“Just a thought. He makes his own dog food and sells it online. He makes a killing.”
Robin reached out a hand to Mischa, then drew it back. “Can I pet her?”
“Sure, go ahead. It’ll help distract her while I look at these stitches.” Lena began doing something that looked complicated on the dog’s flank. A sharp scent of antiseptic filled the air. Robin admired the quiet and matter-of-fact way her friend worked.
“How are you holding up?”
For a moment Robin wondered if she was talking to the dog, but then Lena looked at her expectantly. “I’m doing okay, I guess. We had a minor mishap at the bakery, but I’m handling it.”
Lena bent toward Mischa, her face nearly engulfed in the dog’s fur. “Oh?” The dog’s presence between them muffled Lena’s questioning tone.
“Sammy Johnson is helping me replace a cabinet and some flooring.”
“Oh?” Lena’s voice rose an octave in a tease.
“Is that all you can say?” Robin grinned at her friend.
“Sammy Johnson, eh? Is he still basically Paul Bunyan’s younger brother?”
Robin regretted the fact that she might have mentioned that comparison to Lena back in high school. Broad shouldered, great-looking in a flannel shirt, that day-old stubble on his chin? Yeah, he still reminded her of the famous lumberjack. Except better looking. She buried her face in the dog’s fur for a moment to hide a blush.
“He’s still broad and blond, if that’s what you mean,” she said.
“Interesting.” Lena snapped off her exam gloves and tossed them in the trash.
“What do you mean, interesting?”
“I can’t believe Sammy Johnson is coming and spending so much time fixing up your grandparents’ place,” Lena said, deadpan. “There must be something attracting him to the bakery.” She gave Robin a look that almost passed for innocent.
Lena simply didn’t know what she was talking about. No way was Sammy interested in her. Why were all her friends trying to set her up with him? That ship had sailed in high school. Besides, after she finished helping out her grandparents, she was on the first flight back to Paris. She’d even started surfing the job boards for possible openings over there.
Robin couldn’t let that impression stand. “He’s only doing it for the cupcakes.”
“Oh, sure. The cupcakes. Everyone knows he’s finished his short-term disability. All his other jobs are paying gigs. He needs the money.” Lena stopped just short of rolling her eyes. She moved to the sink along the wall.
Wait, what? Sammy didn’t have any money? Why hadn’t he told her that? She’d offered to pay him. She’d honestly believed him when he said he didn’t need any reimbursement. “All I know is that he is in it for the caramel mocha cupcakes. I paid him off yesterday.”
Sammy had spent the better part of three days finishing up in the kitchen. The space looked completely changed. Okay, not completely. He’d freshened up the look of the place with the tiling he’d installed, and the open-air sink stand he’d built added to the sleek new look. The rest of the space was unchanged. Well, except for the shelving. Robin had asked Sammy to move it after he’d finished with the other work. It really was handier to have it next to the prep station. Hopefully it would be good enough to pass inspection on Monday.
“So he’s all finished up?” Lena scrubbed at her hands.
“Yep. You should see it in there. The whole place used to be so cluttered. Sammy helped me streamline it.” She pictured how the cooler flowed into the prep area seamlessly. And now she could reach the oven without tripping on the shelves. “We left the prep table in the middle though.”
“Is that the one that’s like a family heirloom or something?”
“That’s the one.” The butcher-block-topped table-slash-island was over one hundred years old. Grandpa Jim’s grandmother had had it made for her own kitchen when she was a wealthy lumber baron’s wife. Grandma claimed it was the secret ingredient in many of their recipes. They used the table for shaping the breads and making pastries. Even though it was meticulously cleaned, Grandma claimed that the tradition it contained seeped into every loaf.
She bit back a sigh. She could only pray that Grandma would see the changes as improvements and forgive her for making them without consulting her.
Across from her, Lena was still talking about Sammy. She pulled a few sheets of paper towels from the dispenser. “I think you’ve got to grab that guy with both hands and not let go.” She demonstrated by strangling her paper towels.
Robin laughed. Her usually stoic friend was surprising her with her antics today. “Um, I don’t think so. Besides, there’s nothing to grab. He’s not interested in me.” Sure, there’d been a spark of…something…that afternoon when she’d worked with Ben on equivalent fractions, but that had only been the heat of the moment. “More importantly, I’m not interested in him.” Liar. Maybe. “Or at least, not in a relationship. I have too much going on right now.”
“Oh, come on. Look, I know running a business is hard—trust me, I know. But if I had an opportunity to date someone, I’d take it.”
“It’s not just that. I don’t want to get into a relationship at all. I’m leaving when Grandma and Grandpa get back. It’s not fair to get serious about someone.”
“You wouldn’t have to be serious.”
