“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah. Fine.”

But he went silent again for the rest of the ride downtown—so silent that I knew intuitively something was wrong. We parked along Main Street and hurried down the block, thunder rumbling softly over our heads. Tyler opened the pastry shop door for me just as the first fat, heavy raindrops were starting to splat on the sidewalk.

Coffee Darling was always busy in the morning, but we snagged a table for two toward the back. The server came over right away and asked us what we’d like to drink. Caitlan, her name tag read.

“Coffee please,” I said. “With cream.”

“Sure thing. And for you?” she asked Tyler.

“Coffee. Black.”

“You got it.”

“Hey, is Frannie here this morning?” I asked her.

Caitlan nodded. “She’s in the back.”

“Can you tell her that her sister April is here, and to come say hello if she gets a moment?”

“Of course. Be right back with your coffee. The menu is on the chalkboard behind the counter.”

“Thanks.”

As soon as we were alone, I sat back and looked at Tyler. “So what’s on your mind?” I asked. “And don’t say nothing or I’m going to personally go out and buy you a kitten.”

He gave me a barely-there smile. “Sorry. That picture of Mack and his kids reminded me of something.”

“What?”

“Sadie and Josh asked me to be their baby’s godfather the other night.”

“Really?” I sat up taller. “That’s so exciting, Tyler!”

“I said yes, but I didn’t want to.”

“Why not? I think you’ll be an awesome godfather! You’ll love being an uncle, I promise. Being an aunt is so much fun. And I’m actually my niece Whitney’s godmother. It’s a really cool relationship.”

“But it’s a lot of responsibility too. If something were to happen to Sadie and Josh—”

“Don’t even think about it like that,” I said quickly. “No point in stressing out about things you can’t control. Focus on the good part. Your sister trusts you with the most precious thing in her world—the life of her child. That’s an incredible honor.”

“But what if I’m not qualified? What if I, like, drop it? Or leave it somewhere? Or screw it up somehow?”

“Screw it up how?”

“I don’t know—that’s the point. But if I can screw up baseball, I can screw up a kid.”

I laughed. “You’ll be fine. I have faith in you.”

Caitlan appeared, setting down two cups of coffee and a tiny pitcher of cream. “Now what can I bring you to eat? Frannie is just putting something in the oven and then she’ll be right out.”

“Great,” I said. “I haven’t even looked at the menu, but I’ll just have a cinnamon roll. They’re my favorite.”

“Mine too.” Caitlan looked at Tyler. “And for you?”

He was squinting at the chalkboard menu. “I’ll try the farmer’s omelette.”

“Greens or potatoes?”

“Potatoes, please. And a side of bacon. Oh, and some toast.”

“White or wheat?”

“Wheat.”

“Coming right up.”

When she was gone, I laughed as I poured cream into my coffee. “I forgot about your appetite. My God, you used to eat so much when you’d come home after a game. Like an entire pot of spaghetti.”

“That was your fault. You made good spaghetti sauce.”

“In those days, I could make two things reliably—spaghetti and chicken parmesan casserole.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that.” Tyler picked up his coffee. “I used to eat it for breakfast the next day.”

“What? Ew!”

He shrugged. “I liked it.”

I sipped my coffee. “Do you cook?”

“The only thing I can make reliably in the kitchen is a mess. Yet another reason why my sister should think twice about putting me in charge of her kid. The poor thing would probably starve.”

“Hey, you guys!” Frannie called, making her way toward our table.

“Hey, Frannie.” Setting my cup down, I stood up and gave her a hug before gesturing across the table. “Do you remember Sadie’s brother, Tyler Shaw? Tyler, this is my youngest sister, Frannie.”

Tyler rose to his feet and extended his hand. “Nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see you too.” Frannie beamed at him. “My husband Mack played baseball with you in high school, and he’s always talking about how good that team was.”

“We were pretty damn good,” Tyler said with a shrug.

“You should come by while you’re in town if you can. But don’t be surprised if he drags you outside to play catch or something.” Frannie rolled her eyes. “None of his girls are too into sports and he’s always begging for someone to go with him to games or toss a ball around in the yard or even just watch the playoffs on TV.” She giggled. “One time, before we were married, they said they would watch with him as long as he’d let them paint his nails.”

I laughed. “And did he?”

“Totally,” she said gleefully. “Then they pretended they didn’t have any remover, and he had to go to the store to buy some with hot pink fingernails.”

Tyler looked at me but gestured at Frannie. “Did you hear that? This is why I don’t want kids.”

Frannie grinned. “They’re really not that bad. I should get back to work. You guys enjoy breakfast. Nice seeing you, Tyler.”

“You too,” he said, taking his seat.

“Call me later, April.”

I said I would and sat down, but we’d barely started to eat when my phone started blowing up with texts. I glanced at the screen to make sure there wasn’t some kind of emergency at work and saw they were all from Frannie.

OMG!!!!

He’s SO HOT.

Is this a date?

I’m dying.

Call me ASAP!!!!

Shaking my head, I dropped my phone back into my bag.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Nothing. My sister is ridiculous.”

“So is mine. Did I tell you that in addition to believing I am a responsible adult, she’s insisting I dance with her at this wedding?”

I smiled and licked some icing from my finger. “You don’t like dancing?”

He gave me his grumpy old man face. “No.”

“Well, the father-daughter dance is a tradition,” I said gently. “You’re playing that role for her. And it’s two minutes—three at the most. You can get through one song for her, right?”

He stabbed a potato with his fork and stuck it in his mouth.

“Right?” I repeated forcefully.

“She wants me to pick the song,” he complained. “I don’t know any songs that would be right for that.”

“I’ll help you.”

“Everyone will be watching me.”

“Everyone watched you for years on the field and it never bothered you. In fact, I am pretty sure you enjoyed it.”