Page 58 of Brews & Bartenders

“Sure.” I push the door closed behind me and throw his clothes into the washer. “What’s up?”

“Any chance you can come in tomorrow?”

“If it were any other day, I would, but it’s David’s first game.” I feel horrible saying I can’t, but I can’t miss this one. “What happened?”

“Sam is out of town, and I can’t get ahold of Kate. A call came in about fifteen minutes ago for an emergency flower order for a quinceñera. The original florist screwed up their order and they need it for tomorrow night.”

“How many arrangements?”

“Two dozen.”

“If I come in the morning, do you think we can knock it out?” David is going to be upset about not having breakfast with Carlos, but sometimes things come up. And this is my job. It’s a rarity I even get weekends off. “And would you be able to deliver them all?”

She doesn’t say anything for a few moments and I worry I’ve made her mad for not being able to help with that part. “Yeah, that should work. Want to meet at the shop at seven?”

“That works.” Now to let down the two most important guys in my life. “I’ll see you then.”

David comes out of his room with his clothes, headed for the bathroom. “What’s wrong?”

“Bad news, kiddo.”

He cocks his head to the side, confused with a touch of concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but we might have to reschedule breakfast. Emily needs my help at the shop because Sam and Kate aren’t here.”

His shoulders slump and I feel awful. “It’s okay, Mom. Breakfast can wait. Maybe I can help you and we can finish faster.”

“That would be great.” My sweet boy. Always willing to help out when he doesn’t have to.

“Eat before your food gets cold,” he grins, “and then it’s superhero time.”

He goes into the bathroom and closes the door. The water runs, and I know he’ll take a quick shower. I unwrap my burger and sit on the couch.

David doesn’t know that Carlos and I planned breakfast before I even suggested it. I need to let him know about the change of plans.

Caroline: We’ll have to raincheck on breakfast. Emily needs my help at the shop.

I’m not sure when he’ll be able to respond. The high school game is out of town and the bar is sure to be busy. I just hope he isn’t as upset about the news as David was. The two of them are bonding in a way I never could have imagined, and I hope like hell things work out between me and Carlos. If it doesn’t, I’m not the only one who will be heartbroken.

“David, can you hand me that string and paper?” Emily calls over her shoulder while I bring another bunch of flowers to our work area.

“Yes, ma’am.” He grabs the items and sets them down. “Can I help with anything?”

I set the flowers down to arrange them. “I know it’s early, but why don’t you keep an eye on the front of the store to see if anyone comes in. You can take my phone and play some games.”

“Okay.” His face lights up and he grabs my phone before going to the front.

“Nice way to distract him,” Emily laughs, “you’d think the kid never gets to play games.”

I shrug and lay the different types of flowers out in groups. “He doesn’t get a lot of time on my phone. He plays some games on the system Reaf gave him, but I limit his time on it.”

“Smart.”

“I have my moments.”

She grabs her phone and puts on some music while we work. It’s not too loud so we can hear David, but we can still hear it. We work in silence for a few minutes. Each of us grabbing the flowers we need to arrange temporary bouquets until she can get them to the venue to place in the table vases.

“Are you sure you can get this delivered and set up by yourself?” Guilt is gnawing at me even though Kate is missing in action. I tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail. It’s not fair to ask Emily to do this on her own.

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