I raised my eyebrows. "About what?"
"About the tax department's crackdown on small businesses. I just wanted to make sure you have all receipts in order, just in case RYT's is in line to be audited."
"Aside from the last couple of weeks, yes." And he knew that, so why ring me? It wasn't like the possibility of being audited was new, but as far as I knew, businesses like our café were generally only targeted when certain flags were thrown up. "Have they contacted us?"
"No, I just wanted to ensure everything was in order on the off chance we were."
I frowned. I wasn't sure why, but something just didn't feel right. "Mike, is everything okay?"
One dark eyebrow rose. It made his nose look overly large. "Yes, of course it is. Why?"
"You just seem… out of sorts." I cleared my throat. "And then there's the dinner invitation, which basically came out of nowhere."
"Not really. Your mother and I —"
"I'm not Mom," I reminded him gently. "I can't give you what she gave you."
Something close to horror flitted across his face. "Good god, you don't think I want to —"
"No," I cut in hastily. "I don't. But I do think that perhaps you're missing her, and I'm the next best thing to being with her."
But even as I spoke, I couldn't help noticing that for all his outrage, his gaze remained steely. Calculating.
Something was definitely going on, and maybe I needed to find out what. And hey, what was one more problem on an already overloaded plate?
"I do miss her," he said. "Enormously. But to imply I might wish to capture what I had with her with you is beyond —"
"I didn't mean to offend you, Mike," I cut in again. "The invitation surprised me, that's all. And I'm more than happy to have dinner one night."