Burn Me Anthology

by Shantel Tessier

  She flipped through the book. “Two tiered anniversary cake. Chocolate cake, mint mousse filling, orange/blue.”

  I scoffed. “Orange and blue? Lord have mercy.” Sometimes I wished I had free reign with these orders. Blue and orange were meant for birthdays, not anniversaries.

  “Those were their wedding colors ten years ago. She was very insistent on having them on the cake,” Karen explained.

  I sighed and added the cake to the bake list. “Well, I guess that’s what she’ll get then.”

  The bell out front dinged. “You want me to get that?”

  “No.” I waved her off. “I know you have to get going. We have the schedule ready for tomorrow, so you’re good.”

  Karen took off her apron, and tossed it in the hamper. “You manning the front counter. This is a change.”

  That was the truth. I had Karen so I never had to step foot out front and I was left to bake and create. “With five minutes left in the day, I think I can handle it.” The bell rang again. “I hope.”

  Karen grabbed her bag and laughed. “Good luck, girl. You got this,” she laughed before ducking out.

  I tucked my pencil behind my ear and straightened my apron. “Coming!” I called as I pushed through the swinging door.

  Three firefighters were standing in front of the dessert case.

  “Whoa. No Karen today?” The shorter one asked.

  “She’s gone for the day. You’re stuck with me.” I held up my hands and shrugged. Who knew Karen had such a following?

  “She okay?” The one with shaggy hair asked.

  “Just had an appointment. But I’ll make sure to let her know her fan club stopped by.” I laughed and grabbed a pair of rubber gloves from the back counter.

  “I think I’m okay with Karen being gone for the day.”

  I pulled on my gloves and looked up into the greenest eyes I had ever seen. “Uh, um … Karen?” Putting together a single thought was a problem for me right then, let alone remembering what he had asked.

  He chuckled, and leaned against the case. “Is this your first day, honey?”

  My eyes fluttered, and the ability to think slowly came back to me. “First day?”

  The three guys laughed.

  “We’re just used to seeing Karen whenever we come in,” Shorty explained.

  I cleared my throat, and put my hands on the counter. Pull it together, Brynn. “I work in the back.”

  “So you’re responsible for all of this goodness?” Green eyes asked.

  “Um, yeah. I made all of this.” And own all of this. I felt like a five year old boosting they had colored a picture.

  “Impressive.” He nodded his head and looked over everything in the case.

  It was impressive. I worked my ass off everyday starting at three in the morning to overfill the case. At this time of the day most everything was gone, except for a few of this and that. “Um, was there anything you guys were wanting?”

  “We’ll take everything left.”

  My eyes bugged out. While the things in the case were dwindling, there were still at least twenty different things in there. Jelly donuts, half a dozen cupcakes, two small cakes, and a handful of cookies and pastries. “Erg, everything?” The two small cakes could at least feed ten people.

  “Yeah. It’s Abe’s turn to cook, and instead of actually cooking, he just likes to buy everything and pass it off as his own.” Shorty seemed to be the talker of the group. Not afraid to say what was on his mind. Definitely not the type of personality I was drawn to. This was exactly why I tended to stick to the kitchen.

  “And you assholes don’t seem to complain when I do it.”

  “Well, when you get lasagna from Mario’s and dessert from Maggie Mays, yeah, we aren’t going to complain.” The guys laughed and Shorty put his hand on the counter by the cash register. “Fill the boxes, boss lady.”

  I empty the leftover pastries and things into two boxes, and put the two cakes in clear plastic containers. “Um, that’ll be it?” I asked.

  Green eyes looked around. “You got anything else back there for me?”

  My cheeks heated, and my eyes wildly looked around. Was he hitting on me? Was he looking for more cupcakes? Did he want my cupcakes?

  A loud, shrill, beeping noise went off and each guy grabbed their walkie talkie things they had strapped to their chests.

  Shorty and Shaggy took off out the door, hollering they would be in the truck.

  “No time to add all of this up.” He slapped a hundred dollar bill down on the counter. “This cover it?”

  I nodded dumbly. “More than enough.”

  He grabbed the box and two containers of cake, and hightailed it out the door. “Later, Sweets.”

  I grabbed the hundred and put it in the cash register. What he had bought was around forty dollars. My baking was good, but it wasn’t worth a sixty dollar tip.

  I moved to the window to watch the fire truck roll by with its lights and sirens on. Mark’s Corners was sprawled on the door with Station Number Two underneath it.

  Green eyes had payed me way too much, and I was going to make sure he got his change tomorrow. I still had a couple hours of prep in front of me for tomorrow, and I had just added a few extra things to my list for a certain fire department.

  Chapter 2

  Abe

  “You wanna tell me what the hell that shit was? I told you I had point, and you still went in there guns blazing.”

  O'Donnell shook his head. “I had assessed the situation, Capt. I knew what I was doing.”

  Captain Douglas took his hat off, and tossed it on the floor. “Is that what you want me to tell your family when we pull you out of the rubble? You assessed the situation? Your assessment was way off,” he shouted.

  I cleared my throat. “With all due respect, Sir, I would have done the same thing had I been in his shoes.”

  Capt. clapped his hands together. “Well, thank god. Abe to the fucking rescue. Again. Both of you get out of here, and try not to fuck up anymore, got me?”

  I pushed O’Donnell out the door and down the hallway.

  Capt. slammed the door behind us, and I tried not to laugh as he continued to rant to his empty office.

  “I don’t know why he’s so pissed. It’s not like it was that bad. It was just a little smoke coming out of the roof.” O’Donnell collapsed onto the couch in the living area of the firehouse.

  “Probably because you didn’t follow protocol.” I grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge, and tossed one to O’Donnell. We had just gotten back from the call on Elm and Twelfth and were greeted to an ass ripping by the Captain.

  “Dude, fuck protocol. Ain’t no damn reason why I shouldn’t have done what I did.”

  I agreed with him to an extent. Yes, this time it didn’t really matter that O’Donnell went in without a cover, but next time he might not be so lucky. “Dude, is it really that hard for you to just chill out and wait for someone to have your back?”

  He glared at me. “Do I get a lecture from you now, too?”

  I held up my hands. “Pretty sure I just had to go through that same lecture, since I was the dumbass who followed you in.”

  He twisted the cap off his bottle, and tossed it on the battered coffee table. “That’s because you didn’t follow protocol right behind me.”

  “I was making sure you didn’t get your ass killed.”

  “When is dinner being delivered?” Anderson walked into the kitchen, and eyed the pink box in front of me. “Is that dinner?”

  I grabbed the box and pulled it close. “No, dumbass. Dinner should be here in ten minutes. I called Mario’s on the way back from the call.”

  “Thank, god. I think my stomach is starting to eat itself.” Anderson pulled out a chair at the island bar, and held out his hand. “Give me a cupcake or something.”

  I shook my head. “Not happening, brother. I open this box, and everything will be gone before the lasagna even gets here.”

  He
pointed a finger at me. “I know for a fact you got more than enough food for tonight. Either give me a cupcake, or start slicing one of those cakes you got hiding in the fridge.”

  “I don’t know if I’d be demanding one of his cupcakes, Anderson. I think Abe is fond of those cupcakes,” O’Donnell taunted.

  Anderson rubbed his chin. “You know, he did seem rather fond of that baker chick today.”

  “Don’t know what either of you idiots are talking about.” I flipped open the top of the box, and pushed it forward. “Have at it.”

  Anderson and O’Donnell looked at each other. “Nope,” they said in unison.

  “You bitch about needing a fucking cupcake, and now that I offer you one, you say no?” What the hell was up with these guys?

  “You get the chick’s name?” Anderson asked.

  “What chick?”

  “Your mother.” O’Donnell rolled his eyes. “The cake chick, dumbass.”

  I shut the box, and set it on the back counter. “Nah.”

  “Nah is all he’s got to say,” Anderson chuckled. “If you’re not interested, then I think maybe I’ll head back over to the bakery tomorrow and see about her cupcakes.”

  Even Anderson couldn’t keep a straight face.

  O’Donnell busted out laughing, and I shook my head.

  “That the line you gonna hand her?” I asked.

  “Better than any shit you would try to say.”

  “Yo, Brickley, food is here,” one of the guys hollered.

  Anderson shook his head. “Saved by the food,” he mumbled. “When your ass gets back up here, you can tell me how you’d woo the bakery chick.”

  I shook my head, and jogged down the stairs to the waiting delivery guy. “Hey, Mikey. Perfect timing.” I forked over two hundred dollar bills, and grabbed the three overflowing bags filled with breadsticks, lasagna, and ziti.

  “Mario’s appreciates you guys.” He tucked the bills into his pocket. “Need help taking it up?”

  “Nope, all good, Mikey. See you in two weeks.”

  He shook his head, and slipped out the door.

  “Dinner,” I yelled to the guys who were cleaning the truck from the last call. They would be up in seconds since they all knew it was Mario’s for dinner tonight.

  Anderson and O’Donnell each grabbed a bag from me after I climbed the stairs, and started spreading everything out on the long table. There were always ten guys on shift, and we could put away two pans of lasagna easily.

  “So, you gonna ask her out?” Anderson took the lid off the pan of ziti, and tossed it in the trash.

  “Why are you so interested in who I may or may not ask out?” Dude was worse than my mother wondering when I was going to settle down and have kids.

  He shrugged and grabbed a breadstick. “I was thinking if you date her, you can put a good word in for me with Karen.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. “You’re giving me shit, asking when I’m gonna ask her out when you can’t even ask her friend out.” Typical Anderson. All talk and no action.

  “Brother, have you seen Karen? She’s way out of my league.”

  I had seen her, and while I agreed with Anderson that she was out of his league, he could still get her. “I’m not your matchmaker, dingleberry. Ask her out on your own.”

  He shoved the breadstick in his mouth. “Loff a gaud ew argh.”

  “Try that without your mouth full.”

  He gulped and shook his head. “A lot of good you are.”

  I clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re gonna have to do this one on your own, brother.”

  “That mean you aren’t going to ask cupcake chick out?”

  I laughed. “That doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

  “Got it, got it,” he mumbled.

  Anderson knew I didn’t like to talk about my personal life. Most of these guys knew the bare minimum, and they only found that shit out after years of knowing me. “Go grab some food, brother, and try to grow some balls to ask Karen out.”

  He flipped me off and grabbed a plate off the table. “Easier said than done,” he grumbled.

  A lot of things were easier said than done, but that was what made them worthwhile.

  While I had every intention of going back to the bakery to find out the shy, brunette’s name, Anderson didn’t need to know that.

  Chapter 3

  Brynn

  “Here.”

  “What?”

  “You take it.”

  Karen set down the box. “Um, I’m not the one who decided to make them a cake.” She pointed to the box. “A big ass cake, by the way.”

  “It’s not that big.”

  “A half sheet cake filled with cherry amaretto is big, and delicious.”

  Well, delicious is what I strived for. Who cares if it was on the larger side? “He gave me a hundred dollars, Karen. I barely gave him fifty dollars worth of day old pastries and cakes.”

  “They come in every other week. I can give him his change then.”

  I looked down at the floor and sighed. She was right. I didn’t need to take the cake to them, but now I had made the dang thing, and I didn’t want it to go to waste.

  “How about I go over there with you?”

  Thank god for Karen taking mercy on me. “Really?”

  She shook her head. “Yes. I leave you alone for one day to close up, and we’re taking field trips to the fire station.”

  “Five minutes. We drop it off, we leave.”

  She untied her apron, and tossed it in the laundry basket. “You’re doing all of the talking. I’m on the lookout for a sexy firefighter boyfriend.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be able to walk out with one in five minutes.”

  She scoffed and untied her long hair from the top of her head. “Doubtful. I’ve had my eye on one for months, and he never talks to me.”

  Oh shoot. Maybe the guy she likes was green eyes. “Oh, does he always come in?” Please don’t let it be green eyes, please.

  “He’s really not my normal type, but he’s got longer sandy blonde hair, that kind of falls in his eyes, and each time he shakes his head to get it out of his eyes, I swoon a little bit.” She fanned her face with her hand, and leaned against the counter.

  Well thank goodness she wasn’t swooning over green eyes. There was no way in hell I would be able to compete for a man against Karen. She was tall, slim, and had gorgeous long, flowy blonde hair. She was a goddess, plain and simple.

  “I think he was in here yesterday. Super cute, Karen.” He was, but just not my type. I was more into the tall, dark, handsome green eyes. “Do you happen to know the guys names?”

  She smirked. “You have your eye the tall one, don’t you?”

  I shook my head. Deny, deny, deny. “No.”

  “I know you, Brynn. That man is handsome, and I know he’s the one who paid, because he always does.”

  I grabbed the box. “We should get this over to the fire station.”

  She giggled, and grabbed her purse from under the cabinet. “I’ll drive, and you can tell me how Brynn Marshall has finally looked over her mixing bowl and noticed a man.”

  I rolled my eyes and followed her out the front door to her car that was parked on the curb. “You should really leave the good parking spots for the customers,” I called as I slid into the front seat with the cake in my hands.

  Karen jogged around the front of the car. “You’re acting like I took every parking spot on the block, Brynn.” She slid into the driver’s seat, and started the car. She glanced over at me and smiled. “You look like you’re about to barf.”

  I leaned my head back and sighed. “Why am I doing this?” Because last night all you could dream about was the green eyed man.

  “Cause you like him,” Karen sang. She shifted the car into drive, and merged into traffic. “And, you’re too nice of a person to accept a fifty dollar tip. While I would have taken it, and put it towards my Coach bag fund.”

  “Do
you know where we are going?”

  “Station Two.”

  I bet she didn’t have to peek out the window to figure that out. Where Karen was outgoing and confident, I was stuck back by the ovens praying no one noticed me. My eyes closed and I counted to thirty. Then I counted to twenty.

  “We’re here.”

  I cracked open an eye, and looked up at Station Two of Mark’s Corners. “Can we just leave it on the front stoop?”

  Karen laughed. “No. You and I are prancing our happy asses into the station, and giving these guys the best cake they’ll ever taste.”

  “It’ll still taste amazing if we leave it at the front door.”

  “Come on, Marshall. It’s time to see if your prince charming is working today.”

  I sat up. “Wait, you mean he might not be working today?” Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as I had made it out to be in my head. Maybe I was worried for nothing?

  Karen got out of the car. She walked around the front, and opened my door. “Only one way to find out.” She swept her arm out, and bowed.

  Lord have mercy. “It’s about damn time you curtsy.”

  Karen straightened, and slammed the door shut behind me. “I was bowing to the cake. I’m hoping these guys decide to cut the cake before we leave so I can snag a piece.”

  “The fact you love my cake is reassuring.” She jogged a few steps to get in front of me, and opened the door to the fire station.

  “Best cake within one hundred miles, Brynn,” she whispered as I walked by. “You got this.”

  I rolled my eyes, and looked around. I had thought that we would have walked into a reception area or something, but instead we had walked in where the huge fire trucks lived. “Sweet Jesus,” I gasped.

  “You totally should have put a fire truck or a dog on that cake.”

  I looked over at Karen. What the hell was she talking about? “Dog?”

  “Dalmatian,” she clarified.

  That made more sense. “Where do you think we go?”

  She tapped chin and looked around. “You would think there would be a firefighting badass room.”