for next week.”
“Thank you again for doing that.”
“I want to help.” So much earnestness filled Tay’s tone, Dakota couldn’t do anything but believe him.
Pushing his plate away, he stood and removed his wallet from his coat pocket. “I’m going to grab a cappuccino. Want anything?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
He returned with his coffee and a brownie.
“Ooh.” Tay leaned forward to look at it when Dakota placed it on the couch between them. “What’s that?”
“Salted caramel brownie.” Dakota handed him a fork. “I got the last one. Thought we could share. The lady at the cash says they make them in-house.”
“I can’t remember the last time I had a homemade brownie. When I was a kid, we’d just do them out of a box.”
“Us too. My ex-wife used to make really good cheesecake brownies.” Before Andy was born, that was.
Tay chewed slowly, turning sideways on the couch, one leg underneath him. “Is it too early in our—” He waved a hand between them. “—to ask about her?”
“I don’t mind talking about it. It’s not an interesting story, though. Six months into motherhood, Fiona decided she didn’t want to be a mom. That she wanted to focus on her career instead.”
Pausing with his bite halfway to his lips, Tay’s mouth dropped open. “Who wouldn’t want Andy?”
Warmth popped in Dakota’s chest. “Thank you for saying that.”
“I don’t know him that well yet, but he seems like a cool kid. And I may have only been to your house three times, but it was weird not being greeted by him at the door when I arrived earlier.” Tay forked another bite of brownie. “Is Fiona still in Andy’s life?”
“Minimally. She cancels plans a lot. We haven’t seen her in months.”
“I’m sorry.” Elbow on the back of the couch, Tay rested his head in his hand. “That must be hard on Andy.”
“I don’t know.” Leaving his fork on the plate, Dakota grabbed his mug from the table and mimicked Tay’s position. “He’s hard to read when it comes to her. She was supposed to come for dinner about a week and a half ago, and the day before Andy had already resigned himself to her not coming. Which, of course, she didn’t.”
“Must be hard on you too.”
He shrugged. “I just don’t like seeing Andy hurt. Four years old and he already knows that some people can’t be relied on. The fact that it’s one of his parents no doubt makes the wound worse. I mean, how must he feel knowing his mom doesn’t want to see him?” Huffing out a breath, Dakota rubbed his eyes with a thumb and forefinger. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get all maudlin. I’m a cheery first date, aren’t I?” He toasted a chuckling Tay with his mug.
“I don’t mind. I want to get to know you, so whatever you want to talk about, I’m game.”
“New topic,” Dakota said, giving his head a shake to dislodge unhappy thoughts about his ex. “Tell me about your classes. How are they going?”
Avoiding his gaze, Tay picked up his fork from the empty plate, licking the tines clean. The move wasn’t meant to be sensual—Tay didn’t even look at him; nevertheless, Dakota’s blood heated as Tay’s tongue swiped the tines.
“They’re going okay,” Tay said. “It’s just, with everything else, it’s sometimes hard to keep up, even with only two classes. You must be just as busy as me, though. Two jobs and a kid.”
“Speaking of being busy. You won’t believe what happened. Calder quit his job a few days ago. Long story, the gist of it being that he wasn’t happy there,” Dakota explained when Tay’s eyes went huge. “Anyway, he’s going to need more income, so he created a website for Once Upon a Time Cakes.”
Throwing his head back, Tay laughed long and loud, drawing the attention of more than one guest. “I swear, I didn’t give him the idea.”
“I didn’t expect you did. Coincidental, though, huh?”
“It’s kind of like when you see something you’ve never seen before and then you start seeing it all over the place. A couple of months ago, my Gran wanted me to get her this one specific brand of tea cookies I’d never heard of before. I swear, I see them on display every time I go to the grocery store now. Anyway.” Tay moved the plate between them onto the coffee table and scooted closer, nudging their knees together. “How is the extra business going to work for you, though?”
“We’re still working out the logistics before we