Atlas glances over his shoulder, and then looks back at me. “I moved.”

“What? When?”

“Earlier this year. Sold my house and got a place closer to the restaurant.”

“Oh. That’s nice.” Closer to the restaurant means closer to me. I wonder how far apart we live now. “Are you cooking?”

Atlas aims his phone at his countertop. There’s a pan of eggs, a pile of bacon, pancakes, and… two plates. Two glasses of juice. My heart drops. “That’s a lot of food,” I say, attempting to hide the immense jealousy running through me.

“I’m not alone,” he says, panning the screen back to his face.

My disappointment must be clearly written all over me, because he immediately shakes his head.

“No, Lily. That’s not…” He laughs and seems flustered. His reaction is adorable but not entirely reassuring yet. He holds the phone up a little higher until I can see a person standing behind him. I’m not sure who’s with him, but it isn’t another woman.

It’s a kid.

A kid who looks just like Atlas, and he’s staring right at me with eyes that look identical to Atlas’s eyes. Does he have a child I don’t know about?

What is going on?

“She thinks I’m your son,” the kid says. “You’re freaking her out.”

Atlas immediately aims the phone back at his own face. “He’s not my son. He’s my brother.”

Brother?

Atlas moves the phone so that I’m looking at his brother again. “Say hi to Lily.”

“No.”

Atlas rolls his eyes and shoots me an apologetic look. “He’s kind of a jerk.” He says that right in front of his little brother.

“Atlas!” I whisper, shocked at every part of this conversation.

“It’s okay, he knows he’s a jerk.”

I see the kid laugh behind him, so I know he knows Atlas is kidding. But I am so confused. “I had no idea you had a brother.”

“I didn’t know, either. Found out last night after our date.”

I think back on last night and how it was obvious something was bothering him about the text he received, but I had no idea it was a family issue. I guess this explains why his mother was trying to contact him. “Sounds like you have a lot to work through today.”

“Wait, don’t hang up yet,” he says. He walks out of the kitchen and into another room for privacy. He closes a door and sits down on his bed. “Biscuits still have about ten minutes, I can chat.”

“Wow. Pancakes and biscuits. He’s a lucky kid. I had black coffee for breakfast.”

Atlas smiles, but his smile doesn’t reach his eyes. He seemed like he was in a good mood in front of his brother, but now that I have him alone, I can see the stress in the way he’s holding himself. “Where’s Emmy?” he asks.

“My mother has her for a few hours.”

When it registers that we’re both off work and I don’t have Emmy, he sighs like he’s bummed. “You mean you actually have a free day?”