Chapter Twelve
Cammie
Mel came in again the next morning, and you'd think I'd be used to seeing her again by now, but my heart raced like I'd had a few shots of espresso.
"Hey Cam," she called out with a grin that bordered on smirk territory and stole any coherent thoughts I might have been having. Her sunglasses covered her eyes too well, so I had no idea where she was looking, which did nothing to help my nerves.
"Hey Mel! What can I get you this morning?" I asked, my voice coming out higher and faster than usual.
"Yesterday's special was great, if you don't mind."
I definitely didn't mind and quickly turned around, busying myself with prepping the drinks. "How was your night?" I asked over my shoulder.
"Good, quiet, but I'm guessing tonight will probably be more interesting."
I deflated a little since I'd been attempting to work my way around to asking her to help me out tonight. I hated having to accept help and hated that Dorrie and Mattie knew I needed it, but I couldn't turn down the free help.
I was running myself ragged trying to keep this place afloat.
I needed help with some of the baking prep and, if Mel were a miracle worker, maybe a new marketing plan, or a marketing plan at all, since right now I was so bogged down in the day-to-day details of keeping the bakery open that I didn't have much time to focus on spreading the word and increasing business.
That was supposed to have been one of Justin's jobs.
I took a calming breath as my hands ran through the steps to make the drinks on autopilot. I forced the negative thoughts out of my mind and pushed some false cheer into my voice as I asked, "Are you doing anything fun tonight?"
She paused and, after a moment, asked, "Wasn’t I coming over tonight?"
Thank goodness.
"Yes, sorry, that'd be great!" I said quickly. "Just didn't know what day we'd landed on and if Dorrie could spare you."
"Spare me? She's been trying to push me into your arms since I got here."
"My arms?" I asked, sure I wasn't hearing her right, but already turning red at the thought.
She chuckled, "Sorry, dumb expression, but yeah, she's been pushing me to come help you since I got here. If I didn't know better, I'd think she didn't really need someone to watch her bees."
It was a nice reminder that Dorrie had asked Mel to town for a reason. Dorrie needed a break, too. "It's really nice of her to pimp out your help, but if she needs you to help with the bees, I can manage on my own."
At least, I had been for the last few months, but if I was being honest, I could feel myself rapidly approaching my breaking point. Hell, Busy Bee's itself was rapidly approaching its breaking point, too. At the rate things were going, I was going to have to shut the doors soon if nothing changed.
"She will literally throw me out on my ass tonight if I don't come help you." I was worried for half a second, but she quickly added, "Not that I mind at all. I'm happy to help."
Of course she was. She loved Mattie and knew how much he worried about me, so of course she wanted to help, for him, not for me.
"Thanks, I really appreciate the help, even if Dorrie and Mattie will both tell you I never would have asked and am only accepting it under duress. But we both know Mattie wouldn't have gone back to the city if he was still worried about me."
"Mattie will probably never stop being worried about you. He loves you so much. Of course he worries. I wish I still had a brother like that in my corner."
I fumbled the tea strainer I was holding when she said that.
I couldn't believe I'd been thoughtless enough to talk about my family when hers weren't around anymore.
She'd been the only survivor in the car crash that had taken both her parents and her brother when she was fifteen.
It's why she had moved to Pine Grove to finish high school.
I stopped what I was doing, turned around, and slipped out from behind the counter to get to her.
I put out my arms, offering, and was surprised when she let herself be folded into my arms in a hug.
"I'm so sorry," I said quietly, holding her close.
"You know you have Mattie and Dorrie. I know it's not the same, but you have them.
" I couldn't even begin to imagine how she must feel without her parents or brother in the world anymore.
It made me feel lonely enough that my parents lived in Florida now, but at least they were always just a phone call away, or a plane ride if things were really bad.
"And if you ever need anyone else," I added impulsively, "I'm here too. "
"Thank you," she said softly. "I appreciate that." A moment later, she started to pull away, and I quickly let go of her.
"I'm sorry if that was too much-"
She thankfully cut me off and said, "No, that's okay. I needed that."
I smiled to myself as I ducked back behind the counter and finished up her and Dorrie's drinks.
When I had them done and Dorrie’s favorite pastries packed up for them, Mel asked, "So what's the plan for tonight?"
"Well, if you want to come late afternoon, whenever you can get away, getting some prep work done for the weekend after close would really help."
"I'll be here, whatever you need. I don't have much baking experience, but I'm good with my hands."
Without being able to see her eyes, I couldn't tell if that was a hint of a smirk on her lips. I felt my cheeks heat up more and turned around and grabbed a kitchen towel. I started fanning myself with it as I turned back around. "Sorry, with the ovens it gets a bit hot back here."
It was true, but definitely not the reason my face was almost as red as my hair, but if she knew what thoughts her being good with her hands put in my head, she wasn't saying.
"I'll make sure not to wear too much."
Oh my gosh, this girl was trying to kill me. She had to know what she was doing to me. Was she messing with me? Mattie had sworn up and down on our sibling bond that he never had and never would tell her about my crush on her, but she was definitely acting like she knew.
"Smart," I forced out, "wouldn't want to overheat."
"Definitely not," she said with a smile as she took the drinks and pastries.
I was so flustered that it wasn't until the next customer came in that I noticed Mel had managed to sneak a twenty onto the counter for me.