Page 8 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

‘Brought you a little dinner,’ she said, hefting the dish into his arms.

He’d already failed at convincing them that he was a chef and that he was perfectly capable of cooking dinner, so this time he just mumbled his thanks.

‘How’s Olive?’ Kaori asked, peering past him into the house.

‘She’s fine.’

‘Still not talking to you, huh?’ Linda said, shuffling her way past him.

‘She’ll get there,’ Nancy said, patting his arm as she also scooted her way into his house. He didn’t fight it. He’d already learned it was best to let them in, to prove that Olive was alive and well, and then they’d be on their way.

He sighed as he watched the two older women coo over Olive, feeling absurdly jealous when she smiled at them and answered their questions about her day, opening up as soon as they flanked her on the couch.

‘We’re all on your side,’ Kaori said.

‘Yeah,’ he huffed a laugh. ‘You all clearly have a lot of faith in me. There hasn’t been a day since Olive moved in that someone hasn’t checked on her.’

Kaori stared at him like he was missing some critical brain cells.

‘Of course we have,’ she said. ‘We love that girl, and frankly, we don’t know all that much about you.’

‘Fair.’

‘But Cate apparently thought you were okay, so I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt.’

Archer leaned his head back against the doorframe, the evening sun warming his face. ‘She thought I wasokay?’

‘Actually, she never talked about you at all.’

He winced. ‘Ouch.’

Kaori shrugged. ‘The one thing she did say was she thought you were destined for bigger things. She didn’t want to stand in your way. Olive washerdream. She didn’t want to derail yours.’

There were tears in Kaori’s eyes when he looked at her again. ‘I’m really sorry,’ he said.

Kaori sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘She was a wonderful person, Archer. And Olive is wonderful, too.’

He cleared the emotion from his throat. ‘I know. I’m … trying.’

Kaori studied him carefully before patting his shoulder. ‘It takes a village to raise a child and we’re that village.’ She held his gaze. ‘And we’re watching you.’

‘Comforting,’ he said, dryly.

Kaori smiled. ‘It should be. We’re looking out for Olive. And for you, too. Just accept the help, Archer. It makes the whole thing easier.’

She moved past him and got a big hug from Olive. Archer closed the door and went into the kitchen to find space among the other casseroles in the freezer for the latest addition.

Accepting help was not exactly his strong suit, but for Olive, he’d try. Not that he had much of a choice. He was pretty sure these women could take him down, if necessary. He was going to try to make sure it wasn’t necessary.

Finding a small space, he shoved the casserole into the overstuffed freezer and pushed the door shut.

There. Help accepted.

ChapterFour

The next day, Iris showed up at Archer’s house at exactly the time he’d said to. Give or take ten minutes. But by the way he was glaring at her it was like she was an hour late or something.

‘You’re late,’ he said, arms folded across his chest. He was blocking the entire doorway like maybe this ten-minutes-late transgression was enough to get her fired—or not hired—in the first place. She’d only agreed to come this afternoon to meet him and Olive. She hadn’t even really agreed to take the job yet. She wasn’t desperate enough to just move in with a guy she’d never met. Not again, anyway. The last time had been a guy she found off a flier hung up in the diner. He had supposedly been looking for a roommate but what he actually wanted to do was steal her underwear while she was at work.