“You, too.” Jo struggled to come up with something else to say that wasn’t, “Hope you enjoyed the petit fours that played a part in getting me fired?”Not that she blamed anyone but herself. And Avery but only a little.
Connie peered around Charlotte. “So, what do you do, Jo?”
Charlotte looked at her soon to be mother-in-law. “Don’t you remember her from the engagement party? She’s with Giselle.”
“Oh, the lovely raspberry petit fours,” Melody said, from Connie’s other side. “So delicious. I could eat my weight in those things.” She laughed. “If I’m honest, I think I did.”
Adrenaline shot through Jo. This was what she’d hoped for. A chance to promote herself. “I’m so glad you enjoyed them.”
Connie frowned as if scrambling for the memory, then nodded, though the wrinkles in her brow didn’t ease. In fact, they deepened. “Yes, I remember now.”
Jo tried not to worry about what that look meant, but she’d seen it before. Disapproval. Though she couldn’t imagine what she’d done to warrant that reaction. Unless being a pâtissier wasn’t good enough for Connie Preston’s son.
If that was the case, the woman was going to love this. “Actually, I’m between jobs now.”
“Oh.” Charlotte bit her lip, reminding Jo of Brooke and making her wish her bestie was with her right now. “Giselle didn’t mention you weren’t there anymore when I talked to her this morning about repeating my dessert order for the wedding and designing my cake. I specifically told her I wanted the raspberry incorporated into the base.”
“A day late and a dollar short,” Grandma whispered in her head.
Swallowing her disappointment, Jo smiled. “I’m sure she’ll do a wonderful job. I learned a lot from her.”
“Hmm.” Charlotte didn’t sound convinced.
“It’s not too late to find someone else,” Melody said.
Me! Me! I can do it!
Every nerve in Jo’s body jumped up and down, distracting her from the mental list she was already making. “I could—”
“How is the search going?” Connie interrupted, still studying Jo.
“Um, I have several interviews lined up.”
Liar. Liar. Pants on fire.
Shut up, Grandma.
“Actually, I’m hoping to open my own pâtisserie.”
“Oh my, that’s ambitious,” Connie persisted.
Heat flushed Jo’s cheeks. “It’s a work in progress.”
“What will you do in the meantime?”
Now, Jo was the one who felt cornered. She glanced toward the bar for Avery. He was talking to the brunette. Yeah, no help there. She was on her own.
When she turned back to explain, she realized that his mother had also been looking at Avery, but now, as she met Jo’s gaze again, accusation burning in her eyes, it finally clicked.
Oh my god. She thinks I’m after Avery’s money.
And she was right, at least partially, which pricked Jo’s pride and heaped on the guilt.
Melody’s mouth hung open, and Charlotte seemed to want to be anywhere else.
Lifting her chin, Jo smiled, barely able to keep her lips from trembling. “I’ll be fine. Thank you for asking.”
“Please forgive me for prying.” Connie reached out to pat Jo’s hand. “Oh, look at me. I’ve made a mess of things.”
