Phyllis stares down Kitty in a way that’s not discreet in the least of what she’s trying to pull here, especially when she adds the obvious looks from me, to Gabi, back to me.
“Oh that's right!” Kitty says. “You two have fun. Time for bingo! Now, don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
I stand to help her up and get both of their coats on. “Why do I have a feeling that's not a very long list?”
“Because it's not,” Phyllis says. “See you tomorrow, Gabi. Maddox, hope to see you too.”
In true Phyllis fashion, she gives my butt a squeeze before she and her sidekick make their way out of the bakery.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or press charges,” I say as I sit back down.
“I love them, and they’re pretty much keeping my business open right now, but one day they’re going to flirt with the wrong guy and it’s going to be very, very bad.”
“I mean, some men like older women,” I say with an exaggerated eyebrow wag. “I would know.”
My shameless flirting only earns me an eye roll. “So what brings you here today?”
Not a shut down. Not encouragement. I’ll take it. “Just wanted to see you. I had the day free, which hasn’t happeneda lot lately, so I thought I’d stop in and say hi. I hope I’m not interrupting your day.”
“Well, hi,” she says, a relaxed smile coming across her face. “And no interruptions. It’s been pretty slow, which means I’m all caught up.”
I think back to the comment that Phyllis said about wanting to see more people in here. I’ve never come in during the morning hours, but each time I’m here in the afternoon, it’s always slow. I’ve chalked it up to the time of day. But is it more?
“Can I ask you a personal-ish question?”
“You can. I might not answer.”
I lean down closer, wanting to whisper even though we’re the only two in here. “Are you… is the bakery… doing okay?”
I hate to ask her this, but I like fixing things. Give me a task to do and I’m your guy. On the football field, it’s to either take away the ball or make sure the opponent doesn’t score. I’m not sure exactly what I can do yet, but if she needs it, well… I have an offseason of free time to do it. And I’m very good when I have a task. Keeps the squirrel brain calm.
“It’s… fine,” she says, but by the way the word comes out a little defeated—and growing up with a sister—I know that doesn’t mean fine. “Could it be busier? Sure. We usually get a decent crowd in the morning. By lunch, it’s pretty much fizzled. It’s not doing bad enough yet that my brother is threatening to shut it down, but I don’t know how much profit he’s making.”
“Would he shut you down?” I ask. “Wait. You have a brother? Who owns the bakery?”
A soft smile comes across her face at the mention of her brother. “He’d never. He knows this is my dream. He’s living his, and he wants me to have mine.”
“And this was it?”
She nods with a smile. “I was always baking with my mom and meemaw. I loved coming up with new recipes, or adding different flavors and putting spins on things.”
“Sounds like this was your calling.”
“I wanted it to be. But sometimes you don’t have the luxury to chase dreams. And for many years, I thought I didn’t.”
I feel my fists clenching as Gabi talks about her ex and how much she hated her job. How much he dicked her around for years about opening the bakery.
One punch. That’s all I’d need…
“So that’s when Beau stepped in,” she says. “In a matter of weeks he was buying a building, he was telling me a name to put on the business license, and Sugar and Sweets was born.”
“Sounds like a pretty good guy.”
“The best,” she says with a smile. “Protective over me, my mom, and anyone he loves. Competitive to high heaven. But most of all? He’s smart and a little calculated. But maybe more than all of those? Is that he hated my ex-husband. Getting to open this bakery not only gave me my dream, but it was a good middle finger to him. Hell, he might’ve done it for that reason alone.”
“I love that. Sometimes we’re not petty enough.”
That makes Gabi laugh. “Petty and spite. Maybe that should’ve been the name of the bakery instead of Sugar and Sweets.”
