We loaded back into the van and Kai started the drive to the restaurant that he wanted to take me to.

“What’s Rainbow?” I smiled, adjusting the pin in my pant leg.

“It’s an older breakfast and lunch restaurant. It’s been here since the 70s. We go a lot because they have outdoor seating and the food is good. It’s delicious,” Kai smiled at me, pulling up to the restaurant.

We all got out and I took a seat outside with Juniper as Kai went inside to order what we had asked for, a vegan breakfast burrito for Juniper and a pesto BLT for me.

“You don’t eat meat?” I smiled at Juniper.

“Oh, I do. I just love how they do tofu here. It’s a bit spicy. Delicious.”

“I might give that a try next time then,” laughing, I could feel my phone going off in my pocket and I pulled it out to find that Isaac was calling me, “ugh. No.”

“Who is it?”

“My brother. I don’t care.”

Juniper grabbed my phone and answered the call on speaker, “hello? Shiloh’s phone.”

“Who are you?” William’s voice came through and I shook my head to her, mouthing that it was my ex-boyfriend.

“A friend. Shi is currently indisposed. Can I do anything for you?” she smiled, putting on a customer service voice.

“His parents are asking that he call them. Isaac was in a small accident during hockey practice. Broke his arm. They thought he might want to know. I’m here with him. He wants to talk to his twin.”

“Give me the phone Juni,” I sighed, “hello, William. Tell Isaac I’m sorry he broke his arm. That’s all. I’ll call my parents later. Goodbye.”

“Shiloh! Come home. I miss you.”

“No. I don’t miss you. I’ve already made wonderful friends, I start my new job tomorrow and my apartment is beautiful. Why would I ever need to go back to bumfuck Idaho?”

“We were supposed to get married in 2 years. I told you I’m sorry about Isaac! Please. Please come home.”

“You want to marry someone who looks like me? Marry Isaac,” I hung up and tossed my phone onto the table. Wrapping my hands around the nape of the neck, I slammed my forehead into the table, groaning, “I hate him.”

“Do you really?” Juniper rubbed my back softly.

“No,” I whispered, “but we were together for so long. I don’t think I’ve loved him in 2 years. We weren’t even sharing a room anymore. But it’s… it sucks, Juni. He stomped on my heart. He was the first person to treat me like my leg wasn’t a problem, and he saw me for who I was. But we’d been together since we were 17 and I realize now… that you change as you get older. That what I wanted from him when I was 17, 18, or 19 isn’t the same thing I want at 22. I started my major because of him! It’s not even what I wanted to do but we talked about going to work at state parks together. I wanted to open a bakery and write books.”

“Why can’t you do that now?” Kai sat down next to me, “I heard everything. Sorry. I was behind you but you seemed okay so I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“I can’t just… switch majors like that. Can I?”

“You don’t need a degree really. If you know how to run and operate a business. Which, you do, and I can teach you what I know. I already know the best place for you to open one too. We would need to get all your licenses, prove that you know what you’re doing, and get you all of the equipment that isn’t already there, which isn’t much.”

“What are you talking about?” I studied him in surprise.

“When I bought the building, it was a donut shop that I turned into the Daily Grind Cafe. It was supposed to also be a bakery. I have a counter for it, after all, and a display case. I’ve been ordering everything from a company because I can’t bake to save my life. I’m a good cook, but cookies and things like that escape me. But, if we get you all the licenses needed, the inspections, and the bakeware, I have an oven, mixer, fridge, worktable, and cooling racks for whatever. We’d have to make a menu that compliments the drinks and add you on as an owner, but you could have a place to get your bakery business started. Then go from there. The building next to mine has been vacant forever. Once you have the money saved up, you could just rent that one. Or stay working with me there. We’re friends, Shiloh. Think of what you want to do and let me know. There’s no point in being stuck in a dream you didn’t want. If your dream is to run a bakery, I can make that happen. Just say the word and I will.”

“Hm,” I chewed my lip, “I’m not in debt because of my scholarships. I could just drop from college and I wouldn’t owe anything. I have a good amount in my savings to pay for the licenses and things like that. The bakeware won’t be too much if you already have the equipment. I’m good at advertising… people would like freshly baked food over refrigerated stuff… you’d make more money that way. Alright. I want to make a deal. Let me bake you a few things to see if you think it’s good enough for the cafe. If you do, we can be business partners.”

“Sounds good to me,” he smiled, pushing my food to me and handing Juniper hers, “Juni can help as far as any paperwork goes. She’s an… what are you majoring in?”

“Human resource management. So I can go work at the online article company that Connor works at. But I’ll still help out with the cafe. It’s not like you pay me,” she laughed.

“You literally told me not to because I pay for everything else,” Kai rolled his eyes at her.

“I know,” she shrugged, “I would like extra on my allowance though.”

“Let’s get the bakery up and running then I will,” Kai laughed and winked at me, making my cheeks warm.

We ate our lunch, getting to know each other a bit better. Kai had taken over as Juniper's guardian when he was 18 and she was 13. He wouldn’t explain why and I didn’t push, not wanting to make them uncomfortable. When he was 20, he thought it was best for them to move out of Boston, the price of living far too high for him to care for her as she needed. He finished college here and helped Juniper to graduate high school before she enrolled in college as he opened the cafe. It had been his dream to own his own coffee shop, a place anyone could be welcome. Juniper had a mind for business, knowing how to handle paperwork, taxes, and finances far better than Kai ever could, and he owed a lot to her for her assistance in opening the cafe. They were best friends, doing most things together if Connor wasn’t around, and when he was, Kai spent his evenings writing or watching history documentaries. He was against going out, avoiding bars and other places to meet people, worried how they would react to his cane or the scars he mentioned along his spine and thigh from the motorcycle accident. They were both funny and warm, Juniper’s maturity making her seem as if they could be twins as well, and I had never felt more welcome around anyone in my life.

We finished our lunch and loaded back into the van, heading to Kai’s house. I was worn out, my arms tired, but my leg was no longer bothering me.

“We’re finally home,” Juniper smiled as we went through the front door, “I need to go register for my last class for the semester. Are you any good at biology Shiloh?”

“Mhm. It’s the only class I’ve ever managed to get straight A’s in why?”

“I’ve failed it twice. Can you help me study?”

“Duh. We can set a date for me to come by and tutor you. Especially… if I’m not going to be going to my classes anymore,” I smiled at Kai over my shoulder before turning back to her, “will I see you tomorrow?”

“Possibly. I’m not sure,” she shrugged, “give me a hug just in case.”

I went over and hugged her tightly, using the counter for balance and she moved my hair away from my ear.

“Thank you. For bringing Kai’s real smile back. He’s struggling. Don’t let him fool you, okay?” she whispered quietly enough that only I could hear her.

“Okay. I’ll do my best to help. Thank you for today. I haven’t felt so welcome in my life.”

“I’m glad. Alright. Gonna go register for that stupid fuckin’ class and call Connor. Come get me for dinner Kai!” she headed off to her room and I leaned against the counter, doing my best to relax.

“You okay?” Kai came to stand in front of me, doing his best to help me keep my balance.

“My arms are just a bit tired. I don’t usually go out with the crutches for that long. I wasn’t thinking when we loaded up to go. I have my wheelchair in my trunk.”

“Do you want me to get it?” he was fussing over me, worry clear in his eyes.

“No,” I laughed softly, shaking my head, “can I just borrow your couch for a minute?”

“For as long as you need,” he smiled.

We made our way to the living room and I flopped down, tossing my crutches carefully to the floor. Unhooking the pin, I started to roll my pant leg up before freezing and turning to Kai.

“I should warn you before I check my leg. It can be a little jarring to see the scar.”

“It won’t bother me. Don’t worry,” he rubbed my arm softly.

“Right. Okay,” I smiled and finished rolling it up, checking the small chafing cut that had formed, “dammit. It’s bleeding again.”

“I have a first aid kit. Do you want to borrow it?”

“Please. I left mine in the car.”

Kai jumped up and went into a small bathroom to my right, returning with the first aid kit. I quickly sterilized the cut, applied ointment to keep it from getting infected, and placed a bandage over it.

“I have to call the doctor tomorrow and order a new leg,” I sighed, “the sleeve has been pinching me for a year now and I’ve ignored it.”

“Why?” he started cleaning up after me, tossing everything in the trash.

“I mostly used my wheelchair if I wasn’t working. Will didn’t care so… I didn’t either. I don’t. But I know I need a new leg. The foot is worn down too. But I’ll keep using it until I get a new one so I can work upfront with you.”

“You’re spending the first 5 days in the back, remember? Saving me financially so I don’t get arrested for accidental tax evasion,” he laughed, sitting back down next to me, “I’ll start pulling things from the restaurant storage to set you up a place for the bakery.”

“Are you sure you want to do this for me?” I whispered, looking down at my lap, “we just met.”

“We’re friends. You said it yourself. But… I think having baked goods will also help keep the cafe on its feet. I make plenty of money to keep it running, keep the house going, and take care of Juni, but that’s it. At the end of the day, I only make enough to ensure we have what we need and pay you to be there. I have no cushion. If something happened… Juniper and I are fucked. It’s always been like this. So I see helping you live your dream as helping me too.”

“I just hope I can help. We need to get you better advertising too. Hm… I can take cake commissions as well. Just a few a week. That’ll make extra money and I’d been doing it for years back in Idaho. People would contact me through my FaceSpace when they saw my work. That’s how I made money outside of the cafe I worked at before.”

“Can I see?” he smiled.

“Oh. Sure,” nodding, I grabbed my phone from my pocket and went to the page I had created for my small at-home bakery, “here.”

“Shiloh’s Baked Goods. Cute,” he started scrolling through the pictures and smiled when he came across a baby shower cake I had made with small ducks created from Rice Krispies and fondant, “I love this one.”

“Those ducks were the death of me. I was brand new at sculpting cakes. It took so much trial and error. Isaac and my mom ended up eating most of the failed ones once I figured out how to do it.”

“If you bake cakes that look this good, I don’t think we’ll have any problems with you opening a bakery in the cafe.”

“Thank you,” I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks as I took my phone back, “what’s your favorite baked good?”

“Hm… what can you bake?”

“Tarts, eclairs, my croissants were really popular. Scones are my trademark. I can make muffins, cake pops, so many different kinds of cookies, oh and blueberry almond bars but I can make those with most kinds of nuts and berries.”

“I would kill for a pumpkin cream cheese muffin.”

“I can do that. I’ll make it tonight and bring it to you tomorrow. I have nothing better to do anyway,” I smiled at him, resting my head on the back of the couch, “means I need to go to the store after I leave here.”

“Thank you, by the way,” he copied me, tilting his head to look at me, “for today. It was a lot of fun.”

“I agree. It’s been a long time since I’ve had friends to spend time with.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not the most social and Will pushed all of the friends I had made in high school away. Right now, I’d say you and Juni are the only friends I have.”

“I’d say you’re the only friend I have.”

“What about Connor?”

“We don’t really hang out even though he’s here all the damn time. He’s too… loud for me. But he’s a cool guy. From… Florida I think. Moved here for college, met Juni, and decided to stay for her. They deeply love each other and it makes me so happy to see them together. I was worried but… I know I need to let her be her own person. It’s just… I raised her, ya know? So even though she’s my baby sister, I also had to be her parent.”

“I will never ask why. But if you need someone to talk to I’m happy to hear it. To support you through it. I can’t say I’ll relate, my parents are the most supportive people in the world, but I can always listen.”

“You’re too nice Shi,” he laughed, resting his head on my shoulder, “maybe one of these weeks I will. But let’s focus on the bakery and becoming better friends for now.”

“Agreed.”

“What are your parent's names?”

“Joanna and Thatcher Hartley. My grandparents on my dad's side are from… hm. I don’t actually know. He doesn’t talk about them. But my mom’s parents are Scottish. I know that. I think my dad's parents changed their last name when they came to Idaho.”

“Juniper and I are Japanese-American. I wasn't sure if you could tell. My father is from somewhere around Niigata, and my mother is from Boston. I don’t know my dad but his name is Takahiro. That I do know. My mother is Valentina. Valentina Winters.”

“I like the name Valentina. It’s pretty.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it is,” he nodded, still laying his head on my shoulder.

“You seem tired.”

“I am. I need a nap.”

“Why don’t I head home then? I shouldn’t take up any more of your time and I feel rested enough now.”

“Can you tell me when you get there?”

“Why? Gonna worry?”

“Yes.”

“Oh,” I laughed quietly, “sure. I’ll let you know when I get to my apartment.”

“Don’t forget my muffin tomorrow.”

“I won’t.”

He sat up so I could grab what I needed and walked me to the door, his hand once again hovering around my lower back.

“Alright. I’ll see you at 6 tomorrow,” I smiled up at him.

“Sure. Get home safe though okay? Thank you. For everything today. It was nice to get to put a face to the person Juniper has been talking about for weeks.”

“That’s nice to hear. Tell her I’ll see her later. Goodnight, Kai.”

“Goodnight Shiloh.”

Kai watched me leave, standing at the doorway until I pulled away and I headed home with a gentle smile on my face.

That was such a fun day.

I didn’t think making friends was this easy.

I can’t believe I’ll get to open my own bakery.

Thank you, Kai.