Page 43 of Grounding the Baker
“Son, I thought it was time I came to see how the place was doing.”
Liam rushed to his dad and pulled him into a hug. Austin felt himself get choked up and looked around at other customers who were wiping their eyes as well.
Austin didn’t want to intrude on this moment, so he picked up his coffee.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Liam.”
He pulled out of the hug and smiled at him. He’d been crying, and Austin wanted to comfort him, but wasn’t sure what the right thing to do in front of his dad was.
“Dad, this is Austin.”
“I remember you as a boy,” said Martin, holding out his hand and smiling.
Austin shook it. “Pleased to meet you again, Mr Wells.”
Liam snorted. “Just call him Martin.”
“I like Mr Wells. It shows he has manners. You should lock this one down quickly, son.”
“Dad!” said Liam, blushing.
Austin felt his own cheeks heating, but loved seeing a father support his son so openly. He’d had that himself, but knew it wasn’t common.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Liam.” He leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
Austin downed his coffee and put the cup on the counter. Chloe was dramatically fanning herself, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. Then he left for work. He’d find time tomorrow morning to speak to Liambefore their date.
Saturday morning was a disaster.There were issues with the customer’s patio, and he’d needed to finish the job himself this morning. One of his guys was sick the day before, and the other couldn’t work on the Saturday as he had his kids. Austin was a fairly chill boss, and nothing anyone had done was something that would usually bother him, but he’d wanted to talk to Liam. Now it was almost two o’clock, he looked a mess, and he’d picked up Maisie from Giselle and Henrietta’s as they had plans. Nathan was coming over tonight to watch her, which she was happy about. Given how inquisitive his little girl was, he was surprised she hadn’t asked any questions about what he was doing.
Austin needed to get something more permanent sorted for weekends. He had a childminder during the week, who would pick Maisie up from school and stay with her until seven o’clock, making her dinner– if Austin could get back sooner, he would, and they always had breakfast together in the morning– but if he wanted to do something in the evening or on the weekend, he had to find someone else. Giselle and Henrietta or Gerard and Kevin were always happy to have her, as was Nathan, but he didn’t enjoy passing her around to different people all the time. She hadn’t complained, and loved her surrogate aunts and uncles, but Austin wanted to give her more stability. It was hard enough juggling childcare with work, and now, if he was going to date Liam, there was no way he was only seeing him once a week. Austin wanted to spend as much time as possible with him.
He walked into the bakery with Maisie. It wasn’t too busy, but it was only open for another hour. Austin was surprised to see Martin behind the counter talking to Chloe. It was great to see him here again.
“Hello again, Austin,” said Martin. “And who is this young lady?”
“I’m Maisie,” his daughter said with confidence. “Where’s Liam?”
Austin snorted. Liam was all she’d talked about on the way here. He hoped she’d be okay about her dad being Liam’s boyfriend, because that’s where he wanted this to go. There was no doubt in Austin’s mind, but he wouldn’t rush Liam. He’d had a lot happen to him over the last few months, and Austin wanted to ease his stress, not add to it.
“Liam,” shouted Martin. “You’ve got guests.”
Liam came rushing out of the kitchen, all smiles. He had his apron on, but no hairnet or flour dusting today. He rushed round the counter and picked Maisie up in a big hug, ignoring Austin, although he flashed him a smile, which was flirty and just for him.
“Do you want to come into the kitchen with me, Maisie, and help me ice your cupcakes?” asked Liam.
“Yes, please. Dad, is that okay?”
“Of course, sweetie. Make sure you listen to what Liam says.”
“Come on, let’s go. Grab a coffee, we won’t be long,” said Liam, putting Maisie down and holding her hand as they walked into the back together.
Austin watched them go and couldn’t keep the big smile off his face. It was only when they went through the kitchen door that he realised Martin and Chloe were watching him with big grins.
“What?” he asked, trying to act nonchalant and failing miserably based on the way they both kept grinning at him.
“You two are so cute,” said Chloe.
“Me and Maisie?” he teased.
