"Who?"
"Bigfoot," she says, rolling her eyes. "Ash, you dumbass. I thought he was cute too."
"Not as cute as Nicki," I tease.
Mia's face goes a shade of pink I don't usually see on her.
"Nicki...is nice."
"Nice? Is that all? From how you talked about her chocolate non-stop yesterday, I'd guess you think she's a little more than nice. And thank god I was there, so I knowchocolateisn't a euphemism for something else."
She laughs out loud and hits my arm.
"Hey, you nearly made me drop my pumpkin."
"Maybe that way you'd take it home and make something with it, rather than stare at a vegetable as if it's the embodiment of a certain farmer we met yesterday."
"Technically, pumpkin is a fruit not a vegetable," I say.
"Get out of here, of course it's a vegetable," she says, taking the pumpkin from my hands and giving it a sniff. "It doesn't even smell of anything."
"That's the worst argument for the definition of a fruit I've ever heard. If you must know, pumpkins are fruit because they grow from the flower of the plant, just like tomatoes."
"What the actual...tomatoes are fruits?" She jerks her head to me, and I grab hold of the pumpkin so she doesn't accidentally drop it.
A bark of laughter bubbles up from within and I can't stop it. My dad's visit, my impending new role in the company, and now we're talking about vegetables that are fruit.
Mia looks at me like I've totally lost it. Or maybe she's still shocked from her newly acquired knowledge.
"I need a coffee, and you need to finish that manuscript," she declares before leaving me again.
I return to my desk and place the pumpkin next to my computer. The tab I opened earlier, with the website Ash wrote down for me, is still there.
The recipe doesn't look overly complicated, so I print it off to buy the remaining ingredients on my way home.
I don't know why, but I have a strange desire to bake a good enough cake that I can share a slice with Ash. And that thought makes me the happiest I've been this week.
5
ASH
As I unloadthe contents of The Duchess into my stall I can't help wondering if Xander will come by today.
Not that I've been thinking a lot about him. Well, maybe I have a little, but only because I'm curious to know if he followed the recipe I suggested.
I love when I get to know my regular customers and we build a friendly relationship. I've shared countless recipes, and it's nice to know the fruit of my hard labor is used to create delicious food.
That's the only reason I'm even thinking about Xander. Honest.
The morning rush is over in no time, and before I know it, it's lunchtime. Nicki has been busy in her stall, so apart from the brief coffee we shared earlier, we've barely exchanged a word.
She waves at me when her last customer leaves and pats her belly.
"Don't tell me you're pregnant already," I joke as I throw an apple at her. She catches it and takes a bite.
"Not for lack of trying," she winks.
I feign shock. "You hussy."
