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She giggled to herself, imagining the look on Jane’s face when Mason went all peacock on her, strutting around, trying to convince her that she was the one for him. Thinking back over the conversation, she probably should have warned him that Jane was fully human.
Gerri shrugged. “Serves him right.”
She picked up her cell phone and stared at it for a minute before placing it on her desk again. She had thought about texting or calling Jane to warn her about the incoming shitshow that was about to turn her life upside down, but she feared Jane would never forgive her meddling. She wouldn’t interfere any further than she already had.
In Gerri’s defense, she had dropped the subject of hooking up Jane with anyone after their last conversation well over a month ago. Mason had come to her on his own. Gerri had nothing to do with arranging a meeting with him. Her conscience was clear when it came to that. Still, she did feel a tiny bit of guilt knowing what or rather who was heading Jane’s way.
Her friend was about to have her life turned upside down in a big way. Gerri couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face. Whether Jane knew it or not, Mason was exactly what she needed to shake up her entire world. And Gerri had the very distinct feeling that Mason was going to be hella’ good at driving Jane insane.
THREE
“Good morning,” Jane called out as Amelia and Yulia, her two full-time workers, arrived at the bakery to start their day. It was Monday morning, and they had several large orders to prepare before their customers arrived to pick them up.
“Good morning,” they said in unison.
Amelia tossed her apron on before asking, “What’s on the schedule for today, boss lady?”
Jane glanced down at her iPad. “We have four dozen donuts, mixed. Eight dozen bagels. Five dozen cupcakes and three cakes. I already have the cakes and cupcakes in the oven. I’m working on the bagels now. If the two of you want to start on donuts, that would be great.” She didn’t know what she would do without Amelia and Yulia. They had both become such an integral part of her day-to-day operations.
“Easy peasy. We’re on it,” Yulia finished tying her apron around her, and the two of them set off on their task.
“What did everyone do this weekend?” Amelia asked.
“Laundry. And chased the kids around the house,” Yulia replied. “I was glad when my alarm went off at 3:30 this morning just so I could get a break from home life.”
“Ha! Is it really that bad?” Amelia asked.
“Girl, just wait till you pop three hellions outta’ your coochie. Then we’ll talk. Taking care of three kids under the age of five is exhausting. It was super fun when my Lilly begged for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, then proceeded to have a full-on meltdown when I handed it to her.” Yulia rolled her eyes.
“Did she decide she didn’t want it?” Jane asked.
“Oh, she wanted it. The problem was the jelly. She wanted it on the bottom of the sandwich.” Yulia shook her head, remembering the ridiculous situation and severity of her daughter’s tantrum.
“What? That doesn’t even make sense,” Amelia said.
“So what did you do,” Jane asked.
“Grabbed the plate, walked into the kitchen, and flipped the damn sandwich over. She wiped away the crocodile tears and thanked me for making her a new sandwich when I gave it back to her.”
“Oh, God!” Amelia laughed.
“That wasn’t even the best part of the weekend. Little Max realized he had balls and flipped his shit. It freaked him out so badly that he started trying to rip them out of his body. I couldn’t even deal with that. I dropped him on my husband’s lap and told him to deal. Lilly heard what was going on and demanded to know why she didn’t have balls. Cue the second meltdown before noon. So, yeah. Work is a nice break. Please tell me that one or both of you had a sexy date and an amazing weekend. Let me live vicariously through one or both of you.”
“I didn’t do anything fun. My sister came over on Saturday, and we watched a movie, ordered pizza, and a couple bottles of wine,” Jane said.
“Didn’t you have a hot date you were looking forward to, Amelia?” Yulia asked.
Amelia’s face turned beet red. She tried turning away, but it was too late. Both Jane and Yulia had seen it.
“Spill it. What happened?” Jane demanded.
“Ugh! I don’t even wanna talk about it,” Amelia sighed.
“That bad?” Jane asked, sympathetic to Amelia’s plight.
“Girl, you just don’t have a clue. Either of you.” She motioned back and forth between Jane and Yulia.
“If Mark and I ever get divorced, I’m staying single. I’ve heard enough horror stories over the years to know that I don’t ever want to go down that road again,” Yulia replied.
