Page 44 of Challenged by the Single Dad

He glanced at the towel. “Huh.”

“You need to go see Justine and get her to stitch that up.”

“I’m fine,” he said again. “I’ll put a Band-Aid on it when I get home.”

“But then it might scar.”

“Scars are cool.” A few new people arrived through the front door, and he jerked his chin at them and said hello.

“Dom,” she protested, a sick feeling swirling in her stomach, “I feel so bad.”

“It’s fine. We’re getting busy so you should probably get started.”

He wasn’t wrong. The orders were rolling in. She grabbed the next several tickets and lined them up so she could start knocking them off the list, all the while keeping an eye peeled on Dom and his forehead. What if he had a concussion?

It was six o’clock before she had a chance to take a breath or look at her watch. She gasped. “You were supposed to leave ninety minutes ago.”

His gaze was hooded as he slid it her way, and plunked a filled-to-the-brim, dark pint onto the bar. “Couldn’t exactly leave when the orders were rolling in the way they were.”

“I’ve got it from here. Go be with your son.” She shoved down her grief over her own son being gone and smiled at Sunflower Patrick who was slowly making her way toward them at the bar. “Hi, Sunflower. What can I get you?”

Sunflower might have been in her eighties, but the woman had a very aware, sharp gaze about her. She placed her pale, wrinkled hands on the bar and leaned forward. “I don’t suppose you could make me one of those Caesars I’ve been hearing so much about?”

Chloe smiled. “Mixing it up today? No old-fashioneds?”

Sunflower batted her hand at an invisible fly. “Oh, I’ll always go back to the classics. But all I hear these days is how great your Caesars are. I figured why not take the plunge?”

“Walking on the wild side today, huh, Sunflower?” Dom grabbed the next ticket off the machine, then brought down a wine glass and reached for the house white.

“Well, Jolene won’t shut up about the damned things. The woman is The Island Mouthandthe world’s biggest badger. She is relentless. Badgering me to try it. I just need to shut the woman up.”

Dom and Chloe exchanged sideways looks and smiled as she went to work preparing a Caesar for Sunflower. “How spicy do you like things?” Chloe asked. “And do you like horseradish?”

“I like my life, my food, my drinks, and my menmuy caliente, dear. Don’t be shy with the spice.”

Dom snorted.

Sunflower’s nod was all business and her milky-blue gaze followed Chloe’s hands at each step.

“All right then. No scrimping on the spice.” Chloe finished making the drink and slid it onto the bar in front of Sunflower. “There you go. Let me know what you think. And I won’t be offended if it’s not your jam.”

Sunflower scoffed as her slightly trembling hand brought the pint glass to her thin lips. She took a big sip, and her eyes lit up. Then she took another sip. “Well, that is downright delicious. Oh! And there’s the spice.”

Dom and Chloe both chuckled.

“Now I have to listen to Jolene go, ‘I told you so’.” Sunflower rolled her eyes. “Damn woman can be insufferable sometimes.” She winked at Chloe. “Thank you, my dear.”

Still laughing, Chloe smiled. “Anytime.”

“You’re certainly winning over the whole island with your Caesars,” Dom said, still making drinks.

“Have you tried one yet?” She raised her brows at him.

He exhaled and shook his head. “No. I don’t believe I have.”

“Jolene Dandy will be the first to say you’re missing out.”

“And the first to say, ‘I told you so.’ Apparently.”

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