Chapter 7 Cutthroat Mabel #3
“Right,” I say, since I’ve known she’s been looking for a place in the city for a while.
As he unwraps the chunk of monkey bread, Theo turns to her. “And Mabel, did you know my man Corbin also wants to open a bakery?”
She whips her gaze to me. “You do?”
It’s not a state secret or anything. Jason, my agent, certainly knows. My buddies Rowan and Tyler on the Sea Dogs, and Riggs and Miller on the Foxes do too. And obviously, Theo’s heard about it. But I don’t go around advertising it to the world. It’s personal.
It was Mom’s dream to open a bakery. We even planned it together, plotting which of her recipes we’d use.
Dreaming up the desserts we’d make together and offer each day of the week, from lemon shortbread to chocolate cupcakes, from seven-layer bars to mini key-lime pies.
She went so far as to take me around to visit spaces to lease.
But then, one weekend, she held out her shaking hand and said quietly, “I think it’s too late. ”
The tremors won. Soon, she stopped baking entirely.
I bat away the tough memories, focusing on Theo. “When I retire,” I correct him. “It’s my retirement plan.”
Shrugging like that detail’s unimportant, Theo plucks off a chunk of the sticky-sweet treat. “Plans change. Mabel found out today that she was left this firehouse by our grandma.”
“That’s…huge,” I say. That is an understatement. Bits of the conversation start to line up. “And you’re going to turn it into a bakery?”
She grins, the kind of smile that acknowledges the idea’s a little out there.
“I didn’t ever plan on opening a bakery here.
I don’t know if you recall, but after the incident”—she stops to sketch air quotes—“the town’s online gossip column titled their article Old McMabel and the Four Animals of the Firehouse Apocalypse.
Their most popular piece ever. Which was ridiculous since the math was wrong. There were six animals that day.”
That day I met the gorgeous, spunky spitfire in this firehouse and offered to help her clean up the mess of syrup, pancakes, and bacon caused by the farm animals she’d been overseeing as a sanctuary volunteer.
While we corralled and cleaned, I plotted how to ask her out.
Then I learned she was Theo’s sister, home from college, and I shelved the plans for a date.
“For what it’s worth, I didn’t know about the headline,” I say, in case that eases the sting.
“Thanks. But everyone else did. I haven’t really wanted to set up roots here, or a business.
I still don’t, but this is my best shot at a shopfront.
Honestly, my only shot. It could be a stepping stone.
It has a kitchen with two industrial-size ovens, so I can use those, for sure.
We even tested them out, and they work. But the space needs some pretty serious work. ”
“Well, it is a firehouse, not a bakery.”
“I know, but the prior owners did some work on it, so it’s not like it needs a complete reno,” she says, then offers a small smile. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“And they involve brilliant brothers,” Theo adds, as he finishes another bite of the bread. “When she got the deed, she asked me if I had any ideas for how she could cover the cash for the extensive updates. Since I am the king of dealmakers, I told her to meet me here. Then I called you.”
“I had some savings,” Mabel points out, with that slight defensiveness I saw yesterday.
Or, maybe it’s pride? “But it’s all gone into marketing my bakery in the city.
It’s so competitive there, though, with so many storefronts and ghost kitchens and pop-ups to contend with.
I’ve been trying to get a loan to open a bakery there, but I’ve had no luck.
And the kitchen I rented is going keto. Now I finally have a space, and that solves one problem, but the upgrades are a whole other issue. ”
She sounds hopeful and sad at the same time. Makes sense when she keeps getting close but never close enough. My heart hurts for her.
“She won’t take money from me,” Theo says.
“You have law school loans. Plus, Mom and Dad would never let me hear the end of it. The golden child had to bail you out. Maybe try a real career like law.”
“They wouldn’t have to know,” Theo says.
“They’d find out. It’s what Mom does,” Mabel says. I feel like a bystander to a private family convo. “But I need an investor if I’m ever going to be able to do this. I need…” She stops and takes a big breath. “Capital.”
Theo’s shit-eating grin grows as he turns my way, and I’m no longer a bystander. I’m the main party. I figure what is coming next, right before he says, “That’s you, man. That is fucking you. You love to bake too, and you want to open a bakery.”
But that is the someday plan. “I can’t open a bakery now, Theo. I’m busy. I have a kid. A J-O-B. You might recall it’s with the Golden State Foxes, the team you manage. I don’t have time to run a bakery now.”
Theo’s entirely unfazed by my argument. “Which is why Mabel’s offer is perfect for you.
” He turns to his sister. “She has experience running a bakery. She has the time to run it. She even has, of all things, a firehouse with a kitchen.” He swings his gaze to me.
“And you, man? You have the desire and the cash.”
This is all happening real fast, and I’m not so sure I’m the logical conclusion to Theo’s arguments. After all, Mabel is a property owner now. I point to the structure she just inherited. “But if she has an asset, won’t that make getting a loan easier?”
Theo lifts a finger as if to say, Good point. “Sure, that’s an option.”
“And I can definitely do that,” Mabel says with a wince. “But I do have my regular orders to fulfill. Like this huge wedding cookie order. If I wait around for bank financing, which can take forever, I’ll be losing potential money.”
Ah, so she needs a friend with cash sitting around. “So I’m the money?” I ask, feeling a little like the dude everyone comes to in a heist flick to back a crazy plan.
“Yeah,” Theo says evenly, making it clear being the money isn’t a bad thing.
“But you also have a dream. A similar one.” He flashes his Have we got a deal?
smile. “Experience plus money. Plus, let’s not forget the raspberry lemon ricotta cupcakes you two concocted for my B-day.
They were—” He makes a chef’s kiss gesture.
“Seems to me like you two would make a good team.”
As he pops one more piece of monkey bread into his mouth, Theo lets that word hang importantly in the air between us. Team. He makes some good arguments. But still…now? Today? I blow out a breath, shoving my hand through my messy hair. “This is a lot.”
“I get it. You’re worried Mabel won’t think you’re as good as she is in the kitchen,” Theo says, stirring the fucking pot.
I pull a face. “Not my worry.”
“But just to assuage those concerns,” he says, closing the distance to Mabel and holding the tinfoil with a small bite left in it, “here you go.”
She plucks it out with polished nails, gives it an inquisitive look, then brings it to her nose and sniffs. I go both tense and hopeful all at once. Sure, we’ve baked together before, but there’s always that held-breath moment when someone tries your cooking for the first time.
She pops the piece between her lips and chews thoughtfully. I watch her like I’m a plaintiff waiting for a verdict to be read in court. She hums, then says, “Ten out of ten.”
I scoff. She’s just buttering me up. “Right.”
“Seriously. It’s really good, Corbin.” She holds my gaze, making it clear she means it. “So good, I’m a little annoyed all I got was one tiny little bite.”
Theo holds his hands out wide like he’s saying, Problem solved. He turns to me. “There. You passed the taste test. Now, is it a yes?”
“Take your time,” Mabel says, her voice kind as she gives me an out. “I’ve been ready to open a bakery for what feels like forever, but it might not be right for you right now.”
That’s awfully thoughtful of her.
But is this idea hers or Theo’s? She seemed just as surprised as I was by Theo’s go-into-business suggestion, but she warmed to it in no time.
I try to read her, to figure her out. Her eyes are rimmed with anticipation.
Her hands are clasped. She nibbles on the corner of her lips for a second. This is what she wants.
“I don’t know,” I say, but it’s not a no, like it was a minute ago. Damn, Theo and his arguments.
He strides over to me, claps my back. “I know you’re busy with hockey and raising a kid.
But you can pitch in when you’re free. And listen, I get it, man.
This feels like I sprang it on you, but sometimes life happens that way.
If it’s not you, it’ll be someone else, and then when you’re ready to open a bakery here in a few years, you’ll be facing stiff competition. ”
Are you kidding? He played the competition card? But of course he did. He negotiates like he breathes.
“Heard,” I acknowledge, but that’s all. I’ve been pivoting a lot in the last few years, in big ways and small ones. I’m not sure I’m ready to pivot again.
Mabel offers a warm smile. “I didn’t know I had inherited a firehouse with a kitchen until thirty minutes ago,” she says.
I don’t know if that’s meant to reassure me or show me that I should just jump too.
“And, like I said, I didn’t exactly plan on coming back to Cozy Valley after the way I took off.
I mean, I’m not even sure they have pickleball courts here. ”
I huff out a laugh. “We have pickleball courts here. And Wi-Fi.”
Theo glances at his Rolex. “I’ve got a meeting with an agent. I’ll leave you two to work out the details, and I look forward to hearing about the new Cozy Valley bakery later.”
He takes a few steps toward his shiny electric sports car, then stops and turns, lasering me with his sharp stare. “And listen, this is a great opportunity. You should take it. You really should. But whatever you do—do not hurt my sister.”
I jerk my head back. “Dude,” I say, meaning, Of course I won’t hurt her.
But I’m pretty sure he also means, Do not touch her.
And I won’t. In my head, I add, Ever again. Out loud, I say, “I would never do that.”
“Good,” he says.
Mabel sighs, but it’s full of affection for her older sibling. “Theo, I can take care of myself.”
“True, but I will take care of anyone who hurts you.”
He strides off with the confidence of a man who got what he wanted, leaving me to stare stupidly at his sister as I try to figure out if I should seriously go into business with a woman who, seven years ago, I wanted to date, and yesterday kissed madly.
And in the years between, I never really fell hard for anyone else.
Only, her smile vanishes, and she stares at me now with worry in her eyes.
“Corbin, your arm is bleeding.”