Chapter 3
Zoe
I had accepted the fact that I would smell like pumpkin for the foreseeable future.
We were barely into September, and the bakery had gone full fall flavors; Cinnamon, apple, and, of course, the infamous pumpkin spice.
While I enjoyed it as much as the next person—especially a pumpkin spice muffin with cream cheese filling—I was always over the hype before the first leaf even fell.
“You know Levi and I have the means to help you,” Jada called out over the thrum of the mixer. It had already spit pumpkin batter at me twice, and I was ready to give it a nice thwack if it tried it again.
My stomach roiled uncomfortably, and I was glad I had my back turned to Jada. This wasn’t the first time she’d offered to help me outright with my debt, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. Just like how she knew I wouldn’t ever take her up on it.
“As always, I appreciate the offer, but no. It wouldn’t fix the problem, because then I’d be owing you money. And while you would be much nicer to me than my debt collector, it’s not something I want between us.”
Jada was the closest friend—read: only friend—I had. Even if the money didn’t cause a rift between us, it would create a power imbalance. Whether it felt that way to Jada or not, it definitely would to me.
Jada heaved out a sigh, accepting defeat. For now, at least.
“I just received a large wedding order for December that you can take over. It’s the weekend before we go to Georgia to visit my family, so it’d honestly be a big relief to have it off my plate.”
I grinned at her. “I’m your girl.”
The front door chimed to signal the arrival of a customer, and Jada glanced toward the door before looking at me with pleading eyes, but I was already on the move.
“I got it.”
“This is why I love you!” she called after me.
While Jada owned the bakery, she would much rather stay behind the scenes baking in the kitchen or doing paperwork in the office. Any customer-facing tasks usually fell to me, which I know was another reason why she was so eager to hand over the wedding order. Did that make me the personality hire?
I pushed the swinging door open.
“Hi! Welcome to—” I froze. “Charlie?”
A pair of dark brown eyes just barely peeked over the display case at me, sparkling with recognition.
“Coach Zo!”
My smile widened as I approached the counter, leaning against the top of the case so she didn’t have to keep standing on her tippy toes.
“You work here?”
“Apparently, I can’t spend all my time at the hockey rink. I have to have a ‘real job,’” I sighed playfully.
Charlie turned to the woman behind her. “Nana, that’s my coach.”
The woman hardly looked old enough to bear the title of ‘Nana’, but there was a strong resemblance between the two. When the woman smiled, her dark eyes squinted in the exact same way Charlie’s did.
“So you’re the coach she’s been talking my ear off about.”
My cheeks flushed a little. “Suppose I am. I have to admit, though, I’ve been singing her praises as well.”
The woman affectionately brushed her hand over the top of Charlie’s head. “We’re quite proud of her.”
“As you should be.”
We’d only had a handful of practices, but it wasn’t hard to see that Charlie was a natural talent and had a genuine love for the sport.
She reminded me of myself when I was younger.
The second I had held a stick in my hand, it was all over.
Hockey would always be my greatest love, even if it was also my greatest heartbreak.
“So what can I help the two of you with?”
“We’re having a girls’ day, and she convinced me to allow her to have dessert for lunch.”
Charlie didn’t even notice the look her nana gave her, too distracted by all the colorful options in the display case.
I nodded solemnly. “I’m a strong believer that desserts should be enjoyed at any time of the day. Not just after dinner.”
I could’ve sworn I saw the corner of Charlie’s lips twitch in a hint of a smirk. Her nana must have caught it, too, because she just let out a sigh that suggested she knew it was a losing battle and she’d give her granddaughter whatever she asked for. I bet Charlie knew it, too.
“But how do I choose just one?” Charlie wondered.
I stepped back from the counter to get a better look at what we had stocked. A majority of the case was filled with cupcakes, each topped with a fondant accent like leaves or pumpkins, and cookies larger than the palm of my hand.
“Well, we do have our sampler packs,” I offered up as a solution. “It’s six mini cupcakes in different flavors. Then you wouldn’t have to decide, and maybe you could even save a few for your parents.”
Her nana’s smile tightened, and I wondered if I’d suggested too much. She was probably just thinking of getting Charlie a cookie, not six cupcakes piled with icing on top.
“I think Daddy deserves a cupcake after work today,” Charlie agreed.
The older woman’s mouth softened as she looked down at Charlie, resting her hand on her shoulder.
“I can agree with you on that.” Her attention returned to me. “We’ll do the sample pack, then. Thank you.”
I sent her a small smile and excused myself to the back to retrieve the cupcakes. Jada was placing the pumpkin bundt cake in the oven and glanced up when I entered the kitchen.
“What’s our stock of mini cupcakes look like?” I asked.
She tipped her head to the industrial fridge in the corner. “I just stocked the bottom shelf this morning with our fall flavors, but there’s still a couple of the summer ones left from last week.”
I was quite partial to the summer flavors myself, so I grabbed a container of each to give Charlie and her nana options. With my hands full, I used my hip to push the kitchen door open.
“Turns out we still have some of our summer cupcakes or there’s our fall flavors.” I explained each flavor in turn.
“Which one is your favorite?” Charlie asked.
“The lemon cupcake is my absolute favorite. The tart lemon with the sweet buttercream icing is”—I pretended to kiss my fingers—“chef’s kiss.”
“Well, I think we have to go with the summer flavors, then. Right, Charlie?” her nana asked, smiling down at her.
“Yes, please,” Charlie said.
I rang them up and made sure to give them my friends-and-family discount. Not that I told them. I had the feeling the older woman would refuse it, and I wouldn’t give her the opportunity. It was their special day after all.