I can’t help but notice that my Alphas have stopped what they’re doing. I just smile and shake my head as I open the box and find one of the most beautifully decorated cakes I’ve ever seen.
“Tansy,” I say breathlessly, looking over at her. “Did you hand-pipe all of this?”
She just scoffs. “Of course I did. What kind of baker do you think I am?”
I huff out a laugh as I look back down at the cake. “A damn good one. I can’t hand-pipe like this. Not by a long shot.”
“Well, with another bakery in town, I get a chance at showcasing what I’m really capable of doing. And around here, autumn is another big time for weddings.”
“Oh, really?” I ask.
“Oh, yeah,” Walker says as he leans against the doorway of the kitchen, still sipping his wine. “I’ve got six scheduled next month here at the vineyard gazebo.”
I smile at the thought of the gazebo. The first time Walker ever allowed himself to be vulnerable enough to pour his heart out.
That place will always be special to me.
“And I get slammed every year,” Tansy says, pulling my attention back to her. “More orders than I can reasonably handle on my own.”
“Okay,” I say as I close the cake box. “So, what’s the proposition?”
“Well,” Tansy says as she motions to the box. “I love hand-piping cakes. But I never have any time to actually do that. It’s one of the many things I have to outsource during the spring and fall. But I figured if I wasn’t the only one taking on wedding seasons around here, I’d be able to do more things that I enjoy with my baking without sacrificing money in the process.”
I crook an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
She motions to my kitchen. “You sell my cake-piping services here, I sell your seasonal cinnamon rolls in my shop, like we’ve been doing. We split the proceeds fifty-fifty, and you help me cater the pastry and danish orders that pour in during this time of the year.”
Walker speaks up. “Are the catering proceeds also fifty-fifty?”
“Shh,” I say to him before I look at Tansy. “But he’s got a good question. Fifty-fifty on those as well?”
Tansy smiles. “Of course. We wouldn’t just be making them; we’d also be setting them up and things before the reception. That definitely earns a fifty-fifty commission split.”
My mind starts turning. What a wonderful offer this is. More baking volume means more exposure. And more exposure comes with more financial stability in the long run. That means growth for my bakery.
Which means I could finally offload my freelance clients and make more room in my schedule for other things I want to do.
“I’d want to go over the numbers with Walker,” I say carefully. “Make sure everything’s fair on both sides.”
“Of course,” Tansy says with a nod of her head. “We’ll draw up something official. Contracts, paperwork, the whole nine.”
“I’ve got a lawyer we can get on the phone tonight,” Walker says. “He can help draft something up, and we can go back and forth until the language is right.”
“Sounds fine to me,” Tansy says.
I smile as I extend my hand. “So, we have a deal? For now?”
Tansy grins and shakes my head. “For now. We’ll bat the details back and forth here over the next couple of weeks.”
We shake, and something shifts into place. Another piece of my future locked in. Tansy goes from shaking my hand to pulling me into a hug, and I lean into it. After all, she’s the one who gave me a chance to prove that I’m somebody in a kitchen.
I’ll never be able to thank her enough for it.
“Congratulations, Lia. Seriously,” Tansy mumbles.
I squeeze her tight. “Thank you. For everything.”
When we finally release the hug, she heads out of the kitchen with a wave of her hand. Walker’s grinning at me proudly and I hear Knox cursing underneath his breath at that light he’s trying to fix. Amber’s laughter echoes down the hallway; she’s no doubt running around with Pickles somewhere.
