“Well, my car will be in the shop, so I’ll fly in, but I can get my own ticket.”
“Okay, let me know when you’ll be here, and we’ll drive to the city to pick you up.”
“No, I’ll get a rental car. I don’t want to be without transportation.”
“I’m so excited. I can’t wait for you to meet everyone. How long are you staying?”
“At least through New Year’s. How does that sound?”
“Perfect.”
We hung up and I pulled my bank account up on my phone and checked my balance. I’d been living here rent free ever since Ripley left, and that had given me time to build up my savings. I should be fine for a few months, anyway. I would go visit him for a couple of weeks, and then I could pivot and figure out what was next.
Chapter 1
Cap
“Uncle Cap. You awake?” Maybe if I didn’t answer she would go back to bed. There was no way it was morning yet. “Uncle Cap,” she said, adding a poke to my arm.
“What is it, Annie?” I asked, reaching for her and pulling her into the bed with me.
“It’s balentime’s day,” she said, wiggling to get comfy. “We’re having a party at school.”
“That’s nice, munchkin,” I said, still half-asleep until what she said sunk in. Fuck. I was supposed to provide cupcakes for the party. When they had the parent sign up, Annie had been so excited that I signed up, and I thought cupcakes would be the easiest. I’d intended to grab some from the supermarket yesterday, but I’d completely forgotten. I reached for my phone and checked the time. She actually wasn’t up too early. It was only a few minutes before my alarm would’ve gone off.
I pretended I was going to stretch but turned it into a tickle-fest until we were both laughing. Once we got ourselves under control, I said, “So you’re excited about the party, huh?”
“Yeah. I love parties. There’ll be food, and we get to have red punch with hearts floating in it—Ms. Anderson promised. And we made balentime’s for our friends.”
“Well, sweetie, that sounds crazy fun.”
“Yep. Can I wear my red shirt and my pink tutu to school cause it’s…”
“Valentine’s Day, yeah, I heard. You can wear it, but if Ms. Anderson says you have to take it off, you have to follow her rules.”
“She won’t care. She likes pink,” she said, hopping off the bed. “Gotta go find it.”
She ran off to her room. I didn’t know where she got so much energy, but I was glad she was happy. She’d had a rough start in life, and I was determined to make sure she had every chance to be happy from here on out. Which meant not bringing cupcakes for her party wasn’t an option. If I left for the store once Tony arrived at the coffee shop, I should be golden. I would grab some cupcakes and get them to the school in plenty of time since the party wasn’t until afternoon.
I hopped in the shower, and then tossed on some clothes. Then I went down to make Annie and our neighbor, Carrie, some breakfast. Carrie came over each morning and stayed with Annie until time for school, and then her mom drove them, so the least I could do was feed her. I mixed up some pancakes really quick, then got an idea. I added a little food coloring to make them pink and, with a little effort, managed to make the pancakes heart-shaped. Carrie came in the back door, slung her backpack over the back of the chair, and grabbed a pancake. She looked at it and grinned. “Aww, Mr. Roberts, you’re so sweet.”
Annie came running into the room and skidded to a stop. “Uncle Cap, I can’t find my pink tutu. I’ve looked and looked and it’s gone. Do you think someone stoled it?”
I scooped her up and put her on a stool at the bar. “Nobody stole your tutu, munchkin. You eat and I’ll go find it.”
“You made heart-shaped pancakes for Balentimes Day.”
“I did, just for you. Now eat.” I kissed her cheek and went in search of the pink tutu.
It’d been a crazy morning at the coffee shop. I was putting a foam heart on each cup and people were loving it. Ripley and his friend, Frankie, had come in and were sitting over in the corner talking. I hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know Frankie because he got here about the time Annie came to live with me, but Ripley was so happy he was here. Ripley said something to him that made him laugh this adorable laugh that lit up his whole face. If I had time, I would go over and chat with them, but that wasn’t going to happen this morning.
I’d been watching the clock, waiting for Tony to arrive so I could go get the cupcakes when he called me. “Cap, I’m so sorry, but I can’t come in this morning. I’m at urgent care and they think I have the flu. I thought it was a respiratory thing or I would’ve called you earlier.”
I had to take a minute to breathe. It wasn’t his fault he had the flu, and he was a really good employee. “It’s okay, Tony. No worries. You stay home and take care of yourself.”
Shit, shit, shit. What was I going to do? I had to get those cupcakes to the school, and I had a full shop. I could close it for a few minutes, but business had been down since I wasn’t selling freshly made pastries. I didn’t want people to think I was going to start closing at odd times.
“Give me just a second, sorry,” I said to the next person in line and went over where Ripley and Frankie sat. “Hey, Ripley, could I ask you for a favor?”
“Sure, Cap. What can I do for you?”
“Can you run down to the store and get me twenty-four cup cakes? Annie’s having a Valentine’s Day party at school and I was supposed to bring cupcakes, but I forgot. I was going to go get them when Tony got here, but he called in sick.”
“Annie is your niece, right?” Frankie asked. “Ripley told me she was living with you.”
“Yeah, I can’t believe I forgot.”
“What time is the party?” he asked.
“Not until this afternoon, but I’m afraid the Valentine’s cupcakes will all be gone if I don’t get them now.”
“I can make them for you,” Frankie said. “We have everything we need at home.”
I was trying to decide what to say. I didn’t know him, and I had no idea what kind of cupcakes he would make. I didn’t want to mess this up for Annie since she was so excited. My thoughts must have shown on my face because Ripley chuckled. “Did I tell you that Frankie is a pastry chef?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously. I specialize in wedding cakes.”
“That would be so amazing, but you don’t have to go all the way back out to the ranch. I have a full kitchen here, and I can buy anything you need at the store if you can go get it.”
“You got it. Show me to the kitchen.”
“You guys go ahead and check out the kitchen. I can serve coffee,” Ripley said.
“Are you sure?”
“Well, mine won’t have any cute little hearts on top, but I know how to pour a cup of coffee and follow a recipe. I assume you have recipes.”
“I do. Thank you, Ripley,” I said giving him a hug.