Page 75 of Until I Find You

Kirk says, “You know we’d be happy to get that sorted for you.”

Of course he would. He’s a contractor. And he has a limitless budget. The guy is going to milk me as long as he can. But I don’t care.

Kirk gives us a tour of everything the construction team has been working on.

For a half-finished coffee shop, it’s not too shabby. Sure, everything is pretty much a skeleton of itself, but we’re moving right along.

I’m proud of what we’ve achieved.

Emphasis on we. I couldn’t have done it without Camilla.

“Let me show you how things are going behind the bar.” Kirk jerks his head toward Camilla.

Camilla starts to follow and gives me a look over her shoulder. “You coming?”

“No, you go ahead, I need a minute,” I say with a reassuring smile.

Camilla smiles back. “Okay.”

The two of them disappear into the backroom while I take in the shop.

Hard to believe how much can change in two months.

Everything is going to plan.

We’ve already got the farm up and running in Kona, having been able to take on most of the staff from the previous farm. And we’ve already been getting shipments of beans to our roastery, which will be in-house here once construction is down. For now, we’re operating out of a rental here in Brooklyn.

Our timeline for opening is still quite far out, but I’m spending a lot of my time experimenting with different roast techniques.

I want to get it right.

“Ow!” Camilla’s voice echoes through the shop from the backroom.

My body alerts and, in an instant, I’m on my way to her, rounding the corner of the counter and entering the backroom.

Camilla and Kirk are standing over a wooden butcher’s block made of raw wood. Camilla holds one hand upward by her wrist, one finger outstretched.

“Damn, that’s deep.” When Kirk notices me, he says with a smile, “Splinter.”

Why the fuck is he smiling? I go to Camilla, ignoring the contractor. “You okay?”

“Yeah, it just hurt for a second and now…” She trails off.

I look at her hand. The splinter isinthere, only a fraction of it sticking out of her finger. I turn to Kirk. “We need tweezers. You have a first aid kit around here, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll get that for you.”

“Thanks.”

Kirk scampers off.

I exchange her supporting hand for mine. “It’s going to be okay.”

“It’s a splinter, Jack, not a big deal.”

When we aren’t working, Camilla doesn’t posture with me. She doesn’t remain strong. If something hurts, she lets it be known, lets me tend to it. And I’m going to do just that here out in the open too.

“Camilla…” What I’d like to say is baby girl. Angel. Princess. Any number of words I use to identify her when we aren’t out in the open. Words to let her know she’s safe with me. That she doesn’t have to be big and brave. “Let me take care of you.”

---