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She smiles and waves me away. “Of course.” She handles this crowd by herself every day.
“‘Morning, Ruby,” Wendy says. “I haven’t seen you down here this time of day in a long time.”
“I know.” I look up at Henry again. “Unusual morning.”
Henry holds the kitchen door open, waiting for me to pass.
“I’ll say,” Wendy agrees, checking Henry out with obvious interest.
I wonder what everyone is saying about Henry. I wonder how April is going to explain him. I wonder howDanis going to explain the guy who now owns the place.
“Oh, um, Henry?” April asks.
He looks over at her.
“I need to place our weekly supply order today. Food, napkins, toilet paper, stuff like that. Dan said that since you?—”
Henry has already dug his wallet out and he tosses her a credit card. “Get whatever you need.”
April catches the card and looks from it to him. “Do you want to look the order over before I place it?”
“No.”
“Oh.” She seems confused.
“I have no idea what you need here. You’re the expert,” Henry tells her. “Get whatever you think you should get.”
“Oh.” She looks surprised. Then pleased. She grins. “What if I buy a new car?”
“Do you need a new car?” Henry asks.
Her smile drops at his not-kidding-around tone. “No. I mean…no. I would never do that.”
“If you need a new car, we can talk about that,” Henry says.
I pinch his side. “Lighten up,” I whisper.
He clears his throat. “But for now, just get whatever the bar needs. And the kids. Whatever they need.”
“I want to try caramel syrup!” Will calls. “Sneak some of that on the list. Dan wouldn’t let me try it.”
“You don’t need two kinds of syrup,” Dan grouses. “This isn’t a damned coffee shop.”
“Isn’t it?” Henry mutters. “Definitely get caramel syrup,” he says. “Vanilla too.”
“Oh yes, vanilla sounds good!” Will calls.
Henry rolls his eyes but the corner of his mouth tips just slightly. No one else sees either thing, but no one else is studyinghim as if he’s the most incredible thing they’ve ever seen. The way I am.
April smiles at him. “I’ve got it covered. I promise we won’t gotoocrazy.”
“I trust you, April,” Henry says.
Her eyes widen and her smile says she’s touched. “Thanks, Henry.”
Damn him. He’s so…good. And I don’t think he even knows how much that meant to her. Dan had her do all the ordering too, but he always checked the order over, even after her working here for three years.
Henry nudges me into the kitchen and lets the door swing shut behind us.