Page 7 of The Baby Dragon Cafe (The Baby Dragon #1)

Chapter 7

S aphira walked out of the cafe and onto Main Street. It was a sunny day, the sky a perfect paint-tube shade of cerulean blue, and the grass along the sidewalk an equally perfect green. All the rain these past few nights had paid dividends, and the scene was idyllic now.

The weather was balmy, like a caress—a lovely spring day with a light breeze, the type of weather that made you wish to always stay outdoors. Saphira’s thoughts strayed to the overgrown garden behind the cafe, how she had originally dreamed to make it into a play area for the baby draggos by this spring to enjoy the warm weather. Unfortunately, she hadn’t gotten the chance—nor did she have the money.

Saphira ambled down Main Street, passed the ceramics store, where they held pottery classes. Then she passed the Rolling Pin Bakery. Inside, Theo was restocking the fridge. As he caught sight of her passing by, he tapped the nonexistent watch on his wrist, then mimicked crying. Saphira laughed and waved as she walked by.

Dragons flew high above, their jeweled scales glimmering in the sunlight, flashing white, black, red, and blue. The dragons enjoyed the hills around the valley, while the chimeras preferred to be down by the lake, the griffins lived in the dense forests, and the phoenixes built their nests up high in the mountains.

While Starshine Valley was pretty big, it was divided into little sections to cater to the magical animal that inhabited that part of the area. The divisions made each bit into a cozy little town. Dragons were the most common magical animal, which was why the Main Street running through the valley was the biggest, while the Pines—where the griffins resided—and the Heights—where the phoenixes resided—were smaller areas.

Saphira walked past the Animal Hospital (where Lavinia hoped to one day be a veterinarian), the one nice restaurant in town, the stationery store, the florist, the pizza parlor, the live theater … all quaint joints where you could easily run into people you knew.

She loved Starshine Valley, and she loved Main Street best of all. She couldn’t imagine ever living anywhere else. As she ambled further along, a woman a few years older than her walked by with an azura baby dragon in tow. Saphira looked over her shoulder and saw the woman was heading for the Baby Dragon Cafe, a sight which made her want to float off the ground with joy.

She loved her cafe so dearly. She just needed to figure out how to make it a lasting success. Aiden paying her was definitely wonderful, but she had a sinking feeling that what she really needed was to pay off the last bit of her mortgage on the cafe, something she thought she would have done by now.

The monthly payments automatically depleted most of her money, but if she paid it all off in one go, that would be a huge help, plus she would fully own the cafe. That way, she wouldn’t feel the need for constant money in case of yet another baby-dragon-created issue; she would already have savings set aside. Nani-Ma, too, would want Saphira settled and secure.

Ugh, but Saphira didn’t want to think about the financials, not when she was out in the sun. She never liked math, and she had unfortunately had to do way too much accounting as a small business owner these last six months.

Luckily, just then Saphira got to the Starshine Public Gardens, which were gorgeous. She saw the little sign that said The Bloomsmiths , and it drew a smile to her mouth. There was something special about being able to recognize and notice Aiden’s handiwork all over the town she loved.

Saphira made her way to the main building, where there were information pamphlets about the history of the gardens, as well as maps pertaining to the different areas. She quickly found the babysitting area for the little draggos.

There were about five baby dragons behind a fence in a little play area, wreaking havoc, while there was someone at a desk with a computer guarding them. The babies were being chaotic, either playing or fighting with one another, she couldn’t quite tell, but she spotted Sparky’s black scales immediately.

The moment she found him, his gaze went to her, and his purple eyes widened, his little face lighting up. Sparky shot to the fence, squealing. With a smile, Saphira crouched down and petted him through the fence, and the baby dragon purred.

“I’m just here to pick Sparky up,” Saphira said, standing up to speak to the kid in charge, a teenager whose nametag read “Thomas.” Because the babysitting area was inside the main building, the baby dragons were not at a huge risk of being poached, hence the easy security of a teenage boy.

“Ma’am, I need to see your ID please,” Thomas said, blinking nervously.

The usage of “ma’am” in reference to her was a low blow, making her feel ancient at age twenty-five, when really she was so young and spry!

“Here you go,” Saphira said, pulling her ID out of her purse. She showed it to him, and he referenced his computer. His eyes widened; he suddenly looked severely stressed.

“I’m sorry, but you’re not his owner,” Thomas said, looking as if he was about to cry because of the confrontation. “They’re really strict about that kind of thing, so I can’t let you take Sparky, I’m sorry, please don’t be angry with me.”

“Oh, gosh, sorry, I have the Drakkon ID, too,” Saphira said, feeling embarrassed by how concerned she had made Thomas.

She had a Drakkon ID courtesy of Aiden, who had signed a form to show Saphira was a caretaker for Sparky, which allowed her to freely take Sparky places without his owner present. She wasn’t used to having to show it anywhere, so when Thomas had asked for identification, she had assumed her regular ID would have been enough.

Usually dragons didn’t go anywhere with strangers anyway, but the Drakkon ID was to ward off poachers. Her ID was silver, temporary; the permanent IDs were golden, and a class symbol of their own.

Saphira took her silver card out and showed it to Thomas. The ID clearly stated her information and Sparky’s. Thomas exhaled a long breath of relief.

“Okay, phew, thank goodness,” he said, wiping his brow. “I thought you were a poacher for a second, trying to pull a fast one on me.”

Thomas laughed nervously, and Saphira suddenly felt incredibly insecure.

Was it that obvious that she wasn’t from a Drakkon family? Was it so clear to a complete stranger that she didn’t have a dragon of her own?

Before she could wonder whether or not to be offended, Thomas brought Sparky out, and Sparky leapt into Saphira’s arms, his paws against her chest as he licked her face. He was still small enough that such an action wouldn’t hurt her, but she knew as he got bigger, she would need to dissuade him from jumping into her arms or she would get knocked over by both the force and his weight.

“Hi, baby, I’m happy to see you, too,” she said, laughing. All else was forgotten as she set Sparky down and gave him a treat from her purse. Then, she headed for the rose gardens, Sparky trotting happily alongside her.

Saphira had been to the gardens many times to enjoy their beauty, so she knew her way around. When they got close to the rose gardens, Saphira’s heart rate rapidly began to increase.

She was nervous. Taking a deep breath, she crouched down and scratched Sparky’s chin.

“Let’s go show Aiden how much you’ve learned, okay?” she said, voice quiet. She had no idea if Sparky understood or not, but Sparky looked up at her with big purple eyes, clearly listening.

With Sparky hopping beside her, she walked down the stairs, which were covered in wisteria and ivy. She walked through the lilac lane, which smelled wonderful, until they made it to the geometric rose garden, which was dotted with paper-white, candy-pink, and vibrant reds.

The rose gardens looked to be empty, but she spotted one tall figure. Saphira stood on the edge a moment, unnoticed by Aiden, watching him. Everything was beautiful, and he was a key element of that beauty.

Saphira took the moment to appreciate just how handsome he was. Aiden was always in such a hurry when he dropped off Sparky or picked him up that she had barely gotten a proper look at him these past two weeks, so she relished the chance now.

He was on his knees in the dirt, hard at work wearing a T-shirt. His arms caught her attention—she had only ever seen him in full-length sleeves, so he looked practically undressed to her.

Saphira stared at his hands as he worked, the long, elegant fingers, the veins leading up his forearms, then the shape of his biceps. Heat flushed through her, and she had the inane urge to bite him.

He was a little tanned from being in the sun all day, and his skin was glistening, but aside from ogling him, which she really needed to stop doing now, he looked so at peace as he worked, so calm. Like he really enjoyed this. His body language radiated serenity.

Sparky nudged his head against her leg, looking up at her, and she took a deep breath. “Let’s go show Aiden what a good boy you are,” she said, petting his head. Sparky licked her fingers, then trotted forward.

As they approached, Aiden looked up—shock rippled through his face as he registered her, followed quickly with … delight? Yes, delight. He was pleasantly surprised to see her. For some reason, that only made her more nervous. But she reminded herself she was a woman on a mission.

“Hey,” she said, as he stood up. She tilted her head back to meet his eyes, and she saw the moment he registered who else was with her. His brows crinkled with tension.

“What’s Sparky doing here?” he asked. “I left him inside.”

Saphira frowned, feeling protective of Sparky then, who seemed to be picking up that Aiden was not completely overjoyed to see Sparky there. Sparky was half hiding behind her leg, one paw holding onto her ankle.

“I wanted to show you how we’re progressing,” Saphira said, keeping her voice bright and upbeat. She turned to Sparky, then, smiled reassuringly. “Sparky, say hi to Aiden.”

Sparky hesitated, but she nodded at him. Tentatively, Sparky released her ankle, then trotted forward to get to Aiden, who seemed to be bracing for something to go wrong. But Sparky went up to Aiden and rubbed his nose against Aiden’s leg.

“Yes, I noticed he’s much better behaved,” Aiden said, though he still sounded stressed.

“Pick him up,” Saphira told Aiden. Sparky was waiting.

“He’ll bite me,” Aiden replied automatically. Saphira frowned.

“He shouldn’t.” Saphira frowned. “We’ve been working on that. When was the last time he bit you?”

Aiden thought about it. “Actually, I can’t remember. I didn’t notice.”

Irritation flared through her at that. For one thing, she had been working diligently to train Sparky, and Aiden hadn’t even noticed, and for another, Aiden didn’t even care enough to try and be affectionate with Sparky, let alone bond with him.

How could he not want to pick Sparky up every moment he got? Saphira loved being around the little draggo, holding him in her arms, smushing his little face, keeping him always as close as possible.

Aiden must have sensed Saphira was peeved because he bent down and scooped Sparky up. Sparky got a bit hissy for a moment, but then he seemed to remember Saphira was watching and glanced over his shoulder at her. She gave him a stern glance, and Sparky begrudgingly remained calm.

“Impressive,” Aiden said, giving Saphira a small smile. His dark eyes were warm, the expression on his stoic face soft. “You’re doing such an amazing job.”

She was pleased by the praise. While she could get irritated easily, she also got over it quickly as well, something that would always make Nani-Ma shake her head. “Where are your nakhre, girl? You’re supposed to give people a hard time, especially boys!” But Saphira was too soft-hearted for it all.

Especially because she could tell Aiden meant it.

He set Sparky down, and Saphira said, “Okay, now watch this.” She turned to Sparky. “Sparky, sit.” Sparky obeyed, sitting down.

“Good boy!” Saphira scratched his chin.

“He’s not so hyperactive anymore, either,” Aiden said. “Well done.”

“I wanted to show you how we’re getting along,” she said, facing him. “Since you’re never there at training.” A bite entered her tone. For a second, it looked as though he wanted to say something—but then he thought better of it, and didn’t.

Instead, Aiden looked around. “Do you want to see what we’ve been working on?”

“Oh, yes! But is it alright? I mean, I know you’re currently at work …”

“It’s okay,” he replied, waving a hand. “I have another team working by the pond, but we’re pretty much done for the day in this section. I already sent everyone else home, and was just working a bit myself and lost track of time.”

“I can see why,” she said, looking around. “It’s gorgeous here.”

He looked happy that she liked this place he so clearly adored. “Shall we go?” Aiden asked.

She nodded. “Sparky, come on.”

Saphira stepped in line with Aiden, Sparky trailing behind them.