“All of you?” she asks, looking at them as Brodie snatches a muffin from the cooling rack.
“Yup, isn’t she lucky?” He winks, breaking it in half and shoving one piece into his mouth.
“More like you’re the lucky ones, and the damn menaces have been conning your grandmother out of our wares. Been cutting into our profits,” Grampy mutters and starts piping again so the marshmallow doesn’t set before it can be formed into creatures.
Jesus, how did I get so lucky? They didn’t even know we were mates before yesterday, but they were still making sure my grandparents were okay. I fall in love a little more with all of them.
“Now how about you all get out of my kitchen? It’s too crowded with all of you assholes in here.” Grampy shoos them away with the piping bag. “Going to get stray hairs in my little critters. Go make yourselves a coffee or something.”
I give my mates a nod of reassurance, and thankfully, they don’t argue. They all march through the kitchen door and into the café, and Grampy sighs heavily with relief.
“Have your hands full there,” Granny comments as she returns her attention to the pot bubbling on the stove.
“You have no idea,” I reply, smiling. Her eyes go to the bite mark on my neck, and she sighs happily.
“It’s such a relief to know you have mates who will look after you like you’re the most precious thing in the world.”
“And so they should,” Grampy mutters, “though I don’t know why she needed so damn many of them.”
I grab the sieve of corn flour he uses to set the marshmallows and start shaking it over the animals as he pipes, and then I fill my grandparents in on everything that has happened, knowing I can trust them. They listen intently, only interrupting for clarification here or there, and we have a neat row of tigers and bears by the time I’ve finished telling them everything.
“Phew, Colbie girl. Seems like you are in a right pickle,” Grampy says while washing and drying his hands before leaning against the sink. “Well, don’t you worry about a thing here. Jenny and I are loving it here, so at least that’s one worry off your shoulders.”
I give him a big hug, and he hugs me back. I sag against him, feeling no small amount of relief at his words.
“Thank you. Both of you have made this transition so much easier. I know I’ll probably never be able to return, but I would have hated closing down my dream. Once I’m crowned, I’ll put out feelers for a full-time baker, I promise.” I tell them, but they quickly assure me there is no rush. I feel no small amount of relief that at least one thing in my life is going right.
ChapterTwenty-One
Colbie
“Why don’t you make sure the boys haven’t broken the coffee machine? I’m assuming you won’t be staying?” Granny asks, and I shake my head.
“No, we’re just waiting to speak to Brock, and then we’ll head out,” I explain, and Granny frowns.
“Oh dear. The bookstore has been closed for the last three days. We haven’t seen Brock or Niles since they burst in here screaming about being kicked out of the shifter zone for helping your mother.”
“Haven’t seen your mother either,” Grampy says, exchanging a worried look with Granny. “We expected her to come and rant about being prevented from seeing you, but we haven’t heard anything. We were going to call and tell you today if she didn’t appear. You know Malina, she’s likely sulking with some man, having her ego stroked.”
They aren’t wrong about my mother, but I’m surprised about Brock and Niles. Apart from the day of the parade, the store never closes. They are normally open seven days a week.
“That’s strange, but we’ll wait until after normal opening time, and if they don’t open, then I guess we’ll try to figure out where they ended up. I know they were banned from the shifter zone, but I think they have a place here as well. Maybe I’ll ask one of the guys if they know.”
I head out into the cafe and find my guys with Olivia and Justin. I hear them grilling my mates for information, but the guys are doing a good job of being vague. They all have coffees in front of them, and the coffee machine still seems to be in working order, so that’s a relief.
“Colbie!” Olivia jumps to her feet and starts to move toward me, but she stops and frowns. “Am I supposed to curtsy or something now?” she asks, looking from me to the guys and back again.
“No, don’t be silly,” I say, waving her to me for a hug.
“Not yet anyway,” Gryffin mutters quietly so Olivia and Justin don’t hear. I guess he’s right. If they decide to become shifters once this is all over, then they may end up having to curtsy to me after all, but that’s a future Colbie problem.
“How are things going?” I ask, looking between them when I pull away from Olivia.
“Great. Your grandparents have been amazing. Olivia and I are learning so much from them,” Justin says enthusiastically, and I blink in surprise. He hasn’t ever been particularly excited about working at the bakery. I always thought he was only killing time until he moved on to the next thing, but it seems I was wrong. Maybe he just needed a challenge. This is good. Maybe I won’t have to look for a baker, and they can take over those duties, and we can hire two new servers.
“Joe even taught me how to pipe some of the animals.” Olivia grins, and I feel a small amount of sadness, but mostly relief that my life’s work is going to be in the hands of someone who loves it as much as I do.
“That’s awesome. Learn as much as you can, and the two of you can take over in the back when they decide they’ve had enough, and we will hire two new servers,” I say, and they both kind of puff up with pride and assure me they will.
