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“But I haven’t even paid yet,” I said while taking out my wallet.
“You’re going to help me with the strudels, right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Then that’s all the payment I need.”
I hesitated a moment, then dropped a five inside the tip jar. Just because she told me I didn’t have to pay, that didn’t mean I wasn't going to give her something for her time. And I’d already used up a lot of it this morning as it was.
“Here you are,” Kate said once she carried my things over to the table. “Anything else?”
“Would your boss be pissed if you sat down?” Out of all the times I’d come in here, Kate never stopped. She was like one of those windup toys, but even I could see she was run-down.
“These things won’t make themselves,” she said with a watery smile. “If they could, I wouldn’t be here.”
“That’d be extra creepy as well. I love animal crackers, don’t get me wrong, but if they came to life?” I shivered.
“What about man-eating cupcakes?”
“Death by frosting. Sounds pretty good to me.”
Kate smiled, fixed her hair when it fell in front of her eyes, then hurried into the back of the shop. As much as I wanted the strudels we’d planned to make, I couldn’t help but wonder if we’d be better off hanging out instead. It wasn’t just for my health but hers as well.
Once lunch rolled around, she’d be on her feet nonstop. So if I could help her with that, even a little bit, I would.
* * *
Occupying myself for three hours wasn’t as easy as I thought. Between Dustin sending me random texts and my upcoming baking lesson with Kate, I was a mess. Going home wouldn't help, so after hovering around the bakery for longer than was necessary, I headed to the other side of town.
Rumors and nosy-bodies aside, there was one thing about Oaksprings that I absolutely adored.
Trails. Dozens of them.
They ran behind buildings, through the three parks, and surrounded our entire town. We even had a butterfly garden with beautiful flowers that bloomed in the spring. They didn’t look like much now, but they still brought me a bit of comfort as I counted down to my time with Kate.
Maybe before she left I could bring her here. She said she was majoring in art, so there was a good chance she’d enjoy it as well.
“If you don’t fail,”my wolf rumbled in the back of my mind.
I won’t.Besides, it wasn’t like I was courting her or anything. I just wanted to hang out.
“In a kitchen.”
Okay. So maybe it wasn’t the best idea in the world, but when Kate asked, there was no way I could say no. She was making the strudels for me, after all. It would’ve been rude of me to turn her down.
Then again, as I watched a Blue Morpho fly from a white Butterfly Bush to the Honeysuckle beside it, I couldn’t help feeling nervous because of her. She’d been in town for two weeks, and I still couldn’t bring myself to tell her. Not about me, my wolf, or why I continued to visit her.
These things take time,I reminded myself. Time I was quickly running out of.
I didn’t know when Kate was supposed to go home, but if I didn’t do something soon, I’d lose what little opportunity I had.
Granted, asking someone out over a strudel sounded absurd, but maybe I wouldn’t have to. The day I went in and she asked for advice, it felt as though she was reaching out to me. Not in the way wolves do, of course, but I still felt a tiny nudge behind my heart, urging me to do the same.
I didn’t do anything about it then because I was too busy trying to do what she’d asked. Today, however? Today would be different. Standing that close to her without anyone else around, I just knew I’d be focused on her.
