by C. J. Birch
Hayley stared in obvious awe. “You made these this morning? Like, out of stuff you had in the kitchen?” She turned the container, looking at each chocolate. “When you said you liked to decorate cakes, I thought…I don’t know what I thought actually, but these are awesome.”
“Is this like a side hustle you have? Making specialized baked goods for people?”
“Side hustle? No.” Lauren rarely made any money off her baking. She’d planned to take these to the diner for everyone tomorrow. But beyond making some cupcakes for her dad or the odd birthday cake for a friend, her desserts were mostly something she shared with friends and family.
“You really should think about it. At least post some pictures on Pinterest. People will go apeshit when they see them. They almost look too good to eat.”
A ball of warmth settled in Lauren’s chest. She loved baking and sharing what she made with her close friends and family, but she’d never considered it good enough to actually sell. Maybe she should think more about what Pete had said. The deadline for the Bake or Die contest was still a couple of weeks away.
“There is this contest that happens every year that my friend Pete’s been trying to get me to sign up for a couple years now.”
“You’re crazy not to.” Hannah took the last bite of her chocolate, finishing off the witch’s head and closing her eyes as she chewed.
“The fee is a thousand dollars.”
“Holy shit!” Hayley grabbed a ghost and twirled it around. “Why so much?”
“The prize is a hundred grand.” Both Hayley and Hannah stopped eating. Lauren shrugged. “Hundreds of people sign up, and there’s only one winner. That’s a lot of money to give up.”
“But this Pete guy thinks you’re good enough.”
“And your creations are amazing, so what’s the problem?” Hayley grabbed a witch and popped it into her mouth. “Your flavours are amazing. Although…”
“Although what?”
“If you added cinnamon extract to this, it would give it a French-toast taste. Like if you could make them look like little pieces of French toast, that would be cool.”
Lauren stared into the beady little eyes of one of the ghost chocolates. The problem? She didn’t have a thousand dollars to give up, but more important? She didn’t have the confidence to think she could win.
* * *
Hayley turned over as quietly as she could, but it was hard to manoeuvre around Hannah’s belly. Yesterday the double had felt huge, before she’d had a seven-months-pregnant woman hogging two-thirds of it. Maybe she should go sleep on the couch after all, although then she’d have to deal with Jerkface.
He’d stayed hidden in Lauren’s bedroom while they’d had dinner, but Lauren kicked him out before going to bed. Otherwise he’d drive her crazy. No, here was better. It might be cramped, and any second Hannah would start snoring, but it was better than having a fat cat use your back as a scratching post in the middle of the night.
Hayley turned onto her back and tried to find a comfortable place for her left arm. Finally she settled for her stomach and began drumming her fingers. Hannah reached out and placed her hand on Hayley’s.
“Stop that.”
“Sorry.”
Hannah groaned and flipped onto her back, then immediately turned back to her original position on her side facing Hayley. “Ugh. I miss Benjamin.”
“Who the fuck is Benjamin?” Hayley turned on her side facing Hannah.
“My body pillow.”
“You named your body pillow?”
“You’re surprised?” Hannah named everything—her cars, her appliances, even her computers had names.
“No. I guess not. What does Derek think of Benjamin?”
“Probably not a fan. Benjamin replaced him in bed three weeks ago.”
“Ouch.”
Hannah yawned. “We all make sacrifices. I’m making his progeny in my body, so he can sleep on the couch for a couple months.”
“Why’s he on the couch? What about the spare bedroom?”
Hannah opened her eyes and stared at her sister. “It disappeared a month after we found out about this thing growing inside me.” She pointed to her belly.
“Oh. Right.” Hayley studied Hannah. She looked exhausted and irritable. “Are you doing okay?” Hayley hadn’t even thought to ask what had prompted her visit.
“Besides feeling like I’m running a 10k in ninety percent humidity every day? Yeah. I actually came to check up on you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, the one who came here with a job and an apartment and then all of a sudden has a different job and a different apartment. You. The one who always lets everyone think she’s okay so as not to rock the boat. You always put everyone else first, and I’m worried about you.”
“I don’t put everyone else first.”
“You stayed in Casper Falls working with Mom and Dad because you were afraid they wouldn’t be able to handle the place without you. You put off school, and you put off moving here even though it was so obvious you weren’t happy back home.” Hannah placed a hand on Hayley’s cheek. “We get it. We all do. You belong here. Casper Falls was never going to hold you forever. Are you happy?”
Hayley nodded. She didn’t even have to think about it. Even though things hadn’t gone the way she’d planned, there was something vital about being in the city. And it wasn’t that she thought she was meant to be here, destiny and all that crap. She felt more alive here than she ever had in Casper Falls. And even if she’d managed to find a job she liked back home, she still wouldn’t be as happy as working as a short-order cook here.
* * *
Lauren stopped, her hand poised on the fridge, when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. At first she thought it might be Jerkface, but he was nuzzled in his favourite place, right over the floor vent in the living room, blocking the heat from getting to everyone else, naturally.
Hayley sat up on the couch, pushing her hair off her face. “Everything okay?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Lauren motioned toward Hayley and her new position on the couch. She had one of the throw blankets and a quilt tucked around her.
“Hannah finally fell asleep, and she snores like a razorback pig.”
Lauren laughed softly, coming to sit on the coffee table. “And what exactly does a razorback pig sound like when it snores?”
“Like something that needs to be slaughtered and gutted if you have to sleep next to it.”
“Wow. Okay. That took a sharp turn.”
Hayley shrugged, the neck of her sweater slipping down, revealing a bare shoulder that glowed blue in the light from the street.
Lauren was reminded of their positions the other day, only this time reversed. Since the kiss she’d felt a tension that hadn’t been there before. She would give anything to unravel it, not that it would take much. A tug here, a pull there, lips meeting, skin touching. Then almost as if on cue, a loud sawing noise shattered the silence.
Hayley grinned. “The razorback speaks.”
The invitation was a breath away. Lauren could hear herself asking if Hayley wanted to share her bed. However, she didn’t. She knew what the answer would be. Hayley had made her choice. She wanted to be just friends, and even if Lauren was only offering a bed and nothing more, Hayley might not know that, and the rejection would be crippling.
“Would you like one of my pillows?” Lauren asked instead.
“Thank you. Mine was stolen.”
“You have to be careful who you let into your bed.”
They both paused, contemplating that sentence. “Hmm,” Hayley finally said. “A lesson I wished I’d learned earlier.”
Lauren wanted to ask but didn’t. She retrieved a pillow from her bed, still warm, and handed it to Hayley. She couldn’t be certain, but it looked as if Hayley had brought the pillow to her nose before sinking into it on the couch.
Chapter Twenty
“I know a bribe when I see on
e.”
“A bribe? Dad, I shouldn’t have to bribe you with junk food to get you out of the house. You’re retired, not dead. All you do is sit and read and watch shows. All day. Every day. Don’t you want a little variety?” Lauren settled into the booth at the family diner around the corner from his apartment.
“I want to be left to do the things that make me happy.”
And sadly, one of the things that made her father happy was eating food that exacerbated his diabetes. He hadn’t been out of the house since his last doctor’s appointment, over three weeks ago. She was afraid to stop doing things for him, like bringing groceries, because he’d just order delivery. She’d barely been able to coax him out for this.
Max flipped open a menu to the burger section and scrolled down until he found the banquet burger. “I don’t need the life of a young person. I’m not young anymore. The goal isn’t to make life harder. It’s to simplify it.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing simple about kidney failure and heart disease.”
Max motioned for the server. “You sound like your mother. She was constantly on my case about my diet.” The sentence hung heavy in the air, the implications clear. Lauren’s mom, who had lived her whole life by the rules—eating right, getting plenty of fresh air, never drinking, nor indulging in sweets—had died ten years previously of cancer. Lauren often wondered if Max felt it was unfair that he was still alive. And if her mom had lived, would her dad be such a recluse now?
They ordered and sat staring out the window as rush-hour traffic passed. The nights were growing longer, so even at six in the evening it was fully dark, which made the world feel colder. Lauren preferred to be home by now, curled up on her couch with a glass of wine, covered by her favourite throw.
Max arranged the silverware on his paper placemat. “So are you going to tell me why you asked me out for dinner?”
“Why do I need a reason? I thought it would be nice to see the inside of other walls besides your apartment.”
Max waved her off, then grinned as their server set down his banquet burger—all three levels—in front of him. “Now this is a burger. Can I get some vinegar?” Their server nodded.
Lauren poked one of the rubbery eggs on her plate. She’d never let an order go out looking like this. The eggs were overcooked, the hash browns were undercooked, and the bacon was crisp enough to use as a shiv.
Max put down his burger and stared at Lauren. “What’s really bothering you? I know this has nothing to do with getting me out of my apartment.”
Their server set a glass bottle of vinegar on the table. Lauren smiled up at her. It didn’t matter. The woman wasn’t even looking; her focus on a new group of five that had entered. Lauren recognized the haggard expression of someone who’d been on their feet all day and probably had several more hours to go. Her hair was pulled tight into a functional ponytail, no amount of makeup could hide the dark circles under her eyes, and what little foundation she’d applied earlier had since melted.
She looked down at her eggs. Why had she dragged them out to this diner? After thinking about it, she realized she had wanted to get herself out, not her dad. Hayley had plans tonight, and the thought of staying in by herself was unbearable.
Lauren shrugged as she looked up at the kind eyes of her father. “I think I just wanted some company.” But it wasn’t just that. She’d wanted to have plans. More specifically, plans with Hayley.
Max smiled and squeezed her hand. “Your company is always welcome. Next time, though, let’s order in.”
* * *
Hayley lay sprawled on her bed, facedown, softly snoring. One foot poked out the right side of the bed, while her hand dangled over the edge on the left. Lauren guessed she was reclaiming her territory after having shared with her sister for two days.
Hayley shifted, pulling part of the cover down and exposing a bare leg and the skin on her back above the waistband of her boxers. Lauren stared at the skin just below the edge of her boxers, remembering how soft it had been. How much she’d wanted to explore it.
Lauren stopped inching toward the bed. Perhaps she should’ve knocked. If Hayley were to wake up and see her standing there, it would look creepy.
Before Lauren had a chance to back out of the room, Jerkface jumped up on the bed and began pawing at Hayley’s back.
“G’off.” Hayley swatted blindly, and Jerkface took that as a game and began taking swipes at her hand. “You stupid cat.” She bolted up to shove him off her bed but stopped before she got the chance, stunned that Lauren was standing at the foot of her bed. Her hair was mussed in the most adorable way, pulled and tangled on one side.
Lauren covered her stomach, hoping that might help the dip and flip it seemed to be doing at that moment. “I’m sorry to wake you so early. Ezra called in sick, and I can’t get ahold of anyone else.” Lauren’s eyes dipped to the duvet cover, realizing what an invasion this was. She was, after all, Hayley’s boss, and instead of knocking or even texting, she’d felt she had the right to just barge in on her. “I should’ve knocked.”
Jerkface was still on the bed kneading Hayley’s thighs with his claws. Lauren reached over and scooped him off the bed, chucking him to the floor. When she looked back up, Hayley quickly averted her eyes from Lauren’s cleavage, on full display in her housecoat. She resisted the urge to tie it tighter.
Silence filled the room, thick and charged. Lauren had lost the thread of conversation, and clearly so had Hayley. She slumped back on the bed and grabbed her phone to check the time. It was ten to five.
“Oh, God.” Hayley pulled the covers up over her head.
“Is that a yes?”
“Fine. But I want one of Ezra’s afternoon shifts as a thank-you.” Hayley’s voice was muffled under the blankets.
“Thank you.” Lauren backed out of the room.
* * *
Staring at Hayley that morning in bed, Lauren had made up her mind to ask her out on a date. Actually, she’d come up with the idea the other night when she’d had dinner with her dad. He’d said something about having earned his solitude. Like Pete had said, she’d stuffed herself inside a bubble, able to watch the world around her but not participate. Well, she was tired of being an observer in her own life. It was time she did something to shake things up, and the scariest, shakiest thing she could think of was to ask Hayley out on a date.
She’d solidified that thought this morning, but now, as Hayley worked in the kitchen and Lauren set up the front, her nerve had disappeared. Any minute their first customer would come in, and the chance would be gone.
Lauren found Hayley in the back pantry pacing in the dark, shaking her arms as if getting ready for a marathon. “What’s going on? You okay?”
Hayley nodded. “What’s up?”
Lauren bit her top lip. It was now or never. “I wanted to revisit this friends thing.” She motioned between the two of them. “Would you like to go have coffee with me sometime? Maybe after work?”
Hayley’s eyes widened. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
“Yes.”
“No…Absolutely not.”
Lauren opened her mouth but was interrupted by the chime on the front door and Kaleed’s voice calling, “Hey, Lauren. Where do you want these pies?”
She paused a minute, studying Hayley’s face, mortified to have been rejected so thoroughly. “On the counter, please. I’ll be there in a second.” Lauren reached for the cloth in her apron pocket and wiped her hands, wishing she could wipe away her memory of this moment. “Okay, then. Forget I asked.” Without saying anything else she fled to the front.
* * *
“It was the right decision,” Hayley whispered to herself. It had become her mantra. She’d been saying it every few minutes out loud and had it on a constant loop in her head.
Ramiro stopped behind Hayley, peering over her shoulder. “I have to disagree, Pollyanna. Sprinkling panko on a chicken burger like that is most definitely the wrong decision.�
�
Hayley looked down at the plate in front of her and groaned. Her day was a mess. And it had nothing to do with starting a rush on her own and everything to do with Lauren asking her out for coffee. Where had that come from? But as soon as the diner had opened, she’d been fucking up large. Luna had come in and screamed at her four times because she couldn’t get one of her orders right.
“If they tip bad it’s your fault,” she spit out, then left with the new, hopefully correct, order.
Lauren wasn’t any better. She hadn’t said anything with words, but she didn’t need to. Her face said it all. She’d given Hayley at least three what-the-fuck looks. And each time Hayley just got worse. She’d been behind all day, even with Ramiro’s help. He’d only just gotten his cast off a few days ago, which meant he was still awkward on his feet, so they’d agreed he’d do prep and Hayley would take lead, a first for her.
She knew the menu, and thanks to the cheat sheet on the wall, the lingo was finally starting to sink in. It was her speed. She wasn’t used to making several things at once or doing it quickly. Hayley could cook, no question about that, but she was used to doing it for friends and family, where she had no time limit.
Finally, at ten to nine, Lauren stepped into the kitchen. “What is going on, Hayley?” She looked around at the gargantuan mess surrounding Hayley. About a half-dozen broken eggs littered the floor, flour and oats were strewn on every surface, and pancake and waffle mix covered half the counter. In one spot it had run to the edge and was dripping onto the floor. Ramiro had left an hour ago, and Hayley had finished her regular shift, making this the second double she’d worked that week. Usually she wouldn’t mind, she could always use the money, but with Lauren also working a double, the mood in the diner had gotten cold.