Page 36 of When Morning Comes Around

Harvey grinned at him. “Doesn’t look like I need to do a thing – I’d say that match is already made.”

Dominic nodded. He was going to have to have a word with Jake. He liked the idea of him and Savannah getting together, but he’d hate it if Jake let her down somehow.

She turned and waved when she saw them. “Hey, guys. I thought this would be best for you.”

Harvey chuckled and pointed at the booth where Jake was sitting. The bench seat on one side was much higher than normal. “I can get myself in and out of there without causing too much of a ruckus.”

He was right. Dominic watched him shuffle in and lower himself just a couple of inches. When he was sitting, he rested his feet on a foot rail. “Perfect,” he pronounced. “Why don’t you step out a second, Jake, and let Sadie scoot around so that she’s next to me?”

Dominic knew what he was up to – Harvey wasn’t worried about Sadie sitting next to him, only that Jake would still be able to sit on the end – to be closer to Savannah whenever she came by.

He followed Sadie in, and she shot him a rueful smile as they sat down. She knew what was going on, too.

Savannah handed out menus and when she’d taken their drinks order, Harvey said, “Would you do me a favor, Jakey? Would you go with her and bring my soda back? I need to take my pills before I eat.”

Jake obliged, and Sadie gave Harvey an inquiring look. “Are these some pills that I don’t know about?”

Harvey chuckled and winked at Dominic. “Yeah, they’re magic young love pills. Want some?” He took a pack of TicTacs out of his shirt pocket and flipped it open.

Sadie shook her head at him. “I’m fine, thanks. And I think Savannah and Jake will do just fine without your help, too.”

Harvey shrugged. “Maybe so, but they don’t seem to mind.” He jerked his chin to where Jake was standing, watching Savannah while she fixed their drinks.

Dominic couldn’t help but agree with Harvey’s assessment – they seemed totally smitten with each other. He was going to have to talk to Jake, to ask him how he felt. He’d been avoidingthe matter because he didn’t want to talk about Sadie – at least how he felt about Sadie. He knew that if he talked to Jake about Savannah, he’d be opening the whole can of worms.

He exchanged a smile with Sadie when Jake came back with Harvey’s soda. Harvey popped two TicTacs into his mouth and chased them down with a big gulp of soda.

As the evening went by, it dawned on Dominic that he was having a great time. His cheeks were aching from smiling and laughing so much. Harvey was a hoot, and it turned out that he and Sadie were like a comedy double act.

Jake was always up for a laugh, and even Savannah, who stopped by their booth far more frequently than was necessary, dropped a couple of one-liners that left them all in stitches as she walked away.

He looked around the diner; to the other customers they probably looked like a family. Maybe they didn’t. Maybe that was just his imagination. Maybe it was… Wishful thinking. He hated himself for thinking that. He and Polly had decided early on that they wouldn’t have children, but he wondered how many times, while she was here and after she died, he’d sat in a restaurant and watched families enjoy each other’s company, while feeling maybe a tiny bit envious.

“… But what nights do you work?”

He came back to the moment when he realized that Harvey was directing that question to him.

“Only Wednesdays and Thursdays lately,” he replied.

Jake laughed. “You know Taryn’s still mad at you, right?”

He chuckled. “She’s not really mad – she just plays it that way. Your dad and I are too old to enjoy working weekend nights in the busy season. She’s better off testing out her options now, while it’s quiet.”

He realized that Sadie was looking puzzled, and he turned to her to explain. “Damon used to work pretty much every night at the restaurant. Do you know Taryn? She owns the restaurant in the lodge at Four Mile Creek.”

“I don’t. I’ve never been in there.”

“Oh, okay. Well, Damon used to bartend full-time for her. When I moved here, he’d just met Jo and didn’t want to spend all his evenings working behind the bar anymore. I offered to step in to cover the nights he wanted to give up.”

“But it turns out that Uncle Dom doesn’t want to spend all his evenings behind the bar, either,” Jake chipped in.

He shrugged. “I enjoy it, but…”

Jake slapped his shoulder. “It’s not as though you need to do it, is it?”

Dominic shook his head and shot a look at Sadie. It wasn’t that he was trying to hide anything, but he hadn’t told her about the money that he and Damon had inherited. There was no reason that he should have told her – it wasn’t something that he went around sharing with just anyone. Not that she was just anyone – far from it. But…

He swallowed when Harvey met his gaze and held it. He thought that maybe the old guy was going to put him on the spot, ask him why he didn’tneedto work.

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