CHAPTER TWO
Shortly before my lunch break, I get a text from my friend Gwen:Have you left yet? In crisis mode and need caffeine and carbs. Could you bring me a pumpkin chai and an eggplant parm sandwich with extra pesto? And something sweet? Thank you!
Poor Gwen has been in crisis mode a lot lately. Besides running the marketing and PR for the Village, she’s also getting married next month, and she’s had to field obstacles from every direction. My move back to Bellevue came at the perfect time to help with the wedding plans, as well as keep Gwen fed whenever I can.
With lunch packed into my favorite leaf-patterned tote, I wave goodbye to Marisol and Cami as I leave Cravings and head toward the office buildings where Gwen works. Like with Marisol, I’ve known Gwen for most of my life; we lived in the same neighborhood and went to the same high school, although Gwen was a year or two behind me so we didn’t really hang out except at the bus stop. We ended up attending the same college, where we became good friends after we kept running into each other around campus and at various events. Along with our friend Ivy, Gwen was instrumental in convincing Marisol and me to take a leap of faith and open Cravings when the building became available earlier this year.
When I reach Gwen’s office, she has a cell phone pressed to her ear and is typing one-handed on another. This is a regular sight with Gwen. The glittery silver phone at her ear is her personal cell, while the other is the one she uses for Village business. She sends me a frazzled smile when she sees me, and jerks her chin toward the bistro table and chairs in the corner.
With a hurried ‘thank you, goodbye’ Gwen ends the call. She continues tapping away on her work phone as she makes her way over to the table where I’ve laid out our lunch. I don’t know how she does it. The extent of my multi-tasking skills is being able to shake my booty to loud music while baking.
She gives me an absentminded one-armed hug before dropping into her chair. “You’re the greatest.” She sets the phone face down on the table and reaches for her sandwich. Cravings doesn’t have much of a lunch menu—we decided early on we didn’t want to be seen as competition to the Village’s diner—but we offer a small selection of rotating lunch choices. Despite being an experiment of sorts, the eggplant parmesan sandwich with pesto was such a hit it earned a permanent spot on our daily menu.
After loading extra pesto onto her sandwich, Gwen takes a giant bite. Her eyes slip closed and she releases a moan of pleasure that makes me snicker.
“What’s the latest news?” I ask, taking a sip of my cappuccino.
She lets out a muffled noise and takes another bite of her sandwich. With her free hand, she flips her phone over and taps it to wake up the screen. “I’m loving your Insta posts today,” she says around a mouthful of food. “That sign you made is beautiful. Maybe I should have you hand-letter the menus for the wedding.”
“I could do that.Thatcould be my gift to you.”
She gives me a squinty side-eye. “Haven’t we been over this?”
I make a non-committal noise and bite into my sandwich. When Gwen and her fiancé Evan set their wedding date, they made several announcements to their family and friends. The first was they didn’t want gifts; they’ve already been living together for over a year, so they have everything they need. Gwen said she was sure we’ve all been to weddings where you’re certain the pile of expensive gifts will get stuck in cupboards and closets to collect dust, and she didn’t want that to be the case with them.
The second announcement: they wouldn’t be having a traditional wedding party, and therefore no bachelor or bachelorette parties. They decided it would be too difficult—and potentially awkward—trying to choose from their small group of friends, plus Evan’s four siblings. Instead, they’ve planned a few group outings that will fit the theme of their autumn wedding next month.
As much as I adore Gwen and Evan, I was relieved by both announcements, mostly because all my savings went into Cravings, leaving me a bit cash poor. Actually, make thata lotcash poor. There have been days when I wouldn’t have eaten if I hadn’t snagged leftovers from the café. Making your dreams a reality doesn’t always come cheap. While I would have loved to be one of Gwen’s bridesmaids, the thought of having to buy a pricey dress I’d likely never wear again nearly gave me hives.
I offered to cater the dessert buffet as my wedding gift, but Gwen said that was too much and insisted on hiring Marisol and me instead. I only resisted for about half a minute before giving in and offering them our friends and family discount. I didn’t relish the idea of living off canned soup and boxed macaroni and cheese for the next few months. As it is, I’ll have to take several days off work to attend all the events they have planned. I can’t complain about that, though, because autumn is my favorite time of year and I haven’t had a chance to enjoy it properly for ages.
“Okay, fine,” I say. “But in this case it wouldn’tcostme anything. It wouldn’t take me long to make one menu and then you could have copies made. Just think about it.” I can see her gearing up to argue, so I change the subject. “Why were you in crisis mode earlier?”
Gwen waves a dismissive hand. “We’re supposed to be talking about your marketing plan, not my latest dilemma.”
Now it’s my turn to shoothersome squinty side-eye. “Work can wait. You already said my Instagram posts today were great. I hadfivepeople come in and tell me they saw my post about the discount. Last time I did that, not a single person mentioned it, so I’m clearly doingsomethingright.”
“You definitely are, but I have a few ideas of how you canreallymaximize—”
“Gwen.”
She sighs. “Okay, okay. Malcolm and Sherée decided they wanted to come for the weekend since they won’t be able to do any of the group wedding fun with the baby coming soon,” she says, referring to Evan’s older brother and his wife. “I’m not overjoyed at having to host people on such short notice—especially someone who’s almost nine months pregnant and could go into labor at any moment—but I feel bad they’ll be missing out on all the stuff leading up to the wedding, so I said they could come.”
“I can help entertain them this weekend if that’s what you’re worried about,” I tell her.
“I’ll probably take you up on that, although that’s not currently the issue. When Jasper found out Malcolm and Sherée were coming, he asked if he could come along too.”
Evan’s siblings all live in Toronto. Out of the four of them, I’ve only properly met his younger sister, Hadley. His older sister is a semi-famous author, who I briefly met at a book signing in Toronto last year. I’ve heard plenty about the Perrys, though, especially Evan’s oldest brother Jasper, who Gwen lovingly refers to as ‘allergic to displays of emotion and affection’.
Gwen met the entire Perry clan for the first time last December when they all spent a week together in a rented house for the holidays. Until then, the Perry siblings—whose parents died years ago in an accident—only saw each other at Christmas. Even then it was out of familial obligation and tradition, rather than any real desire to spend time together.
“Good ol’ Jasper,” I say, watching as Gwen adds more pesto to her sandwich. I feel like I should hand her a spoon and let her eat it straight out of the container.
Gwen’s lips twitch. “Yeah, good ol’ Jasper. I actually don’t mind that he wanted to come. He’s still kind of stiff and overly formal at times, but I’m slowly wearing him down, and I’ve genuinely grown to love him like a brother. The problem is our couch; it popped a spring this week and we haven’t had time to fix it, so there’s nowhere for Jasper to sleep.”
“Ahh, gotcha. Tell him to come some other time then. I’m sure he’ll understand.”
My suggestion is met with a grimace. “They’re already here. The three of them arrived a couple of hours ago and came straight to the Village. Evan left work early so he could keep them occupied while I wrap up some things before the weekend. Ivy and Hugh are still away, but Ivy said Jasper can stay with them tomorrow when they get back to town. That still leaves tonight, though.”
