Food for the Soul

by Ceri Grenelle

  Flynn’s words came back to him. It wasn’t fair. No, it wasn’t fair that Flynn worked his ass off to gain his undeserving father’s love. It wasn’t fair that he fought and clawed for a scrap of the affection his father gave his grandson. But Flynn wasn’t unloved. Harper loved Flynn.

  Theo loved Flynn. He loved Flynn and Harper, no matter how much the thought terrified him, and he wouldn’t leave Flynn to dangle and beg for love when Theo and Harper had it to give willingly. It was stupid to keep himself knotted up inside when saying what was constantly pulsing through his heart came naturally to his mind.

  Making a decision, Theo quickly finished up his paperwork—double-checking his work in case his distracted mind had caused any mistakes—then gathered his things to leave. As he ran through the halls, dodging patients and coworkers, he dialed Harper.

  “Hello?” a rumbly, sexy voice said on the other end of the line.

  “Shit, I forgot it was late. Harper, it’s Theo.”

  “I know. Caller ID. Is something wrong?”

  “Yes, something is very fucking wrong. We are idiots.”

  “Excuse you?”

  “We’re idiots and assholes. We left Flynn with that bastard without coming to his defense.”

  “Flynn told us to go, and he hasn’t returned our calls or texts this week. He doesn’t want us there, Theo.”

  “I don’t give a crap. Flynn is ours. We love him, and we left him when he needed us the most.”

  “Shit. Shit. Theo…the things he said are still ringing in my mind… I don’t know if he’d want me back.”

  “Fuck yes, he would.” Theo reached his car in the employee lot and quickly unlocked and started the vehicle. “He does. I know he regrets what he said. He was looking out for me. He was probably looking out for the both of us when he asked us to leave.”

  Harper sighed into the phone. “What do we do?”

  “Get dressed. I’m gonna swing by to pick you up. We’re going over there.”

  “How long?”

  “Ten minutes.”

  “I’ll be ready. Theo?”

  “Yeah, sexy?”

  “I’m falling more in love with you right this second.”

  “Be ready.”

  Theo drove like a bat out of hell to get to Harper’s building. She was standing outside the Full Spoon, a small bag packed. She slipped into the car the moment he pulled up to the curb.

  “I would have called you to come outside. Why were you waiting out here?”

  “I got anxious for you. I was fine. Stop worrying about me.”

  “Never gonna happen.”

  “No?”

  “Don’t forget.” Theo took a deep breath and opened his heart. “I’m falling more in love with you right this second.”

  She grinned and leaned over to kiss him deeply before sitting back and buckling her seat belt. “I missed you. Let’s go tell that to our guy.”

  They made it to Flynn’s in record time, but it was still only three fifteen in the morning. Theo fully intended to ring the doorbell. He was sure Ben would forgive Theo for waking him up. And yet, Theo wasn’t surprised when they pulled into Flynn’s driveway and saw the man himself sitting on the porch, waiting for them.

  “How did he…” Theo mumbled as he shut the car off. They both dashed out of the car and ran to him. As Harper threw her arms around Flynn, he stood to receive her. He held out a hand, bringing Theo in to close the circle.

  When they all pulled away, Flynn tugged them down to the porch. It was a warm night, and Theo didn’t think any of them minded the quiet night air as they had their reconciliation. There were things to be said and apologies to be made, but damn did it feel good to simply hold them.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” Flynn said, sitting at the top of the porch. Harper settled to his right, with Theo on the step below, lying on Flynn’s lap. “I decided to go to my office and check the security feed at the kitchen. I wanted to know you were safe. I saw you standing outside, and then Theo’s car drove up. I knew you were coming here. Thank you for coming. I thought…”

  “We’re sorry,” Theo said, looking up to face Flynn. “We should have stood up for you.”

  “You only did what I asked you to do.” He turned to Harper. “And the way I treated you, was it any wonder you left without a fight? I’m sorry, Harper. I was a big shit. I acted like my father and presumed to know what was best for everyone.”

  “You’re not him,” she said. “You’re different and better. Don’t ever compare yourself to him.”

  “Yes, he’s…not a good person.”

  “We’re not leaving,” Theo announced, taking a step he’d never thought possible a month ago. “I love you. So much. I want to be here with you and with Ben. I don’t give a shit about what some grumpy old man who doesn’t understand what love is thinks. You’re both what I want. Living here in this house. I need you both.”

  “Yes,” Flynn whispered. “Please stay. Be mine.”

  “We already are,” Theo said, hugging Flynn’s legs to him and enjoying the feel of Flynn’s fingers dancing through his hair. They sat like that until dawn, talking and apologizing for anything they could possibly think of. It eventually became a game, who could apologize for the stupidest thing.

  “I’m sorry about how hard I slam your car doors,” Harper said with a smile.

  “I’m sorry that you don’t slam them harder.”

  “I’m sorry I take over an hour to get ready in the morning…” Flynn adjusted his position, tugging Theo up to the same step to rest his head on Theo’s shoulder. “But you better get used to that, because it isn’t going to change.”

  “You shouldn’t apologize for something you would do again,” Theo corrected Flynn with a grin, teasing him.

  “True. I’m not sorry.”

  “I’m sorry for all the laundry you men will have to do, because laundry is a hard limit for me. I’ll do dishes, I’ll vacuum, but I will never do your laundry. Ever.”

  “Noted.” Theo laughed.

  “I have a confession to make,” Flynn said into the silence. “I kicked my dad out.”

  “What?” Harpers asked, shocked. “Why? Well, not why, but…you understand.”

  “You’re right; the why was pretty obvious. I bought him an apartment, and I’m giving him an allowance to go with his social security. I told him he can only come over to visit Ben if he’s going to be civil, and the second he gets mean, visitation rights are revoked.”

  “How did he take it?” Theo asked.

  “There are some broken pictures now, but he packed his bags quietly and had a friend drive him over to the new condo. He does love Ben and would be devastated if he couldn’t see him anymore. It made him cooperate in the end. Marcie was ecstatic. She wanted to throw a party.”

  “Are you okay?” Harper asked, stroking his cheek.

  “You’re amazing, being concerned for me after how I acted.”

  “Stop talking about that. It’s okay, and maybe you were a little right. I do try to fix things, but it’s because I can’t stand to see you unhappy.”

  “I know that now. I’m sorry.”

  Harper kissed him. “I forgive you, and I love you.”

  The front door swung open, and Marcie, Ben, and an unfamiliar tall man with blond hair stood staring down at them.

  “Are you three done?” Marcie asked testily. “Ben keeps talking about pancakes, and John and I can’t cook. It’s up to you fools.” She pointed to the man. “This is John, my hubby.”

  Harper grinned at Ben. “I do owe you some kick-butt pancakes.”

  Ben lifted his arms into the air in victory and cried, “Pancakes!”

  They stood to walk into the kitchen, but Flynn tugged Theo and Harper back. “I love you both, but it’s happened quickly. Tell me that’s okay.”

  Theo leaned in to kiss him softly, tugging Flynn’s hips to his. “It’s okay. I trust you.”

  “C’mon.” John peeked out of the door. “You’re all gross,
and I’m hungry.”

  Harper snorted. “I can see how he and Marcie would get along.”

  “No kidding,” Flynn said, unable to keep his laughter and glee at bay. They joined the others in the house and, as Ben put it, had the absolutely best, most perfect breakfast they’d ever had.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Harper stood outside the stone behemoth of a building that housed her bank. The bank was a standalone structure in the nearby financial district of the city. It was four stories high and looked like something out of a Charles Dickens novel. The large columns loomed over her, judging her for her lack of wealth and finding her unworthy. At least that was how she had felt the first time she’d entered to arrange the mortgage on the soup kitchen.

  Despite its daunting size and intimidating architectural structure, the people working at National Trust had been kind and excited by the idea of having a community center of sorts for the less fortunate of the city. They gave her an amazing interest rate, low enough she thought they’d get in trouble for it, and were forgiving when donations were light and she needed more days to procure the money. Harper never worried about the state of her finances when it came to National Trust.

  But as these things go, the bank went under when the market crashed and was promptly absorbed by a much larger, more corporate bank that didn’t give two shits about the little guys. Those people fit with the look of the bank. They stared down their noses at the less fortunate and gave big bright smiles to those who could afford them.

  The cost of a smile was high these days.

  Instead of caring assistance and forgiveness, Harper was now the beneficiary of rude calls warning her the due date on her payment was approaching. And when she missed a due date, as she had last month thanks to the bastard who robbed her, she received voice mails laced with terrifying words like “debt collector” and “bankruptcy.” There was no middle ground. You either paid up what you owed, or you paid with something precious.

  Since leaving the hospital, her life had been a whirlwind of new discoveries and emotions. She felt her body come alive as it never had before, and all because of this shitty situation. If she hadn’t been robbed, she never would have become close with Flynn and she never would have met Theo. Two things that, after a little over a month of knowing the two miraculously kind and giving men, made a shiver roll down her spine, and not in the heat-inducing way the men had when they licked or placed kisses down her back.

  It made her feel guilty because she was here to lose her sacred space. Her dream. Had the men become her new dream? Was that okay? Would it be enough? After clawing her way back from her life on the streets, she’d promised herself to never be defined by her relationship to someone or something else. She would define her self-worth. It would be from her actions, her beliefs, her accomplishments.

  It wasn’t Theo and Flynn’s fault that she was losing the Full Spoon, that the bastards at the bank would finally have an excuse to take the property and demolish the old building to replace it with a Chipotle or something equally typical and lackluster. No, it wasn’t their fault. But she couldn’t help feeling a little bit guilty that her dream was about to sink and she was still…happy.

  She felt warmth cocooning her heart, keeping it safe and giving her courage to walk into the stone dungeon with her head held high and face those who would take her dream from her. They would take from her what she’d sweated, bled, and cried for. She would be devastated, and then she would call her men and they would comfort her with pizza, ice cream, and soothing kisses. They would love the pain right out of her and help her find a new dream.

  Fortified by the memory of their arms around her, Harper pushed through the glass revolving door and asked to see her account manager, Arthur Reeves. The woman at the reception counter smiled her tiniest smile before walking off to find Arthur. Harper almost laughed when the woman tripped over a rumpled piece of carpet as she attempted to walk in her stiletto pumps, but that would have been unkind. Still, Harper kept that instant of schadenfreude for herself. Nobody had to know.

  By the time Arthur came to bring her back to his office, Harper was having difficulty keeping her giggles to her herself. The thought of the snooty woman’s flash of inelegance and what her men would say when she told them about it banished all her dread. She could do this. She would get through it and find another way to help the lost ones in her community. She would do it for Callie. Callie had saved her that day in Central Park, and now she would return the favor and save others in her honor.

  “Ah, the elusive Ms. Pettinger,” Arthur said as he arrived, not bothering to hold out his hand in greeting. He must have already washed his hands of her. Arthur wasn’t a bad-looking man. In fact, there was a large portion of the female population that would consider him handsome. He benefited from a tall and upright stature and sharp features, most prominently his cheekbones. He had an Italian complexion with easily tanned skin and dark hair, and though his physique was in peak condition, Harper would never think him attractive or compelling. It was his eyes. Brown, dark, and dead. He could smile and be as gracious as the former bank owners, but he would still have the look of a predator. He may not be a man who would cause her any harm, but Harper could tell from the moment he’d met her, and gave her a disparaging glance at her scuffed-up sneakers, that he was a corporate-ladder climber and would do anything to get what he wanted.

  “I’m not elusive, Mr. Reeves. I was in the hospital after the attack. You know I was robbed. I told every person who called my place asking for the mere pittance I owe you.” Damn it, she’d meant to stay cool and collected. She didn’t want Reeves to see how those calls had hurt.

  “Yes, of course.” He glanced at the fading bruise on her face. It was now a sickly green mixed with a few darker sections of purple. Most people grimaced or showed concern for a woman with a large-ass bruise on her face. Not this dickhead. He smiled politely and gestured for her to follow him. “Shall we?”

  Thinking she was foolish to expect any measure of sympathy from this cold fish, Harper followed Reeves silently until they settled into his office. It was a glass enclosure directly off the main bank lobby. He had a direct view of all the tellers conducting their day-to-day business, and Harper could imagine him watching for anyone who might look like a high-money client and jumping out of his chair to be helpful and assist them in any way possible.

  Either that, or he stared at the snooty receptionist’s ass all day, which he had a perfect view of as well. No wonder she was in such a bad mood. She had to work with this special starfish.

  Harper settled into an uncomfortable guest wingback as Reeves sat in his ergonomically correct chair. He leaned forward, elbows resting on the table and fingers laced, gazing at her in what he probably thought was a sympathetic expression.

  He looked like a cult leader.

  “Now, Ms. Pettinger, I know we have been adamant about the payment you owe us, and usually, in these circumstances, we would send a debt collector to deal with such a state of affairs. Your record of late payments does not leave you in good standing.”

  “A state of affairs…” She couldn’t help but snort. He made it sound as if she had betrayed her country. He ignored her and kept on rambling. She wished he would cut the cord and get it over with already. But instead of the gleaming smile she expected, his face turned into a confused grimace.

  “However…there has been a new”—he waved his hand around, searching for the right word—“factor.”

  “What factor?”

  “We were reviewing the contract of your loan, the original contract that National Trust and the city came up with for your payment plan, and our lawyers discovered an interesting clause.”

  “A clause?”

  Harper was dumbfounded. She could only speak in two-word sentences. If Arthur Reeves was annoyed, then something was going in her favor.

  “Yes. The former owners of National Trust added a clause stating if you were unable to make a payment due to circumstances ou
t of your control, such as a robbery, you were to be given three months’ relief and time to pay what you owe.”

  “Explain it to me like I’m a fifth grader.”

  “Your loan is on vacation for three months. You will pay us what you owed us when you were robbed once the three months are over, and then normal payments shall again commence.” Arthur sat back and sighed. “It is the most ridiculous clause I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve never heard of anything—”

  Harper stood abruptly, her heart bursting with glee, and grabbed her bag. She waved at Arthur Reeves and called back over her shoulder, “See you in three months, Reeves!” Then she ran out of the building as though cloud nine was her personal chariot.

  Three months. She had three months to raise money for what she owed and anything beyond that without incurring interest or late fees. This was a miracle. The old National Trust may have sunk, but they were still watching over her.

  Feeling ecstatic, Harper began to make her way to Flynn’s, where Theo had crashed earlier from an overnight shift.

  Three months to save the kitchen. She hopped on the bus that would take her closest to Flynn’s neighborhood, then pulled out her old phone. She texted Flynn.

  On my way to your place

  Should we have ice cream and pizza ready?

  Her heart jumped a beat. They were both at Flynn’s waiting for her, ready to be there and comfort her after receiving a devastating blow. She was lucky. So fortunate. A large amount of shitty things had happened to her through her life, but this time, she was the happiest, most fortunate woman in the world. And with every moment she thought of her men, she fell more and more in love with them.

  Can’t wait to see you both. Hold the pizza. Ice cream we can use in fun and creative ways. I have insanely amazing news. You won’t believe it.

  This is Theo. What happened? Are you ok?

  Yes, I’m on the bus. I’ll tell you when I get there. See you soon!

  She ended her text conversation with a happy emoji that featured blushing cheeks and hearts. She was in that kind of mood. Her phone rang as she was putting it away. Theo calling.