“We do,” said Vanessa. “But let me finish. I love you, Joey. I’ve never said those words to anyone before. I’ve never felt the way I do with you. You’re different to the others.” She laughed. “So very different.” She kissed Joey’s cheek.
Warmth spread through Joey’s body. Perhaps, somehow, this was going to work out.
“My gran made me promise to stick at something, to stop being so flighty. I told her about my plans to open a cafe and she told me I needed to stick with it. I promised her I would.” Vanessa paused and looked upwards. “But if Igo back to Birmingham and open my cafe there, I don’t know how this could work between us.”
Joey’s stomach turned. This was it. This was Vanessa saying goodbye, despite all they’d said.
“You in the bakery here, and me in the cafe in Birmingham. We’d be working all the hours. It would be so hard to see each other with any regularity. I just can’t see how it would work,” Vanessa went on.
Joey’s head dropped.
Vanessa put a finger under Joey’s chin and gently brought her face back up. She spoke quietly. “Which is why I’m not going back.”
Joey wasn’t sure she’d heard what she thought she’d heard. “What?”
Vanessa grinned. “I couldn’t leave you. Gran wasn’t just talking about the cafe. She was talking about all aspects of my life. How could I possibly be true to my promise to her if I met the love of my life and then left her to chase a business idea?”
Joey swallowed. “But what about the premises? What about the cafe plans?”
“I couldn’t do it,” admitted Vanessa. “I knew that it fitted my original plans. But changing plans doesn’t mean I’m losing touch with my dream. Since working here with you and Carmen in the bakery, I can see that this is absolutely what I should be doing. But perhaps I can do it here, not in Birmingham?”
Joey’s eyes went wide and her heart skipped a beat.
“That is, if you’d want me here.” Vanessa licked her lips. “I mean, I could work here, if you’d have me.”
“Yes!” exclaimed Joey. “Yes to all of that.”
“I know I have so much still to learn,” said Vanessa,smiling. “But I think with you as my teacher and my boss, I can learn it all.”
“No,” said Joey instinctively. “I have a better idea. We tell Carmen that we’ll run this business together after she retires.”
“What?” Now it was Vanessa’s turn to look surprised. “But I know so little about baking, and my Spanish is deeply flawed.”
“Of course, you’re still learning about Spanish baking, but your English bakes are unimpeachable. And you’re picking up Spanish so quickly I can hardly believe you’re the same woman who could barely speak a word of it just a few weeks ago. I heard you chatting with a customer almost fluently the other day. I was impressed.” Joey gave Vanessa a smile.
“Really?” Vanessa beamed, her eyes shining.
“Really. I think we bring different things, and isn’t that what a business partnership – or any partnership, for that matter – is about?” Joey stood and pulled Vanessa up to join her.
“I think so.” Vanessa nodded. “And I think we owe it to Sophia and Teresa to be together because they couldn’t.”
“Amen to that, Vanessa.” Joey pulled her girlfriend to her and kissed her softly on the lips.
Hours later they were still dancing together in the street, drinking Carmen’s special lemonade. Giddy with happiness, Joey twirled Vanessa late into the night, finally beginning to believe in the power of happy endings.
Chapter Fifty-Two
VANESSA
“Good morning, boss,” said Vanessa. She couldn’t hide the smile on her face as she looked over at Joey. It was the morning after the party and the sun had been up for some time.
Joey opened one eye and then the other. “Um, that sounds a bit kinky, especially given the plan is for us to be business partners.”
Vanessa shrugged. “Potato, potato. You can boss me about this morning if you like.”
Joey laughed. “You are incorrigible.” She looked at Vanessa for a moment, then rolled on top of her. “But if you insist.”
Vanessa moaned in pleasure. She knew they were on the brink of a host of new chapters. But here and now, it was about being together and enjoying each other.
