Chapter 8 Lily
LILY
Well, that went way worse than I expected.
Once we wrapped up our meeting, I couldn’t leave fast enough.
My coat was on halfway and I stumbled over my feet as I pushed open the door.
I walked quickly to my apartment, which was above the café and another reminder of what was at stake.
Not only was my business in the building that was for sale, but my apartment was, too.
I climbed the stairs to the second floor and beelined to my front door.
Hot tears stung the backs of my eyes as I pulled my keys out of my coat pocket and unlocked the door through blurry vision.
How was this happening? I thought Hal and I were on the same page. I thought he wanted me to buy the building.
What hurt the most was that, deep down, I knew he was right. I rarely had time for myself, including my personal and professional goals. I didn’t even realize until earlier today that my winter wish list was missing. Now, it was burning a hole in my pocket.
One thing I was grateful for was that I didn’t add Eliza and Jules’s more creative ideas. I would’ve never been able to look Hal in the eyes again.
The door closed behind me with a thud. I set my keys on the entry table and unwrapped my scarf, the soft wool feeling itchy and suffocating all of a sudden.
Not long after getting inside, I heard a chorus of meows and the patter of paws on the hardwood floor. My two cats, Bandit and Sylvie, trotted toward me. There was nothing like being greeted with purrs and tail hugs—and the occasional meow-scream even though dinner was more than an hour away.
I crouched down, petting both of them. My mood immediately improved, even if it was temporary. “I missed you, too,” I murmured.
Even though I lived alone, there was never a dull moment with these two.
I’d adopted them at the same time from the Golden Falls Animal Shelter about five years ago.
They were impossible to resist, especially when my first sight was them cuddling together.
They were kittens at the time who had bonded when the rest of their respective litters had already been adopted.
Bandit, a male orange tabby, was my stability and emotional support, while Sylvie, a female Calico with black fur and fiery orange and white patches, always kept things interesting.
She also kept Bandit in his place, and me, for that matter.
Still, they loved to cuddle with each other, and it was more often than not that the three of us would fall asleep on the couch watching TV before making it to bed.
Bandit and Sylvie followed me around the apartment as I turned on the Christmas lights and various lamps.
My one-bedroom apartment was small, but I loved the way I had it set up.
The front door led right to the living room, where I had my couch, Christmas tree, a television, basket of blankets, and other decorations.
I had lots of photos of my family and friends around my apartment, as well as candles and knickknacks I’d gotten from various town events and festivals where people were selling goods.
The living room opened up right into the kitchen, where I spent more time baking than cooking.
Usually, I had random scraps of paper with recipe notes and revisions lying around, but I’d cleaned up this week.
My apartment was spotless, apart from the random socks on the floor that Bandit was known for stealing out of my hamper.
His name made more sense now, didn’t it?
I connected my phone to the speaker in the living area and queued up a playlist of my favorite Christmas songs. The iconic chimes of the intro to “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey filled the room.
Sylvie let out a loud meow, which I took as approval for my music choice.
She rested her front paws on my shin, and I scooped her up in my arms, carrying her over to the couch.
I collapsed onto the couch with Sylvie in my lap.
Bandit trotted behind us and swiftly hopped up, squeezing his way onto the sliver of space left on my lap.
How was I going to survive working and spending time with Gabriel Nelson? Of course, he wanted to throw money at the problem. Of course, he already had an idea for the building. And of course, he wanted to be out of Golden Falls as soon as humanly possible.
Everything I thought about him—that he was arrogant, selfish, and money-motivated—was confirmed in our initial interaction, but…
I couldn’t help but wonder about what else Hal had said.
About how Gabriel was passionate about sustainability, community development, and affordable housing.
Those were all things that were important to me and the people in Golden Falls.
Something like that would be beneficial to the town, but was it really what Gabriel wanted to bring here?
Was his father preventing him from reaching his full potential, or did Hal have it all wrong?
Gabriel was Hal’s grandson, after all. Was Hal only seeing what he wanted?
And now I had to spend time with him against my will. At least I had the weekend to prepare and come up with an initial plan. Maybe it would be nice to have some help at the café as I figured out who to hire…as long as Gabriel actually was going to help.
I was self-taught at baking, and I’d been wanting to take classes to elevate my skills and continue experimenting with ingredients and recipes. But in order to do that, I needed to hire and train a new employee. That was going to be the first thing I checked off the list.
One thing was for sure: I wasn’t backing down. He was mistaken if he thought this was going to be easy, that I was going to roll over and hand the building to him on a silver platter. No freaking way.
The fact that people in town didn’t want him here was only an advantage for me. Although, it did surprise me that Louise was chatty with him. If he got on her good side, that would be a problem, since she knew the ins and outs of Golden Falls like the back of her hand.
I had my work cut out for me, and I needed to get prepared. And that preparation started with a hot bubble bath.
While I was able to relax in the bath until my skin resembled a raisin, the stress returned to my body immediately upon getting out. Not even my fuzziest Christmas socks could ward off the stress demons.
And that’s why I was baking dozens of blueberry muffins at midnight. The cats must have sensed my stress, because they’d been zooming around the apartment for the last twenty minutes.
On the bright side, my last batch of muffins was nearly done.
A knock at the door caught my attention, but I quickly relaxed when I realized it was likely Eliza coming home after her shift at Lake Ridge.
She lived across the hall from me and tended to work evenings and nights at the bar with occasional mornings and afternoons leading yoga classes at her studio.
I pulled open the door and smiled when I saw her.
I texted Eliza and Jules the short version of what happened during the meeting but wanted to dive into the details when I saw them next, which was at tomorrow’s family dinner.
Or, I guess, technically tonight’s family dinner, since it was the next day. God, I really needed to get some sleep.
“Hey,” she greeted, her voice gentler than usual. Her expression softened immediately. “I know you said you’ll tell us all about it at dinner, but I was getting home and saw your light was still on.” Eliza peeked over my shoulder, wincing slightly. “Stress baking?”
She knew the answer before asking, given the open containers of flour, sugar, cinnamon, and milk. My mixing bowls and utensils took up most of the space on the kitchen island, and any open space was covered in flour.
At least my apartment smelled warm, sweet, and inviting as a result.
I let out a breathy laugh and nodded. “I’ve made at least five dozen muffins.” When her eyes widened, I waved my hand. “I’ll sell some discounted at the café since technically they’re from yesterday and bring some to family dinner. It’s not that many.”
“It is when it’s past midnight,” she huffed under her breath. “And I think that means you have one or two to spare.”
“For you? Always.” I gestured for her to come inside.
As soon as Eliza walked in and saw the mess up close, she ordered me to sit on one of the stools and helped me clean and get my kitchen back in order. I started to tell her what happened but quickly realized we needed Jules here to hear this, too.
The last thing I wanted to do was wake her up, but Eliza told me that Wes had worked late tonight, too, which likely meant Jules stayed up to wait for him.
Before Jules, Wes worked all the damn time.
He practically lived at Lake Ridge, and late nights were the norm.
Since Jules, he’d limited his late nights, opting to hire more help and offload more of his responsibilities so he could spend most evenings and nights with her.
I tapped Jules’s contact in my phone, and the familiar ringing filled the apartment.
“Why are you FaceTiming my girl in the middle of the night?” was the first thing my brother grumbled as he answered Jules’s phone.
“I wanted to make sure you got home okay,” I said to my brother with a smile.
“Liar.” He rolled his eyes with an amused huff.
“Wes, don’t tell me you’re jealous of your sister,” I heard her say in the back with a laugh. Jules came into focus on the screen, leaning her head against Wes’s arm. His face softened immediately as he looked down at her.
“So, when I accidentally wake you up when I’m getting home from a late night, you throw a pillow at me, but when Lily randomly calls you, it’s fine?”
“Exactly,” Jules and I said at the same time, grins on our faces.
“Makes no sense,” Wes huffed. He was about to hand the phone back to Jules, but before that, his brow furrowed and he asked, “Is everything okay, Lily?”
I smiled softly. My brother might have been a grump, but he had the biggest soft spot for those he cared about. He was always putting others first. “I had my meeting with Hal and Gabriel today about the building. It wasn’t as straightforward as I had hoped.”
“And? What happened?”
“That’s why she’s calling.” Jules gently nudged his arm. “To tell us what happened.”
“Well,” my brother said expectantly, which caused me to laugh.
When I had first gotten the email from Hal in November, with Gabriel included on it, I had rushed over to Wes and Jules’s place, so my brother was familiar with how all this started.
Jules and Wes got comfortable on the couch as they waited for me to start the story.
As I parted my lips to start talking, Eliza let out a satisfied moan, muffin crumbs clinging to the corner of her mouth.
“I was making muffins,” I informed Jules and Wes. I looked over at Eliza, shaking my head with a laugh. “Do you need a moment alone, or can I start talking?”
She took another bite, waving her free hand. “Don’t let me stop you. You can start talking. I’m listening.” Her words were mumbled, like she was underwater, but I’d known her long enough to understand exactly what she was saying.
“Okay, so, here’s what happened and the mess I’m in.”
I told them about how the meeting went, Hal’s conditions, my list, Gabriel’s response. Eliza and Jules’s gasps, along with Wes’s mumbled swears, made my retelling rather theatrical. Had it not been me in this situation, I would’ve found it all entertaining, too.
“Did Hal say anything about when he’ll make up his mind or how long Gabriel has to work at the café?” Jules asked.
I shrugged. “Kind of? It all depends on finishing the list. He said he’d like to make his mind up in the new year. And get this. He said, and I quote, ‘I have a feeling you’ll know before me.’ How cryptic is that? I mean, it’s typical Hal.”
Hal had infinite wisdom and was always one step ahead, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what his agenda was this time.
“Okay…” Eliza said. “In the new year. That could mean next month…or it could mean in a few months. Either way, you need to find a way to survive working with Gabriel. It might not be the worst thing, right? You can have him do the things you don’t want to do.
Have him help out with cleaning up for the day so you can leave work a little early.
Then once you hire someone, you’ll have even more free time.
You can finally take time for yourself to unwind and relax. ”
“I know this sucks and is super frustrating, but Eliza’s right,” Jules added. “You were so excited to put that list together. Now, you’ll have time to actually do it.” Jules paused. “We’re…well, we might be a little worried about you. You’ve been working so much lately.”
Next it was Wes. “You need to take care of yourself. This could be a good thing, Lily.”
“As long as you don’t kill Gabriel,” Eliza added.
I didn’t bother arguing with them, because they were right. Even if this did feel like a little bit of an intervention. Although, considering I was stress baking at midnight, maybe I needed it.
“Fine,” I accepted with a sigh. “I’ll spend some time over the weekend thinking about what he could help me with.
I am excited to sign up for the online baking classes I’ve been eyeing.
They’re just so expensive,” I groaned. “But anyways, yeah, I think there are ways to use this situation to my advantage.”
“So…” Jules said, drawing out the word. “Now that you’ve seen him in person…how hot was he?”
Wes groaned. “That’s my cue to leave.” He pressed a kiss to Jules’s cheek. “The sooner you hang up, the sooner you can join me in bed, sweetheart,” he murmured, but unfortunately for me, the phone still picked up his words.
A blush formed on Jules’s cheeks, and I rolled my eyes. “Get a room!”
As Wes got up from the couch, he said, “What do you think I’m trying to do?”
Jules shook her head, watching him walk off before her attention was turned back to me.
“This does not leave this call,” I started, letting out a heavy exhale.
“He’s the type of attractive that it hurts to look at.
Like unfairly hot. Proof that the universe is clearly picking favorites.
And his jaw line—” I cut myself off (even though I could’ve easily kept going) when I saw the smirks on Jules and Eliza’s faces.
“But it doesn’t matter! Not to me, at least. I’m immune to his good looks.
Plus, he’s arrogant and thinks he’s way too good for our small town.
He wanted to throw money at the problem and get out of here.
It doesn’t matter how attractive he is if that’s his personality.
” I paused to finally take a breath. “There are cats and baked goods involved. Nothing and no one can stand in my way.”