Scarlett began to cry, and Duke tried to shush her to no avail. “Mia! Your daughter is hungry, and I don’t have the right parts!”
“Brooklyn, will you bring her to me?” Mia asked. “I’m in a state of undress right now.”
“No problem.”
I gently took the baby from Duke. She nestled perfectly in the crook of my arms as I carried her, and I realized that in the not-so-distant future, I’d be holding my own baby.
* * *
“Find everything okay?” Willa asked when I brought my haul over to the counter.
“Yeah. I kind of want to buy this entire store,” I admitted with a laugh.
“I know. That’s the struggle working here. I have to try not to spend my entire paycheck on things in this place.” She grinned and began to ring me up.
While she was folding my purchases and sliding them into brown bags, I peered at the dainty laptop and the screen that was open to the store’s web page.
“Oh, I love that layout,” I said to Willa. “I have to get my website redesigned to add the catering side of the business. Is your web designer taking new clients?”
“You like the website? Really?” Willa asked.
“Yeah, it’s gorgeous.”
She grinned. “Me.”
“You, what?”
“Me.I’mthe web designer.”
“Stop it! Can I hire you?” I begged.
“Absolutely!” She handed me my bag. “There, you’re all set.”
“One tiny problem,” I said.
“What’s that?”
“I haven’t paid,” I reminded her.
She beamed. “It’s been taken care of.”
“Taken care of?”
“Slash took care of it, of course,” Mia said as she came to the counter with Scarlett back in her carrier.
“What do you mean,Slash took care of it of course?” I demanded.
“What are you doing now?” Mia asked. “Do you have the rest of the afternoon off, or do you have things you need to be doing?”
“I’m free.”
“Let’s go get a cup of coffee,” she said. “And I’ll fill you in on some things. Sound good?”
I nibbled my lip. “Duke rode with me.”
“I’ll stick around here,” Duke said. “Willa can give me a ride. Right?”
Willa nodded. “Yup. I can do that.”