I stare at her for a moment, not sure if I’m supposed to ask what the personal reasons were. “What did you do before?”
“I worked at a bakery in Manhattan. I actually studied abroad to be a pastry chef and then managed to get my dream job when I came back to the states.”
“That must have been hard,” I say, offering her a sympathetic smile. “To choose to leave your dream job.”
“It’s fine.” She waves her hand dismissively again, a nervous laugh escaping her. “I’m sorry, I have a tendency to overshare sometimes. I’m working on it in therapy.”
I let out a soft laugh, shaking my head at her. “It’s okay, Natalie. We all have things we’re working on.”
“You’re right.” She nods as her smile returns. “It’s all of our first times living.”
Her words strike something inside my chest, plucking at a chord deep inside. It’s the first I’ve ever heard anyone say that before and I’ve never heard anything so profoundly true. It really is everyone’s first time living. We’re all just out here doing our best and trying to figure it out without a handbook.
“That is so true.”
“Kind of scary if you think about it, isn’t it?” She says with a giggle as she tucks her stray hairs behind her ears. “Anyways,before I end up pulling you down a rabbit hole with me…” She drops her gaze to the three small bottles of different shades of amber liquid. “Do you want me to make a different cookie with each syrup?”
“I think we could just do one.”
“Okay, perfect,” she says, nodding eagerly. “I’ll test recipes with each and we can do a little tasting and compare notes to see which one we think might be the winner.”
“Love it.” I adjust my purse on my shoulder and pull out my phone. “Are you okay with exchanging numbers? That way we can just text if we need to discuss anything about the cookies?”
“That works for me.” She pulls out her own phone and tells me her number. I call her so she has my number to save in her contacts and save hers in mine. “I’ll probably have the recipes worked out and some samples to taste within the next few days. Like three or four days? Is that fine?”
“That’s great. Just let me know!”
“Okay! We’ll talk soon, Willow,” Natalie says with a bright smile as she reaches for an empty mixing bowl.
“Bye!”
Leaving her to it, I head back out of the bakery and onto the sidewalk with a renewed sense of hopefulness. This was the last piece that I needed and as long as nothing comes up, everything should fall into place perfectly.
Pausing outside of the storefront, I look back in through the bakery window. A smile tugs on my lips as Natalie measures flour and dumps it into a metal bowl. Her energy is infectious and she radiates positivity. I’m really excited about this collaboration and maybe even the possibility of a new friendship.
“You ready to go?”
On my left, Noah steps up beside me, holding two bags in his hands. “Oh hey,” I say after the initial shock subsides. I knew hewas going to meet me here, but I was just lost in thought and hadn’t noticed him walking up. “I am if you are.”
“How did it go?”
“Really well,” I say, smiling at my brother.
He’s not looking at me anymore. Instead he’s staring through the bakery window, curiosity written all over his face. “Who’s that?”
I follow his line of sight and find Natalie dancing around the bakery. “That’s Miss Maggie’s niece, Natalie. She’s staying with her and taking over the bakery for the time being.”
“Hm.” Noah’s eyes linger on her floating around the bakery. “I haven’t seen her around.”
“She’s been here before to visit Maggie, but you must not have noticed her.”
Maybe not then, but he certainly is noticing her now.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” he says softly, his eyes still trained on her. Another moment passes and I blow out a breath. His eyes quickly flash to mine and he turns away from the window, clearing his throat. “Shall we?”
I bite back the grin that tugs on my lips. “Yep.”
Noah glances back at the window once more before he turns away and starts to walk in the direction of my car. My footsteps are light as I follow after him, my mind reeling over the way he was watching her. He’s quiet as we both get in the car and I don’t bring her up.
