That satisfied her. For now. She leaned in to inspect my next batch, then turned her focus to making fillings for meat pies and sausage rolls.
The kitchen settled into its usual dance. Maeve at the stove, cooking meat. Me rolling out biscotti, half my brain somewhere miles away. Caden never stopped listening for trouble.
I tried to calm him with coffee, but it didn't work. My dragon was convinced something was up.
The next batch went in the oven without a hitch, except… crap. I'd forgotten to set the timer for the cinnamon rolls.
I lunged for the oven and whipped the tray out. Not a total disaster, but the bottoms were darker than I liked. Maybe not cinders, but close.
Maeve glanced over. "Oh, damn. That's not what I think it is, right?"
I set the evidence on the counter. "They're… caramelized."
"Chance. I can smell 'caramelized' from here. Those are teetering on the edge of burned."
I shrugged. "Some people like the crunch."
She gave me a look that could have wilted the herbs out back. "Bake any more cinders, and I'm telling your mother. And you know damn well she'll dig out the 'trainee' apron."
That would've been a fate worse than death.
The bells over the front door tinkled. Too early for the regulars. I peered through the display case and froze in place.
A black SUV sat parked at the curb. Windows tinted. Engine idling.
SkyArc Resorts. The logo was unmistakable, even half-obscured by a mud splatter.
Trouble. The kind Caden could smell from three streets away.
I squared my shoulders and tried to ignore the way my stomach knotted up. Maeve had her back to the window, kneading like she meant to punch a hole through the dough. She missed nothing, but she also didn't like worrying when there were paying customers to be fed.
Not that our family needed the money, but we didn't run this place for money. It was our passion. It'd been in our family for over a century.
I inched closer to the glass, plant-pot camouflage and fake cheese Danishes between me and the world. The SUV didn't move. No one got out.
Weird.
Make them leave.Caden growled in my head.
"Maeve, check this out." I jerked my chin at the window.
She didn't even look up. "If it's not a customer, don't waste your time. The only people up this early are contractors and nosy neighbors."
I kept staring anyway.
SkyArc didn't do subtle. They moved in, bought up land, and turned everything into "cozy vacation cottages" overnight. Last time they'd sniffed around, a whole street of cabins had lost their view of the creek to cheap condos.
Maeve finally noticed the silence. "What is it?"
I pointed with the flour-dusted handle of a wooden spoon. "SUV."
She approached, wiping her hands on her apron, and gave the vehicle a hard look.
"Ugh. Leeches," she muttered. "They'll leave once they realize we don't do breakfast for corporate drones."
But she kept watching, eyes narrowed.
Inside, Caden growled. My dragon had gone from restless to outright furious. I couldn't blame him. We'd put too much work into coming back. Nobody was taking Laurel Gap away this time.
