"Once or twice per week for three years," Marcus said cheerfully. "The man is devoted to your pork buns."
The table erupted in laughter, and Lucy felt her own cheeks heat. But Jake was smiling—really smiling—and suddenly Lucy was too.
"They're my grandmother's recipe," Lucy said. "I haven't changed anything since she passed."
"How long ago was that?" Ryan asked.
"Five years."
"And you've been running the bakery alone since then?"
"Yeah." Lucy took a sip of her cider. "It's been... a lot. But it's what she wanted. I think."
"She'd be proud," Rei said quietly.
"I hope so."
Jake, who'd been quiet, finally spoke. "For what it's worth, I think anyone who can get up at 4:45 every morning and still be nice to customers deserves some kind of medal."
"How do you know I get up at 4:45?"
"Lucky guess?" But he was smiling, and Lucy realized he'd been paying attention. Really paying attention.
The rest of the evening passed in a comfortable blur. More food, more stories, more laughter. Lucy found herself relaxing, actually enjoying the chaos of being around people who weren't customers.
Around 9 PM, people started heading out. Owen had an early morning workout. Dmitri had a FaceTime date with his girlfriend in Russia. Others drifted away in pairs and groups.
Eventually, it was just Lucy, Jake, Rei, and Marcus left at the table.
"Walk you ladies home?" Marcus offered.
"I think we can manage," Rei said, but she was smiling. "Thanks for organizing this."
"Anytime. Reaper, you good?"
Jake nodded. "Yeah. I'll walk Lucy home. Her place is on my way."
It wasn't, actually—Lucy's apartment was in the opposite direction from Jake's. But Rei shot Lucy a look that clearly said don't argue and Lucy found she didn't want to.
They said goodnight to Marcus and Rei, then walked out into the cold November night.
The streets of Timber Falls were quiet, lit by old-fashioned streetlamps that cast yellow pools of light on the sidewalk. Their breath fogged in the air.
"Thanks for coming tonight," Jake said after a moment of comfortable silence.
"Thanks for walking me home."
"I figured after three years of Wednesday mornings, we should probably actually get to know each other."
Lucy laughed. "Is that what this is? Getting to know each other?"
"I think so?" Jake sounded uncertain. "I'm not great at this. The social thing. I spend most of my time either at the rink or alone in my apartment watching old movies."
"I spend most of my time either at the bakery or alone in my apartment doing paperwork. So we're both bad at it."
"Perfect. We can be bad at it together."
They'd reached The Bread Basket. Lucy's apartment entrance was on the side of the building, up a narrow set of external stairs.
