by Rachel Hanna
She roused a bit and squinted at him as if she was confused before jolting straight up and looking around.
“It’s okay. You’re at my house, remember?” Sawyer said, sliding next to her on the sofa. He turned on the small table lamp beside the couch.
“Oh. I’m so sorry I fell asleep listening to you,” she said with a tired smile as she rubbed her eyes and then yawned. “I guess I was more tired than I thought.”
“You can sleep on my sofa anytime,” he said without thinking. “I mean…Actually, I don’t know what that meant.”
Laura laughed. “I’d better get back. I’m surprised Addison hasn’t sent a search party out looking for me yet. Where’s my phone?” She rummaged around on the sofa until she found it at the bottom of the blanket. The screen lit up when she touched it, revealing unread text messages.
“Everything okay?” Sawyer asked when he saw the look of alarm on her face.
“Oh no… Oh no…”
“Laura, what’s wrong?”
“Addy texted me hours ago and said there was a power outage on that whole side of the street. She was worried my refrigerator would be off and ruin the cupcakes for tomorrow. I’ve got to get to the store!”
She jumped up and started looking for her shoes which she had tossed across the living room at some point before falling asleep.
“I’m going with you,” Sawyer said, standing up and reaching for his crutches.
“No. No. It’s fine. You need to rest up for tomorrow, and I…”
Sawyer reached for her arm and turned her around. “Laura, I’m going. I don’t want you in the store alone at night.”
“It’s January Cove,” she said. “No one is going to bother me.”
“I’m going.”
“Fine. I don’t have time to argue with you,” she said, searching for her purse.
The irony was that he couldn’t fight off an attacker if he wanted to, and she probably thought the same thing, but he wasn’t ready to let Laura go for the night anyway. If it meant sitting in the darkened bakery, icing cupcakes until dawn, that was exactly what he’d do.
Laura and Sawyer raced over to the bakery in the dead of night. By the time they got there, it was almost 12:30 and the street was dark. Apparently, the power had been out for quite a few hours for some unknown reason. Of course, it had to be the night before she was opening her very first business.
She felt defeated, but she also knew that she couldn't give up. Having Sawyer there took some of the pressure off, at least.
"I don't know what I'm going to do," she said as she sorted through the refrigerator. Most of the cupcakes weren’t completely ruined, but they certainly weren't of the quality that she wanted to display to her customers on opening day.
"You don't think you can salvage any of these?" Sawyer asked as he helped her sort through the multicolored and multi-flavored cupcakes using the light of their cell phones.
Laura hung her head in her hands. She was so tired and yet so wired about her opening. As if God was sending her a sign, the power popped back on.
"I don't see how I can make this work. I spent hours and hours making these yesterday morning. There's no way I'm going to have time to get enough made to replace these. Maybe I should just delay my opening…"
”No. I'll help you. Just show me what to do.”
"I can’t ask you to do that,” she said, standing up and leaning against the counter. “I know you're tired too, and you need some sleep before we open up tomorrow as well."
Sawyer stood and faced her, bags starting to form under his eyes. “Listen, I’ll do whatever you need me to do to make sure that this is a success. I can sleep later," he said, putting his hand on her arm. God, it felt good to have a man touch her, even if it was just her arm.
The gesture meant more to her than he would probably ever know. Ted had never gone out of his way to help her follow her dreams. If he were there right now, she knew there'd be no way he would stand in the gap with her and make sure that her bakery had a successful opening. He would go home, probably watch some sporting event and then go to bed, leaving her in the lurch to handle things. After all, cooking and baking would be considered woman's work in Ted's eyes.
"Okay then. I guess we should get started,” Laura relented.
Sawyer smiled. "All right, fearless leader, tell me what I need to do!" His forced enthusiasm in the wee hours of the morning was almost contagious. Almost.
"Well, thankfully I mixed up a huge batch of the flour I need to create the batter. So we can mix that with the liquids and get several pans into the ovens right now…"
She began showing him exactly what to do, although stirring was a bit of an issue. In that moment, she thanked God for industrial sized mixers.
"The next step, while those are cooking, is that we need to mix up the icing for the different types of cupcakes we’re making. I was going to open with five different kinds to match the batter. My mother taught me most of these recipes, so I'm swearing you to secrecy," she said with a smile.
"I'm a little scared of you anyway, so I promise that I won't reveal your secrets." Sawyer winked at her, and her legs went weak. She convinced herself it was just the overwhelming fatigue she was feeling.
They spent the next two hours baking and mixing and icing dozens of cupcakes. By the time they were finished, it was almost four in the morning and Laura was about to fall on her face with exhaustion.
"I guess that's it. We've done all we can do," she said, staring down at the cupcakes laid out before them. Since the power had come back on shortly after they had arrived at the bakery, the refrigerator was cold enough to finally put the cupcakes back into it.
"If I never see another cupcake again, it might be too soon," Sawyer said with a wry smile.
"Don't say that!" Laura said, jabbing his midsection with one of her fingers. Gosh, how could anything be that rock solid?
"So, I'm going to head back to Addy’s and get at least a little bit of sleep. I hope I don't wake them up when I go into the house…"
"I'm sure with a small child they are probably up and down throughout the night. But you are welcome to come stay at my place if you want. I’ll sleep on the sofa…" Sawyer offered.
"No thanks. I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to look like this when I meet my customers in a few hours," Laura said, pointing to her flour covered shirt.
Sawyer smiled. "I don't know, I think it's kind of a cute look.”
Her insides were starting to turn to mush, and the sugar rush was getting to her head so she decided that she better make her way across the street before she did something she might come to regret.
"Well then, have a good sleep," Sawyer said. "And, Laura?"
"Yes?"
"I had fun with you these last few hours," he said, winking at her before he walked toward the front door.
As she locked up and made her way across the street to the bed-and-breakfast, Sawyer stood on the corner of the street, watching her safely inside.
The next morning was a blur. Laura had been running on fumes and adrenaline and probably a little bit too much cupcake icing, but the opening had been a success.
She and Sawyer barely had a chance to talk because he was ringing up customers and she was wrapping up cupcakes, but at the end of the day when they locked the door, it had been an amazing success.
"People loved your cupcakes!" Sawyer said smiling as Laura turned around after locking the door for the day.
"I think they did," she said incredulously, a huge grin painted on her still exhausted face. "I really can’t believe that went so well considering what happened last night, but I think this might actually be a success. I just can't believe it…"
"You can’t believe it? Why?" Sawyer asked as he sat down on one of the retro looking barstools against the wall.
"I don't know. I've always worked for somebody else. I was never the one calling the shots, and honestly I didn't think I could do this. At least my ex-husband didn't think I could do this." L
aura sat down next to him.
"Well, he's an idiot then."
Laura laughed. "I like the way you put that."
"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling pretty gross right now, so I think I'm going to head home and take a hot shower."
Images of Sawyer taking a shower floated through her mind, and Laura physically shook her head to get rid of them.
"Yes, I think I'm going to go to the same. Listen, thank you so much for helping me last night and all day today. I really appreciate it. I feel hopeful about this," she said, waving her hand around at the store.
"See you tomorrow?" Sawyer said as he stood up. He was doing much better on his crutches and would probably only be on them another week or two according to the physical therapist.
"Do you want me to drive you home?" she offered. In reality, as much as she liked hanging out with him, she really just wanted to sink into a hot bath and then take a nice long nap.
"No. I think I'll take a walk."
After he left, Laura finished cleaning up and then started to make her way across the street. Her cell phone rang, and she looked down to see that it was Carrie.
"Hello?"
"So how did it go?" Carrie asked. Of course her best friend wouldn't forget that she was opening her business that morning.
"It went fantastic! We had a great turnout, and people had lots of nice things to say about the cupcakes."
"And which one was their favorite?"
"Of course it was the birthday cake batter!" Laura said, proving her friend right when they’d made a bet the day before on which one would be the most popular.
"See? I'm the smartest person you know!" Carrie said laughing. "So, how's it going with loverboy?"
"Would you quit saying that?"
"Why? It's true!"
Laura sighed. "He's a nice guy. We're friends. That is all."
"Sure. Okay.”
"So when are you coming to visit me?"
"I'm not sure. I've taken on a few new coaching clients so I've been really busy every day, but it's not like I can’t do my business on the road."
“Well, be sure to let me know before you come because I can't wait to see you, and I'll be sure to make extra birthday cake batter cupcakes before you get here!"
Truthfully, she really did miss her best friend. They'd spent almost every day together since they were in elementary school, so it'd been quite an adjustment to not have her there to rely on. Having Sawyer as a friend did help to fill that gap a little bit, but it wasn't the same as sitting at a lunch table every day talking to her best girlfriend about all of life's trials and tribulations.
Laura hung up the phone with her friend and walked into the bed-and-breakfast and straight up the stairs. As much as she loved Addison and Clay, she didn't want to interact with anyone. She really just wanted to sink down into her hot bath and relax after a long hard day.
The next week was a blur, with Sawyer and Laura working side-by-side at the cupcake shop. He had to admit that it was a lot of fun talking to people from town while trying to stay out of the limelight.
There had been a couple of close calls with people almost saying his full name or asking for an autograph or picture, but thankfully most of the people who lived in January Cove just saw him as Sawyer - the irritating kid that went to high school there and chased girls. Most people there didn't see him as some kind of big superstar, and he hoped to keep it that way.
Working with Laura had also made him even more sure that he was interested in her in a way that was more than friendship, but he couldn’t really tell if she felt the same. She was all business when they were at work, although she was friendly to everyone who came in.
"What's your last name?" she asked out of the blue.
"What?"
"It just dawned on me that I don't know your last name and you’re working here. I probably should fill out some paperwork for you," she said with a smile.
"How do you know I don't go by just one name? Like Madonna or Cher?” he said wryly.
"Seriously. I need to put it on paperwork so I don't get in trouble with my tax guy.”
"You're not paying me."
She cocked her head to the side, a confused look on her face. "Is there something wrong? Is there some reason you don't want me to know your last name?"
It dawned on Sawyer that if he kept pushing the issue, she’d probably just go to Google and look up his name thinking he was some kind of ax murderer or escaped convict.
"Griffin. My last name is Griffin."
"Sawyer Griffin. Gosh, that sounds so familiar to me."
His hands were starting to sweat. Why was he hiding this from her? They knew each other well enough now that she probably wouldn’t think anything of his celebrity status, but yet he still felt like he wanted to keep it from her for a little while longer. He wanted to forge a relationship without her knowing who he was. Without her having any preconceived notions about him. He liked that when she looked at him, she saw him and not some caricature of a celebrity.
"Sounds familiar? I can't imagine why."
"Oh! I know!"
Sawyer's stomach clenched. She knew? He braced himself.
"I knew a guy back in Baltimore whose name was Griffin Sawyer. He delivered our mail at the office. Isn't that weird? What a small world!" she said before she went back to wiping down the counters. He let out the breath that he had been unknowingly holding.
The next customer walked in. It was a woman, a little bit older than they were, who looked stressed out about something. She was distracted, to say the least.
"Welcome to Sweetcakes!" Laura said, as she did to every customer. The woman smiled, her eyes darting around to what was in the refrigerated case, before she finally looked at Laura.
"I'll take one of the red velvet," she said.
"Is everything okay?" she asked the woman.
The woman smiled sadly. "Yes. No, actually. It's been a very rough day, to be honest."
"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you?" Laura had been really trying to make connections with people in the community, and Sawyer had been impressed by her level of empathy when people were having a bad day.
"Not unless you know someone who's looking for a job as a music teacher," she said with a sigh. Laura immediately cut her eyes to Sawyer.
"Music?" Sawyer said, unable to keep himself from getting involved.
"Yes. Do you know someone?"
"I might. What exactly does it involve?" he asked, pulling his Sweetcakes baseball cap down further over his eyes.
"Well, I own a nonprofit organization. We teach kids how to play different instruments, especially kids who are from underprivileged areas. We had someone all set up to run the program here in January Cove, but her father became ill and she ended up having to move across the country to take care of him. Now we’re kind of left in the lurch because we have a summer camp starting in July with twenty-five kids signed up and no one to run it."
Sawyer was nervous. This woman didn't seem to recognize him, but it was only a matter of time if he took over the program before people started noticing who he was. It would be almost impossible to keep his secret from Laura, so if he took the position he might have to tell her sooner than he thought.
"Well, I'm very well-versed in the guitar. And I sing. I've got some training from college myself…"
“He’s being modest. Sawyer is an amazing musician, and your kids would be so lucky to have him as their teacher,” Laura said.
The woman's eyes lit up. “Then it seems like it would be fantastic! You sound perfect. Look, I'm in a hurry for doctor’s appointment, but let me give you my card. If you can give me a call, maybe later today?"
Sawyer looked at Laura, who was grinning from ear to ear. He took the woman's card and assured her that he would be calling. But inside, he didn’t know what he was going to do.
Chapter 9
Sawyer called the woman about the music position that evening. They agreed to meet up in
a few days, which would give him time to tell Laura who he really was. But he didn’t want to.
She treated him like a “normal” person. Not a celebrity, and not the former kid from January Cove. It was a unique feeling to spend time with a woman who wasn’t after him for his fame. Or former fame, so it was.
Everyday, he struggled with the decision he’d made to walk away from a lucrative career that he had dreamed about for so many years. The money had been good.
Yet, there were still times that he thought maybe he should just cave in and make the kind of music that his fans seemed to want. But the thought of doing that crushed his very spirit. It just wasn't who he was.
There was nothing wrong with country music. In fact, he loved it. When given the chance to control any radio, he was inevitably going to change the station to country. But the type of music he wanted to create was a hybrid of sorts, and for that reason he just didn’t quite fit into the mold.
Music had always been a huge part of his soul. In fact, he often felt like it was impossible to separate where he ended and the music began.
And lately, not playing his music on a consistent basis had really bothered him. He missed sharing that part of himself with other people.
The funny thing was that he didn't miss being on the road or standing on a stage in front of thousands of adoring fans screaming his name. He didn't even miss the paycheck yet since he was still getting royalties from the music he’d made in recent years.
Laura was on his mind all the time. How would he tell her who he was? Would it change what she thought about him?
This was a woman who loved classical music. Was she going to look down on him for being a country music singer? She’d made it abundantly clear that she didn't like country music, yet when he played for her she was stunned.
He wanted to see that look on her face again. Scratch that. He wanted to put that look on her face again.
Sawyer didn't know why he felt so worried about telling her. Being with her was like a vacation from his former life. This was someone who just thought of him as a regular guy, and he wanted to maintain that as long as he could.