Page 49 of Sunkissed Colorado

“Pistachio latte for you,” he said, looking pleased with himself. “And a cinnamon-sugar muffin. All confirmed to be allergy free.”

“Youare…”

“Jaw-dropping? Gorgeous?”

“I was going to go with…awesome.” Because the guy did deserve some credit. He was turning my bad day around fast.

He beamed. “I’ll take awesome.”

Chuckling, I took a sip of the latte. Then closed my eyes as the warm, nutty flavor hit my tongue. For the first time all morning, something felt right. “Oh, that’s really yummy.”

“Piper knows her coffee.”

“Thank her for me. Also, thanks to you too. This was really nice.”

“My pleasure.” He stuck a hand in his pocket, the other lifting his coffee to his lips. “I do owe you a hundred bucks. It’s just my start to paying it back.”

I snorted, coughing on a mouthful of my drink. That first night I’d seen him at the bar felt like a lifetime ago. “I forgot about the hundred bucks.”

“I didn’t.” He flashed his grin. “Now we’re caffeinated. Let’s go talk to the police.”

The Silver Ridge PD officer had already taken a statement from Russ, and he promised to check around with our neighboring businesses to see if they had camera footage.

“No cameras here?” the officer asked, glancing at the eaves of the building.

“Manny was against it,” Callum said. “He claimed he’s, quote,morally opposed to the modern surveillance state.”

Totally sounded like something Grandpa would say. “We’ll get a security system and cameras installed soon,” I added, glancing at Callum, who nodded. “Was there a note attached to the brick or anything?”

My stomach twisted as I asked the question.

But the officer just shook his head, eyes on his notepad. “Nope. There was a music festival over in Pine Creek. Drew in more than the usual crowd of out-of-towners. Hart County Sheriff has been dealing with issues all week. Probablyjust more of that. Doesn’t seem like the culprit tried to get inside, so I doubt they were even interested in stealing beer.”

I nodded, my anxiety fading. It had been random, and I’d been upset over nothing more than a minor case of vandalism. Which made perfect sense.

It had nothing to do with me.

Within a couple hours, we had plywood over the window and the mess cleaned up. Everything was back to normal, the dining room ready for another day of serving customers. In the kitchen, the familiar sounds of chopping and sizzling filled the air.

Callum and I headed to the office to deal with some other tasks, but soon he was stretching his arms over his head. “Lunch? Cobb salad again, hold the cheese?”

“Uh, yeah.” But before he could put in our lunch request with the kitchen, I said, “Hey, Callum. Can I ask a favor?”

I’d been thinking about this all morning after the pistachio latte. If I didn’t ask him now, I was going to lose my nerve.

The thing was, Callum had been great lately. Like bringing me breakfast today. Also, starting up a conversation with Manny and the head chef about updating their cross-contamination procedures. Now I had several tasty options for meals here, like the Cobb salad sans blue cheese and croutons. I always got extra avocado.Yum.

And he’d been so reassuring after the broken window and that awful phone call with Ian.

Either Callum was genuinely a sweetheart, or he was trying to lull me into a false sense of security before an evil about-face. But I didn’t think so.

Callum stood, readjusting his cap over his waves. “Sure. Ask, and it shall be done, my liege.”

His goofiness gave me the last bit of courage I needed. “I’ve been meaning to go see Mrs. Mackenzie. Jessa’s mom. Winnie said she’s not doing well, and I felt like I should go spend some time with her. It’s the right thing to do, but I’m honestly kind of dreading it. Which probably makes me a terrible person.”

I was rambling. But Callum smiled softly. “Pretty sure it just makes you human.”

I forged ahead. “So I was wondering…”