by Jae
“…can you believe it?” Mrs. Beasley stared at her, clearly expecting an answer.
Oh damn. She really needed to pay attention to one of her most important customers. Keeping her fingers crossed, she took a wild guess from Mrs. Beasley’s tone and her usual favorite topic—complaining about someone else’s perceived inappropriate behavior. “That’s really quite scandalous.”
Mrs. Beasley nodded. “It is. I don’t know what she was thinking, wearing a miniskirt to church! Her poor mother was mortified.”
Phew. That had been a lucky guess. Ash tried to keep her mind on what she was doing as she tied the bouquet and wrapped it in tissue paper.
Mrs. Beasley took the bouquet from her and pierced Ash with an imploring gaze. “Is everything all right, dear? You look a little flushed. You aren’t coming down with something, are you?”
“Oh, no, I’m fine.” Ash’s hands automatically went to her cheeks, which warmed even more at being caught daydreaming about Sasha’s breasts. “It’s probably just a bit of leftover sunburn from the beach.”
“Oh, that’s right. You went to Hawaii with Leontyne and Holly, didn’t you?”
“Florida,” Ash said and could have slapped herself for mentioning it.
“I don’t know what they were thinking.” It seemed to be Mrs. Beasley’s favorite phrase today. “Flaunting their money like that.”
For a second, Ash considered letting it go. She needed to choose her battles wisely where Mrs. Beasley was concerned. In the past, she might have just meekly nodded. But now she couldn’t. The need to defend her friends nearly made the words burst out of her. “They really weren’t. All they wanted was to spend a relaxing weekend with their friends, and I found it quite generous that they paid for everything since most of us couldn’t have gone otherwise.”
Mrs. Beasley stared at her, probably not used to Ash—or most other people—disagreeing with her. “Well, then they should have gone to a less expensive, local place, like everyone else.”
“I’m sure they would have, but many of the places in Missouri still aren’t too eager to celebrate a wedding between two women. So they had no choice but to take their business elsewhere.”
It wasn’t quite true, but at least it shut Mrs. Beasley up for a moment.
“I heard about the country club canceling on them,” Mrs. Beasley finally said.
Heard about it—or had she encouraged her friends from the country club to give the ballroom to a heterosexual couple instead? Ash wouldn’t put it past her.
“It’s unfortunate for them, but I guess it’s everyone’s right to pick what kind of customers they want to have,” Mrs. Beasley continued.
“Actually,” Ash said, surprising herself, “it might turn out to be much more unfortunate for the country club than for Leo and Holly.”
A frown dug deep groves into Mrs. Beasley’s forehead. “What do you mean?”
“How do you think it’s going to look for them when the press gets wind of them canceling on Jenna Blake because she’s gay? A reputation for discriminating against customers is never good for any business.” Ash gave her a pleasant smile. “But I’m sure you and your husband would never think of doing something like that since you’ve always been clever businesspeople.”
Mrs. Beasley let out a huff. “Of course we are.” Bouquet in hand, she slapped a bill down on the counter, whirled around, and strode from the shop.
The door fell closed behind her with a loud jangle.
Brooke stuck her head out of the back room, where she had hidden when Mrs. Beasley had approached the shop. “That was awesome!”
Ash wasn’t so sure. Even if she had won the argument this time, Mrs. Beasley had ways to get back at her if she aggravated her too much. “Will you be okay taking over the shop for twenty minutes? I need some air.”
“Are you stopping by the bakery?” Brooke asked with a hopeful expression.
“I might,” Ash said as casually as she could, as if her heart weren’t beating faster at the mere mention of the bakery. “I’ll bring you back something sweet if I do.”
At least now she had an excuse to drop by Slice of Heaven and see how Sasha was doing.
She took off her florist’s apron, nearly getting tangled in the strings in her haste to get out of the shop. God, you’re hopeless. She wondered how long it would take until she got back to normal—or if she ever would.
Key limes had been impossible to find anywhere in town. Sasha had grumbled about it all morning. Finally, she had substituted Persian limes and experimented with the amount of sugar until she got it just right.
She tried a bit of the lime buttercream before spooning it into her piping bag. Oh yum. The tart yet sweet taste instantly transported her back to the Florida beach, where she’d shared a key lime cupcake with Ashley.
Okay, maybe making these cupcakes hadn’t been such a good idea after all. She was supposed to forget about everything that had happened in Florida, not obsess over it like some masochistic fool.
Come on. Get it over with and get them out of your sight. She grabbed the pastry bag full of lime frosting and piped a swirl onto the first cupcake.
Aunt Mae stuck her head through the swinging doors. Her eyes widened. “Oh wow. Looks like Florida really left a lasting impression on you.”
“Just because I’m making lime cupcakes doesn’t mean I’m thinking of Florida,” Sasha protested.
Aunt Mae let her gaze trail over the cupcakes that covered every available surface in the kitchen. “Maybe I’d believe that if you hadn’t made so many.”
Sasha sighed. She had indeed gone a little overboard in her attempt to lose herself in work and forget about Ashley. They would probably end up selling lime cupcakes at half price to get rid of them all.
“If it’s any consolation, I think she’s still thinking about whatever happened too,” her aunt said. “When she came in and you weren’t behind the counter, she looked as if someone had just snatched up the last cupcake right from under her nose.”
“Ashley?” Sasha blurted out. The pastry bag slipped, and she accidentally turned one of the cupcakes into a lime buttercream volcano when she squeezed too hard. “She was here?” Ashley hadn’t come in since they had gotten back from Florida.
“Still is. We’re out of espresso chocolate chip cookies, so I told her I’d check to see if the new batch is done. Is it?”
“Yeah.” Sasha pointed at the cookies, which were cooling on one of the racks hidden among the flood of cupcakes.
Aunt Mae put a couple of the cookies into a bakery box and held it out to Sasha. “Why don’t you take them out to her?”
“Me?” Sasha shook her head. “I’m not done with the cupcakes.”
Aunt Mae took the piping bag from her and pressed the bakery box into her hands. “I’ll finish up here. Maybe take her a couple of lime cupcakes too. God knows we have enough of them.”
Sasha shook her head. If Ashley saw the lime cupcakes, she would know Sasha was still thinking about their time in Florida. She was supposed to go back to being good buddy Sasha, so that was what she would do. Too bad that it was proving to be much harder than she had expected. “Um, no. I want to sprinkle some graham cracker crumbles and lime zest over the frosting before I sell them.”
“Oh, I can do that and then take some out to her,” her aunt said.
“No, no, that’s not necessary,” Sasha said quickly. “You know Ashley doesn’t like anything but vanilla cupcakes.”
Aunt Mae studied her through narrowed eyes. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re—”
“Um, I’d better take these out to her.” Sasha held up the box of cookies and backed through the swinging doors before her aunt could voice whatever she’d been about to say.
But her sigh of relief at her escape had been premature. She had jumped out of the frying pan, into the fire, bec
ause Ashley was standing at the counter, waiting for her cookies.
Their weekend in the sun had lightened her hair to a pale blonde, and her sunburn had turned into a golden tan.
God. Why did she have to look more attractive than ever? That so wasn’t fair. How was she supposed to forget how soft Ashley’s skin had felt beneath her hands when Ash looked like this?
Sasha brushed her hand down her apron to remove any crumbs or specks of flour. She tried to channel her new acquaintance, Oscar-winning actress Grace Durand, as she walked up to her. “Hey, Ash,” she said as casually as possible.
Ashley turned. For a moment, Sasha thought she saw an expression of longing in her eyes, but then Ashley smiled her girl-next-door grin and the impression faded. “Hi. Brooke sent me over for some cookies.”
Was it just Brooke who’d missed her treats? “Here they are.” Sasha held up the box. “Fresh out of the oven.”
They both sounded so normal, like a baker and her customer, even though there was no one else in the bakery right now who could have overheard them.
“Thank you.” Ashley took the box from her, overly careful not to let their fingers brush in the process.
For some reason, that made Sasha feel a little better. So Ashley was struggling with getting back into friends mode too. After all, if she didn’t feel a thing for her anymore, why would she avoid touching her?
Ashley shuffled her feet.
“So,” they both said at the same time.
Sasha waved her hand in invitation. “Go ahead.”
“No, you go ahead.”
Sasha shook her head at them both. She longed to have the easy familiarity of their time in Florida back. If she focused, she could still feel Ashley lean in to her as they had sat beside each other at the bonfire. “Jesus, this is awkward.”
“Yeah.” Ashley rubbed her neck with her free hand. “How’s your week going?”
“Fine,” Sasha said. “How’s yours?”
“Fine too.”
They looked at each other.
“Are you really fine?” Sasha asked.
Ashley made a sound that could indicate yes or no. “Getting there. I know we were gone for only forty-eight hours, but it’s weird to be back.”
Sasha could have hugged her for being honest. Since Ashley hadn’t been by all week, she had assumed that Ashley was hiding out in her shop, avoiding her. But it seemed Ashley wasn’t shutting her out, at least not completely. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I—”
Aunt Mae burst through the swinging doors. “Ah. You’re still here. Good.” She headed straight for Ashley and piled another box onto the first one. “Here, have some free key lime cupcakes. Sasha made too many.”
Oh great. Sasha sent her a death glare, which her aunt ignored.
A tiny smile tugged on Ashley’s lips. “Key lime cupcakes, hmm?”
“Actually, they aren’t key lime, just regular lime,” Sasha mumbled.
“I know you usually prefer vanilla cupcakes,” Aunt Mae said to Ashley.
“I’ll make an exception for these,” Ashley said.
An exception—like their night in Florida had been an exception. Sasha suppressed a sigh. It would take some time for the memory to fade.
“Brooke isn’t picky anyway,” Ashley added. “She’ll eat whatever you put in front of her.” She paused, and her eyes widened. “Um, that’s not to say that a more discerning person wouldn’t enjoy your cupcakes. They’re great, so thank you.”
Sasha bit back a smile. Ashley was cute when she got flustered.
“I’d better take these back to Brooke before she starts gnawing on some tulips.” Ashley’s gaze went to the door, then back to Sasha. “Will I see you at Johnny’s on Saturday?”
Truth be told, Sasha had planned on skipping their Saturday night outings with the gang for a couple of weeks, until she felt able to look at Ashley across the table and not think of how it had felt to kiss her or caress her. But now that Ashley was looking at her with an expectant gaze, no excuse came to mind. Or maybe she didn’t want to make up one. “Um, yeah, sure. I’ll be there.”
“Great.” Ashley handed her a bill, again careful not to let their fingers touch, and waved off any change. “See you Saturday, then.”
Sasha considered it a victory when she managed not to watch her retreating back. She turned toward her aunt. “Didn’t I tell you not to bring her any lime cupcakes?”
“And I would have honored your request if you had given me more than just a bullshit excuse. It’s pretty obvious that Ashley is over her vanilla phase.”
Sasha started coughing. Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. She didn’t mean it like that.
Aunt Mae studied her with a knowing look. “Let me guess… You and Ashley had a decidedly non-vanilla weekend in Florida. You had some fruity cocktails and then stumbled into bed with each other.”
“We had a couple of cocktails, but nothing happened that night,” Sasha said, hoping her aunt wouldn’t notice the qualifier.
“Ooh! That night!” Aunt Mae did a little victory dance. “So you slept with her the second night! I knew it!”
Sasha said nothing. She had never lied to her aunt, and she wouldn’t start now, not even to cover for Ashley.
“So, what happens now? Are you two dating?”
Sasha looked at her aunt’s delighted smile. Maybe if everyone in town reacted like that, Ashley would be more open to the idea instead of hiding in the closet. “No. It was a one-time thing. Ashley isn’t ready to come out. I don’t think she’ll ever be.”
“Oh, honey.” Aunt Mae hugged her tightly. “I’m so sorry.” She held her at arm’s length and studied her. “You really like her, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I always thought it was only a little crush, and it was, up until we started spending more time together. But now…” Sasha sighed. “I think I could be falling in love with her.”
Aunt Mae stared at her, and Sasha was equally shocked by what had just come out of her mouth. Love? That hadn’t crossed her mind before, had it? She had thought about what it would be like to keep seeing Ashley, to date her…but love was a whole other ballgame.
Shit. Sasha rubbed her chest. Her entire life, she had carefully avoided any heartache by keeping her relationships light and fun, and now a woman she wasn’t even in a relationship with was coming close to breaking her heart.
Aunt Mae gave her another hug. “If she doesn’t think you’re worth the risk of coming out, she doesn’t deserve you. Don’t worry, honey. You’ll meet someone else who’ll recognize what a catch you are.”
Fat chance of that. There weren’t that many new people moving to Fair Oaks. Even if there had been, her libido—and maybe her heart—were firmly stuck on Ashley.
The bell above the door jingled, and Derek entered.
“Hi, Sasha.” He tipped an imaginary hat. “Hi, Mrs. Peterson. I thought I’d get some sugary treats for Ashley.”
What the hell? Since when did Derek buy treats for Ashley? It wasn’t as if they were dating…were they? Had Ashley given in and agreed to date him to re-establish her cover as a supposedly straight woman? Sasha gritted her teeth, but she knew she couldn’t refuse to sell him anything.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked as professionally as possible.
Derek scratched his neck and peered at the baked goods behind the glass. “I have no idea what she likes.”
Yeah, buddy, that’s right. But I do. Sasha knew it was silly. She was behaving like a dog defending its bone, when it wasn’t her bone to defend at all. But no way in hell would she help him woo Ashley by telling him her favorite treats.
“Something to cheer her up, I guess. Her mom said she’s been kind of down this week.” He flashed a grin. “Probably misses the Florida sunshine. Who can blame her? I bet it was great. Wasn’t it, Sasha?”
S
asha bit the inside of her cheek. “Yeah, it was.”
“Oh, we have just the thing for you.” Aunt Mae gave her a conspiratorial grin. “Sasha made a batch of key lime cupcakes.”
This time, Sasha abstained from pointing out that they weren’t key lime. Admittedly, she took a certain satisfaction from knowing he’d bring Ashley a treat that would remind Ash of her.
Derek chuckled. “Seems like Ashley isn’t the only one who misses the Florida sunshine.”
“Yes, Sasha misses it terribly too,” Aunt Mae said. “She’s been moping around since she got back.”
Sasha sent her a warning glare.
“I’ll get them for you, Derek.” Aunt Mae bustled past them into the kitchen.
When she had disappeared through the swinging doors, Derek leaned against the counter. “You and Ash are friends, right?”
Where was he going with this? Sasha nodded carefully. “Guess you could say that.”
“So, you would know if she were dating anyone. I mean, her parents say she’s not, but…well, people don’t always tell their parents everything.”
That was certainly true for Ashley. “I don’t think she’s looking to date anyone right now.”
“So she’s not with anyone? Great.”
Sasha stared at him. That was what he took from what she’d just said?
Aunt Mae returned with a box of cupcakes.
“Thank you.” Derek took the box from her. “What do I owe you?”
Sasha quoted the full price. No way would she give away free treats to the competition.
He paid and left the bakery with a skip in his step.
Aunt Mae watched him go and chuckled. “I hope Brooke likes the lime cupcakes. I think she’ll be eating a lot of them today.”
Ash was late meeting the gang on Saturday. Normally, she might have debated whether it was worth hurrying to the bar or if she should skip this week, but she didn’t want Sasha to think she was avoiding her.
Truth be told, she had also been looking forward to seeing her all week. Since their entire group was going to Johnny’s, no one would think anything of it.