“Anyway, I’m on a job, so I have to hop off here. But keep in touch, okay? And find yourself someone else other than that self-defense guy to talk with. I don’t care. Find someone else. Make a friend. Do something that doesn’t involve training to beat the living shit out of another human being.”
I furrowed my brow before I took another bite.
“I’ll consider it,” I told him.
CHAPTER 6
HEATHER
“Welcome to Heather’s Bake Shop. How can I help you?”
“Yes, do you have any specials going on today?”
You mean like the bakery up the road?
“Are you a first-time customer?” I asked.
“I am.”
“Then I do! Every first-time customer gets twenty percent off the total price of their purchase.”
“Oh, how wonderful! Could I get three cinnamon rolls, then, and half a dozen cupcakes?”
“Would you like them gift-wrapped, boxed, or packaged individually?” I asked.
“Boxed, please.”
“Wonderful. Let me get those for you, and then I’ll get you rung up.”
“Thank you so much.”
“The pleasure’s all mine,” I said.
“Welcome to Heather’s Bake Shop. How can I help you?” I asked.
“Yes, do you do wedding cake orders?”
“I certainly do. I have a catalog of wedding cakes available in all sorts of flavors and fillings, as well as some pictures on some of the designs I’ve done in the past. Would you like to sit down and look at them?”
“I would love to, yes.”
“Welcome to Heather’s Bake Shop.”
It was the busiest I’d been in a long time. I had five customers come in back-to-back that morning, a rare occurrence I almost thought wasn’t possible any longer. And four of them had ordered things on the spot. The other? She placed a massive wedding cake order that had me excited for the money that would come in. I sat down with her and brought out some samples for her to try before she landed on the one she wanted, then she paid half of the cost up front before she left.
I was dancing on cloud nine. Until a familiar voice hit my ears.
“Well, look at that beautiful woman behind the register.”
“Charlie,” I said as I turned around. “What brings you in here?”
“I was craving a slice of cake, and I thought, ‘who better to go and see than the most beautiful woman in town?’”
“How sweet,” I said as I plastered on a smile.
“So, how are things going here?” he asked.
“What kind of cake would you like?”