Page 61 of Unburdening His Heart

“She… threatened… to put… laxatives… in… my coffee!” I finally get it out in between puffs of air.

“Well, I’ll be. What in the hell did you do to her?” Irene grins.

I stand and take several deep breaths while pointing to Andrea then to my chest. “Me? What did I do to her? I’m just flabbergasted! She’s the one who threatened me with unholy visits to the toilet!”

“I’m gonna take a wild guess here and say she isn’t going to cream your coffee for no good reason.” She throws up air quotes around cream your coffee.

I stand fully and place my hands on my hips. Andrea stands there with a full on “gotcha” smirk and looking mighty smug. I feel like I just got in trouble with the parents.

“Yeah, Charlie, tell her why.” Andrea’s smirk grows.

I purse my lips. I walked right into this one, and I don’t see a real way out of it. “Andrea doesn’t want to hear about all the sex I’m having with her brother. So, she threatened to ‘cream my coffee,’ as you so eloquently put the possibility of me shitting my pants.”

Irene seems stunned for a moment before she’s the one losing her shit in the middle of a workday in the back of the café. She laughs so hard, tears spill down her cheeks.

“Oh, my word, child. The messes you get yourself in,” she wheezes.

I prickle at her nonchalant tone. This isn’t just some guy I’m having fun with. Andrew isn’t like the rest of the guys I’ve dated. It’s so much more than that, which scares me but not enough to walk away.

I stop laughing, turn back to the sandwich materials, and I huff. “Now, if the two of you have had your fun, I need to get back to work.”

The room goes quiet. “Charlie,” Andrea says.

“No, it’s okay. I understand. I do. But this feels different.”

Nothing seems to phase Irene. “Of course, it’s different. He looks at you like he’s ready to worship at your feet, and you look like you’re more than ready for him to do it. I’ve never seen that look on your face before.”

Her words surprise me. I didn’t realize I was so obvious with how I feel about him. Especially when I wasn’t even sure of it myself.

Andrea walks over and wraps her arms around me from behind. She leans in close and whispers so only I can hear. “I’m so fucking happy for you… for both of you. I can only hope you’ll be in my life as more than just my best friend.”

I hold my breath, then release it on a giggle. “Woah, there. Don’t go hitching the carriage before the horse, will ya? He just said he likes me, too. We aren’t getting married.”

Irene snickers at the same time Andrea says under her breath. “Sure, you aren’t.”

“Okay, okay, enough you two. Who’s watching the front, anyway?”

All three look through the window to see two customers in line, seemingly engrossed in our conversation. Everyone knows everybody, and they all love to gossip.

“Let’s all do dinner tonight at our place before Andrew has to head back to Sacramento,” Andrea suggests. “Irene, can you and Joe come?”

“That depends on who is cooking.” A serious look takes over her face.

Andrea laughs. “I’ll probably order takeout, so don’t worry about food poisoning.”

“Alright, then. That sounds good. We’re in.” A wide smile softens her expression.

Andrea looks toward me. I was hoping for some alone time with Andrew before he leaves, but maybe this is better. It’s a chance for everything to feel normal, no pressure. I find myself agreeing before I can think too hard about it.

“Great! I’ll text Addy and let you text Andrew.” She winks as she heads up front to talk to the customers eavesdropping on us.

I shake my head. This is sooo not how I saw this afternoon going. I put down the bread I started slicing, remove my gloves, and reach for my phone in my back pocket.

I pull up the last text thread with Andrew.

Me: Any plans for tonight?

Three little dots almost immediately dance on the screen. A reply comes in not even two seconds later.

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