Reina
I'd met Cooper and Aspen at a local store to go over what I wanted for the kitchen.This store didn't have baker's grade options in stock, but we could look at the online catalogue and order them.
Aspen scrolled through the options.
"This is like Christmas morning," I said with a smile.
"I thought it was going to be more fun than this.I thought we'd have paint colors to pick or seating.But Morgan didn't mention that we were choosing appliances, and not just any appliances but commercial grade," Aspen grumbled.
I shrugged."This is so much more fun than when I did it the first time."
"Morgan said you need to get exactly what you want.No holding back this time.He wants this to be your dream kitchen," Cooper reminded me.
Aspen shook her head."Shouldn't your dream kitchen be in your house, not a store?"
I laughed."Not when you own a bakery.This is the most important kitchen in my life."
"I'm not sure I can help.All I see is a lot of stainless steel.There're no real choices."
Cooper moved between us."This is what Morgan was thinking will fit best in your space."
He took over for Aspen, showing us each appliance.I trusted Morgan to get the dimensions right, and I knew what I needed."I'm excited to finally cook in this new kitchen."
Cooper placed the order with the worker, and then said, "We have to pick furniture next.We can do that at my office."
"Can you help with that part?I want to know what kind of seating people would want in a bakery," I asked Aspen.She was good at giving her opinion about that kind of stuff, and she'd worked in a lot of businesses.
She grinned."I'd love to."
Cooper sighed, and I wondered if they weren't close or if she annoyed him.Either way, I valued Aspen's opinion.She was fun to be around, and she had an eye for design.
She truly fit in anywhere.That's why I couldn't understand why Cooper didn't seem to like her being around.
We drove to the office.I'd never been there before, but it was professional.We filed into Cooper's office, which was the biggest one.He set up his computer screen so that we could both see it from our seats.
"You said you wanted comfortable wooden tables and chairs inside and possibly upholstered chairs too.What color scheme were you thinking?"
I chewed my lip."I'm not sure."
Aspen pulled out a tablet."Let me show you a few color schemes for the bakery I came up with.You don't have to stick with pink because that's what everyone expects."
"I hadn't even thought about anything else.But I'm intrigued.Show me what you're thinking."
Aspen tilted her screen so that I could see a collage of different color schemes.There were turquoise and white, baby blue and white, different shades of pink, light and hot, and even black and pink.
They were all pretty, but I couldn't pick just one."I almost feel like it's too many options."
"You don't have to pick paint colors today.It's easy to grab paint from the store.We need more time to order furniture," Cooper said.
"If you choose white tables and chairs, they will go with anything.And then I was thinking about a soft leather for your upholstered chairs.Giving it a coffeehouse feel.You have that fireplace in your seating area that you don't use.Does it work?"Aspen asked.
"It does.”I just never bothered to deal with it.I was so busy with everything else.
"You could arrange the leather chairs around the fireplace, creating a lovely gathering area.The tables and chairs could be closer to the windows."Aspen showed me a design she'd made of the space.
"I love this."
Cooper showed us options for the tables and chairs, and then he found several possibilities for the leather chairs.We placed an order, and on the way out, Cooper stopped Aspen."I didn't realize you were into design."
