“If you’re going to stay back here,” Tyler said as he pulled an apron off the wall, “it gets messy.” He held it up and draped it over my head. We locked eyes for a moment, the brush of his touch against my chin as he set it on my shoulders sending a path of goose bumps down my back. His golden eyes were dark as they searched mine. Something about the way he was looking at me, as if what he was seeing was too much for him to take, reminded me of the moment he asked where the zipper was on my dress.
But we didn’t talk about that. Or at least we hadn’t yet. As ballsy as I was, I couldn’t find it in me to bring it up.
“Thanks,” I squawked out as I tied the apron around my waist.
“My goal is to bake as many crusts as I can and set most of the filling in the fridge. When the guys come back in later tonight, they can put it all together. I never thought I’d have trouble finding enough room to keep up with customer demand.”
I shrugged, trying to be cool despite the flutters in my belly just from being this close to him. “You should have. Maybe you should think about expanding.”
“You aren’t the first one to say that today. I’ll ride this out and see if it sticks.” He lifted a shoulder. “I’m a low-expectations kind of guy. That way I’m not as disappointed later if something happens.”
“I get that.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. “But when you’re as talented as you are, you need to dream a little big sometimes.”
“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said as a bashful smile tilted his mouth. “You know, giving my mother the chocolate cream pie was an accident. She asked for apple, but I was out.”
“Some things are meant to be, I guess. But I’d bet the apple is just as amazing.”
He lifted a shoulder. “It did okay around Thanksgiving time last year. If this keeps up over the next couple of months, I may need to double staff over the holidays since it was busy enough around then.”
“See, it’s good to plan.” I jabbed his shoulder, making him laugh.
“Mom said it was your parents’ anniversary, so she left with pounds of cookies and pastries, plus the pie and a cake.”
“It was. Mom’s second one without my dad.”
Tyler stopped setting up the mixer, placing his hands on the counter as he turned to face me. “How is Carla? Mom always says she’s holding her own. She’s always so upbeat when I see her, but—”
“But she’s still heartbroken. They were best friends and did everything together.” I shifted against the wall. “I worry about her all the time. Dad looked out for her, and now she’s all alone.”
It was the main reason that I’d come back. She always sounded so lost over the phone, and when I was staying with her more often than at my apartment, the move made sense.
“Mom said she hasn’t been sick in a long time. She watches her too, if that makes you feel any better.”
“It does. She yells at me if I ask about her meds or how she’s feeling. I just… I can’t spare her.” My voice was scratchy as one of my biggest fears slipped out.
“I get that,” he nodded, peering up at me with a sad smile. “I think your dad would love seeing us like this.”
“Like what?” I asked, my eyes narrowed.
“Getting along, working together. I told you, he was the only one on my side back then.”
A laugh fell from my lips. “Yes, I was punished by him many times for not being nice to you. The poor man had to deal with his brat of a daughter for so long.”
Tyler shut the mixer off and shook his head. “He’d always tell me that you didn’t mean it. That you actually liked having me around, but you didn’t know the right way to show it. And if we could only learn how to get along, we’d be great friends.”
Dad knew. Of course he did.
I gulped, trying to get rid of the lump cutting off the air in my throat.
“Your father worshipped you,” Tyler went on. “Whereas my parents tolerated me most days.”
“That’s not true. Your mom just told us how proud she is of you and how she feels terrible not showing it more. Your dad”—I shrugged— “I think he just tolerates people in general.”
“That’s a good point.” He poured the mixture into a bowl and slid it toward me. “If you’d like a job, grab the roll of clear wrap on the side and set a piece right down on the chocolate. You can put it into the fridge as we go. Sound good?”
“I think I can manage that.” I gave him a wink and pulled out a long piece, pressing it down just as he said and taking it over to his large refrigerator. I never knew he had so much equipment back here. The one time he brought me in the back to talk a few weeks ago, the shock of him not running away from me for once had made everything else fade into the background.
We worked in comfortable silence. I fluttered back and forth, doing whatever Tyler asked as he mixed and baked. Things were easy between us for once. He wasn’t eyeing me as if he was trying to figure out my next move, and I worked hard to be a more amiable version of myself while fighting the intrusive fantasy of Tyler in an apron and nothing else.
