“They followed us here,” Hunter alerts me. “Ben is already inside and has confirmed that Ms. Parker arrived a few minutes ago. I’ll get you to the door and he will take you inside, keeping you safe there. I will be with the vehicle and will meet you at the front door when you’re ready to leave.”
“I’m sorry, Hunter, I had no idea all this would be involved just to go to lunch.”
“It’s not a problem, Mrs.–Kenzie. Don’t let them stop you from living your life. They’ll eventually get bored when they realize there isn’t much of a story here.”
“Thank you, Hunter.”
The moment I step out of the SUV, cameras are going off as three different people seem to be waiting for me outside the bistro. Hunter has a hand on my back and one in front of us leading me through the small crowd, which is quickly gathering on the side walk. I’m sure innocent bystanders are wondering what is going on; likely thinking I’m someone famous or something.
“Mrs. Parker! Mrs. Parker!”
My name is called repeatedly, but I just keep walking with Hunter, ignoring everyone.
“What do you say to the rumors that Mr. Parker only married you because you’re pregnant?”
“I can assure you that Mr. Parker and I did not marry because I was pregnant,” I say firmly.
“What is it like to be married to New York’s richest playboy?”
“I wouldn’t know,” I snap. “I’m not married to a playboy. I’m married to a wonderful, faithful, kind man who makes me happier than I’ve ever been. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m meeting someone for lunch.”
Hunter doesn’t say anything, but smiles before handing me off to Ben who is waiting at the front door for me. I’m immediately relieved when the door closes behind me, even though the cameras continue to flash behind me as we walk through the restaurant. I realize that Hunter likely called ahead to arrange for me to meet Cara here as I’m lead to a small table in the back of the bistro, barely visible from the sidewalk.
“Kenzie!” Cara immediately jumps up and hugs me when I reach the table.
“Cara, thank you for inviting me to lunch!”
“I’m glad you were able to come! Tell me about your honeymoon! Was it everything you imagined? What was Fiji like?”
For the next hour or so I tell Cara about Turtle Island and the different activities that the resort offered. I can’t hide the blush when I think about our honeymoon and everything that changed between us that week. We became closer, not just on a physical level… I think we learned more about each other on that trip than we would have had we only been in New York.
“I’m so glad Nicholas decided to take you on a proper honeymoon, I half expected him just to take a day off of work and head right back into the office after the wedding.”
“No, thankfully, he didn’t.”
“We always tried to get him to take a vacation but he never would. I’m really happy that you were able to get him to take one—”
“It was all him. Really, I didn’t plan anything—”
“True, but you’re the reason he took the vacation in the first place. If it weren’t for you he never would have taken one.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“So what are you up to today? You said you had a meeting or something?”
“I’m meeting with Ginny at Sweet Dreams—”
“Please tell me she didn’t sell it to one of those big coffee chains…”
“You don’t know?” I guess I just assumed Nicholas’s family would have known about the wedding gift he gave me.
“Know what?”
“Nicholas bought the bakery.”
“He did what? You’re kidding? What is Nicholas going to do with a bakery? He can’t cook to save his life!”
“He gave it to me… he bought it for me as a wedding gift.”
“Oh, my God! That’s so sweet! I can’t believe he didn’t tell anyone!”
“I assumed you all knew. He gave me the deed on the way to Fiji.”
“Wow… that’s so cool Kenzie! I’m so glad one of those big companies didn’t buy it out. I could never go there if they changed it into a donut or coffee place.”
“I know! I thought the same thing when I first heard Ginny was selling the place.”
“How are you going to run it? Oh! I didn’t mean it like that—”
“It’s fine, Cara,” I giggle. “I know exactly what you mean. Right now, I can’t even go out to lunch without the press bothering me. Ginny is staying on board for a year and will then consult remotely for a couple more years. I’m going to meet with her today, but eventually I figure I’ll hire a manager to oversee the day to day operations, and I will work behind the scenes. As much as I loved interacting with customers, I don’t think I’ll be able to do that at least not until the press dies down. But, I can oversee things from an office there or at the condo.”
“That’s awesome Kenzie! If you need any help, let me know. I worked at a bakery in San Diego for almost a year—”
“You did? In San Diego?”
“I graduated from a culinary school in San Diego and worked at a bakery during my last year of schooling.”
“Why didn’t you continue working when you came home?”
“I tried,” she sighs and looks out the window. “The only real places that were hiring were chain restaurants, not something I wanted to do. I prefer the feeling of a mom and pop owned business, somewhere small, where you have a chance to interact with customers. The bakery I worked at in San Diego was perfect—I just wished I could move it here. Eventually, I gave up looking, and figured I needed to find something else to at least until something better came along.”
“What did you do at the bakery in San Diego?” The wheels are turning in my head processing what Cara has told me.
“Prepping, baking, customer service, you name it,” she shrugged.
“I’ll be reviewing staffing today, but if you’re interested and there’s an opening—”
“Really, Kenzie? You would hire me?”
“I don’t know how many hours it would be, but we could always use someone when we’re understaffed.”
“I’d love that! OH, THANK YOU, KENZIE!” She runs around the table and hugs me so tightly that I can barely breathe.
“Don’t thank me yet. You may not be so happy when you have to get up at four in the morning to head to work.”
“I opened the bakery in San Diego four days a week—I was used to getting up early. It’ll take me a little while to get back in the habit of waking up early again, but I swear it won’t be a problem. I’m so excited, Kenzie! You have no idea!”
Cara’s reaction was nothing what I would have expected; I figured after working at a bakery in San Diego, that working at Sweet Dreams would be something she wasn’t interested in. I think the customers will absolutely love her personality! She’s a definite people person, and I love knowing that I can trust her. Even though Nicholas said the other employees at Sweet Dreams signed an NDA, I still worry that they could say something to press.
“I have to get going, but thank you again for inviting me to lunch.”
“No, thank you, Kenzie. I’ve always wanted a sister and now I have one!” she hugs me and I have to fight to hold back the tears forming. I always wanted a sister growing up, too. Someone to talk to, someone to be there next to me, when the shit hit the fan and someone who—
“Will you be coming to dinner on Sunday?” she asks.
“I’m not sure… I’ll have to check with Nicholas.”
“I hope so! I’ll let you get to your meeting with Ginny; let me know if you guys can make it on Sunday.”
“Thanks again.”
“Mrs. Parker,” Ben is at my side before I even get close to the front door.
“They still out there?” I ask.
“Yes, they haven’t left, ma’am. Hunter is waiting to take you to your next destination.”
“Thank you.”
Once again, camera
s are flashing around me and people are calling my name as soon as the door opens, but this time I don’t respond. The questions are all the same and I just remind myself that everyone is eager to get pictures of the woman who married the Nicholas Parker. Thankfully, Hunter manages to lose the reporters that tried to follow us from the bistro before we reach the bakery. He apparently called ahead and arranged with Ginny for us to enter the bakery through the back door.
“Kenzie, it’s so wonderful to see you again!” She greets me with a hug as soon as the door closes behind us.
“It’s so good to see you too,” I hadn’t realized how much I missed seeing Ginny until this moment. She had been an almost daily fixture in my life for more than two years before the press forced me to stop working here. She was the first person in New York who took a chance on me: I had no experience, no ties to the city, nothing… but she was still willing to offer me a job and slowly moved me from cashier to bakery.
“I hear a congratulations are in order, Mrs. Parker,” she winks at me.
“Thank you, although I’m still not used to being called Mrs. Parker.”
“I bet.”
“Thank you for doing all of this—”
“Nonsense. If I had to choose someone to hand over the bakery to, you would have been my only choice. You love this place almost as much as I do. I’m so glad that new husband of yours made this possible. You’ll do an amazing job with this place—you’ll find ways to improve things that I never thought of or was too stubborn to do. You’ll be great, Kenzie.”
“I’m so nervous, Ginny. I don’t know anything about running a business. I know these recipes in and out, hell, I can make any of the muffins by heart now, but I know nothing about bookkeeping and—”
“Do you think I knew any of that stuff when I started this place twenty-five years ago? Of course not! I was a stupid, naïve young girl who had no idea what she was doing.”
“You obviously knew something to turn this place into what it is today.”
“I was determined not to fail—I learned everything I could. Back then, they didn’t have the internet, so I did things the old fashioned way. I talked to people who owned businesses, and I spent hours at the library, reading everything I possibly could about running a business. I’m not going to lie, I made mistakes, a few big ones, but I always learned from my mistakes. I learned not to repeat those mistakes again and eventually I figured out what worked. You’ll do the same thing. Don’t go into this new adventure thinking you won’t make any mistakes because you’re only going to set yourself up for failure. You’ll make a mistake and then you’ll learn from it and never make the same mistake again. And I’ll be here for any questions you might have along the way.”
“Thank you for agreeing to stay on for a year I know you wanted to move to be closer to your daughter—”
“And I will. I never expected this place to sell as fast as it did. I knew it would likely be a couple of years before I was able to. With this new plan, I’ll be able to fly out and see my daughter much more often than I could do, while waiting for this place to sell. I was never able to take more than a couple of days off to spend with her in the past because I couldn’t afford to close the bakery for any longer than a day or two over a weekend. But with you here now, once you’re comfortable, I’ll be able to go for a week or maybe even longer without worrying.”
“Oh, let’s not think about you leaving just yet,” I joke.
“You’ll be fine. You already know how this place works: you’ve opened and closed this place already. The only thing you don’t know is the paperwork and ordering processes. Mark my words, in a couple of weeks, you will know that stuff in and out as well.”
“I hope so.”
“Come, I have everything set up on one of the tables for us to look at.”
I spend the next couple of hours with Ginny, reviewing everything from paperwork to vendors. I take notes about as many different things as I possibly can, but it’s very overwhelming to keeping track of everything she says. Armed with several folders of paperwork that she had already copied for me, I leave the bakery with Hunter to head back to Accord Towers. There was definitely more to running the bakery than I initially imagined when I thought I would want to open one on my own, but I’m also motivated after our meeting. It was good to hear how she started the business, on her own, knowing about as much as I do about running a business. Seeing how successful she made the bakery gave me just a little hope that I could do the same on my own. I’m really glad that Nicholas thought ahead and worked out a plan with Ginny to have her stay on with Sweet Dreams for the next three years. I don’t know what I would have done if she were leaving as soon as I returned to New York from our honeymoon.
“There you are,” Nicholas greets me as soon as I walk into the foyer.
“I wasn’t expecting you home so early,” I kiss him as soon as he comes close enough to me.
“My last meeting is via conference call, so I figured I would do the call from here. How was your meeting with Ginny?”
“It was good, she gave me a ton of information and copies of a bunch of stuff too. I think I’ll just put this stuff in my–in the bedroom upstairs.”
“I’ll have Carter put a desk in the library for you to use in the next few days.”
“You don’t need to—”
“It’ll give you a place to work when you can’t be at the bakery. Somewhere you can keep paperwork, notes or whatever that you don’t want to keep in the office at the bakery.”
“I suppose that would be a good idea.”
“He’ll take care of ordering it tomorrow, I’m sure it can be delivered by Friday.”
“Thank you.”
“Julie is going to have dinner on the table in a few minutes. I have about thirty minutes before my conference call starts, I thought we could eat dinner together…”
“Let me put these upstairs and I’ll be right down.”
Minutes later, Nicholas and I are in the dining room and Julie has placed plates of a delicious smelling chicken meal in front of us.
“How was your day?” I ask.
“Busy but not nearly as hectic as I imagined it would be.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“Alex was able to handle most of the issues that came up while we were away so there weren’t too many pressing matters that I had to deal with today. We have a couple new inquiries by some larger clients come through that we’re in the process of preparing proposals for so things might get a little crazy in the upcoming weeks.”
“At least your first day back wasn’t too hectic.”
“Not nearly as bad as I had expected. Although, I understand you a had a little excitement of your own today.”
“I did?”
“According to my PR team, you were photographed today on your way to lunch—”
“Oh! With everything Ginny told me, I nearly forgot about lunch. We were followed to lunch by some reporters, but thankfully Hunter managed to lose them on the way to Sweet Dreams. When Cara texted me and invited me to lunch today, I hadn’t expected the press to be so crazy about me leaving.”
“They followed me to work today too, but once they realized I was alone and didn’t give them anything, I guess they returned here.”
“Eventually, they’ll grow bored.”
“I’ll be in my office for the call, but if you need something just come in,” he stands up from the table but pauses just as he reaches the entryway to the dining room. “And, Kenzie… thank you for what you said today… I… I really appreciate it.”
Chapter 25
Nicholas
“Mr. Parker, Ms. Murphy is here to see you,” Melody alerts me.
“Send her in,” I request.
Moments later, Ms. Murphy from my PR Department enters my office and takes a seat in the chair across from my desk.
“What can I do for you, Ms. Murphy?” I ask impatiently. She requested a meeting this morning and Melody managed to squeeze her
in, leaving me no time to prepare before my next meeting.
“I think it would be beneficial for us to schedule a meeting with Mrs. Parker—”
“Excuse me?”
“Well… you see, Mr. Parker…”
“Spit it out. Exactly why do you feel the need to speak to my wife?”
“We think it would benefit her to meet with someone from our team, to review proper protocols for responding to the press—”
“I read her statement yesterday, she didn’t do a damn thing wrong!”
Now I’m getting pissed—Kenzie’s response to the reporters was nothing that I would have expected but it was still a perfect response.
“This time she didn’t. However, we would have preferred her to say—”
“No comment, right? You’re saying my wife should have said no comment when reporters insinuated that I married her because she was pregnant? Or she should have said no comment when they insulted both of us by asking her what it was like to be married to a playboy?”
“We have found it to be best not to respond to the press unless absolutely necessary.”
“Yes, I know your stance and look where it has gotten us! Unless my wife begins to respond to the press inappropriately or there is a specific issue that requires us to handle things differently, I will not allow her to be coached by your team in her responses! Have you even bothered to read any of the comments on the stories where my wife was quoted yesterday?”
“Of course, sir—”
“Yet, you’re sitting here thinking you need to fix my wife? The comments on those articles praised Kenzie for standing up to reporters and defending her husband. Exactly why do you feel the need fix this? Do you really think it would have done anything to squash the rumors about me had she said no comment?”
“Mr. Parker, with all due respect, your wife has had no experience in dealing with the press. This is the first time she has had to deal with them—”
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