“No need for that. Hey, do you have an Instagram for your business?”
Hannah let go of Kate’s hand. She tapped on her phone and then showed it to Jax.
“Okay, I’m following you. You have a lot of followers on this account for just starting out. That’s perfect. I’m sure Jasper will want you to do an event here that you can share with your followers. If I don’t get back to you by next weekend, message me.”
Kate watched Hannah’s face as it pinked again. She wanted to give her a hug and then drag her back to her place and spend the night making Hannah shout her name. The lights flickered above them, and behind the bar, two staff members shouted. “We close in fifteen minutes! Get your beer to go, or just go!”
“I’m out of here,” Cathy said and she began giving hugs to the group. Her last hug went to Kate. Cathy whispered in her ear. “Hannah’s a great girl. I’m happy you found her. I just hope you decide to keep her.” The enormous meal in Kate’s stomach churned. Was it safe to let herself fall head over heels for Hannah? Cathy let go of her, said goodbye to the group, and walked out of Hop’s Heaven.
Jax rocked back on their heels. “I’d better get to it. You two stay out of trouble.”
“Will do,” Kate said.
“And I’ll talk to you soon, Hannah!” Jax turned and walked away.
Kate dipped her head and gave Hannah a quick kiss. “Ready to head out?” she asked.
Hannah adjusted her glasses. “We could go over to my place?”
Kate paused. There was no good reason to say no. She’d picked Hannah up tonight, and if they didn’t go back to Hannah’s place, she’d have to drive her home tomorrow. Kate loved being in her own space and didn’t like the loss of control that spending the night at Hannah’s would cause. But she couldn’t crush the hopefulness in Hannah’s eyes.
“Sure,” she shrugged. “It only makes sense since I drove you here.”
“I can’t wait for you to meet Smoky,” Hannah said as she pulled Kate toward the door.
Chapter Twenty-three
Hannah had been hoping Kate would stay for breakfast. She had been wanting to make pumpkin pancakes for weeks now, and she even had leftover pumpkin puree on hand from the cookies she’d made. It felt depressing to make a batch of pancakes for one person. She stared at the inside of her refrigerator. The pumpkin puree was going to go bad if she didn’t use it. If only Kate had stayed a little longer. But she’d said she had tons of things to do before work. Hannah knew, even though Kate was trying not to show it, that she was worried about making enough money for that down payment. Hannah sighed, too bad she didn’t have any money to give her. She had ten times more Instagram followers than dollars in her bank account.
She pulled the ingredients out and put them next to the stove. After taking out a bowl and a small skillet, she cracked an egg. Thinking about social media made something pop up in her mind. What was it about Instagram that made her think of Kate’s dilemma? She added a few more ingredients and thenwhisked it all together. She placed a pat of butter in the small iron skillet. As it melted, she tried to find her train of thought. After cleaning the steam off her glasses, she ladled her first scoop of batter. She’d been thinking about social media and money. “That’s it!” she said out loud to the apartment.
Smoky came running from his cozy nest in her bed to make figure eights around Hannah’s bare legs. Hannah flipped her pancake. If she could have patted herself on the back, she would have. The pancake flipped easily, and it wasn’t burnt. That was unheard of. She was much more of a baker. She didn’t like to cook. It wasn’t as precise as baking. Baking was meditative.
Hannah picked up her phone and navigated to her bookmarks. She scrolled down until she found it. A pet store in another state had done photos with the Grinch. Not wanting her breakfast to burn, she put down her phone and finished making her breakfast. Then she sat down with her phone, pancakes, and pen and paper. She watched the video while she ate, making note of what would be needed to have photos with the Grinch at the Mistletoe Market and how much it would be feasible to make in profit over the four weeks of the event. Before her coffee cup was empty, she’d found a way to keep the materials cost under three dollars. She sent a text to Kate.
Hannah
I think I figured out how you can get the money for the down payment.
Kate
Legally? (laughing emoji)
Hannah
Yes! Call me when you can.
Kate hearted the text.
Hannah made a few more notes and saved a few websites to text Kate if she needed them, and then she waited for Kate to call back. When she didn’t hear from Kate, she cleaned up the breakfast dishes, which reminded her why she didn’t usually do anything other than eat yogurt or oatmeal for breakfast on workdays. Now that she was officially running late, she rushed through her before-work routine and managed to be in the car on her way with a good three minutes to spare. It was a good thing she didn’t need to stop for gas, though if she had been low on gas, she probably would have chanced it since work was less than two miles away. Her smartwatch buzzed against her arm. She tilted her wrist, hoping to see Kate was calling, but it was Zaina.
“Hello, I’m almost there.”
“Oh good, I’m at the urgent care with Lily.”
“What’s wrong? Is she okay?”
“We think it’s another ear infection, but it could also be another cold.”
