“That’s it on this list,” he announced.
“Okay. Mary will be here any minute with the step van, and we’ll load all this up and get out of here.”
“Do you own a step van?” he asked.
“No. I borrowed Molly Vandyke’s step van today. She produces eggs, fresh greens, herbs, and mushrooms at her farm and has a step van to deliver them to grocery stores and restaurants all over the valley.”
On cue a vehicle rumbled up behind the bakery and Grace propped open the back door with the infamous brick, shooting a wry smile at Reno as she did so. He pitched in to help carry everything out to the van.
Grace came around the counter with a box of bridesmaid bouquets as he came in the back door. He stepped aside to let her through, but the aisle behind the counter wasn’t built for two people. Her shoulder brushed past his chest close enough that he could smell, very specifically, butter and yeast and something that wasn’t flowers. Was that her perfume? It was fresh and green with a citrus note and utterly captivating.
Mary barged through the door, forcing Grace to stop right there, with her shoulder brushing against his shirt and her perfume filling his nostrils. He inhaled sharply. Then she inhaled sharply.
Mary moved on, and Grace paused for half a second longer than necessary before continuing past him. Then she disappeared outside, and the moment was over. But he suspected he wasn’t going to forget it for a long time.
With three of them working, they had the van loaded in a jiffy. Mary climbed in the driver’s seat, and Grace sat on the floor in the back beside the cakes. She looked out at him anxiously. “You’re sure you don’t want me to close the store today?”
“You showed me how to run the cash register, and it’s not rocket science to put food in bags and little boxes. I’m not going to attempt espressos, for which I thank you. That machine is impossible to comprehend but I can certainly pour coffee out of a pot. I’ll be fine.”
“The bakery usually closes at three, but I told all my regulars I was closing the shop at two o’clock today. So you only have to survive an hour-and-a-half.”
He nodded briskly.
“We should be back in about three hours,” she told him. “Call me if you have any problems with Lily.”
“We’ll be fine,” he replied jauntily. “What can go wrong in three hours with a four-year-old?”
A combination of amusement and alarm flashed through her gaze. “Lily.” She looked at her daughter who’d come to the bakery’s back door to stand beside him. “Mr. Reno is going to be at the front counter for a couple of hours while Mommy goes to the wedding. You’ll be his helper, okay?”
“’Kay.”
“And you’ll be on your best behavior, right?”
Reno caught the pint-sized shrug she gave her mother out of the corner of his eye.
“Lily Marie.”
“Fine. Best behavior.” Lily turned around and marched out of the kitchen with her chin at an imperious angle.
“How did I end up with such a dramatic child?” Grace muttered.
“She’s smart.”
“Don’t flatter her.”
“Wasn’t. Being smart comes with having lots of opinions. She’s just learning to express hers.”
Grace rolled her eyes. “And don’t let her eat herself sick on cookies.”
“I’ll set the cookie limit at two.”
“She negotiated me up to three.”
“Three, then. With prejudice. And Grace? You’re a pushover.”
She flashed him another one of those mesmerizing smiles of hers. “Thanks for doing this, Reno.”
“My pleasure, ma’am.”
