“I’m hoping you can help me with a small project.”
Now, Jacqui was on guard, even as she was still feeling a little flush from the heat of his grin.
“What kind of project?” she asked warily.
To his credit, he toned down the wattage on his smile and gave her a sincere look.
“I’m new in town, here for a little while. I own a jewelry company, and I have this little tradition. Because I’ve been so blessed with earthly riches, I like to find a way to share some of that with any new city I visit.” He shrugged. “It’s just something I do to make the city feel a little more like home while I’m there.”
Jacqui tilted her head and studied him. “That’s an interesting way to do things. Are you looking to share those riches with me?”
He laughed, and the sound was heavenly.
“In a way. I saw a few homeless people on the streets on my drive in from the airport. I thought I might buy some food to hand out. I didn’t want anything elaborate, since I know that’s hard to do on short notice, and something that they won’t necessarily have to eat right away.” He gestured at the pastry-filled cases. “I saw your bakery and thought you might be able to help.”
“Sure,” Jacqui said. “I’d be happy to sell you stuff to give away. How much would you like to buy?”
“All of it.”
Jacqui was convinced she’d heard wrong, but the man just watched her evenly.
“All of it?”
“Yes.” He nodded firmly.
“Um…” she looked around, thinking. “Okay. Even the cakes?”
The man looked at the cakes and pies, and then back at her. “Even the cakes. Surely the homeless deserve a treat, too.”
Jacqui blushed and shook her head.
“No, it’s just… How do you want to hand those out? We generally sell them whole, but I can do slices, too, if that’s what you want.”
“Ah.”
It was the only answer Jacqui got and she could see him thinking rapidly.
She finally asked, “Where do you plan to hand things out?”
He gave her a small, somehow more genuine smile, and said, “I don’t know, really. I was going to drive back through my earlier route, and then maybe look for a soup kitchen or something similar. Perhaps, um, you might offer some suggestions?”
Jacqui smiled at him gently and nodded.
“I know a few organizations, including a local shelter, that would be delighted to have a few cakes or pies on hand for meals today.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you.”
Jacqui stood up straighter and looked around.
“Well, then. Let me get to work.”
She started to gather boxes and bags, and then opened the case to pull out trays of baked goods. Jacqui noticed that her customer was pacing a little in the small front area.
“Would you like some coffee or something?” she asked. “On me. It’s the least I can do for my best customer of the day.”
“No, thank you.” He stood there and watched her, then hesitantly asked, “Would you like some help?”
Jacqui thought for a moment. She wasn’t comfortable with him being behind the counter—insurance policies didn’t look kindly on customers being back there—but he could box things up as she laid them out.
“Sure. Let me grab some bigger boxes, and you can use the tables to portion the smaller bags out into groups of items.”
He nodded and between the two of them, it didn’t take long to package everything up. Jacqui put each of the whole cakes and pies into a separate box, and had the handsome man put them into three different carriers, so they could easily go to the different organizations.
As Jacqui finished bringing out the last of the cookies from behind the counter, he pulled out a checkbook and began writing. He tore the check out and handed it to Jacqui as she closed the last box.
Jacqui's eyes widened as she read the check. “I need to ring everything up to be sure, but even with taxes, I think you’ve overpaid.”
He shook his head and held up a hand.
“I have a head for numbers. I calculated based on your menu prices,” he said and looked up. “Plus, I added taxes and a sufficient fee to cover your time and effort in packing everything up.”
“It is indeed sufficient. It’s really more than. Thank you.”
Jacqui wasn’t going to look this gift horse in the mouth. The amount was enough to keep the bakery up and running for a few more weeks, and obviously, this guy could afford it.
She walked back behind the counter to put the check in the register.
“Here, let me write down the addresses of the places you can go to deliver all this stuff.”