“I’m not going to answer that,” Delaney told her primly. “How are things with your new sister?”
Keira sipped her hot chocolate, then smiled. “Callie’s great. She’s pretty and we have the same freckles. She really likes Lizzy. It’s nice having someone else who’s new like me.” She wrinkled her nose. “She didn’t make fun of my uniform when she saw it, which she totally could have. Oh, yeah, she and Malcolm had a huge fight this morning.”
That didn’t sound good. “About what?”
“That’s what’s so strange. I don’t get it. At breakfast, Malcolm was talking to Callie about the city and things she could go look at although why she would want to do that by herself doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway, they’re talking and all of a sudden he tells her she’s going to need a car. Grandfather Alberto agrees and then Malcolm goes on about different cars and that he’s happy to go with her to buy a car and she just totally blows up and screams she doesn’t want a car, then she ran upstairs.”
Keira lowered her voice. “I think she was crying and I don’t know why.”
“A lot has happened. The situation has to be stressful.”
“I guess. I cried a lot at first, so that makes sense. Still, if Malcolm wanted to buy me a car, I would say yes.”
Delaney grinned. “Is this where I point out you can’t drive for several years?”
“Who wants to drive? I’d sell it and keep the money. You know, in case I needed it for something.”
Delaney was about to ask for what when the truth slammed into her. Keira would need the money if she ran away. No, she thought. Keira wasn’t looking to escape—she wanted to belong. The money would be for if she was thrown out.
She wanted to pull the girl close and hang on as tight as she could. She wanted to promise her that no one was going to run out on her or discard her ever again, only she knew her words didn’t matter. Malcolm’s did, and he would never think to say that.
“Good to know,” she said, careful to keep her voice light. “If your brother asks for birthday present suggestions, I’ll be sure to mention a car.”
Keira laughed. “I wish. Okay, my homework’s done, what about you?”
“I’m completely caught up and dreading my dissection lab. Ugh.”
“I’m not sure you’re ready for the whole doctor program.”
“I do think about that, believe me.” Delaney glanced at her watch. “All right, kiddo. It’s time.”
Keira finished her hot chocolate and tossed the paper cup into the recycling bin. “I can’t decide if the other kids are going to say I was a hero for saving the kitten or stupid.”
“You’re a hero and now you have a pet.” Delaney hugged her, then kissed the top of her head. “Just don’t do it again.”
“You are so bossy.”
“I hear that a lot. Have a good day.”
“You, too.”
Keira waved and left. Delaney returned to work and finished out her shift. She was hoping Malcolm would show up at his usual time so she didn’t have to text him. One way or the other, she wanted to talk about what Keira had said, although she had no idea how to bring up the subject. Thankfully, a few minutes before ten, he stepped out of the elevator, coffee mug in hand.
She started his drink, then clocked out before handing it to him.
“Do you have a second?” she asked, motioning to the tables where she’d sat with his sister a couple of hours before.
“Sure.” He flashed her a smile. “Want to tell me what a great time you had and how you can’t wait to do it again?”
Her subject matter was far more serious, but at the mention of their date, she felt herself flush. “I did have a good time and I would very much like to do it again.”
“Good, me, too.” They sat across from each other. He looked at her. “So what’s up?”
“I talked to Keira this morning.” She’d thought about what to say and now it all seemed wrong. “Please don’t tell her I told you or take this wrong, it’s just...”
His blue eyes darkened. “Delaney, it’s all right. I’m not going to get mad. What did she say?”
“That you and Callie had a fight about you getting her a car.”
He frowned. “Yeah, we did and it came from nowhere. I have no idea why she got so mad at me, but she was seriously pissed. It’s Seattle. She’s going to need a car. What’s the big deal?”
“I have no idea, but Keira said that if you wanted to buy her a car, she would take it in a heartbeat so she could sell it for the money.”
“Why does she need money?”
“I don’t know exactly. I’m wondering if maybe she doesn’t feel completely safe. I don’t think she wants to run away. She has nowhere else to go. I think she’s afraid of being abandoned.”
Tension filled her body. Not only could she be totally wrong about Keira, she had no idea how Malcolm was going to react. He could be angry, defensive, tell her she was full of crap or any one of a thousand other scenarios, none of which ended well.
He looked at her for a long time. “Well, damn. You’re probably right. Her mom just disappeared on her, leaving her with nothing. If it hadn’t been for a neighbor taking her in, she would have been on the street. From there she went into foster care, then she came to live with us. The last couple of years have been completely unstable. She’s got to be scared.”
He drew in a breath. “She’s one of us. We’d never get rid of her, but I’m not sure she sees it that way.” He nodded. “Thanks for telling me. I need to figure something out. So far it’s not been a good day when it comes to my sisters.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” He smiled. “Can I change the subject?”
“Of course.”
“I’d like to see you again. Are you dating anyone else?”
That was incredibly direct, she thought, both flattered and slightly disconcerted. “Um, no. I’m not seeing anyone.”
“Me, either. I’m not good at playing the field, unlike my friend Santiago. He always has a revolving door of women in his life. Variety and all that. I prefer to get to know someone first. It’s a flaw.”
She laughed. “It’s not a flaw and you know it.”
“Sometimes it works against me. How about dinner?”
“I’d like that.”
“Me, too.” He glanced around. “I’m going to leave now because I have an overwhelming urge to kiss you and this is not the place.”
“There’s the coffee bar storeroom,” she teased. “Want to go there?”
“Don’t tempt me.” He rose. “I’ll text you and we’ll figure out when and where.”
“That works.”
His humor faded. “Thank you for telling me about Keira. I appreciate it.”
“I’m glad.”
She watched him walk away, admiring the cut of his suit and the body that filled it. Malcolm was an appealing guy. Honest, caring and totally clueless when it came to Keira. With a little nudge in the right direction, he could turn out to be an excellent big brother. As for her and what she thought of him, well, she was a little tingly and wildly intrigued.
chapter ten
Alberto’s Alfresco owned three warehouses in the SoDo district, close to the stadiums. Alberto had bought two of them back in the early 1970s when prices had been cheap. The company’s growth had forced a third warehouse to be added around 2005 and that had cost more than double the other two combined, but had been worth it. The following year, there had been a major overhaul of production, moving departments into different buildings so that all the frozen foods were shipped from a single warehouse rather than all three. The dry goods were put together, as were the supplies for the gift baskets.
When Santiago joined the company, he’d gone over the production schedule and had suggested several changes—most of which involved modernizing equipment. He and Malcolm had come up with a five-year plan, then had self-funded the project. In this warehouse, the gift basket section was finished and the update of the dry goods division would start in a couple of months.
One day, Santiago thought as he walked into the warehouse. One day they would be bigger than Amazon. He laughed out loud. Okay, maybe not that big, but close.
He signed in with security, showed his badge, then went into the oldest of the three warehouses.
Alberto’s Alfresco sold everything from cheese plates to pasta to decadent handmade chocolates. There was a line of house-branded cookware and celebrity cookbooks, along with spices, rubs and salts. In addition to prepared soups, there were packages of dry soup mixes and seasonal drink mixes, including a proprietary hot chocolate mix that was only available at the holidays.
Huge vats with giant mixers blended the company’s various recipes to create the perfect seasoning for minestrone soup or spicy sangria. The mixed ingredients were placed in bins that were later poured into a funnel where they were measured out and put into small plastic bags, then sealed—all by hand.
With the soup mixes, the flavor packet was only one element of the whole package. Some contained dried beans, pasta or rice, along with dehydrated vegetables. All those individual pieces had to be collected into one upscale package.