on. Turning to place it on the counter in front of him, I read off his total. He handed me some cash, and I held his change out to him after counting it out. 

“You live in town long?” he asked, pocketing the change.

“A couple years.” It wasn’t an odd question to ask around here, given people passing through always stopped for coffee and were looking for sights to see or things to do. 

He tapped the counter twice with a finger, then grabbed his coffee. “Stay safe out there.” The man turned, heading out of the store.

I watched his retreating back disappear through the floor to ceiling windows. It wasn’t an odd farewell, but the way he said it sent chills down my spine. 

I was probably just feeling off because I wasn’t with Avery.

That was it.

***

I pulled into the driveway and turned off the car, quickly unbuckling my seat belt. I inhaled deeply, telling myself that I had to calm down to not make it seem like I was so eager to get home that I broke the speed limit on the way here.

To be fair, it was only by five miles per hour.

I sat back in the seat, resting my head against the cloth headrest as I watched the house. The lights were on, giving my home a warm pull that made it feel somehow better to come home to. Callan was in there with Avery, most likely playing or eating a snack, and it made my heart swell with emotion. 

It almost felt like what it would be if we had a little family, like I finally had that extra set of hands to help me when I needed it instead of taking the world’s load onto my shoulders by myself. 

But this wasn’t a family. Callan watched her one time to do me a favor, and that was it.

Here I went looking too far into things again.

Maybe Penny was right to assume there was more going on.

After being alone for so long, I got used to not having someone to pass things off to, but my heart wanted this so bad that it was playing tricks on my brain. I had to approach this logically, not emotionally. Otherwise I’d get my heart broken and let Avery down.

Squeezing my eyes shut for a few seconds, I finally opened the driver's side door and got out. I beeped the locks on my car and headed for the house. The litter box and food brought a slight smile to my face. I just hoped it worked. 

I tried the handle on the door, but it was locked.

Good.

Slipping the key into the knob, I unlocked it and stepped inside, relocking it behind me. Voices drifted down the hall, along with a giggle. I set my keys and wallet on the front entry table, then followed the sound to Avery’s room.

I peeked around the doorway to where they wouldn’t notice me watching with their backs to me as they sat on the ground next to each other. I raised up on my tiptoes to get a better view of what they were doing. 

They were painting.

Callan, this big, teddy bear of a man, was on the floor with my daughter, painting.

And from the looks of it, he was painting a pink castle.

Avery moved to grab a different brush and must’ve seen me from the corner of her eye because her gaze shot to me, and I dropped from my toes. “Mama!” she shouted as she scurried to stand, racing my way.

“Hey, Aves. Did you have fun?” I asked her as she threw her arms around my waist.

Callan twisted where he sat, looking up at me. 

“Thank you,” I mouthed, and he dipped his chin in response with a smile.

“We had so much fun. We made pink slime, and then Callan helped me with my handstand, and then we played with my ponies and he met every one of them, and now we’re painting. Do you want to see what I painted?” Avery’s words tripped over each other as she couldn’t speak fast enough to tell me all about their few hours together.

“Of course, I do,” I replied.

She released me, hurrying over to her painting to pick it up and bring it to me. “It’s not done yet, but Callan is helping me with the castle.”

I stared at the piece of paper, the paint still wet, and swallowed back the lump in my throat. She’d painted herself standing on the grass next to a horse, with Callan and his cowboy hat to the left of her. Next to them was a field of flowers, and a big castle that was half filled in with pink.

“That’s Boots,” she told me, pointing to the horse, “and that’s Callan and me.”

Callan stood up with the wet paint brushes in hand. “I’m going to go rinse these.”

I stepped to the side to allow him room to leave, his arm brushing against mine as he passed. His skin was so warm, like a walking heater, and I could imagine curling up next to him in the winter while snow fell outside, our Christmas tree twinkling in the living room as Pudding swatted at the ornaments.

I shook my head at myself. Stop fantasizing, Sage. It’s one time. This doesn’t mean anything.

“It’s beautiful,” I told Avery.

“He helped with a bunch of it, but the flowers are all mine.”

I set the paper on her dresser, then bent to press a kiss to her forehead. “Why don’t you clean up your paint while I make you some dinner?”

“Okay!” She bounced away, getting to work on tidying the paint supplies.

I headed out to the kitchen where Callan had his back to me at the sink as he ran the brushes under the faucet.

“I can clean those. You probably want to get going,” I said to him as I opened the fridge.