Chapter 16

 

As soon as they arrived at the café, Sam went into the back to start his shift. Instead of putting in an order, Wyatt told Sam to pick something for them. The café was bustling this morning, but Wyatt and the kids managed to get a table. After a bit, Wyatt noticed Noreen waving to him from behind a cup of coffee.

She and Lara and two other ladies had their heads together at one of the tables in the back. They looked busy with papers spread out in front of them and each of them had a phone in her hand, so Wyatt didn't want to go over and disturb them. But a little later, he saw Lara go up to the counter, and he went over to join her.

"Hey, just the lady I wanted to see," Wyatt said to her.

"Treating the boys to breakfast? Me and Noreen are doing some event organizing," she told him and pointed toward their table.

"Does that mean your schedule is full? I wanted to arrange a date night with Sam, and I need a babysitting favor," Wyatt told her.

"Tomorrow night Gloria and her cousin are having a sleepover. If that works for you, the kids can all have a slumber party at my house," Lara offered. "I got this new frosting kit I want to try out, so I'll make a bunch of cupcakes. We'll pig out. It will be great."

"Really? Do you want the dogs too? I think they are OK to stay at home now." Wyatt knew the kids would miss them, but he didn't want to overwhelm Lara.

"The dogs can come too or the kids will be pining for them. In for a penny, in for a pound," she said like it was no big deal.

Wyatt was amazed and grateful. "I'm going to owe you so big."

Lara was up for that. "And I'm gonna cash in. I like to take a trip to Ashbury for shopping and a girls' night out. Then the slumber party will be over at your house."

"It's a deal," Wyatt told her. he couldn't wait to let Sam know.

 

When he went back to rejoin the boys, Wyatt saw that Mrs. Del Rio had stopped by their table. With her was a cute, young guy who might have been in his early twenties. She had her arm around him, and when Wyatt came up to them she introduced him.

"This is my grandson, Enrico Del Rio. I'm showing him off to everybody. Say hi to Wyatt Hayes and his nephews DJ and Riley," Mrs. Del Rio said.

"Nice to meet you," Wyatt said to Enrico, who didn't look thrilled to be paraded around.

"He'll be staying here with me for a while. Just like when he was a little boy, he runs straight into my loving arms every time he runs away from home," Mrs. Del Rio said with a chuckle.

"I didn't run away from home. I'm just taking a break from school," he protested, but she had already moved on to another topic.

"He's here just in time to volunteer for the festival. You boys are going to be signing up, isn't that right?" Mrs. Del Rio asked DJ and Riley, while her grandson took the opportunity to escape.

"Us?" DJ said and looked up at Mrs. Del Rio, his blue eyes wide.

"Yes, you. You'll be in the parade, won't you?" she told him and chucked him under the chin.

"What are we talking about?" Wyatt wondered.

"Why, the Peach Blossom Festival," Mrs. Del Rio said. "We have it every spring."

"The pie one is better," Hannah said as she came over too.

"A pie festival?" Wyatt said.

"We have that in the summer. Pies as far as the eye can see," Mrs. Del Rio said.

"And the boys will be in some parade?" Wyatt said since this was the first he was hearing about it.

"They'll be the Little Peaches on Parade. It's the most adorable thing ever. They are part of the Peach Blossom Parade that passes down Main Street, which is renamed Peach Street for the occasion," Mrs. Del Rio said, but Wyatt was still a little lost, maybe because he wasn't giving her his full attention.

While she was telling him about this parade, Wyatt was only half listening. His attention was on Sam who was over by the wait station talking to Enrico. For no good reason, Wyatt felt his insides clench. A sudden burst of jealousy overwhelmed him, and he couldn't take his eyes off the guys.

They were just talking. Wyatt had no reason to react like he did, but he was suddenly intensely aware of just how amazing Sam was, how incredibly desirable.

Enrico wasn't bad either with his hazel eyes and dark hair, but he might not even be gay. Though Wyatt thought that he was.

So they were both great-looking and about the same age. That was no reason to obsess about them chatting, but Wyatt just couldn't talk himself out of this fixation and the fear that Sam could be stolen away from him when he only just found him.

In the meantime, Mrs. Del Rio was still talking about the festival, and Wyatt realized he should be paying attention so he would know what was going on. There was some good news in what she said. She expected Wyatt to volunteer and Sam too. She was hinting that they might get to work together.

Sam came over with their order, and Wyatt was glad to see that Enrico wasn't anywhere in sight. Wyatt smiled up at Sam, and Hannah caught him up on what they were talking about. "For the Little Peaches Parade, the little kids wear these round, Styrofoam, peach constumes and wobble down the street," Hannah said and she cracked up. "When they fall, it's just hilarious. Shawn fell all the time."

"You were in it too, young lady," Mrs. Del Rio told her.

"But I had a sense of balance," Hannah claimed then she turned to Wyatt. "You'll have to be there as a spotter. When they fall over, you have to pick them up."

"I won't fall," DJ claimed defensively and Riley followed his lead.

"Me either," Riley said.

"I'll still be there just in case," Wyatt told them. He was looking forward to seeing them dressed up as peaches and taking lots of pictures and video.

"You both need a spotter, not just one," Hannah pointed out.

"Sam will do it," Riley said and he took his hand.

"Don't volunteer him. Ask and say please," Wyatt told him.

"Will you, please?" Riley said and he tugged on Sam's hand.

"Of course," Sam said and smiled at him then at DJ who also looked glad to hear the news.

"The festival is a boon for business. You two guys will be volunteering, right?" Mrs. Del Rio said to him and Wyatt.

There was no saying no to Mrs. Del Rio, and in no time, Noreen and Lara put them on the list of people who were helping out. The kids wanted their names on the list too. Wyatt didn't know what he would be doing to help, but as long as Sam was going to be there, he was cool with it.

As everyone else left, Wyatt and the boys checked out what Sam brought them for breakfast. He saw that the kids had fruit and yogurt cups and peach, oatmeal muffins. Wyatt had some kind of pastry with a golden spiral of dough around an egg and bacon center. He worried that the kids would be envious of him, but they seemed happy with what they had.

Biting into the delicious, savory pastry, Wyatt made a mental note to work it off later. He wondered if volunteering for this Peach Blossom Festival would do the trick.

 

When they were ready to leave, Wyatt gave Sam the good news about Lara being able to babysit tomorrow night. "Is that too soon for you?"

"I'll talk to Mrs. Del Rio about my plan and call you," Sam said. He looked bright-eyed but shy and so beautiful. Wyatt was dying to kiss him, but he couldn't do that while Sam was at work.

After that, the kids monopolized Sam for a little bit while Wyatt paid their bill. He was done with that, but he found himself hanging back and just watching Sam with the kids.

But the beautiful scene didn't last and neither did Wyatt's happy mood because there was Sam talking to Enrico again. Staring at them, Wyatt was driving himself crazy. He didn't even know he had a jealous streak until Sam brought it out in him.

"I can't believe we have all these brand new, good-looking guys coming to town and they're all gay," Hannah said right next to Wyatt and he jumped a little.

He was so preoccupied with his jealousy, he didn't notice her. Now he followed her gaze and saw that she was eying Sam and Enrico just like he was.

"They're too old for you anyway," Wyatt told her.

Hannah turned to him with a perfect teenaged scowl of contempt. "You are such a dad," she told him then she corrected herself. "But I guess you're an uncle, not a dad. And the boys have, like, adopted Sam. I don't blame them. He's just the nicest guy."

"I noticed that. He's great," Wyatt said with a smile, but he also thought about what Sam told him about his life. He remembered the stark look on Sam's face that held the kind of constant pain he must have carried for so long in his heart, the pain of being unwanted, the fear of being abandoned, discarded and abused.

Wyatt vowed that Sam would never have a reason to feel that way again. It broke his heart to think that someone as sweet and kind as him could have been treated so badly, and it made Wyatt determined to cherish him.