Page 19 of Luke: The Bears

He walked over to her and said, “It’s Sigh. He has a bun emergency?”

She took the phone with a curious look. “Hi, this is Valley. You’re Juliette’s… mate?”

Luke couldn’t hear everything Sigh said, but he saw her expression shift from amused to focused. “Well, I’d need to see your kitchen first, and how many you need, plus your opening time.”

There was a pause.

“A hundred? Shit. Okay, that’s a lot of emergency buns for a business that opens in six hours.”

Luke grinned at her and she beamed at him. “I can do it. I mean I have a quick rise recipe that makes a good burger bun, but it’s not the kind you use. It’s not a slow rise brioche or a pretzel bun or anything fancy.”

There was another pause. She rose to her feet. “I’ll need ingredients. And an extra pair of hands. Okay, see you in a few minutes.”

She handed the phone to Luke.

“All right, sexy, what do you need?” he asked.

“I need to see The Howl’s kitchen, and then I need to run to a warehouse store.”

“I’ve got your back.”

He closed the back of the truck and texted Colt that he was going to call off for the day, promising to explain later, and then he drove Valley to the tavern. After a perusal of the kitchen, and learning that Sigh had purchased a commercial mixer but never used it so it was sitting in the storage room, they took The Howl’s credit card and headed to the store.

Exactly one hour and twenty-two minutes later, he and Sigh were carrying flour, yeast, butter, eggs, milk, sugar, and baking trays into The Howl’s kitchen.

For the next few hours, Valley was a machine. She clipped her hair up, slid on a hair net, washed her hands and tied on an apron. Then she directed Luke, Juliette, and Audrey to help as she measured, mixed, and gave orders without apology.

Luke did whatever she asked.

When the first trays came out of the ovens, the kitchen filled with the smell of fresh baked bread. Valley’s cheeks were flushed from the heat, flour dusted one side of her shirt, and a loose curl had escaped the hair net. She looked like an angel. And Luke was even more smitten with her.

Sigh cooked a burger, and cut open a bun, sliding the burger onto it.

He sliced the burger in half and took a bite out of one side, then handed it to Juliette, who tore off a section and gave it to Audrey. Luke took the other half and split it with Valley.

Luke took a bite and said, “Holy shit.”

Valley took a bite. “The burger is good, Sigh.”

The burger of the week was for Trick’s mate Cassidy, named the Burger Next Door. Luke thought the burger, topped with cheese, bacon, and a burger sauce that Cassidy made, was awesome.

“Thanks, but the bun is excellent. This is even better than what I was getting from the baker out of town,” Sigh said.

Luke put his arm around Valley and kissed the top of her head. “You did good, baby.”

She looked at him with a broad smile. “Thank you for helping me.”

Sigh brushed his hands together. “We’re not done yet, people. We’ve got ninety minutes to open.”

“Next trays are going in,” Valley said. She went onto her toes and kissed Luke, then hurried to the sink to wash her hands.

Sigh clapped him on the shoulder. “She’s amazing. Thanks for bringing her here.”

“You’re welcome.”

Luke finished the burger in his hand and then washed his hands, joining Valley to finish loading up the dough onto the trays and putting them in the ovens.

By the time The Howl opened, the buns were cooled on racks and ready to be filled with burgers. He and Valley said goodbye to the wolves and walked out into the parking lot.