Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
RACHEL
“ W here’s Sydney?”
I glance up from the cake I’m working on to find Jae sauntering into the bakery’s workroom, an iced coffee in her hand. I might as well give her keys to the building at this point.
“It’s her day off.” I go back to decorating my cake. “Shouldn’t you be working, too?” It’s the middle of the day on a Wednesday.
“I’m taking a long lunch.”
Damn. I wish I got to work remotely.
“I needed to get out of the house. I’m going stir crazy now that I don’t have my bestie to hang out with anymore.” She pouts her lip dramatically, acting mock affronted. “Since she’s so busy with her man.”
I bite my lip to hide my smile. It had been bad luck that the two times she’d asked to get together this week, I’d already made plans with Nick. “Why don’t we do something Friday night?”
She eyes me, taking a long sip of her drink. “Nick works that day, doesn’t he?”
I already put Nick’s schedule into my phone’s calendar, because trying to figure out his twenty-four-hour on, forty-eight-hour off schedule in my head was too confusing. I don’t know how he does it.
My smile breaks free. “Maybe.”
She laughs, and I’m glad she’s not actually mad.
“Yes, I haven’t been as available this week as I usually am,” I concede, “but in my defense, you got used to having full access to me.” That’s what happens when you have no social life.
“I did, didn’t I?”
I point my spatula at her. “And you brought this on yourself pushing me and Nick together in the first place.”
She grins behind her coffee cup. “Yeah, I did that, too. So it’s going good, then?”
I bite my lip again. “It is.”
That’s an understatement. Though I’ve only seen him twice since our makeup date at his house, they were both great nights.
“He’s taken you on more dates?”
I already told her about the disaster at the bistro and how nice dinner at his house was to make up for it. Well, to be honest, the food wasn’t the best, but the company and conversation made it worth it.
“We went to the bar they just renovated Friday night and I made us dinner at my place on Monday.”
“And how is… you know.” She sets down her coffee cup and widens her hands.
It takes me a moment to catch on, realizing she’s referencing when she asked on my porch how big his dick is for the camera. “Jae.” The blush comes all too easily to my face.
Her laugh this time is wicked. “That good, huh?”
I concentrate on the cake rather than look at her. “We haven’t done anything.”
The furthest we’ve gone is that day I straddled him on the couch before telling him I couldn’t do any more.
She huffs a sound of disbelief. “Why not?”
I press my lips tightly together so I don’t laugh. She acts like she’s been wronged by me and Nick keeping things chaste.
“Seriously,” she insists. “What’s the hold up? You two have been dancing around each other for, what?” She tallies something up on her fingers. “It’s been over six weeks.”
Okay, when she puts it like that, it sounds different. “Five of those weeks we were friends. Not even friends. Acquaintances.”
She rolls her eyes, lips quirked. “That man has never been your acquaintance. Not with the way he was looking at you since day one.”
My blush returns, but I don’t comment on it. “Well, he hasn’t tried anything this week. Only kisses hello and goodbye.” I shift on my stool, getting antsy. “I told him I wanted to take things slow.”
And Nick has respected that. Maybe a little too much, if I’m being honest with myself. I wouldn’t mind progressing things further.
“Oh, okay.” She appears perplexed, as if the idea of going slow is unfathomable to her. “As long as you’re happy.”
“I am.”
She grins. “Do you think there’s a market in this town for a matchmaking business? You’ll be my first testimonial.”
I tap my lip, as if I’m thinking. “Jae Choi consistently ignores personal boundaries to achieve the results you didn’t ask for.”
She points a finger at me. “Okay, but you liked the end results. So no complaining about how we got there.”
I shake my head. I swear she’ll never learn.
“Oh, I saw that article about Nick in the paper,” she says, sipping her coffee again. “Scary stuff.”
I push away from the cake. I’m never going to get it finished while Jae keeps distracting me. “What article?”
“About the fire last week out at the dairy farm.”
My brow furrows. Was that the night he had to leave our date? “What was in it? I don’t normally read the paper.”
She pulls out her phone, thumbs tapping away. “They have a good crossword I like to do. Way easier than the New York Times . Here.”
She hands me her phone, the bolded headline on the screen making me grip the phone harder.
Firefighters battle late night blaze at Mill Brook Dairy. Multiple structures lost. No serious injuries reported.
My stomach tightens at the image below of a charred barn, smoke curling into the sky.
“How bad was it?” I ask, scanning the article. He was called in on his day off, so it must have been serious, but he’d never mentioned it again.
“Bad enough that they had to get backup from Kaysville. And get this—Nick was one of the guys inside the barn making sure no animals were trapped when the roof collapsed.”
“What?” I screech, my eyes frantically searching through the lines on the screen, but it’s a blur. Do I expect the words to change what Jae said, though? “Are you sure?”
“I’m just repeating what the article said. I assume it’s true if they reported it.”
I set her phone down, not wanting to read anymore. My stomach’s unsettled, my heartbeat loud in my ears. Nick could have been trapped in there. Could have been hurt. Could have died .
I press my hand to my chest, willing my heart to slow.
It’s the same as when that boy mentioned Nick pulling a man out of a burning car. How often does he do things like this?
“Rachel.” She moves to my side, rubbing a hand on my back. “Are you okay?”
I nod, even though I’m not. Worry sits heavy in my chest, coiling and knotting into something I’m not sure I’ll be able to untangle. Of course I know being a firefighter is dangerous. But reading about it, seeing the proof there in print is different.
“It’s okay to worry about him,” Jae says quietly. “To care.”
“I know, I—” I exhale roughly. “Nick rescues dogs stuck in fences and helps people with their smoke detectors and stuff. He’s not supposed to have burning roofs collapse on him.”
My own brief experience as a teenager dealing with our bakery fire had been terrifying. I can’t imagine willingly putting myself in those situations.
“Well, apparently he does. I guess I never thought about it either.” She pauses. “Whew, I’m glad Josh is a software developer.”
Okay, not helping.
I hand her back her phone. “Can you email that to me?” I’ll read it when my heart isn’t beating so fast.
Hailey peeks her head through the double doors. “Can I get Mr. Franklin’s order?”
I nod, glad for the distraction as I retrieve the box of custom cupcakes from the walk-in.
I can’t change Nick’s job, but how am I supposed to cope with this worry that’s rooted itself so firmly inside me now?
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
I look over at Nick, who catches my eye briefly, grinning, before looking back at the road. All he asked before taking me out tonight was if I could stay out later than usual, since tomorrow is my day off.
“You don’t like surprises?”
My lips twist. “I don’t not like them… as long as I know what they are.”
He laughs. “Is that the first-born child in you? Used to being in control of everything?”
Hmm. I’ve never thought about it like that before. “Well, you’re an only. That has to be even worse.”
“Nah, being an only is different. If you want to make friends, you quickly learn you need to go along with what they want. At least, that’s what it was like for me when I met Tanner and his brothers.”
“Is Tanner a control freak?” I didn’t get that vibe when I ate chili and cornbread the other week with him and Nick.
“No, but if I went over to his house, his older brothers ran the show.”
I nod. “I admit I’m used to being in charge when it comes to my sisters.” It’s just the dynamic we’ve always had. “But not with others. Especially Jae.”
Or Kyle. Or my parents.
His lips curl upward. “Yeah, she seems bossy. No offense.”
“No, you’re right. She means well, though.” My fingers fidget, sliding over the seatbelt strap. “I’ve actually been thinking lately about the amount of control I have in my life,” I say, more as a stream of consciousness thing than anything else. “With the bakery especially.”
Nick’s gaze stays on the road, but his eyes widen a fraction, lips parting. “Oh? Is something wrong?”
I shrug, not sure why I even said that. “I don’t know. Not wrong, just…” Where am I going with this?
He reaches over and takes my hand. “Tell me about it.”
I focus on the way his rough thumb brushes over my knuckles. “I didn’t mean to bring anything up.”
“Yeah, but if it’s something that’s on your mind, I want to hear about it.”
Warmth spreads through my chest. I love that he listens to me. That he’s interested in what I have to say. “I… Well, I told you a bit already about how my parents aren’t running the bakery the best. What I think is the best, at least. They’re very stuck in their ways.”
He nods encouragingly for me to go on. Well, I guess it can’t hurt.
“I moved back here a couple of years ago to take on some responsibilities at the bakery they were having trouble with. Things like taxes and inventory and payroll. Basically, anything involving numbers. They only wanted to bake—which I get. That’s the fun part.
But they also didn’t want to give up control about major decisions.
But if they want me to deal with all the business side of things, I should get an equal say in potential changes.
Like hiring and advertising and expansion. ”
“You’re thinking of expanding?”
“Not physically. But our menu. Items that are complementary, like a coffee bar or simple to-go sandwiches.” They’d vetoed the idea when I brought it up a while ago, but I still haven’t given up hope.
“That seems reasonable.”
“Thank you,” I say, glad to have someone agree with me when all Mom and Dad said is it would be too much trouble.
“I finally convinced them to let me hire someone on the weekends to man the counter so we can get caught up on orders in the back. They thought things would be the same with three people working compared to five.”
“Six days a week is a lot.”
“Right. And they’re usually ten-hour days.”
“Are you getting paid more for the extra hours?”
I nod. “That was non-negotiable when they said they were going on this world cruise, though they didn’t like it.
Anyway, I’m looking at the numbers and we can afford to hire another full-time baker.
I brought it up to Sydney and she seemed on board.
” Although I didn’t mention Mom and Dad likely wouldn’t be. “It would help us out so much.”
“But your parents won’t like it.”
I nod again. “But the longer they’re gone, I’m tempted to say screw it and do what I want anyway.” I already did it by putting that ad in the paper. Sydney and Hailey must not have said anything to them about it because I haven’t received any angry calls.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Nick asks. “They’re not even here.”
I blink, suddenly realizing I’ve been complaining about trivial squabbles with my parents, when he’s lost both of his. Way to be insensitive, Rachel.
“Don’t get me wrong, they’re good people,” I say.
“Just not the best business owners. But you’re right.
They’re not here. Not the ones working sixty-hour weeks.
” I chew on my lower lip for a moment. “I’m technically not an owner, but I am in charge of the finances…
God, I sound like I’m trying to convince myself. ”
He squeezes my hand. “You just don’t want anyone to end up upset.
” He’s right. That’s what’s been holding me back about this idea, even if it would give me, Sydney, and Hailey more breathing room.
“And you’re having to take responsibility for a problem that shouldn’t have been yours to fix.
But if something has to give, you do what you have to do. You can’t make everyone happy.”
I let out a slow breath, his words settling over me like a warm blanket. Permission to do what should have been done months ago when Mom and Dad announced they were taking a six-month hiatus. “You’re right.”
He grins. “I usually am.”
I chuckle, shaking my head at his teasing. “I’ll talk to Hailey about it, too, but yeah. I think I’ll hire another baker to help us out.”
“Glad I could help.”
He did. And it was surprisingly easy to use him as a sounding board. How many other problems could I solve by talking to him about them?
“Thank you for listening.” Others might have brushed it off as inconsequential or simply told me not to stress. But not Nick.
“Of course.”
He puts the truck in park and I glance around, unable to believe I completely missed the ride to… wherever we are.
The headlights cast a glow over the open stretch of land before us, until Nick shuts the truck off, plunging us into velvety darkness.
He gets out and rounds the truck to open my door, letting in the earthy scent of grass and damp soil.
I follow him, turning in a slow circle to take in the quiet expanse around us.
The town’s lights flicker in the distance, and above, the sky spans endlessly, a deep indigo canvas scattered with starlight.
“Wow,” I murmur. What in the world are we doing tonight?