I approached him and laid a hand on his arm. His muscles were tense beneath my fingers. "What's going on?"
"I heard from Monica just before I left the office to pick up our food. She wants to keep Jacks for the rest of the week, maybe longer. I explained that wasn't our custody agreement and she needed to have our daughter home this afternoon. There was some argument about whether or not she was legally obligated to bring Jacks back until I explained to her that if I had to contact the police with a copy of our legal paperwork, I would. Apparently, she either didn't know that was possible or she didn't believe I would dare to do something like that."
Damn, that was heavy. And also scary.
"I'm so sorry. Please tell me she's bringing Jacks home today."
Brody reached out, wrapped an arm around my waist, and pulled me into him. He buried his face in my hair and mumbled, "She is. Or she will if she knows what's good for her. She seems to think that I'm as concerned about my reputation as my mother is about hers. In reality, I couldn't give a fuck what some passing acquaintance thinks of me. I just want to have my daughter healthy, happy, and safe."
I returned his embrace and gave him a squeeze. "I'm so sorry, Brody. I would have understood if you needed to cancel lunch. You didn't have to bring it."
He inhaled and if he hadn't been so upset, I would have teased him about sniffing my hair. Instead, I leaned deeper into his hug.
"Maybe, but I needed this hug." He lifted his head. "And a kiss."
I smiled at him, but I kept the contact light when I touched my lips to his. He didn't need to suck face with me right now. He needed comfort. Even if he didn't admit it.
"That's a little better," he said.
I touched his cheek. "It'll be okay."
"And a little better again." He leaned into my touch.
"Think you can eat?" I asked.
He nodded and released me so he could divvy up the takeout boxes. He also removed a cupholder from another bag with two big Styrofoam cups.
"Let's eat back here," I suggested. People tended to peer into the windows when they walked by the shop and I didn't want either of us to be under scrutiny. Especially since his day wasn't going well.
There were two chairs against the back wall of the kitchen. When I moved to grab them, Brody intercepted me and picked them up instead.
"Where do you want them?" he asked.
I gestured to the end of the stainless steel island in the center of the kitchen. Though most of the island was waist-height, a small square at one end was set lower.
As we ate, I could see the tension drain out of Brody. He seemed calmer. Once our food was gone, he leaned back in his chair and sighed.
"Feel better?" I asked.
"Yeah. But I have a feeling it won't last."
I took his hand in mine. "Then, I'll be here for you to vent to. Or to give you hugs. Whatever." I squeezed his fingers. "But if you want me to cut a bitch, I'll need time to formulate a plausible alibi."
Brody laughed, which is what I was aiming for. "I don't think that will be necessary."
"Let's just keep your options open, okay?"
He laughed again but I could still see the lines of stress and anger on his face. His chuckles faded. "I'm going to spend all my free time with Jacks this week. I have a feeling that Monica will start playing the perfect mother soon and insist on having all of her weekends with her daughter." He frowned a little. "She's also supposed to have her for two weeks at the end of this month for vacation but, after today, I'm worried that she'll take her off to Europe somewhere and refuse to return."
I didn't say anything, but for Monica's sake, I hoped she wasn't that stupid. Sierra might have given up hacking after college, but I could probably talk her into tracking the woman down and fucking up her life. Financially speaking, of course.
"I'll be here if you need to unload. Or eat a shit ton of ice cream. I mean, that's how I deal with my problems sometimes."
Brody gave me some serious side-eye. "Sometimes?"
"Sometimes can mean all times."
"By definition, it can't," Brody argued, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Look it up in the dictionary."
I sneered at him. "Whatever. I'm right and you're wrong. We both know it."
He laughed and reached over to tug my ponytail the way he'd done a million times when I was a kid. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed his teasing until I had it back. He irritated me and made me laugh all at the same time.
"I gotta get back to work," he said with a sigh.
"But what about dessert?" I asked, aghast.
"I didn't buy any."
I gestured to the kitchen. "You are in an ice cream shop. One that serves incredibly delicious ice cream and sundaes made with from-scratch baked goods."
He leaned back and let his head fall against the top of the chair. "I'm never going to be able to stay awake this afternoon," he groaned.
"We can split something." I hopped to my feet. "How about an Insane Brownie Fudge sundae?"
"I'm probably going to regret it, but it sounds like something you would come up with."
I shot him a wry look as I started pulling ingredients out of the cooler. I had a few brownies leftover from yesterday, so I decide to use one of those since I would probably have to throw them away soon anyway. I hated wasting food but I also refused to serve stale brownies or cookies in my shop. It was tricky.
Brody watched as I built the sundae, his eyes growing wide as I added more and more toppings. "Is that for the two of us or are we expecting more people?"
I laughed. "It's for the two of us. Some of this stuff will have to be thrown away soon so I'm trying to use as much as I can."
"Then I guess I'll eat as much as I can."
Once I finished making the sundae, I brought it to the table and set it between us.
"Your spoon, good sir," I said, handing him a plastic spoon.
The first thing I did after I sat down was grab one of the maraschino cherries I'd placed on top and ate it.
Brody chuckled as he dug into his side of the sundae.
"What?" I asked around a mouthful of ice cream and fudge sauce.
"Some things never change."
"What?" I repeated.
"You always stole the cherries off of any sundae we shared."
I gestured to the three other cherries sitting on the concoction. "There are three more."
Brody stuck another spoonful of ice cream and brownie in his mouth but I saw the flash of his grin. After he finished the bite, he said, "I don't like maraschino cherries."
My hand arrested, holding my spoon in front of my face, and my mouth dropped open. "What?"
"You're saying that a lot. Do you have brain freeze or something?"
"How...how have I known you for twenty years and I didn't know that about you?" I paused and continued, "And you ordered three on your sundae the other day!"
He shrugged and shoveled another bite into his mouth. For someone who claimed not to want very much of the huge sundae between us, he sure was eating a lot of it.
I waited until he was finished, staring him down the entire time.