“Everything okay today?”he asked quietly.
I nodded.“Busy.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
I hesitated, then shrugged.“It’s the holidays.Everything needs to be good.”
His eyes searched my face like he was filing something away for later.“Friday pickup still good?”
“Absolutely,” I said.“Your mom’s going to love it.”
“She will,” he said, like that was a fact he’d never doubted.
Pepper nosed his knee, demanding attention.Saint crouched without hesitation and scratched his chest like he’d known him forever.
“You’ve got good dogs,” he said.
“They’re the real bosses,” I replied.“I just work here.”
Salt watched him carefully, then leaned in to sniff his hand.Saint waited, patient as anything, until Salt huffed and allowed himself to be scratched.
“See?”I said.“Approval.”
Saint smiled, softer this time.“Means something.”
It did.
The bell jingled again.A group of customers filed in, laughing, stamping snow from their boots.
I straightened.“Duty calls.”
Saint stepped back easily, no possessiveness, no pressure.“I’ll let you work.”
Before he left, he leaned in just enough that only I could hear him.“Don’t forget to eat something today.”
My throat tightened.“I won’t.I mean, I will eat because I won’t forget to… eat,” I ended on a whisper.
“Good, babe,” he smirked.“I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
I watched him walk out the door and past the large window.He crossed the street on a jog and climbed into an old truck instead of a motorcycle.“Can’t really drive a motorcycle in the snow,” I whispered to myself.
“Belle,” Marcy called.“Do you think we can have a two-story Victorian gingerbread house for Tuesday?”
And back to my reality of baking my ass off to hopefully save my ass.
By mid-afternoon, my hands were shaking, and my skin was clammy.
I ignored it.
I always did.
Between seven a.m., and six p.m., I had time to work alone.Anything else didn’t matter if it wasn’t making me money.
Mix the dough.Bake.Cool.Ice.Repeat.When one order was boxed, another appeared in its place.Time blurred.
At some point, Marcy shoved a homemade granola bar into my hand.“Eat.”
“I will,” I said.I just needed to get all of the orders for tomorrow done today.
