Chapter 8
Luke stretched his neck from side to side as Grace swept Maggie up in her whirlwind. “I don’t think Grace has ever met a stranger.”
Felix chuckled. “Nope. Some things don’t change.” His expression darkened.
“No, they certainly don’t.” Luke eyed his friend. It was obvious to Luke that his childhood friend still pined for Grace. “I didn’t get to catch up with her as much as I’d like. What’s she doing these days?”
Felix took the character sheets from him and placed them into a folder. “She went to culinary school, was away in Philly for several years, then one day she came home and opened Too Sweet.” His eyes gazed into the distance. “She acts the same in some ways, but in others she’s changed.”
“How?”
“Well, the first time she came home for a visit, she had a boyfriend.”
“That’s nothing new.” Grace had always had a string of boyfriends in high school.
“The next time, she had a ring.”
“Oh yeah.” Luke clocked Felix’s scowl from the corner of his eye. “I forgot she got married.”
Felix shook his head. “Divorced. She came home to stay a few years ago and opened the bakery.”
He pushed the chairs in around the special gaming table and helped Felix put the leather cover over top. “I’ll have to check it out. Support the locals, you know.”
“Yeah. I go in there every morning.”
Of course he did.
They strolled up the stairs together, Felix turning the lights off as they entered the main store. “Your mom supports her, too. When she first came home, before she got the storefront, your mom insisted on her supplying the desserts for Busy Bee.”
“Go, Mom.” He’d have to talk to Mom about ordering supplies soon, anyway. That might be something she could do from home, so she didn’t feel so useless.
At the front door of the shop, Luke watched Felix lock the door. “You don’t have any security cameras?”
Felix shrugged. “It’s Hawthorn Hills. Who’s going to break into a book and games store?”
“Sorry. Forgot where I was for a second.”
His old friend patted him on the shoulder. “You’ve been away too long.”
Luke sighed. “Don’t I know it.” Aaron was a man now. Mom was getting older. And his friends had moved on and built their dreams without him. He rubbed at the ache in his chest.
“Well, you’re here now. You should come with me to my parents for dinner sometime, they’d love to see you.”
“Sounds great.” They parted ways, Luke back to his car and Felix to his.
As he drove back to his mom’s house, he wondered what staying would look like. Perhaps if he was staying, Maggie would date him. He scowled to himself as he pulled into the driveway. Was that why she refused his invitation?
No, she had all the telltale symptoms of someone living in fear. But was she frightened of him specifically, or men in general? He’d seen the scum of the Earth while working for the FBI. If there was a God, he didn’t know how they could stand by as humans did such horrible things to each other.
He wiped his feet on the mat and let himself in the door. The television was on, some infomercial playing on low. Mom was asleep on the couch, her foot up in the air.
The notepad on the refrigerator had times listed in both her handwriting and Aaron’s.
She was up to date on her pain meds, and he hated to disturb her sleep.
At least Aaron was doing that much. Luke pulled a blanket from the back of the couch and laid it over her, then turned off the television.
He locked the door and left his shoes on the mat.
Up in his room, Luke stripped down to his boxers, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
The party was laughing around a tavern table, mugs of ale in their hands. Wait a second, where was Maggie?
“Here ya go.” A bowl of stew arrived in front of him. When he looked up, Luke saw Maggie was the tavern wench, her breasts squeezed into a corset so tightly they were overflowing.
“Thank ye, lass.” His gaze roamed over her, and she winked when she clocked his perusal.
The scenery shifted, until they were in his room above the tavern, swallowing her moans as he pressed her against the door and made out.
His thigh pushed between her legs as she ground against him.
Coming up for air, they moved to the bed, his orcish claws tearing at her laces.
But before he could get her undressed, a loud banging sounded from the hall.
“Ow! Fuck!”
Luke awoke with a jolt, his dick hard and aching. What the hell was that dream?
“Shit.” The stairs creaked. That hadn’t been part of the dream. What was going on out there?
Pulling on lounge pants, Luke opened his bedroom door and stuck his head out into the hallway. Aaron was coming up the stairs.
“Dude! Mom’s asleep.”
“I know that!” Aaron hissed. “I didn’t expect her to be on the couch. What’s she doing down there?”
Luke scrubbed a hand down his face. “I think a better question is why are you coming in at —” he looked at the clock on his night stand, “—two o’clock in the morning?”
“None of your business.” Aaron stomped to his bedroom, though his socked feet didn’t make much noise.
Luke sighed and went back to bed, vowing to get to the bottom of whatever Aaron was up to.
After some sleep.
The following afternoon, Maggie took Grace at her word and walked over to Too Sweet after her morning shift at the diner. She had her purse and her stash of cash on her. Hopefully it would be enough.
If not, she might have to talk to Virginia about cleaning and making that part of her rent.
“Hey, Maggie!” Grace waved at her from behind a long glass case. “Pick something.”
She was saving her money for the computer, so Maggie tried to decline. “I don’t need anything.”
Grace scowled. “I’m going to take that as an insult, Maggie. You’re my friend, the first one is on the house.”
She huffed a laugh. This town. “Alright, let me look.” Perusing the case, she bypassed the donuts and breakfast Danishes, landing on the desserts. “I’ll take a Better than Sex cupcake.”
Grace clapped her hands together. “A girl after my own heart.” She leaned over and extracted the cupcake, placing it on a pale pink plate. “What do you want to drink?”
“This looks like I’m going to need some milk.” Maggie eyed her choice up. A Devil’s Food cupcake with rich fudge icing, topped with a triple X made out of chocolate. According to the little sign in the case, it was also filled with dark chocolate ganache.
“Grab one out of the case back there.” Maggie turned, and yes there stood a refrigerated case of bottled drinks. Juices, bottled water, and even milk. Perfect.
“Take a seat! I’ll be right over.”
Maggie sat at one of the little white bistro tables, and Grace joined her with her own Better than Sex cupcake.
“How did you come up with the name for this?”
Grace shrugged as she peeled the paper back. “Let’s just say my ex-husband was a good inspiration.”
Maggie giggled. “I hear you.” She bit into the moist, rich cake and moaned. “Oh yes. This is incredible.”
“I’ll have what she’s having?” Grace quoted the old movie, and they burst into laughter. Maggie had to catch the ganache dripping from her chin, but the cupcake was way more satisfying than Sean had been.
“It certainly lives up to its name.”
“What are you looking for in a computer?” Grace asked as she took another hefty bite.
“Nothing much. I just need to get on the internet and maybe do some typing.”
“What do you do?”
“I used to do social media marketing. And I want to get back into it. I love Deb and The Busy Bee, but I need more income.”
Grace’s eyes lit up. “Really?! Can I be your first client?”
Maggie blinked. “Of course.”
She bounced in her chair. “There aren’t enough hours in the day to come up with new recipes, bake the current ones, and run the business. If I could outsource my marketing that would be a dream.” She squealed. “Okay, let’s get out of here. I’ll just grab my coat from the office.”
Maggie laughed as she took their empty plates and handed them off to a kid behind the counter, then disappeared behind a door. She reappeared quickly and slid her arms into a pink coat. “Have a great rest of the day, Bobby. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you, boss!”
The bell over the door rang as they walked outside. “Are you okay driving? I can navigate.”
“Sure. You don’t drive?”
“I would, but I don’t have a car.” Grace shrugged. “The ex got it in the divorce and I don’t need one living here.”
“Grocery shopping must be a pain.”
“Nah,” Grace said as Maggie led her back to The Busy Bee, where she’d parked. “Felix takes me.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize you were dating.”
Grace shook her head. “Nope, never. We’ve been friends forever.”
“I see.” Maggie unlocked the car, and they jumped in. “Okay, where’s this computer shop?”
Three hours later, and a hundred dollars poorer, Maggie and Grace returned to Hawthorn Hills. She was brimming with excitement as she pulled up in front of Too Sweet.
“You should come up to my place! I’ll order a pizza from Tony’s and we’ll talk rates.”
Maggie blinked. “You were serious?”
Grace bent over and peeked back at her through the open door. “About being your first client? Dead serious.” She shut the door and rounded the car. “Now come on up. I live in the apartment over the shop.”
“Alright.” Maggie pulled herself out of the car and grabbed her new laptop bag from the backseat. She slung the strap over her shoulder and followed Maggie as she unlocked the darkened shop.
“We can get into the apartment through the bakery,” she explained as she locked the door behind Maggie. “Come on back.”
She followed Grace behind the counter into the industrial kitchen.
A stainless-steel counter bisected the space, with a sink and commercial refrigerator on one side and ovens along the back wall.
Huge racks on wheels stood empty in the corner.
Another door at the back of the kitchen opened up to a hallway.
“That’s my office,” Grace pointed to a closed door on the left. “This is where we take deliveries.” She tapped an exterior door in front of them. “And this is how we get to my place.”
Maggie followed Grace up a winding stairway. “How did you ever get furniture up here?”
“Very carefully. And usually in pieces. I had to put them all together once it was upstairs.” She unlocked another door at the top of the stairs. “Come on in.”
A sunny living room greeted them, with a small kitchen off to the side.
Grace gestured to her kitchen table. “You can set up here. The wi-fi network is ‘Too Sweet For Me,’ no spaces, and the password is ‘cupcake’.” She peeled off her coat and hung it on a hook on the back of her door, then did the same with Maggie’s. “What do you like on your pizza?”
“I’m not picky. Just no anchovies.”
“I’m feeling like pepperoni and sausage.” Grace winked. “I don’t get a lot of meat now that I’m divorced.”
Maggie choked on air as she pulled out her used Chromebook. “Grace!”
“What? You don’t like dirty jokes?”
“I just… wasn’t expecting it.” She sat down, her cheeks heating up. Damn her pale complexion.
Grace snorted and lifted her phone to her ear. “I get that a lot. Hey, Tony! It’s Grace. I need a large pepperoni and sausage for delivery. Yeah, just send him around the back and have him buzz the delivery door. Thanks!”
“How much is the pizza?” Maggie asked, reaching for her purse.
“It’s my treat. Put that away.” Grace waved her off. “Let me go get my business binder and we’ll get started while we wait. He said it should be about a half hour.”
Grace’s personality switched from a budding friend into a savvy business woman.
Her binder held everything Maggie needed, like hex codes and fonts, and Grace let her copy her graphics from her thumb drive onto her new-to-her computer.
She insisted on Maggie looking up rates from a freelancer site and refused a discount.
“If you can get my social media accounts to take off, and for people to come in that aren’t local, this will more than pay for itself.”
Maggie supposed that was true. But it also presented a new challenge. “Have you thought about online ordering and shipping?”
Grace wrinkled her nose. “Online ordering, sure, but not shipping.”
“You could make it pick up only.”
She hummed and tapped her chin. “I’ll think about it.” Then she reached for another slice of pizza.
“What about deliveries? Do you do special orders?”
“Special orders, sure, but pick up only.”
“What about large cakes? You don’t do weddings?” Maggie thought that would be a bakery’s crowning glory.
Grace slumped. “I haven’t been able to afford a delivery van.”
“Can’t you get a business loan?”
She toyed with a string of cheese. “I’ll look into it. We don’t get a lot of big weddings around here. But you’re right, it’s something I should consider if we’re going to grow.”
After Maggie set Grace up as her first client, Grace helped her with a profile on a freelance site. She even came up with the name “Your Watson” for Maggie’s marketing business.
“It’s perfect! It’s your last name, and you’re going to be my Watson while I go Sherlock the bakery.” Grace snickered behind the hand that wasn’t holding a cookie. “Mm, Benedict Cumberbatch is so yummy.”
Maggie giggled. “I love it.” And once the divorce went through, it would be her last name.