“You look like you had a good weekend,” I said.
“Found a new apartment,” he said, and then his grin broadened. “But that’s not all. Okay, so we’re not telling anyone, because it’s super new, so you can’t say a word and you gotta remember to act surprised in a few weeks, but Jess is pregnant.”
“Seriously? That’s awesome, man.” I hugged him, and he slapped my back. “Congratulations. Holy shit.”
Tyler was walking on clouds as we started work for the day, firing up the ovens for the morning’s first batch of bread and pastries. He didn’t even complain about frosting the cupcakes, and that was his least favorite job. Mine too, which was why I delegated it to him.
I liked working at Gobble de Goose in a way I’d never liked working at South Hill, and it wasn’t just because I was in charge. I liked it because Bobby was weird as hell, but he didn’t treat his employees like shit. Okay, so I wasn’t a fan of the khaki pants and polo shirts—we looked more like we were selling Jesus instead of pastries—but everything else was so good that I could overlook the uniform.
Every small town like Goose Run used to have a bakery, once upon a time, as well as a general store, and a drug store with a soda fountain and a milkshake counter, and all kinds of businesses flourishing along Main Street—all of them killed by declining populations and the big box stores a few towns over. When Bobby had opened Gobble de Goose, it wasn’t just about cupcakes and pastries. It was about building a community, and it was cool to be a part of that.
Chase knocked on the front door just before seven, and I let him in.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.” He flashed me a smile as he unzipped his jacket and bundled it onto the shelf in the little back hallway. He tied his apron on.
“You okay?” I asked him.
“Yeah.” His smile faltered, and then he darted forward and kissed me quickly, just a brush of his mouth against mine that was so soft I hardly felt it. It filled me with warmth, though, and settled the unease that had been twisting in my stomach since yesterday. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please.” Never thought I’d be saying that to the guy who’d worked behind the counter at Goose Run Gas.
He raised his eyebrows and jutted his chin out the way he always did when he was looking to be an argumentative asshole. “Are there peanut butter cookies today?”
I folded my arms across my chest. “You know I can make macarons and mille-feuille, right?Mille-feuille. And here you are asking for peanut butter cookies you can get from Walmart.”
He looked pleased that I’d given him the fight he wanted. “Fuck you. Peanut butter cookies are the best.”
“Peanut butter cookies are the basic bitch of the cookie world.”
“Fuck you,” he said again, but he was trying his hardest not to grin. He pushed me out of the way as he headed out behind the counter and then turned and gave me a suspicious look. “Therearepeanut butter cookies, right?”
“Of course,” I said, putting him out of his misery. “But I’m making you mille-feuille tomorrow.”
“Whatever.”
Yeah, he seemed back to his normal, abrasive self. Still, I leaned in the doorway for a moment longer, then said, “Is Cash okay?”
Chase’s gaze flickered. “Yeah.”
There was more that he wasn’t saying, which was Chase all over, but I nodded and said, “Good.”
I got back to work. It was a busy day, and it was made busier by the fact that over in South Hill, Henry had fucked up an order for two hundred cookies for an event, and the customer was frantically phoning around to see if anyone could fill it by closing. Chase answered the call and brought the phone to me, and the customer was delighted to find out that not only could we get the order done, we were the same bakers she’d ordered from for the last event.
“Yeah, we’re over in Goose Run now,” I said. “At Gobble de Goose. And we use better ingredients here, trust me on that.”
Tyler flashed me a grin as he immediately pivoted to making more cookie dough.
I’d have to talk to Bobby about getting an online store set up for bigger orders and special requests. Maybe we could even look at doing custom cakes. We’d need more staff, but I figured most of the crew at South Hill Bakery would be willing to make the jump now Gobble de Goose was becoming established. And I liked the idea of poaching all of Henry’s staff after he’d been such a prick to me.
We got the cookies done just in time, slotting them in around our usual batches. It made for a hectic day, but both Tyler and I were glad to be able to stick it to Henry. Still, I was tired as hell by the time we closed up, and did the prep for tomorrow, and cleaned up.
“No more rush orders, boss,” Tyler grumbled as he left for the afternoon. Then he grinned. “Worth it, though.”
“Worth it,” I agreed and locked the door behind him.
Chase was emptying the trash.
