Duncan used to give Sonny pinwheels, but the boy had grown out of them.
That was why he bought new toys.
With a box of Legos in hand, Duncan stepped into All You Can Eat.
“Morning, Mr. Lewis.”
Seeing that Duncan entered through the door, Liberty greeted him with a smile and asked, ” Same order?”
“Yes. The same old.”
Duncan believed breakfast at his buddy’s place did not fill his belly. With his workload heavy in the morning, how could he go on on an empty stomach?
It was best if he had another meal at Liberty’s place.
“Sonny.”
Spotting Sonny drawing behind the cash register, Duncan made his way there and handed the box of Lego to Sonny. He ingratiatingly said, “Sonny, this is my gift for you today.”
Sonny had grown accustomed to getting gifts from Dunc.
He took the Lego and thanked Duncan.
“Open it up. I can help you with the Lego build.”
Sonny opened the box and poured out the bricks. It was a set for a robot. It was difficult for Sonny’s age to accomplish such an intricate build.
However, Sonny was into Lego bricks.
The boy could be at it the whole day when given a box of Legos. He would explore the bricks on his own.
Duncan had his reason to give Sonny a build that was not quite for his age. He could jump in and play with Sonny since the boy was too young to finish the build all by himself.
It was a great way to bond while building bricks with Sonny. By then, Sonny would warm up to Duncan. At least, Duncan could finally get his hugs.
“Mr. Lewis, Sonny has a lot of toys. Stop buying him more.”
Seeing that Duncan had given Sonny another toy, Liberty helplessly uttered, “He has enough toys to open a toy shop.”
She glanced at the Lego while set on her way to serve a customer.
“The set is too hard for Sonny right now.”
“It’s fine. He can take his time. I can help him when I’m free,” Duncan said and sat behind the cash register to lend Sonny a hand.
Once Liberty made his breakfast, Duncan dug in while guiding Sonny to assemble the bricks.
“How’s business?” Duncan asked.
Now that the morning rush had eased, Liberty could take a breather and answered with a smile, “You can tell how busy we are when you pass by every morning. The morning rush really runs us off our feet. We only have time to tidy up and go home for a rest after the people who get off their night shifts are done.”
Those on the graveyard shift would often finish their meals at about nine o’clock in the morning.
Liberty and two employees would start tidying up and cleaning around ten o’clock.
By the time they finished the tasks, lunchtime would roll around. Liberty was occupied the whole morning.
“You came later than usual today.”
Duncan would usually turn up at the diner at a little past seven o’clock.
“I was up late today.”
Duncan lied. He did not tell Liberty that he had breakfast at his buddy’s place and it was just not quite enough.
The loving couple had him lose his appetite, but now that they were out of sight, the hunger caught up to him, so Duncan had to drop by Liberty’s diner to fill his belly.
Seeing that Duncan was showing her son the ropes in the middle of breakfast, Liberty drew close, sat next to her son, and said, “I’ll help you, Sonny.”
She picked up the assembly instruction for a look and stared at the pile of bricks, feeling at headache coming.
Oops. It seemed Lego bricks were not quite her thing.
Serena was good at it though. She was nifty with her hands at crafting, so Lego bricks were not a problem for her.
With a customer entering the diner, Liberty put down the assembly instruction and told her son, “Take your time, Sonny. I’ll be right with you.”
“Mom, you don’t know how to do it, but Dunc does.”
Sonny was attached to Duncan when they assembled Lego bricks together as Duncan had a knack for it.
“Do you want to come with me later? You can assemble the bricks over at my place, and i can teach you if you get stuck.”
Sonny pondered the offer before asking, “Will my mom go too?”
“Your mom is busy, so she can’t come along.”
Sonny declined. “I won’t go if Mom doesn’t go.”
Running his fingers along the little man’s hair with affection, Duncan said to Liberty, “Sonny has his guard up.”
Liberty smiled.
A while later, Duncan finally ate his fill. Although he was tempted to stay and help Sonny build a robot, his schedule was packed.
He told his secretary to push his itinerary into the afternoons so he could spend a bit of time at Liberty’s diner in the mornings.
“Liberty, I sent the money via Apple Pay.”
Rising to his feet, Duncan said to Liberty and to Sonny, “I got to go to work now, Sonny.
We’ll pick this up once I’m off.”
“Bye, Dunc.”
Sonny was a lot nicer now that he received Lego from Duncan. At least, he was saying goodbye to Duncan without being told.
Duncan gently pinched Sonny’s little face. Oh, the boy was adorable. If only he could nibble on the face.
After a quick chat with Liberty, Duncan was on his way out.
He was walking to his car when the person inside the car parked next to his wound down the window. The person greeted him with a smile.
“Duncan.”
It was Lily.
That ruined Duncan’s mood.
He went up to her with puckered brows and asked, “What brings you here, Ms. Harmon?”
“I made you breakfast, but you didn’t come home last night, so I went to your office. I thought I was seeing things when I saw your car parked here.”
Lily was forthcoming about the reason she was here.
Fixing her gaze on the breakfast place Duncan came out of, she asked, “Duncan, is the food good at that place? Is the hygiene at the breakfast diner up to standard?”
She was not one to dine at a small business like that. The hygiene upkeep would be atrocious for all she knew.
Nevertheless, Lily understood that Duncan was ungallant and laid-back as he had mingled with alternative crowds before. Duncan was happy to get a meal from a food truck, much less a diner.
“The hygiene is definitely up to standard, and there’s a health permit to prove it.” Duncan did not divulge to Lily that Liberty owned All You Can Eat.
Duncan’s mother had mentioned Liberty to Lily before.
Lily was most focused on Serena though, as she wanted to get into Mrs. York’s good graces.
Nevertheless, Duncan was certain that Lily kept an eye on Liberty since Liberty was Mrs. York’s sister.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.