“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Hal said to me. “You’ll likely need to make another trip to Milwaukee to grab your things. I recommend doing that before starting at Lily’s café on Monday. Lily, think about how Gabe can help you and ensure you’re ready for his first day.”
It was Saturday afternoon, which gave me the rest of today and all of tomorrow to prepare for my first day with Lily.
“If we don’t kill each other before then,” Lily muttered. Her hand was wrapped tightly around the arm of the chair. “If it’s too complicated with your job, it’s not too late to back out. I’m sure you’ll have other opportunities for youridea.” She narrowed her eyes and faked a smile.
“It’s not too complicated. Like Hal said, I’ll figure something out. I’ll make this work, and I have no intention of backing out. I hope you’re ready to be working together.”
I had a feeling this list—along with the blonde next to me—was going to be the bane of my existence.
8
LILY
Well,that wentway worse than I expected.
Once we wrapped up our meeting, I couldn’t leave fast enough. My coat was on halfway and I stumbled over my feet as I pushed open the door. I walked quickly to my apartment, which was above the café and another reminder of what was at stake. Not only was my business in the building that was for sale, but my apartment was, too. I climbed the stairs to the second floor and beelined to my front door.
Hot tears stung the backs of my eyes as I pulled my keys out of my coat pocket and unlocked the door through blurry vision.
How was this happening? I thought Hal and I were on the same page. I thought hewantedme to buy the building.
What hurt the most was that, deep down, I knew he was right. I rarely had time for myself, including my personal and professional goals. I didn’t even realize until earlier today that my winter wish list was missing. Now, it was burning a hole in my pocket.
One thing I was grateful for was that I didn’t add Eliza and Jules’s morecreativeideas. I would’ve never been able to look Hal in the eyes again.
The door closed behind me with athud. I set my keys on the entry table and unwrapped my scarf, the soft wool feeling itchy and suffocating all of a sudden.
Not long after getting inside, I heard a chorus of meows and the patter of paws on the hardwood floor. My two cats, Bandit and Sylvie, trotted toward me. There was nothing like being greeted with purrs and tail hugs—and the occasional meow-scream even though dinner was more than an hour away.
I crouched down, petting both of them. My mood immediately improved, even if it was temporary. “I missed you, too,” I murmured.
Even though I lived alone, there was never a dull moment with these two. I’d adopted them at the same time from the Golden Falls Animal Shelter about five years ago. They were impossible to resist, especially when my first sight was them cuddling together. They were kittens at the time who had bonded when the rest of their respective litters had already been adopted.
Bandit, a male orange tabby, was my stability and emotional support, while Sylvie, a female Calico with black fur and fiery orange and white patches, always kept things interesting. She also kept Bandit in his place, and me, for that matter. Still, they loved to cuddle with each other, and it was more often than not that the three of us would fall asleep on the couch watching TV before making it to bed.
Bandit and Sylvie followed me around the apartment as I turned on the Christmas lights and various lamps. My one-bedroom apartment was small, but I loved the way I had it set up. The front door led right to the living room, where I had my couch, Christmas tree, a television, basket of blankets, and other decorations. I had lots of photos of my family and friends around my apartment, as well as candles and knickknacks I’d gottenfrom various town events and festivals where people were selling goods.
The living room opened up right into the kitchen, where I spent more time baking than cooking. Usually, I had random scraps of paper with recipe notes and revisions lying around, but I’d cleaned up this week. My apartment was spotless, apart from the random socks on the floor that Bandit was known for stealing out of my hamper. His name made more sense now, didn’t it?
I connected my phone to the speaker in the living area and queued up a playlist of my favorite Christmas songs. The iconic chimes of the intro to “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey filled the room.
Sylvie let out a loud meow, which I took as approval for my music choice. She rested her front paws on my shin, and I scooped her up in my arms, carrying her over to the couch. I collapsed onto the couch with Sylvie in my lap. Bandit trotted behind us and swiftly hopped up, squeezing his way onto the sliver of space left on my lap.
How was I going to survive working and spending time with Gabriel Nelson?Of course, he wanted to throw money at the problem.Of course, he already had an idea for the building. Andof course, he wanted to be out of Golden Falls as soon as humanly possible.
Everything I thought about him—that he was arrogant, selfish, and money-motivated—was confirmed in our initial interaction, but…I couldn’t help but wonder about what else Hal had said. About how Gabriel was passionate about sustainability, community development, and affordable housing. Those were all things that were important to me and the people in Golden Falls. Something like thatwouldbe beneficial to the town, but was it really what Gabriel wanted to bring here? Was his father preventing him from reaching hisfull potential, or did Hal have it all wrong? Gabriel was Hal’s grandson, after all. Was Hal only seeing what he wanted?
And now I had tospend timewith him against my will. At least I had the weekend to prepare and come up with an initial plan. Maybe it would be nice to have some help at the café as I figured out who to hire…as long as Gabriel actually was going to help.
I was self-taught at baking, and I’d been wanting to take classes to elevate my skills and continue experimenting with ingredients and recipes. But in order to do that, I needed to hire and train a new employee. That was going to be the first thing I checked off the list.
One thing was for sure: I wasn’t backing down. He was mistaken if he thought this was going to be easy, that I was going to roll over and hand the building to him on a silver platter. No freaking way.
The fact that people in town didn’t want him here was only an advantage for me. Although, it did surprise me that Louise was chatty with him. If he got on her good side, that would be a problem, since she knew the ins and outs of Golden Falls like the back of her hand.
I had my work cut out for me, and I needed to get prepared. And that preparation started with a hot bubble bath.
While I was able to relax in the bath until my skin resembled a raisin, the stress returned to my body immediately upon getting out. Not even my fuzziest Christmas socks could ward off the stress demons.
