Chapter 11 Lily
LILY
Monday
“You’re early.” I tried (and failed) to hide my surprise when I saw Gabriel leaning against the café’s brick exterior.
He looked up, pocketing his cell phone in his coat and standing straight. “So are you.”
“Well, yeah, but…” I trailed off. Of course, I was early. I always was.
“But you expected me to be late?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. There was a hint of something in his voice. Amusement? Frustration?
I rolled my lips, carefully thinking over my words, because I couldn’t tell him the truth.
That yes, I had expected him to be late, because neither of us wanted to be here.
I thought he would push his arrival to the very last minute—not show up early.
And it was early. I’d asked him to be here at seven, and it was six thirty.
We had an hour and a half until the café opened.
“I didn’t expect you to be so early.” I settled, grabbing the keys out of my bag and unlocking the door.
“How did you know I’d be early? If I wasn’t here, you’d be standing for another thirty minutes, and it’s chilly.
” I knew the winter temperatures were only going to drop, especially in January, which was typically the coldest and snowiest month in Golden Falls.
By then, today’s temperature in the low thirties would seem warm.
“Careful or I’ll start to think you’re concerned about me being out in the cold.” This time I very clearly heard the amusement in his voice. I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling.
I turned around to face him, nearly smacking him in the chest with the end of my French braid. When Gabriel realized how close we were, he took a few steps back, creating distance and tucking his hands into his pockets.
I didn’t know Gabriel, nor did I like him, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable being alone with him in my café.
For one reason or another, Hal trusted him, and that meant something.
Still, I appreciated Gabriel’s awareness, because he was nearly a foot taller than me.
I’d normally find his height attractive, but in this case, I didn’t.
For obvious reasons. At least his height was practical.
He’d be able to help me get various ingredients and supplies that I typically needed a step stool or ladder for. That’s the only reason I noticed.
“I’m not concerned about you,” I emphasized. “I wouldn’t want you to turn into a block of ice outside my café. It’d be bad for business.”
“Right.” He huffed a laugh.
I flicked on the lights and tied back the deep-blue curtains.
I led us over to the coat rack behind the front counter.
I hung my bag, and once I slipped my coat off, I hung that, too.
I brushed a few loose strands of hair away from my face and adjusted the red ribbon bow at the end of my braid so the loops were even.
When I looked back at Gabriel, he was hanging his coat up, too.
I hated—absolutely hated—how his biceps and forearms flexed in his light-blue dress shirt from the simple motion.
He dropped his arms back to his sides, and I noticed his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.
His shirt was tucked into a pair of dark pants with a belt.
“So, where should we start?” he asked, snapping me out of my daze. “How’s this all going to work between working at the café and completing your list?”
“I’ve been thinking about it, and while it’s unfortunate we’re stuck in this arrangement, I have some ideas that will hopefully make this as painless as possible.
” I gestured for him to follow me to the cat room.
“I start off the mornings by checking on the cats. Refilling water bowls, feeding them, scooping the litter boxes, swapping out their toys.” I flicked on the overhead lights, as well as the string lights along the side wall.
“And petting them, obviously. Three of the current cats are pretty social, and then two are shy and usually find a sneaky hiding spot.”
I crouched as Sugar Plum, a one-year-old gray cat who still very much looked like a kitten, spotted us and blinked slowly while walking over. Gabriel kneeled next to me, and what looked like a genuine smile came over his face.
“I thought this could be something you could help me with since you’re familiar with cats,” I explained. “Everything you need is in that supply closet, but if you can’t find something, let me know.”
Sugar Plum (how cute was that name?) went to Gabriel first, sniffing his hand and ultimately deciding he was worthy enough to pet her. She leaned her head into his touch.
“How do you know I’m familiar with cats?” he asked, raising a brow.
Shit. I kept my gaze down, trying to hide the flush creeping up my cheeks. “Oh, uh, Hal mentioned that you have a cat.” He already knew I looked him up. I wasn’t about to admit that I had severely creeped on his social media.
“Right,” he said, drawing out the word. “Figured that was it.”
I felt Gabriel’s eyes on me, but I refused to look at him. We were too close in this position, anyway. If I turned my head to the side, we’d be face-to-face. Too close.
I stood, brushing my palms on my jeans. “As for the list, I think hiring help at the café and decorating the cat room will be the easiest to complete first. I finally looked through applications this past weekend and will try to get someone hired this week or early next. We can decorate the cat room this week, too. Then, once someone is hired, we can think through how to tackle the rest of the list. Does that work?” I asked.
“Works for me,” Gabriel said—agreeing with me—and I heard the smile in his voice. I allowed myself to finally look at him. Instead of kneeling, he was sitting on the floor now. Sugar Plum had flopped and was rolling around on her back, showing off her fluffy belly.
“I take it she’s one of the social ones?” he asked.
“No, actually.” I let out a sigh. “Sugar Plum is usually more reserved.”
Gabriel might’ve quickly gotten on Sugar Plum’s good side, but it wouldn’t be that easy to win me over. Impossible, even. I was stronger than that.
Having Gabriel help me with the cats allowed me to start on my café prep work earlier than usual.
I turned on the espresso machine, set up the first pot of coffee, and prepped my drink ingredients for the day before heading back to the kitchen.
I was happy with the work I’d done yesterday and how it set me up for the week.
Sunday mornings were my big prep days for the week and different from a typical day at the café.
Only tea and coffee were available—no specialty drinks or pastries—and it was self-serve.
Jodi and Henry, two volunteers from the animal shelter, came in to help take care of the animals and brought in people who had shown interest in adopting the cats.
Usually, it was people from Golden Falls or one of the surrounding small towns, but sometimes, people from all over the state saw the shelter’s social media posts and fell in love with a cat.
I used the time they were here to prepare for the week ahead.
I checked inventory, placed orders for supplies and ingredients, and set my baked goods menu for the week.
I made dough or batter for the week in advance and kept it refrigerated.
This allowed me to simply stick the batter in the oven each morning for fresh pastries.
Last week’s menu of baked goods—spiced gingerbread loaf and cranberry orange scones—was a hit and quickly sold out. Like I’d told Marnie, I decided to keep it the same this week. I put two gingerbread loaves in one oven and two trays of scones in the other. Then I set two timers.
I let out a sigh, finally having a moment to breathe. I had my day-to-day routine, but it still felt overwhelming and like I didn’t know what I was doing. But I’d gotten this far.
I was also trying to focus on the positives—I finally had some help. It wasn’t the help I wanted, but it was better than having to do everything on my own.
I moved from the kitchen back to the main room of the café, the golden sun streaming through the front windows. It was easy to forget the cold weather when the sun shone brightly without a cloud in sight.
“Smells good in here already,” Gabriel said as he walked in through the door between the cat room and the café.
I nodded in agreement. An awkward silence filled the air between us before I finally spoke up. “I assume you got things figured out at work for the time you’ll be in Golden Falls?” I asked, leaning my hip against the counter.
“Yeah, I’ll be working remotely. My boss isn’t thrilled about it, but…it’ll work out fine. I’ll have meetings, answer emails, and keep my projects moving, but I’ll be able to do that on my own schedule for the most part. I’ll work evenings and such if I have to.”
There were a couple of things that caught my attention. One, if he planned on being with me in the café during the day and working extra hours in the evenings, that would mean he’d literally be working the whole day. And two, boss? “You mean your dad? Don’t you work with him?”
“For him,” Gabriel muttered. “But yes, my father.”
I hummed, curious about his word choice, but didn’t press. His relationship with his dad—father—wasn’t any of my business, even if I was nosy.
“Okay, well,” I started. “It’d be nice to have you help with prep in the mornings and possibly taking orders during the morning rush, especially as I’m training the new employee. The rest of the day, you’re welcome to do what you need for work.”
“I’ll be around for that, and if I need to respond to emails or calls, I’ll do so from the café. So, caring for the cats, taking orders…” he listed. “I can also help you clean up.”
“Yeah, that’d be great. Are you sure, though? I don’t want you to spend your whole time in Golden Falls working.”