Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
VIOLET
I’ve been baking and doing laundry all day, and then I cooked dinner. The moment I sit down, I sigh in relief at finally getting a break.
Ashley told me she washes all her bedding and a pair of pajamas so she gets in bed with fresh-smelling bedding. It helped her with her sleep, so I want to try it. I haven’t had many problems with sleep ever since Ez moved in, but I still want to see if it relaxes me more.
I sip homemade tomato soup. The warm sweetness coats my tongue, reminding me of my childhood when my mom used to make grilled cheese and tomato soup.
The sound of the front door opens, and for once I’m not consumed by dread because I know it’s Ezra and no one else. We’re the only two with these new house keys. Thank God.
“Hey,” he says, entering the kitchen.
My eyes trail over him. I notice the way his shirt clings to him, streaked with oil and sweat, and how his muscles flex with every movement.
There’s something undeniably attractive about his roughness—the kind of man who looks tough on the outside but is sweet on the inside.
Butterflies take over my stomach as I reply, “Hey. How was work?”
“Work…work was good.”
My brows pull together at the way he answers like he’s hiding something.
He takes a big inhale. “Something smells good.”
“It’s homemade tomato soup.”
His eyes grow wide in excitement, eyeing my plate. “And grilled cheese.”
I nod.
“Holy shit, that’s the best meal ever,” he says, walking to the stove and inhaling the scent. My eyes follow him. He halts his steps and turns back around. “Wait…can I have some?”
“Of course. I made it for the both of us.”
His grin turns wide. “I’m going to go hurry and shower. I’ll be right back.”
He’s out of my sight in a flash. I giggle to myself as I get up and make him a grilled cheese. At least someone is thankful for my dinners. A lot of the times Zayn bitched about it.
“You didn’t have to stop eating to make me a grilled cheese,” Ez says as he walks back into the kitchen. His hair is still wet from the shower.
“That was fast.”
“I’m starving, and this smells and looks really good.”
His earthy scent floods my senses.
After preparing him a bowl of tomato soup, we both sit down and dig in.
He moans the second the spoon hits his mouth. “Oh, this is good. Why have I never had your tomato soup before?”
I shrug my shoulders, taking a sip of my soup. “I don’t know.”
“So I have something I want to tell you.”
My brows rise in concern. “Oh no. What?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing bad. I went to ask the bank what I would need in order to get that bakery you were talking about.”
My mouth parts. “What!”
He shifts his weight as he takes a bite of his grilled cheese. “If you’re still interested in it?” he asks, mouth half full as if this is a normal conversation to have.
“Wait. What? Why?”
“Because I know how worried you are about Zayn trying to take it away from you. If it’s under my name, he can’t.”
My lips press together trying to see if he’s serious or not. “What did the bank say?”
“I can use my shop as collateral.” He says it like it’s nothing.
I shake my head. “No. I can’t have you do that.”
“Why?” he asks, brows drawing together as he wipes his mouth with a napkin.
“That’s your shop. That’s something you built. What if something goes wrong?”
“Nothing will go wrong.”
“How do you know that?”
He meets my gaze. “Because I believe in you. And from everything I’ve tasted that you’ve made, I know nothing will go wrong.”
He’s sitting there, eyes steady on me like he means every word. I take a second to process his words. No one has told me they believe in me in a long time. My chest tightens, overwhelmed by him. By the weight of his kindness and the way his generosity catches me off guard.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.” He sets down his spoon. “Nothing is set in stone yet. We still need to check out the place to make sure everything looks good.”
My throat goes tight, and I have to look away for a second before my emotions give me away.
No one’s fought for my dreams before. And before this, I never thought opening a bakery was my dream.
Sure, it crossed my mind, but having him believe in me makes me want it even more.
For the first time in a long time, I feel that I am believed, and it’s enough to make me believe in myself.
“Hi, I’m Carol,” she says, reaching out her hand.
“Hi, I’m Violet,” I respond, shaking her hand. After Ezra’s conversation last night about helping me get this bakery, I called the realtor and was able to schedule something for today to check it out.
I’m excited and nervous all at once, and I know my voice shows it.
It’s the same feeling when I quit my nine-to-five to do baking full-time.
It was the best decision I made, but it was one that was hard to finally make.
I know this is a great business move for me, but once again it’s hard to finally go forward with it.
“Hi, I’m Ezra.” They shake each other’s hands.
Carol turns her attention to the lock; her keys jiggle as she unlocks the door. She steps into the place first, holding the door open for us.
I step inside and take in the whole place.
Now that I’m inside, I notice the dust lying on the counters, and that it’s made the glass on the display cases cloudy.
The chalkboard has white smudges that look like someone left after wiping off the chalk.
The air in here is a little stale, probably from the lack of airflow.
“As you can see, the owner left everything here,” she announces, pointing around the front area where tables and chairs line up against the walls. “If we look in the back…” She takes a few steps to lead us in the back. “She left all the equipment as well.”
I look at all the necessary equipment I would need to run this bakery. “Why did she leave everything?” I ask.
“She wanted to sell everything instead of piece by piece.” She looks down at her paper in her hand. “It’s been on the market for a while. I’m sure I can get you a good deal since she’s eager to sell.”
“Why did she close her bakery down?” Ezra asks as he’s checking out the electrical. It’s good he’s here looking with me. That’s not the stuff I would even think to look at until I need it.
“She moved to another state.”
Ezra asks over his shoulder. “Did she have a lot of traffic come through?”
Carol’s eyes go wide. “Oh yes. She had excellent traffic.”
Before I can say anything, Ezra says, “Everything works—electrical, and gas, all that stuff?”
She nods. “Yes. Everything runs.”
“Would it be possible to have my guy come look at everything?”
“Of course,” she answers with a smile.
Ezra being assertive and taking control does something to me I can’t explain.
I’ve never had this before. It’s turning me on in ways I never expected.
There’s something attractive about the way he throws himself right in, looking at stuff and asking questions.
I’ve never had a man step up before and take the lead.
Sometimes I wished for more of that, and I never got it.
“What do you think?” he turns around and asks, locking his eyesight on me.
I blink back my stare. I was in such a daze staring at him. “Huh?” I ask, catching both of their eyes on me.
“What do you think?” Ezra asks again.
“Umm.” My daze is still taking me over. My tongue is twisted; I can’t even think of what to say. “It’s great.”
“I’ll let you two talk it over while I take this call outside.”
I nod with a smile.
“Hello,” I hear in the distance with the clicking of her heels as she walks out the door.
“So what do you think?” he asks cheerfully.
“I think buying this would be way less stressful since everything is already here.” I walk over to the oven, open it, and look into it as if I’ve never seen an oven before.
“Hey, man.”
My head jerks back as I turn around and see Ezra on the phone.
“I’m good. I wanted to see if you could come inspect a place for me, make sure everything’s running?” He pauses to listen. “Yeah. If you’re free right now, that would be great. I’ll text you the address.” Another pause. “Okay. See you soon.”
I cross my arms, brows knitting together, confused about how he could get someone out to inspect this place so fast.