Page 59

Mara smiled. “Go to bed. Wake up when you wake up.”

Karina gave her a tired look. “You’re not very good at compromise.”

“Not when the other option is you falling over.”

That finally earned the beginnings of a smile. Karina collected her bag, paused long enough to tell Gabe what Bear Bluff was sending over next, then pointed at him as she backed toward the door. “Do not touch the morning-bun dough until I get back.”

“I heard you.”

“I mean it.”

“Go home, Karina.”

She went.

The kitchen felt oddly quieter after the door closed behind her, although the ovens were running and Matilda was already serving customers out front. Mara pushed up her sleeves and came to stand beside Gabe. “Well,” she said, looking at the trays waiting for them. “Where do we start?”

His bear stirred, pleased. She’s certainly good at jumping into whatever needs doing.

She is.

Gabe reached for her hand and squeezed it once. “Right here.”

First Gabe showed her how much filling went into the pastries Karina had left ready for them and how to seal the edges without forcing it out. Mara watched him do two, tried one herself, frowned at the uneven result and tried again. “Better?”

Gabe turned the pastry slightly. “Much.”

“That sounded diplomatic.”

“It was diplomatic.”

Mara smiled and nudged him with her elbow. “Show me again.”

So he did. The second time, Gabe stood beside her rather than opposite, guiding her fingers when she pressed too hard along one edge. Mara’s hands were cool from washing them, and for a moment he was much more aware of her fingers beneath his than of the pastry between them.

She glanced sideways at him. “Am I doing it wrong again?”

“No.”

“Then you can probably let go of my hand.”

Gabe looked down. He was still holding it. “Probably.” He didn’t move immediately, and Mara’s smile told him she knew why.

Eventually there were pastries to finish and customers out front and no time to do anything about the way she was looking at him. Gabe went back to his side of the table, but every so often their shoulders touched as they worked.

It wasn’t the quiet time he might once have imagined if somebody had told him he would spend a day baking with his mate. Matilda came through twice needing more boxes. Someone from Bear Bluff arrived with another rack. The phone rang often enough that Gabe eventually handed it to Mara and told her to answer anything that wasn’t a supplier. She took it without looking alarmed.

Half an hour later she had a sheet of paper beside her with three columns, two names Gabe didn’t recognize, and an arrow connecting something from Bear Bluff to the next free oven slot.

Gabe looked over while he was washing his hands. “Should I be worried?”

“Only if you move anything without telling me.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“It’s not. Karina had people doing the right jobs in two different places. Nobody knew what the other place was doing.”

“So you fixed it.”