My eyes shot up to hers, then I quickly pushed to a stand. “Right. I’ll pack all this up.” The way Sage said it made me sure she wouldn’t want a second date. What the fuck was I thinking? I was stupid for even asking. Stupid for letting my brothers talk me into this. All that talk about Lettie and Bailey’s wedding had messed with my head, and now here I was, envisioning a future with someone I’d just met weeks ago.
I got to work putting everything back in the basket as Avery put her rocks back on the shore.
“Thank you for today,” Sage said quietly.
My hands slowed as I was rolling up the blanket. “Of course. I hope I wasn’t overstepping in any way.”
Her brows pulled together. “What? No. This was so thoughtful, Callan. Avery and I had a lot of fun.”
I nodded.
Fun.
That’s all this was.
But why was it so hard to get that through my fucking head?
20
Sage
“Don’t forget this!” I grabbed Avery’s pink lunchbox off the passenger seat, holding it out the window to her.
“Thanks, Mama,” Avery said, wrapping a tiny hand around the handle.
“Have a good first day, sweetie. I’ll be back to pick you up later.”
She gave a small nod and a quick smile, then turned to run up to the fence where her friends were already waiting at the playground. First grade was a big step from kindergarten, but she hadn’t been scared. My little girl was fearless and so beyond excited that she’d barely slept at all last night.
I liked to think that she got it from me, but I couldn’t say I was exactly brave all the time. There were too many moments in my life that I’d stayed quiet and let the worst happen.
Heading out of the U-shaped parking lot after drop-off, I headed toward Bell Buckle Brews for my shift. I’d be off by the time Avery got out of school, so I didn’t need to worry about her pickup situation today. Most days during the school year, I could get off around the same time she was released, but on the occasional day that wasn’t possible, I’d either have her go to a friend's house after or I’d use my lunch to pick her up and bring her to the cafe. At least, that worked for kindergarten. First grade was a whole different ball game.
A few minutes later, I pulled into my usual parking space out front of the cafe and headed inside. As the cowbell above the door sounded, my phone dinged in my back pocket, but I ignored it until I passed through the back doors to clock in.
With school drop-off, I got in a little later than I usually liked to, but I didn’t want to drop Avery off at the crack of dawn just to get a head start on some pastries. I already dropped her off about forty-five minutes before the first bell. Thankfully, her teachers didn’t mind, seeing as a lot of parents dropped their kids off early so they could head to work as well.
The beauty of working in a cafe meant I could bake and cook things all day—it didn’t all have to be done before opening. Sure, we might run out of things, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if a customer had to wait ten minutes for a specific baked good to be done in the oven. We had a variety of items to choose from anyway.
That was the nice thing about places like Bell Buckle—life didn’t move too fast to where people couldn’t wait a few minutes for their food. In the city, though? That would cause havoc and a bad Yelp review.
Thank goodness for small towns.
I slid the baking sheets full of assorted items into the ovens in the back, my wrist slightly twinging with the weight, but I ignored it and headed to the front to deal with the register and other opening duties.
My fingers worked to tie a knot with the strings on my apron as my phone buzzed again from my jeans. Remembering I had ignored the text from earlier, I pulled it out to check who it was.
An unknown number sat in the message field of both text messages, and I clicked it to read them. This time, it was a different number than the one that texted me during my date with Callan.
Unknown: You’ve been ignoring me.
Unknown: You know who this is. I know what game you’re playing.
My fingers froze, clutching my phone like my grip might keep the fear away and erase what was on the screen. If this was him, how was he texting me? Did he get someone to smuggle a burner phone into the prison? There was no way he could be out. He still had just under two years left of his sentence at the Oregon State Penitentiary.
I didn’t know if a minute passed or ten, but a knock on the glass caused me to jump out of my spiraling thoughts. My hands retracted from my phone like it might bite me, the device landing on the counter with a clang. My eyes shot to the window, my heart beating out of my chest. My whole world had frozen with the terror that crept into my mind at the thought of him being free. That he might be able to find me and Avery.
Oakley stood outside the window, her hand lifted in an eager wave as a smile creased her cheeks. She pointed to the handle on the door and I realized it was locked.
Shit. How long was I standing there for?
Leaving my phone where it landed on the counter, I rushed to the door to let her in.
“Good morning,” Oakley said as I held the door open for her.
“Morning,” I replied, checking both ways on the sidewalk and across the street before closing the door again. The damn cowbell dinged with the movement, making me flinch. I never hated the thing as much as I did right now.
“You okay?” she asked as I turned to her, wiping my palms on my apron.
“Better than ever.” I pasted on a grin.
Her eyes narrowed slightly like she knew I was lying through my teeth. I was a baker—not an actress. “You’re never late to opening Triple B.”
“Late?” It was just seven-thirty when I last checked the clock.
“It’s fifteen past opening,” she stated hesitantly.
Swallowing the tremor that was building with my inability to lie, I said, “Must’ve lost track getting the food ready.”
