He blanches and glances down at the not-so-white-anymore apron he’s wearing. It looks like a crime scene, covered in splotches of dark red. “Nice to meet you,” he says. “I’m Travis.” His eyes flit to me questioningly, and at my subtle nod, he lowers his voice and adds, “Brenden’s boyfriend.”

The lobby’s mostly empty, but I understand the caution. If someone local overheard, it would spread like wildfire through Mayweather and reach his dad out of town by the end of the day. And I’d hate myself for getting him outed.

“Oh!” Elise says. “We’ve heard about you. Hello! It’s wonderful to meet you.”

Grant’s expression darkens. “Your boyfriend is your employee?” he asks me.

“No! He’s not.” Do they really think so little of me to think I’d date an employee? “He owns the diner in town. He’s only helping me out in the kitchen for a bit with a couple big events.”

“I see,” Grant says curtly. Admitting that I need my boyfriend to help me run my business probably doesn’t make me look much better in his eyes.

I hold back my groan of frustration. All of this could’ve been avoided if they had arrived when they were supposed to.

“I actually need to be there for the dinner rush tonight,” Travis informs me. “I don’t have any coverage, but Addison said she’ll be fine here once all the prep work is done.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Does that mean we won’t get to see you tonight to meet you properly?” Elise asks Travis.

“Oh, I—” His gaze shoots to me, looking for the right answer. But damned if I know it.

“Whenever you’re finished at work is fine,” Elise goes on. “I’m sure we’ll all be up late catching up.”

When I give Travis another nod—because we might as well get this circus act started—he agrees he’ll stop by after the rush is over. “It shouldn’t be too late. I can probably sneak out by eight.”

“Excellent!” The gleam in Elise’s eyes is mildly frightening. “I can’t wait to get to know you.”

Travis ducks his head shyly—which is not a characteristic I usually associate with him. “There’s not much to know.”

“Nonsense. If you’re a part of Brenden and my granddaughter’s lives, I need to know all about you.”

At Travis’s clearly panicked look, I jump in. “You will. But why don’t we let him get back to the kitchen now, and we can head over to the house.”

Elise and Grant agree, and I grab Travis the key to the linen closet before I go. As I’m telling him I’ll see him later, I sense both of them watching us, so I graze my fingers over the back of his hand in what I hope comes off as a familiar gesture.