Page 15 of The Baby Dragon Cafe (The Baby Dragon #1)

Chapter 15

S aphira lay on the couch tucked comfortably into a blanket with Sparky on her lap, watching Aiden cooking in her kitchen. Outside, it had begun raining, and she could hear it outside the windows, the soft pitter-patter mingling with the sound of Aiden’s chopping and stirring.

Initially, it had been strange to take it easy while he was in there, working alone. Saphira was so used to doing everything herself, but there was a real pleasure in letting him take care of her, in allowing herself to lean on him. In letting herself finally relax.

And now she didn’t want to get up. Saphira felt glued to her couch, especially with the weight of Sparky on her lap. The baby dragon seemed equally cozy, with no apparent plan to move. He cuddled against her as she absent-mindedly stroked his head, petting his black scales.

The burn on her arm had been painful at first, but it was practically healed now. Dragon saliva really worked, and the rate it had healed her was especially wonderful because it meant that she and Sparky were properly bonded. Otherwise, his tending to her wound would not have worked so well.

The bond between a dragon and its rider helped to foster healing, and while she wasn’t his rider, she was still close to him. Saphira adored Sparky, her little baby, even though he’d gotten bigger now, heavier on her lap than he had been when she first started training him.

Saphira’s gaze strayed to Aiden in the kitchen. His sleeves were rolled up and he was chopping an onion, the muscles in his forearms flexing as he did. Her heart felt all gooey, and there was an ache in her chest.

She liked him, she really did. There was no denying it. Lavinia had been right all those weeks ago—Saphira had a crush.

But she had to be sensible. She couldn’t be reckless, pursuing something that might not work out. If he didn’t feel the same, things would be awkward between them, and she couldn’t jeopardize their arrangement.

For one thing, she still needed the money Aiden was paying her to train Sparky, and for another, more important thing, she did not want to lose Sparky.

She didn’t want to lose Aiden, either, but that was an entirely different matter. She needed to be wise, but what girl had ever been smart about a gorgeous man?

Especially one who cooked!

Aiden brought two plates over to her on the couch, sitting down beside her legs. Sparky sat between them as they ate, and the food was yummy. It was a pasta dish with considerably less cheese than she would usually add, but it was good.

“Aiden, thank you,” she said.

“It was no problem,” he replied. “I could have made something more elaborate, but this was quick, and you don’t exactly have an extensive kitchen.”

She laughed. “I don’t cook that much. I have breakfast and lunch at the cafe, and by the time dinner rolls around, the last thing I want to do is make myself something to eat, so I usually eat random stuff. Sometimes I’ll boil a handful of pasta and throw some cold cheese over it and call it a night.”

His eyes widened, his face appalled. “That is not healthy. At least eat a salad. You know you can get those salad packs. You don’t even have to do anything! Just open it and eat it. It’ll cover your veggie intake.”

She made a face. “I eat potatoes, that counts!”

“It absolutely does not.”

“I take this as meaning you like cooking,” she said.

“I do,” he replied. “It’s satisfying, assembling the ingredients and putting a dish together. With gardening, there’s so much more planning and patience waiting for the result, but with cooking, you get this immediate outcome. And it’s delicious.”

“I do love good food. I think I never got into cooking because Nani-Ma was always the one who made food, and she made the very best dishes.” Saphira smiled fondly at the memories, suddenly remembering something. “Actually, every spring she would make this mutton curry dish with flower buds. I don’t remember what it’s called, but it was my favorite thing ever. I haven’t had it since she passed.”

He made a thoughtful sound, and they continued eating, talking about random things. She felt a lot better, more energized.

When she finished eating, he picked up their plates and took them to the kitchen. Now that he was more relaxed, he looked around, taking in the details of her home.

Saphira felt self-conscious of her apartment; it was a bit chaotic and had an older style because she had kept all of Nani-Ma’s decorations and put them up, even after selling their old home and moving into the apartment above the cafe. Nani-Ma had all these old-style Mughal art and accents, but Aiden was looking at everything with interest, quietly taking it in.

He walked around, stopping in front of a piece of framed artwork. He smiled.

“Did you make this?” he asked, looking back at her.

“Guilty.” She nudged Sparky off her lap then stood and joined him. Sparky trotted alongside her, stopping between her and Aiden as they both looked at the drawing. It was from when she was a kid. The drawing depicted her on a dragon; she had always loved dragons.

Nani-Ma had framed it, and Saphira put it up, not because it was a credit to her nonexistent artistic abilities, but because it made her feel as though Nani-Ma was still there, encouraging Saphira on, telling her that no dream was too big. In a world where dragons flew through the air, nothing was too far out of reach.

Tears pricked Saphira’s eyes, and she blinked them away.

“Did you make this as well?” Aiden asked, moving along a little. She moved with him, as if they were in an art gallery.

Next to the drawing of the dragon was another framed piece of art, though Saphira had made this one a decade after the initial piece.

“Yes,” Saphira said. This was a drawing of a storefront, with “The Baby Dragon Cafe” written in big block letters outside the building. It was a long way from what her actual cafe looked like now, but the idea of it, the name of it, that was still there. “I made it when I was a teenager,” she explained. “It was a few months after I started working at my first cafe, and it was the first time I got the idea of having a place of my own.”

Aiden turned his head to her, face awed. “Saphira, you made your dream come true,” he said. “I’m so proud of you, and I hope you’re proud of yourself, too.”

Saphira’s face felt warm. “I guess I’ve been so caught up with everything that I haven’t gotten the chance to feel proud yet.”

He turned his body to hers fully. “Well, take this moment then—this one right now—and feel proud for all that you’ve accomplished. Even if the cafe doesn’t go any further, even if it crashes and fails, you made it this far. You did that.”

She hadn’t thought of it that way. Saphira had been so busy trying to keep everything running, trying to keep everything successful, that she hadn’t even stopped to see just how far she’d come. Looking at the artwork now—drawn a decade ago—she realized he was right.

“Yeah, I did!”

She had done that. She had made her dream come true.

Even if it didn’t go any farther than this, she had made that drawing—that vision—a reality. Sometimes Saphira was moving so fast she forgot to take a second to breathe, and she was thankful to Aiden for giving her that reminder. She had needed it.

“I wish Nani-Ma was here to see it,” Saphira said, eyes welling with tears. “To see everything.”

Her gaze went to Aiden, then to Sparky. Nani-Ma would have loved them, Aiden especially. Saphira could picture them meeting so clearly in her head, and the image was a spear through her chest, for she knew it would never happen.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said.

“Thanks,” she replied, going to sit down again. He joined her, and she released a long breath. “It’s been more than a year but it still hurts.” She paused, looking at him. “I’m sure you understand that.”

He nodded. “Even though Danny and I were close, we didn’t actually see each other every day. Sometimes he’d be gone for work for a week at a time, so initially I was able to fool myself into thinking I’d be seeing him again soon, that he wasn’t really gone forever, just gone for now.”

“I had that too, in the beginning,” she told him, pulling a pillow onto her lap. “I would forget she wasn’t here, so sometimes things would happen and I would think to myself, oh Nani-Ma will love to hear about this, and I’d pick up the phone to call her, and then I’d remember that she was gone, that I couldn’t call her. And the loss would hit me all over again.”

“Then slowly, you start functioning around the grief, and you get used to it,” Aiden said, voice soft. He sighed. “I don’t know what’s worse: the grief, or getting used to it.”

“In the beginning, it hurt too much to even think about her, let alone talk about her, so I would try not to, and then I felt bad, as if I was forgetting her,” Saphira said, fiddling with the edge of the pillow. “But now the worst of the pain has gone, and I love to remember her, truly.”

“I feel the same,” he said. “Now that the worst of the grief is over, I’m always thinking of Danny, knowing he’d get a real good laugh out of something, or hearing his smart-ass response in my head.”

“I hear Nani-Ma’s voice in my head, too!” Saphira said, smiling. “Especially with the cafe, I feel connected to her, since it was because of her that I was even able to accomplish that dream. Nani-Ma made me promise to make the cafe a reality—it’s why I want it to succeed, so I can keep that connection to her. In a way, it feels like converting all the grief into love, and I can keep her legacy alive through the cafe.”

“That’s wonderful,” Aiden said. “I think I can understand that a little, and I think I understand why Danny left a dragon egg to me. As if he wanted to ensure I would still have a piece of him, even after he was gone.” He paused. “I want to do right by my brother, and I think that I can, now—I feel connected to Sparky, even more so now that we’re bonding, and it’s all thanks to you, Saphira.”

“Oh, I’m not doing much,” she said, sheepish.

“You really are,” he said. “I was so angry with my parents when they first hatched the egg because I didn’t want to deal with it, but I can see why they did it and how ungrateful I was being before. You helped me realize that. That even though my family can be a bit overbearing and intrusive, they have good intentions—they’re good people.”

“I like that,” she said. “Even if they feel burdensome at times, it is a blessing.”

His great, big family. Something she did not have, but something she had felt a part of, going to family dinner with him.

“Truly.” Aiden looked at the clock then and stood. “It’s getting late,” he said. “You should take the day off tomorrow to keep resting. We can’t have you burning out. And speaking of burns—how’s your arm?”

He reached for her hand, pulling it up to see the affected area. Most of the burn was healed now.

“All good,” she told him, standing as well. “Hardly even hurts.”

“Good,” he said. “But still, you should rest tomorrow.”

“I can’t take time off,” she replied. “I would be too stressed out to relax.”

He frowned. “You should hire more help.”

“I know.” She sighed, walking with him to the door. “I did hire one person to cover for Lavinia, but maybe I’ll reach out to the other people I interviewed as well to hire another.”

She would have to figure out how to make that work financially, but perhaps it was time to prioritize such a thing.

“Okay, good. You shouldn’t have to do everything yourself, you know.”

“I’m starting to see that.” She smiled. “Thanks again for your help, and for dinner, and for being here—for everything.”

“I’m happy to do it,” he replied, a tender expression on his face. He turned to Sparky. “Let’s go, buddy.” Sparky hopped over, jumping up to lick Saphira’s face goodbye.

“I’m really happy we’re friends,” Saphira said, then she hesitated. She didn’t want to assume a deeper relationship than there was, but if he strictly thought of her as a colleague—as someone who was training his baby dragon—then surely he wouldn’t be looking at her the way he was, would he?

“We are friends, right?” she asked. For a moment, she thought she had said something wrong, for a disappointed look flashed across his face. But then he swallowed, his throat moving.

“Yes,” he said, voice hoarse. “Friends.”

She exhaled with relief. “Well, thanks again,” she said, going to hug him goodbye. She went on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck.

His arms came around her torso, strong and steady, their bodies flush against each other. An electric current shot through her spine, making her shiver. Her heart pounded painfully.

He made a strangled sound, pulling her closer. His hands pressed into her skin, his touch scorching. Saphira’s breath caught in her throat as heat spread through her, liquefying her limbs. She inhaled the sweet scent of mint from his skin, her body aching.

His breathing shallowed. Saphira pulled back, looking at his face, where his eyes were dark pools. His gaze flicked down to her mouth, and his lips parted. Saphira’s pulse quickened with anticipation.

For a moment, she thought he might kiss her, and she leaned closer, but he only clenched his jaw and whispered goodbye.