I turn slowly toward my kitchen, looking around at everything. At my ovens, and my countertops, and the crest that dots everything from the utensils I use to the packaging I need for deliveries around town.
“I have a bakery,” I whisper.
Emotion rushes up my throat so fast it nearly chokes me. My dream has finally come true. But before I can spiral too far, a sharp ding cuts through the air.
The oven.
My goodness, how could I have forgotten about that?
I rush toward the oven and yank down the door. I grab an oven mitt and slide it over my hand before pulling out the cookie sheet cake. I plop it onto the top of the stove, watching it steam as the chocolate melts perfectly into the cookie dough.
“Cool faster,” I murmur.
“Smells good,” Knox says as I hear him coming down from the ladder.
“Whatcha making?” Eli asks.
“Don’t you guys have stuff to do?” I ask, giving them pointed looks.
Walker holds his hands up in surrender. “Come on, guys. Let’s leave our Omega to work in peace.”
Knox comes over and presses a kiss to the top of my head. I smile up at him before Eli kisses my cheek. Walker blows me a kiss from the doorway he’s practically taken up residence in, and I watch as my Alphas exit my kitchen.
Good.
Because I have something I need to do, and I can’t have them hovering over me while I do it.
I move the sheet pan to the kitchen island in the middle of the room so that it’s away from any heat source that may hinder it cooling down in a timely fashion.
It doesn’t take me long to split open the baking pumpkin and acorn squash before I pull out another sheet pan. While the oven comes back to temperature, I grab a few sweet potatoes and stick a fork into them so they can vent while they’re baking.
Then I slide them all into the oven so they’ll be ready to bake this afternoon.
“All right,” I say to myself as I turn back to the cookie sheet, “let’s get the icing made up for?—”
A phone ringing on the wall of the kitchen pulls me out of my head. I whip my attention toward it before taking off like a bolt of lightning. My first-ever phone call to my bakery. I wonder if it’s an order for something?
I’m vibrating with excitement as I pick up the phone.
I clear my throat and put on my best professional voice before I speak. “Milk & Honey Pastries, this is Lia speaking. What can I make for you today?”
“Miss Lia!” I hear Dr. Quinn say on the other side of the line. “Good morning. I heard your bakery is finally open. Are you taking orders?”
I smile as I reach for a pad and a pen. “Of course I am, Doc. What can I get for you?”
“Do you make Boston crème pies, by any chance?”
“I do. How many do you need?”
“Do you make them in minis? Or just the one size?”
I smile. “I can make them any size you need. You wanting smaller ones for little individual snacks or something?”
“I love them with my morning coffee.”
“Ah,” I say as I scribble the order down. “So, a week’s worth of mini Boston crème pies?”
“How much will that run me?”
