Hot Coffee Iced Santa (Roasted Love Cozy 2)

we had so many more people in the coffee house this time of the day.

I glanced up in time to see Daniel stick his head in and motion to me. My frown should have told him I was too busy. Instead, he came to me.

"Steven's Steakhouse is closed. The cops won't let him reopen yet."

"Maybe that explains why we have more customers than usual this close to the dinner hour," I said. "I'll stop by your apartment when I finish here. Will that be all right with you? I want to hear what Steven and you talked about, but I just can't take time now."

He smiled in agreement and took a cheese scone. "This is my carry-out," he said. "I'll grab a dinner for us."

Lily took his money and he left the shop. I watched him pull his stocking cap over dark hair dotted with snowflakes when he stepped outside. He was more than a little handsome. "You're daydreaming," said Lily. She nudged me, following my eyes.

"You have to agree it's hard not to when Daniel stops by," I said.

"Right." Lily spent her free time teasing me about how often he came into Roasted Love these days. It didn't help that Jacob got a big kick out of doing the same thing.

My thoughts turned to serious. I wanted to hear what Daniel had to say about Steven. More importantly, I wanted to ask him about their relationship and why I had never heard of his friend before now. There was something about Steven Landers that held a lot of questions in my mind.

Most of all, I recalled the way his eyes kept darting from Daniel and me to the form on the floor of his freezer. He was distracted when he talked to us. Obviously, Steven could easily get into the restaurant at any time he wanted to do so. If Frank Duvall didn't get along well with other adults, he and his boss may have had issues between them that weren't so positive either.

Chapter Three

After taking care of Thor, I drove to Daniel's apartment. He lived in a Brownstone in an older part of West River. The surrounding older homes were in the process of being rehabbed and there was no lack of potential renters. I walked up the one flight of stairs, having been rung in by Daniel when I pressed the button on the outside door.

"Come on in and warm up," he said.

I shed my wool coat and stuffed my gloves in the pockets. I rubbed my hands together in front of the small fireplace. The logs burned as a result of a gas line. Daniel could enjoy a fireplace without having to pay a chimney sweep every year to clean out the chimney. And he didn't have to sweep ashes either. I was beginning to think living in a Brownstone would be a great place to settle.

"This feels good," I said. He handed me a large cup of hot chocolate. He didn't forget the marshmallows melted on the top. "Why haven't you told me about Steven before?"

"I guess the subject just never came up," he said. "We were friends in college. In fact, he was the first real friend I met there."

While he talked, I relished in the warmth of the hot chocolate. The foamy topping stuck to my upper lip and I reached for the large dinner napkin he had put on the coffee table. When he stopped talking, I looked at him expecting more. His eyes wandered to the flaming logs. I realized that both times I had asked him about Steven Landers, he acted as if he didn't want to tell me too much. I was beginning to think there were lots of secrets between the two of them. That didn't stop me from prodding.

"What else?" I asked.

"Nothing else, except that was when we first met and became friends."

"Ha," I scoffed. "I can tell there is much more, but if you don't trust me, that's your privilege."

I wasn't even ashamed to use that ploy on him. He should know by now that I could be relentless when I wanted information.

"Okay, I'll tell you more. But, only because I know you won't let up on me." His dark eyes once more laughed at me and he settled back against the back of the easy chair. He ran his fingers over the lines of the brown and red plaid design.

"I decided Steven was a good person and someone I could be around easily when we first met. He had that kind of personality."

"What else?" I repeated.

His face grew sober. There was a pain that shone in his eyes at some memory. "When I met Steven, I was nineteen years old. We had been roommates for a while but I didn't know him well at that point. I mean, I knew him but it took something outside the roommate relationship to really know him." He grew silent for a few seconds. "It was one night when I was coming home from my night job at a local restaurant that I accidentally hit a dog. The animal came from nowhere and I couldn't avoid hitting him."

I thought of Thor and my heart sickened. The thought of him getting hit by a car caused me to be extra vigilant about walking him on a leash.

"Ooh, I'm so sorry," I said. "That must have been awful for you."

"It was. I grew up having two dogs during my childhood. They were like family members. Anyway, Steven was still up when I came in. I told him about the dog and that I had picked him up and wrapped him in an old towel. He was in my car. I asked Steven if he knew where I could get a Vet at that time of the night. It was around eleven."

This time I didn't say anything. I felt right along with Daniel. It must have hit him hard to have harmed an animal. Why else would he be feeling it so strongly after all these years?

"Steven called his girlfriend at the time, who was studying to be a Vet. Her father had his own practice and she told him to bring the dog over. I guess she had to wake her father up, but anyway, we met him at his office which was a short distance from his house."