Chapter 4
Chapter 4
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, MY humiliation at not being picked by Adam reduced to a low, annoyed grumble, Paige and I busied ourselves with the comings and goings of the Cozy Cottage Café.
I had successfully pushed the unexpected romantic stirrings Ryan elicited in me firmly to the back of my mind. I wasn’t about to go falling for him, despite the fact he was super fun to be around. He was easy-going, flirty, smart. And then there was the small fact he looked like a Norse god.
I let out a sigh. It was never a good idea to date your friend’s brother. Too complicated. Especially if it doesn’t work out.
And anyway, he only broke up with someone a matter of six months ago.
There was no way I was going there.
“I’ve finished that fresh batch of cream cheese frosting for the carrot cake,” I said.
Paige’s back was turned to me as she pulled a cake out of the oven with her mitts. “Thanks, Bailey.” She placed the steaming cake on a rack on the counter. “I know we bake these cakes all the time, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that delicious aroma.”
Although I’d been running the café for some time now, Paige had joined me as my partner with an equal share in the business after she ditched a marketing career she hated. And I was very glad to have her on board. We made an excellent team, and the café ran like clockwork, both of us passionate about what we did.
We’d made a few changes to the place, such as introducing the wildly successful “Cozy Cottage Jam” music sessions on a Friday night, without losing any of the special character that made our café unique.
You see, even though the Cozy Cottage was situated in the hustle and bustle of downtown Auckland, my vision for it was as a relaxed and welcoming country cottage café. I wanted people to feel instantly at home the moment they walked through our front door, to sit and relax over a cup of Ned’s Coffee, perhaps indulge in one of the many sweet treats we had on offer.
At first, I’d considered calling the place “Stop and Smell the Roses,” because that’s what I wanted people to do. I ended up with “Cozy Cottage” after I’d stumbled across my idea of a perfect country café in Devon on a trip to England. I’d fallen in love with the homely charm of the place, and once back home in New Zealand, I set about finding the perfect spot to replicate it.
The Cozy Cottage Café had been my passion, my happy place, ever since.
“Morning, chicks!” Sophie’s bright voice called out as she bustled by me on her way to the back of the kitchen. “Sorry I’m late. The traffic is mad out there today.”
“No worries, Sophie.”
Sophie joined the staff when I’d first opened the café doors about eighteen months ago, and she was my most reliable barista—traffic issues this morning aside. It helped that she was incredibly sweet, too.
I picked up a Cassata alla Siciliana cake, my personal favorite, to carry out to the food cabinet at the counter. Delicious cheese cake meets the bakery, I made Cassata alla Siciliana from a recipe handed down from my grandmother, a staunch Sicilian who emigrated to New Zealand in pursuit of love as a young woman. She married her man and settled here, where my and I were born. It was my favorite of all the cakes and pies she had taught me how to make. And she’d taught me to make a few.
Sophie walked out into the café as she tied one of our Cozy Cottage pink aprons with the white polka dots around her slim waist. “Now, tell me all about the speed dating night. Did you meet Mr. Right?”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head.
“How about Mr. Right Now?”
I laughed, shaking my head once more. “Not even one of those.”
“Oh well. Better luck next time.” She shot me a breezy smile and powered up the coffee machine, ready for the early-bird customers who would come through the doors shortly, looking for their breakfast and first caffeine fix of the day.
“Oh, I won’t be speed dating again, I can tell you that right now.” My cheeks flushed as I thought of Reg the robot-maker, Fake Jamie Oliver slash Fabio—and Adam.
“Well, if that’s the case,” Paige said as she joined us at the counter to slide another freshly baked cake into the cabinet beside the Cassata alla Siciliana , “we need to come up with another way for you to go on your Last First Date.”
“Hmmm.” Although I’d agreed to this pact, I was having serious second thoughts about my chances of finding “The One,” no matter how positive my friends were being for me. It all seemed too hard. “By my calculations, I had four Last First Dates at the speed dating thing. That’s more than enough for anyone.”
“You’re in on that pact, too?” Sophie asked, her eyebrows raised.
“I am . . . or I was . . . Oh, I’m not sure.” I scrunched up my face.
“Don’t be put off, okay?” Paige put her hand on my arm. “You’ll find him. Look at me? I thought Marcus was the man for me, until I realized it was Josh.”
I glanced at her pretty face. I wished I had her blind optimism. After my experience last night, I was more than happy to let the whole thing slide.
And anyway, the problem was, I had found him, I’d found “The One.” Just over five years ago. In fact, I’d found him, and I’d kept him. Happily. It was the best thing I’d ever done with my life.
And I knew I’d wanted to be with him forever. Dan, my soulmate, my love. When he’d proposed, there was no question in my mind we were right for one another, that we belonged together. And we were so in love, so happy.
Until he was gone.
A chill came over me.
I’ll never forget the moment I learned Dan had died in a horrific mountain biking accident. Dan, my fiancé. Dan, the guy who should have been my Last First Date, before any of us made the pact. We’d only been engaged for a matter of weeks, and then he was gone. Leaving me sad. Alone.
Broken.
Like Ryan.
I pasted on a smile. “You’re right. I will.”
Better to act like I agreed with her to avoid the inevitable plotting and planning I knew my friends were capable of. Heck, I’d plotted and planned to find Paige’s Last First Date—and I’d got it right. Thanks to my matchmaking, Paige and Josh were now fully-carded members of “Happy Coupledom.”
Maybe I was better at this for other people than I was for myself?
I glanced at the clock above the door. A handful of minutes to opening, but there were already a couple of men in business suits milling around out on the sidewalk.
“Are we ready to open up?” I asked the girls.
“Sure!” Paige wound her way around the counter and out through the café, extracting a key from a pocket under her apron as she walked. She pulled the door open. “Good morning, gentlemen. Come on in!”
And so the morning went, with our usual long line of customers drinking Ned’s Coffee and eating their homemade meals, cakes, and snacks. We were always so busy, but it never felt like work to me.
I was putting paninis together to be toasted for the hungry lunch crowd due into the café in the next hour or so, when Paige stepped into the kitchen, her face beaming.
“What is it?” I asked with a smile.
“You have got to come out here.”
I knitted my brows together. “Why? What’s up?”
She took the tub of mozzarella from my hand, placed it on the kitchen counter, and handed me a clean cloth. “No questions. Just come.”
Obediently, I wiped my hands and followed Paige out into the café and around the counter, where Sophie was serving a lone woman a slice of one of our cakes. We reached the table in the window where Cassie and Marissa were sitting.
“Hi, Cassie. Hi, Marissa.” I smiled down at them.
“Sit,” Paige commanded.
I pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. Once we were all seated, I looked between my friends’ faces. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“Cassie has news.” Marissa’s face was as bright as Paige’s.
I turned my attention to Cassie. Her cheeks were flushed, framed by her long, auburn hair. Without a word, she lifted her left hand. My eyes were drawn instantly to the large, sparkling princess-cut solitaire diamond on her ring finger.
My jaw dropped open as I looked from the ring up into her eyes. “Did he . . .?”
She nodded, trying—and failing—to bite back a grin from bursting across her face, happiness emanating from her.
“When? How?”
“Last night, after the speed dating thing. I’m so sorry about that, by the way.”
“Oh, forget about it. It was nothing. Now, let me get a look at that rock.” I took her hand in mine and studied the ring. It was breathtakingly beautiful in its simplicity, a solitaire diamond in a platinum claw.
Will Jordan had outdone himself.
“That is gorgeous! And huge! Oh, Cassie, I’m so happy for you.” I leapt out of my chair and hugged her, surprising myself as tears sprang into my eyes. Tears of happiness—and something else.
Something I didn’t want to think about.
“Did you two know?” I asked Marissa and Paige as I sat myself down once more, dabbing at my eyes with my fingers.
“It was a little hard for her to hide that rock. It’s so big it could cause a total eclipse of the sun.” Marissa grinned at her friend.
“To me, it was the look on her face the moment she walked through the café door that gave her away,” Paige said, ever the romantic.
I glanced over at the counter. With Paige and I both sitting at the table, Sophie was left on her own. I didn’t want to miss out on hearing all about Cassie’s engagement, but we’d hit a quieter patch, with only a couple of customers waiting in line. I mouthed, “Are you okay?” and Sophie gave me the thumbs up.
I shot her a quick smile and returned my attention to Cassie. “Tell me everything. I need to live vicariously through you after my dating disasters last night.”
“Well, I went to meet Will at about eight-thirty. I thought we were going out for a late dinner, as we sometimes do. Instead, he took me to the golf driving range we spent a lot of time at last year. You know, when I was trying to dazzle Parker with my nonexistent golfing expertise?”
We all laughed. There was no way Cassie was a born golfer.
“Oh, my gosh!” Paige exclaimed, her hand over her mouth. “The driving range is where you fell in love! Cassie, he is so romantic.”
“I know,” Cassie replied with a grin. “So, we got into the driving range and he purchased a tub of balls as usual. Then we went to our cubicle. I kept shooting him looks, because he was acting kinda weird, you know? But I figured he’s pretty sports mad, so I just went with it.”
“And?” Marissa was the least patient of all of us. “How did he do it?”
“Well, we each hit a few balls—or, he hit some, I missed most of mine,” she added self-deprecatingly. “Then he asked me to get a pink ball out of the tub. It was the only pink one, and I hadn’t noticed it before. I picked it up and spotted something strange about it, but I put it on the tee, all the same.”
“The ring was in it?” Paige’s voice was excited.
“Don’t tell me you took a swing at it!” My eyes wide.
“Even if I had, I probably wouldn’t have managed to hit it, anyway,” Cassie replied with a laugh.
“True.”
“And then, he asked me to open the ball. Of course, I looked at him like he was insane, but when I felt it, I could tell it wasn’t a real ball. I flipped it open and saw this ring, sitting inside as though in a ring box.” She held it up for us to admire once more.
“And Will was just standing there next to you?” Paige asked, riveted.
Cassie shook her head. “No. When I finally dragged my eyes from the ring, he was down on one knee.”
“Oh, my.” I placed my hand on my heart as Paige clapped her hands together again, and Marissa squealed.
Really, we were like a bunch of women in a Jane Austen novel, swooning at a gentleman’s charming marriage proposal.
“What did he say?” Marissa asked. “Word for word.”
“Well, he told me he loved me, that he couldn’t imagine not being with me forever, and that he wanted to grow old with me, surrounded by our children and grandchildren.”
In unison, we all let out an “Aww!”
“And then he took the ring out of the ball case, which he’d bought online somewhere. Apparently, there’s a market for this sort of thing.” She shrugged. “Who knew?”
“Then he slipped it on your finger, you said yes, and you had the most magical kiss of your life,” Paige said.
“Yes, actually. That’s exactly how it went.”
I’d been holding my memories back, not allowing myself to think of my own proposal. But they pushed through, my mind darting to the moment Dan had presented me with a ring, when he’d uttered those four wonderful words I wanted to hear from him. Will you marry me?
We were on a weekend away in the Hawke’s Bay region, the picturesque “fruit bowl of New Zealand.” Although I wasn’t much of a cyclist, we’d hired a couple of bikes and cycled along a path by the stunning Tuki Tuki River, past vineyards and orchards, out to a golden sand beach. On a picnic blanket in the shade of a beautiful, old pohutukawa tree, he pulled a small box out of his backpack, and presented me with the most exquisite ring I’d seen in my life. Ornate, old fashioned, perfect.
It was a precious memory—one I kept tucked away, safely inside. One I chose not to visit too often.
“I know it’s only just happened, but you girls know you’re going to be my bridesmaids, right?” Cassie said.
There were excited exclamations from the others at the table. I had to shake myself out of my memory and paste on a smile. “I would love to be a bridesmaid, thank you.”
“Best. Bridesmaids. Ever,” Cassie declared. “And there won’t be any horrendous meringues or ugly bridesmaid dresses in sight. You will all look beautiful, I promise.”
As the others talked about what sort of wedding Cassie wanted, I noticed the line of customers growing. I seized the chance to leave, so excused myself to go help Sophie.
Once I’d served up a slice of flourless chocolate and raspberry cake to the last in the line of customers, I opened the cabinet to rearrange what was left of our sweet treats and work out what we needed to replace before the lunchtime rush.
I let out a long sigh. I was happy for Cassie and Will. They were so good together, so right. Only . . . well, their happiness simply served to amplify my own loneliness—and the fact I once had what they have now.
My chest ached as I tried not to think about Dan.
After I’d said “yes” that day, we sat together on the picnic blanket, me leaning against him, both of us looking out to sea. We listened to the waves lapping at the shore, hearing the occasional squawk from a seagull overhead. We didn’t need to rush to tell anyone we were engaged, we just wanted to be . Him and me, together, basking in our love, happy.
When I lost him, I lost that deep sense of contentedness I’d had, that feeling I belonged to someone. And he belonged to me.
More than anything, I wanted to have that feeling once more.
But now I was faced with the abject failure of the speed dating excursion Marissa was so certain would work for me. I was back to the drawing board.
It was just me and my memories of what I used to have.
“Hey there, speed dater,” a masculine voice said, muffled by the fact my head was deep inside the cabinet.
I jerked up to see who it was and banged the top of my head on the edge of the cabinet. I let out a yelp as I pulled my head out, rubbing where it had made contact.
“Ow, that had to hurt.”
I smiled, my face warming up as my tummy fluttered at the sight of the man on the other side of the counter.
Ryan.
Still looking like Thor.
Oh, my.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I managed through my embarrassment.
“You really need to look out for those cabinets, you know. It’s widely known they want to bring down the human race and make us all into their slaves.”
I let out a laugh as I looked up into his warm hazel eyes. He was even more gorgeous today, his beard freshly clipped, his pale blue shirt setting off his dirty blond hair. “What . . . what can I get you?”
Say me, say me, say me.
“A double shot latte, thanks.” He flashed his heart-stopping grin.
Darn it.
“Anything to go with that? We have a lot of different cakes.”
He eyed the cabinet food, then shot me his grin once more. “I’ll take a slice of that gourmet pizza there, thanks.”
“No cake? Let me guess, you don’t have a sweet tooth.” I wanted to keep him talking, even if it was just about cake.
“Would you believe me if I said I was sweet enough?”
Sweet? Maybe. Hot? Definitely.
“That sounds a lot like one of those lines you mentioned last night.”
“I’ve got more where that one came from.” His smile reached his eyes, his features softened.
The effect was . . . well, I was forced to clear my throat. “Do you . . . ah, want that warmed up?”
“Sure.”
I passed the coffee order on to Sophie, who was gazing at Ryan from behind the counter. “One double shot latte coming up,” she said, her face flushing.
Geez. Between our matching blushes, we could probably heat the coffee with our cheeks.
He smiled at her but returned his gaze to me. “So, the speed dating was a bust?”
“Yeah. I think I’ll just forget the whole thing.”
“What? ‘Give up on love?’” He used air quotes to emphasize his sarcasm.
I laughed. “Well, give up on speed dating, anyhow. Love? I’m still a believer.”
He placed his elbow on the counter and leaned in toward me. His face a mere two feet from mine. My heart rate kicked up a notch or ten.
“Love sucks, and the sooner you learn that, the better off you will be. Take it from someone who knows.”
I creased my brow, taken aback by his bitterness. “Oh. Right.” I didn’t know quite what to say. I mean, how did you respond to that ?
Marissa materialized at his side, shooting me an enquiring look. I cast my eyes down, smoothing my apron over my full skirt. I took the opportunity to place the pizza slice on a plate and put it in the microwave to warm it up.
“Hey, brother. What are you doing here?” Marissa gave Ryan a quick hug.
“I was in the neighborhood and needed my caffeine fix. Don’t worry, I know this is your girls’ hang out. I’ll get it to go.” He turned to me and added, “If that’s all right?”
“Sure,” I replied, still reeling. The microwave beeped behind me, and I turned to bag up the pizza.
Sophie put the lid on his cup of coffee and handed it to him, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Give it up, Sophie. He’s anti-love.
I handed him his snack. “Here you are.”
He took the paper bag and looked into my eyes once more. “Thanks, Bailey.” He hesitated, his eyes on mine. “I’ll, ah, see you ’round.”
“Sure.”
There was something in his gaze I couldn’t read.
“Are you heading back to your office?” Marissa asked him, and he nodded. “I’ll walk with you. Just give me a sec, okay?”
Ryan walked toward the door. I smiled at Marissa and turned to go back into the kitchen. I had cakes to restock, not hot men to feel conflicted over.
“Bailey?”
I turned back. “What’s up?”
Marissa looked down at her hands and then back up at me. “I’m sorry about my brother.”
“Don’t be. He’s fine,” I lied.
“He’s a work-in-progress.”
“You mean the break-up?”
She nodded. “I think he’s still messed up about women. She did a real number on him.”
My heart softened. “Poor guy. It can be hard to get over someone.”
She knitted her brows together. “Yeah.”
The elephant in the room did a tap dance.
She paused, and then added in a brighter tone, “That’s all I wanted to say. He can be a bit of a grump, thanks to Amelia breaking his heart like that.”
Amelia. Hmmm . She had a lot to answer for.
“Don’t worry about it.” I shot her a smile and she appeared to be satisfied. “Do you spend a lot of your time apologizing for your brother?”
She shrugged. “I guess. Not as much as when she dumped him. He barely got off my sofa. But, hey, we’ve got much better things to focus on. Like being bridesmaids, right?”
My heart warmed at the thought. “Exactly.”
“Look, Ryan’s waiting for me, so I’d better go.”
I looked out through the window and spotted Ryan’s broad back, his face in profile as he looked up the street, take-out coffee and bag in hand. He’d put his sunglasses on in the bright morning sun. “’Kay. See you soon.”
Marissa left the café, walking down the street with Ryan, and out of view.
After all this time alone, not wanting to even look at another guy, why did I have to go get feelings for someone who was more bitter than squeezed lemon?
And not only that, someone who showed zero interest in taking things any further with me than just flirting—as nice as it was?
I let out a puff of air. I was beginning to think it would be a million times easier just to stay single and forget this whole Last First Date thing.