Page 30 of Witch Please

Titus shook his head with a smile. “Did things settle down at work?”

Something flickered in her pretty brown eyes, and she shook her head with a sigh. “My cousin is irritated with me because I couldn’t focus. She finally shooed me out.”

“And you came immediately in search of me?” Titus wondered if he dared to hope thathewas the reason she couldn’t concentrate, if she’d missed him even a fraction as much as he had her.

It was too soon to feel this way, of course. Such swift attachment was more than a little needy, so he tried to minimize the feeling. With limited success.

“I hope that’s all right. This is your busiest time.” Danica gestured with her half-eaten cookie at the line of people. “Do you need to help Maya fill orders?”

Titus sighed. “I probably should. Give me fifteen minutes?”

“No problem.”

He teamed up with his sister. With her dealing with the customers and running the register, he shifted to packing up the baked goods, and soon they had the backlog caught up. There was little left in the case when he returned to where Danica sat, gazing out the window with her chin propped on her hand.

“Is everything all right?” he asked.

Titus had no specific cause to think she was troubled, but she lacked her usual brightness. It could be the result of an exhausting week at work. He tended to overthink these issues, creating major problems from minor inconveniences. It was all he could do not to immediately offer to cancel his plans with the guys.

Don’t be like this. You’re playing poker. Keep some perspective, for God’s sake.

She glanced from the sidewalk outside to his face and regarded him steadily for a few seconds. “I’m dealing with some complicated family stuff.”

“So am I,” he said. “Want to talk about it?”

“You first.” Her words sounded almost like a dare, as if she were testing whether he’d open up to her.

This wasn’t the ideal setting, but he didn’t mind talking. Not to her.

Still, he lowered his voice because this wasn’t something he wanted customers repeating, and if Maya overheard, she might be hurt all over again. “We talked about this briefly before, but…my mom passed away, just after I opened the bakery. Within six months, my father remarried, a much younger woman that he met on a dating app. He moved to Arizona to be with her, and he’s basically tapped out of our lives…” Titus tipped his head at his sister. “And now, we just found that they’re expecting. It’s…”

“A lot?” she supplied.

After a moment, she put down her cookie and reached across the wrought-iron table to put her hand on his. Relieved that she seemed to understand, he nodded and turned his palm up, wrapping his fingers around hers.

“There should be a manual, you know? I’m so conflicted because I know I’m being a bad son because I’m not happy for him. I should be glad that he’s not miserable, but honestly, I fuckinghatehow fast he moved on. I resent his new family, and Susan is…well, she’s fine. I guess.” That admission was grudging.

He didn’t want to like her because she’d stolen his damned dad.There, I admitted it.

“Were there…problems? Between him and your mom?”

It was a reasonable question, one he’d secretly agonized over. “If there were, I never knew about them. They seemed happy together. Then she got sick, and we all thought—wehoped—that she’d pull through.”

“I’m so sorry,” Danica said softly.

She didn’t pull her hand away, offering silent comfort as a few more customers trickled in. Nothing Maya couldn’t handle on her own.

“Thanks. You’re a good listener.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You cared enough to ask.”

And he did feel better for airing the bad feelings. Danica didn’t seem to judge him for his reactions, and it was absurd how much he liked holding her hand. She gazed at their linked fingers, polishing off her cookie as they sat together.

Finally, she said, “My family problems are a bit different. Basically, my grandmother is very…old-fashioned. My mother married someone Gram disapproved of, and I’ve been caught in the middle of their feud since the day I was born. I had dinner with both of them last night, and…” She jerked a thumb across her throat.

Titus took that to mean that death might have seemed like a merciful escape. “That’s tough. Older people often carry deep biases, and there’s nothing we can say to change their minds. But even if she’s terribly wrong about your father, she’s family, and you love her.”

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