Page 14 of Billionaire and the Barista

“I don’t want Robbie to see pictures from his first birthday party and wonder why his mom looks so miserable.”

“Have you talked to him since?”

“Since he left? No.” I shook my head. “And I haven’t tried to call him back.”

“Why not?”

“Why should I? He never leaves a message. As far as I know all he is doing is drunk dialing,” I said.

“But he’s trying. He called.”

“No, Mitch, he’s not trying. Trying is leaving a message. I call the wrong number all the time. That’s not me reaching out, just as this”— I shook my phone— “is not Nathan reaching out. I don’t have time for his games. I don’t have time to be the one to do the heavy lifting. Nathan has to follow through. I can’t sit around second-guessing his motives, not when I have a bakery counter to fill, a birthday cake to bake, and a baby to raise.”

I washed my hands before returning to my work. I pulled a stack of cupcake trays off the shelves and lined them up on the counter. I popped paper cupcake wrappers in as I continued.

“Nathan left for Europe to prove something to himself and his father. He went to seemingly grow up, he still has some growing to do. Did I ever tell you he said he wanted to marry me?”

Mitch nodded solemnly.

“When I asked if he still wanted to marry me, he said the time wasn’t right because he had to leave. But he couldn’t see that I couldn’t just leave all of this on a whim, and not without some kind of commitment.”

I began ladling in the mix.

“I don’t think Nathan ever realized that I’m the owner of all of this. He always told me to tell my boss off. That I didn’t owe it to my boss to stay and finish the baking or open late for the race crowd. He wanted me to tell my landlord I was leaving, and to tell my boss to shove it. No, I’m not going to call him back. Maybe leaving to grow up is the best for him. For both of us.”

“And Robbie?”

“Robbie has plenty of male role models around. I mean, you’re not going to abandon us, are you?”

“No, I’m not going anywhere,” Mitch smirked.

“And if you were, you would give Jenny more notice than a few days and marry her.”

“There are so many things wrong with that statement starting off with me going anywhere. I like where I am. The second is assuming Jenny would be willing to go anywhere. And let’s face it, that woman doesn’t want to marry me.” He held his hands up in a defensive gesture.

I laughed. Jenny and Mitch were like some old married couple, only without the married part. I doubted anything would ever change that. They had had some epic fights in the time I knew them. But it was always them. They were a solid couple; they didn’t need the paperwork to prove it.

I don’t know. Maybe Nathan and I could have been like that. A solid couple not needing to be married. But in order for that to happen, Nathan needed to have paid better attention. I was the landlord and the boss that he wanted me to tell stuff-it.

“How long were you dating Jenny before you knew what she did for a living?” I asked.

“That’s easy. I met her at the club where she was dancing. So, I knew what she did right away.”

“But you knew. I met Nathan and I don’t think he ever put two and two together.” I shook my head to clear out the thoughts of Nathan. “I don’t want to talk about him any more today.”

I opened the ovens and slid in the trays of cupcakes. I set the time.

“Go help Jenny. I’m sure she’s not getting anything done with Robbie to distract her.”

“You know if being married is what’s the most important thing to you, I’ll marry ya,” Mitch said.

I laughed. He had made that offer before. He was teasing, he always was.

“I don’t think Jenny wouldn’t like that much.”

“Not at all, but she’d take that baby in a fair trade,” he chuckled.

“I don’t think trading you for Robbie is much of a fair deal. Shoo. I have work to do,” I said as I made waving motions to get him out of my kitchen.

“Who is getting the short end of the stick in that trade?” he asked.

“Me. I’d be giving up the adorable Robbie and having to deal with you. No thank you. I think the arrangement we have is just fine. Jenny gets a grandbaby; you get to be the baby’s godfather and super uncle. And I get a big brother.” I started to tear up again.

“Come here, kid.” Mitch held out his arms.

I went in for a hug. Hugging Mitch was nothing like hugging my dad. Dad had been soft and round and smelled of coffee and cookies. Mitch was skinny and boney and smelled of oil, gas, and cigarettes. But the love was there and that’s what mattered. Life would have been so much harder without the constant support from him and Jenny.

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