A Little Harmless Addiction(29)

“Yeah, he does. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s a charmer. But I have a feeling working the docks at the age of sixteen isn’t fun. Now he has the money to do what he wants, but before, it had to have been hard.”

Jocelyn groaned. “And that just makes him even more fascinating. Dammit.”

Cynthia laughed. “He probably knows something happened with you. Chris was gone and well, everyone knows it was for you. That’s why he’s being so gentle.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Plus, he is still trying to recover from Keisha.”

The way she said the woman’s name made Jocelyn think she didn’t like her.

“What happened?”

“Well, Kai is sort of, I hate to say it, but he’s always been a good rebound guy. Not that he minded from what I could tell. But Keisha…they had dated in high school—remember I am getting this all secondhand from May.”

Jocelyn nodded.

“Anyway, they went to prom together the year after Kai dropped out. Then they sort of went their separate ways. Keisha went back to the mainland for a while, then came back. Anyway, she was dating this real loser about a year ago, then she kicked him out. May was pretty sure the guy was abusing her. Dee thinks so too. Kai and Keisha started dating and I don’t know, Kai…I have never seen him fall like that. I mean, he dated women, but he started bringing her to our get-togethers, like the one the other night.”

“What happened?”

“She dumped him. Dumped for the asshole who abuses her. Keisha has a lot of issues, one of them being that her father was pretty much an abusive asshole. But as you can expect, Kai took it really hard. He didn’t really date for months. Well, you were probably the first date he’d had in a while.”

“I would think a man like that would have his pick of women.”

Cynthia nodded. “Yeah. That’s why I know he was hurt. So he might be a little leery of rushing in. Especially since you’re Chris’s sister and May works for him. Sticky situation. Like I said, good man.”

Jocelyn sighed. She couldn’t win.

“What?”

“Well, I can’t get a scumbag to leave me alone, but a good guy goes running for the hills.”

Cynthia shook her head. “No, honey. It might be he’s looking for something more and wants to take his time.”

“What if I can’t give him more?”

Cynthia sighed. “Then I guess you have to take your time. No one expects you to have the answers, Jocelyn.”

“I feel like I should, that I should be able to figure it out.”

Even she heard the frustration in her voice along with a hint of whine. She hated it. Hated the feeling of not being in control.

“Are you okay? I know the last few days have been hard on you.”

Since she’d started working at Cynthia’s, Jocelyn had been dealing daily with some of her new anxieties. It had been hard the first day, the initial fear of so many people. But the work had soon filled her day and she found herself lost in her love of baking.

“No, in fact, I think it saved me. And it helped make sure that your child has a father. Chris was going to drive me nutty with his mothering.”

Cynthia laughed. “Well then I have done my part. Just remember that he loves you. And, remember, Kai does like you. He definitely has a thing for you from the way he watches you. Both of you just need to figure out where to go from here.”

“I hate waiting. So I guess I will console myself with another mallasada. Want one?”

“Always.”



“Good morning, Jocelyn.”

Jocelyn smiled as she turned and found Mr. Aiona standing on the other side of the counter. He had been in each of the six mornings she had opened the bakery.

“Good morning, Danny. I would say I was surprised to see you here, but that would be a lie.”

He chuckled. “How about you say you’re happy that I am here?”

She couldn’t help but let her smile widen. As each day had slowed down between the breakfast and lunch rush, Danny would come in, coax her into a cup of coffee and conversation. Cynthia came walking from the back, a little pale.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Better. Don’t tell your brother.”

“As long as you lie and tell him I didn’t know when he finds out. And you know he’ll find out.”

Cynthia waved that away but they knew she was right. “Hey, Danny. How are you doing today?”

“Fine, just fine. Is that keiki giving you problems?”

“Just in the mornings. Doc says I’ll be fine. You can take your break now, if you want to, Jocelyn.”

“Sure. Want to try my first attempt at malassadas?” she asked Danny.