“These are for you.” Chloe beamed as she thrust a gorgeous arrangement of pink and white roses toward Charlie, her eyes bright with wonder as they danced over the assorted cupcakes waiting to take their place in the display case.
“They’re beautiful, sweetheart. Would you mind putting them on the counter over there next to the cash register?”
The girl marched over to where Charlie had indicated and put them down, angling them with the eye of a future decorator.
“Oh my goodness, you’re swamped already!” Gab put Travis in the car carrier, pulled a bottle out of her bag and gave it to him, then grabbed an apron from the hook near the kitchen door and put it on. “What do you need me to do?”
To say she was feeling a little overwhelmed would be an understatement. Charlie hadn’t been prepared for so many so fast, and Gab’s offer to help seemed like a godsend.
“Can you take orders? If you take them, I can fill them and box up the ones to go. If anyone wants to eat theirs here, tell them to help themselves to coffee or whatever they’re drinking, and we’ll bring their order to the table.”
“Got it. Chloe can help out with that. She’ll get a real kick out of playing waitress, and you don’t have to worry, she’s a great helper.”
“I’m not worried. The customers will probably love it; she’s adorable.”
Charlie filled orders as fast as Gabriella took them. Over and over customers who’d come in for a cupcake and a cup of coffee came up to the counter when they were done and placed to go orders.
By eleven thirty Charlie realized she needed to make up several more dozen, or she’d be forced to close her doors early on opening day. She was in the kitchen in a frosting mania when Delaney rushed in with baby Kate, who was fast asleep in her carrier.
“What are you doing here?” Charlie asked as she piped buttercream frosting into a swirling peak on top of another orange-dreamsicle cupcake.
“Gab called me. She said you got slammed. I’m here to help in whatever way I can. Ben’s here, too. He’s helping Chloe charm the customers while they wait for some of these batches to come out.”
“Those trays can go now.” Charlie pointed to the island where she’d just put two large trays. “Vanilla with salted-caramel drizzle, strawberry with white buttercream, and triple dark chocolate.”
Delaney loaded the trays onto a rolling cart and took them out to load into the cases, repeating the names as she went. She returned about five minutes later and slipped on one of the aprons Charlie kept hanging on a hook near the door.
“Do you want me to start frosting some of these?” she asked, indicating several trays that Charlie had taken out of the refrigerator.
“That would be great.” Charlie told her which frostings to put on which cakes, and Delaney took it from there. Her experience as a chef was a great help as she calmly got to work.
“I’ve got this,” Delaney said after several minutes of turning out beautifully iced cupcakes with perfect peaks. “Why don’t you let me take it from here with these, and you can go back out front and take care of customers with Gab?”
Charlie took her up on the offer, and with the help of her cousins she started to think they just might make it through the morning without having to close up shop.
Mary came in around one thirty with two of her girlfriends. They bought cupcakes and coffee and sat at one of the café tables to enjoy them. When they’d finished, Mary offered to take the children back to the Inn with her.
Ben and Chloe were having such a good time helping out that they asked if they could stay, but everyone agreed it might be better if Mary took the littlest ones home with her for the afternoon.
Blake and Justin both came in at different points during the day, but it had been so busy Charlie didn’t have time to give them anything more than a brief hug and thank them for their support. When Cooper made an appearance about an hour before closing time, she’d handed him a box of a dozen cupcakes and asked him to give it to a woman in a red maxi dress who was standing next to the coffee bar checking out one of her menus.
At four fifteen, an hour and fifteen minutes past her posted closing time, Charlie said thank you to her last two customers as they left the shop, locked the front door, turned around, leaned her head against it, and shut her eyes. She was exhausted.
“I’d say opening day was a success.”
Charlie looked across the room. Delaney stood leaning against the counter, a massive grin on her face.
“That was beyond anything I could have imagined. God, where did they all come from?” Charlie pushed away from the door and walked over to Ben and Chloe, giving each a hug. “We wouldn’t have been able to pull things off without you two today. You both did an awesome job! Thanks for all your help.”
“Can we do it again tomorrow?” Ben asked, smiling up at her with his infectious grin. “It was fun.”
“Yeah. I can help, too.” Chloe looked over at Gabriella for confirmation. “Right, Mom?”
Gab nodded. “We can all help if Aunt Charlie needs us, at least until school starts in a couple of weeks.”
Charlie gave both kids a high five. “I doubt I’ll ever have another day like this one, but I wouldn’t mind having two seasoned helpers like you guys on call if the next couple of days are busy.”
“You can count on us.” Ben puffed up his chest.
“Right.” Chloe put her arm around Ben’s shoulder. “You can count on us.”
“Hey, there’s Dad.” Ben pointed toward the window. “And there’s Uncle Justin, too.”
Delaney went to the door and let them in. “It should be illegal for so much beauty to wander the streets while there are susceptible women out there.”
Ben looked at Chloe. “She says stuff like that to them all the time.”
“Yeah, my mom does, too. And she always says you’re going to look just like them and break a bunch of girls’ hearts.”
“I’m not going to break some girls’ hearts. I like girls.”
“Well…I think it’s just an expression. I think it means they think you’re cute.”
“Oh.” Ben scratched his head. “Do you think I’m cute?”
Chloe concentrated on his face a few seconds. “Yeah, I guess, kind of.”
“What are you two doing, playing hooky?” Charlie grinned broadly at Blake and Justin, knowing full well they’d come to congratulate her on a successful opening day.
“I could barely get in the front door earlier it was so packed in here.” Justin pulled out the bottle of champagne he’d been holding behind his back and held it in the air. “Blake and I thought a celebration was in order.”
“And for the wait staff—ta da!” Blake held up a bottle of sparkling grape juice.
“Cool!” Ben shouted.
“I don’t have any flutes here for the bubbly, but I’ve got plenty of paper coffee cups.”
“They’ll do the trick,” Delaney said, and got enough for everyone from the coffee bar while Charlie loaded a plate with the few remaining cupcakes to add to the celebration.
After arranging a couple of tables so they could all sit around them together, Blake filled everyone’s cup and raised his glass in a toast.
“To a great start, kid.”
“To a great start,” everyone joined in, including Ben and Chloe who clearly felt very grown-up raising their cups of sparkling grape juice and toasting with the adults.
Charlie brought a hand to her mouth and sniffed, suddenly overcome by emotion. “Thank you all so much.” She gave an embarrassed laugh. “This is silly. I don’t know why I’m crying. I think part of it’s because I’m so relieved we actually made it through opening day!”
She looked down, staring at the tiny bubbles rising and bursting in her cup. “Seriously though…you’ve all been so wonderful. I never would have been able to pull things off today without you…and, well…I love you guys.”
Gabriella and Delaney got teary as well. Blake cleared his throat and Justin leaned for
ward and rested his elbows on the table. “We love you, too, cuz. You’re ours. We’re yours.”
Ben looked at Chloe and shrugged.
Charlie was saved from breaking down and blubbering in her champagne by a knock on the door.
“IS THIS a private party?” Cooper looked past Charlie to the small group gathered around the café tables.
“It was until a minute ago,” Justin mumbled under his breath, to which he received an elbow in the ribs from Gabriella.
Charlie frowned. Was that sarcasm she’d heard? She scrutinized her cousin, narrowing her eyes when she saw him and Blake exchange glances. Neither one of them looked too happy about Cooper’s arrival. Something was up.
“We were just celebrating Charlie’s opening-day success.” Delaney reached behind her and pulled another chair up to the tables. “Come join us.”
Cooper shot an uncertain glance toward Justin and Blake. Had he picked up on the strange undercurrent as well?
“Thanks, but I don’t want to intrude.” He looked down at Charlie and smiled. A warm flame sparked in her chest. “I just stopped to offer my congratulations. You were the toast of the town today.”
“Thank you…and you’re not intruding. We just opened some champagne, and if you aren’t in a rush to get anywhere, there’s plenty to go around.” She latched onto his wrist with her fingers and tugged him fully inside, pushing the door shut behind him with her free hand.
Turning, she intentionally kept a hold on him, watching her cousins as she walked toward them. “As Aunt Lou used to say—that was Blake and Justin’s mom,” she added, but not just for his benefit. “There’s always room for one more.” Not missing a beat, she looked from Blake to Justin and arched a brow. “Right, guys?”
They wore twin frowns. Calling up their mom was the surest way to make them mind their manners. The woman might have been dead for several years, but she never would have tolerated inhospitality in her home, and just the suggestion their behavior might disappoint her was enough to make them squirm in their chairs.
Cooper was their friend. Normally they’d be waving him in, pouring him a glass before he sat down, and slapping him on the back in good old buddy form. This cool reception they were giving him was so out of character it immediately tipped her off to what must be behind it because she knew what was in character—their overprotective attitude where she was concerned.
Her cousins loved her, and she adored them for that, but they needed to understand whatever choices she made in her life were hers to make. That included her love life—not that she was in love with Cooper. That wasn’t the point.
They kept the celebration short. Although she was riding a high from the day’s success and appreciated their support, it had been a long day, and Charlie still needed to bake enough cupcakes to stock the cases in the morning and replenish her freezers.
Cooper was the first to leave, and no wonder—Blake and Justin had practically driven him off. They hadn’t said anything to him that she could find fault with. No, they hadn’t said anything, just watched him with probing stares that held a hint of warning. Hawk eyes—and yes, they had studied him like a hawk might study its prey before swooping in for a strike.
There was no way her suspicions could be wrong. Somehow they’d found out about her and Cooper and appointed themselves the screening and approval board over her love life.
If the kids weren’t here, she’d strangle them both right now. Overbearing men! Who did they think they were?
Charlie locked the door behind Cooper when he left and sighed lightly. Don’t be mad. They thought they were protecting her, looking out for her. They would probably treat any man who showed the tiniest bit of interest in her the same way until the guy proved himself worthy in their eyes. It was love that drove them. She wouldn’t kill them, but she wouldn’t sit back and accept their interference either.
“Come on, kids. Let’s help Aunt Charlie clean up before we go.” Delaney shifted into action and started clearing the tables. Everyone else chipped in and made short order of it, leaving the store front polished and ready for tomorrow.
After they’d all gone, Charlie went back to the kitchen to prep for the next day. She filled several tins with batter, put them in the ovens to bake, and then got out what she needed to mix up more batches.
Charlie put all the ingredients into the first two mixing bowls and attached them to the two Hobart commercial mixers she’d inherited from Delaney, then set the timers on the mixers.
To her surprise, she found a second wind once she started baking. Turning the speaker volume up on her MP3 player, she belted out “Rumor Has It” with Adele, spinning her index finger in the air and moving her hips to the whir of the beaters. In her groove, she put the ingredients for salted-caramel batter into one of the extra bowl attachments, vanilla bean into another, and set them aside to wait their turn on the mixers.
It was just after eight when she walked out of the store and locked the door. She smiled lightly as she crossed the street and continued on to where she’d parked her car.
She had twelve dozen regular and twelve dozen mini cupcakes in the refrigerators ready to be frosted in the morning and as she needed them tomorrow, more than enough to get her through the morning and possibly the day. She also had several dozen in the freezer to fall back on. She felt comfortable she’d be okay; there was no way she’d be as busy as she had been today.
As it turned out, she’d been wrong. Wednesday and Thursday were just as crazy as opening day. By Friday things finally started to level off. The shop still did a brisk business, but Charlie was able to spend a little time connecting with customers—thanking them for coming in, handing out her business card, and inviting them to help themselves to a complimentary drink to celebrate Finger Cakes’ grand opening.
She would have crashed and burned without Gabriella and Delaney covering her back the last three days. They had been lifesavers, arranging their schedules and taking turns with kid duty so that one or the other was there to help.
She’d never be able to work the store alone every day as she’d intended, even once things leveled out. Yes, it would save the expense of having to pay someone, but it had been overly optimistic to think she would be able to handle everything by herself.
At a minimum, she would need at least one employee. That way there would always be someone working the front of the store. She hadn’t planned to work Saturdays until closer to Thanksgiving, but if she hired another employee, she might start opening for a half day and see what kind of business they got.
There was also the matter of what she’d do if she happened to get sick. If she hired someone, she wouldn’t have to keep the store closed if she was unable to work. Two employees would be ideal, but she couldn’t afford that yet. If the store did well, she might be able to consider hiring an additional person in six to twelve months.
Just before closing on Friday, Charlie rang up an order for Mrs. Lindley, her last customer for the day.
“I’ll get the door for you,” she told the woman, who had come in to pick up a special order she’d placed on Wednesday for two dozen mixed cupcakes with pink and white swirled buttercream frosting for her daughter’s surprise baby shower that evening.
“Have a great time tonight, and please give Audrey my congratulations.” Charlie had been two years behind Audrey in high school. They’d been on the track team together her sophomore year. Audrey had been the star athlete and had been instrumental in taking their team to state two years in a row, winning the 200-meter dash both years. Now she was married and getting ready to welcome a baby girl into the world in less than two months.
“I will,” the woman assured her, “and thank you for doing such a beautiful job on these. Audrey’s going to love them!”
Charlie held open the door. “Thanks again, Mrs. Lindley. I appreciate your business.”
“You’re welcome, Charlie. It’s so nice you’ve moved back to Glebe Point and opened your shop. It’s a great addition t
o our little town; everyone’s saying so.”
Charlie locked the door behind the woman and then went back to the counter to settle for the day.
“Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight?” Delaney suggested as Charlie closed out the register. “Blake’s going to barbecue, and after the week you’ve had, it might be nice to let someone else take care of the cooking.”
“Thanks, I think I’ll take you up on that. I was starting to feel guilty about bumming leftovers from Mary again.” Charlie tore off the sales tape and rolled it around her hand. “Once I’ve settled in with this I should get better at planning for things like dinners that aren’t dependent on delivery, take out, or the generosity of others.”
Delaney’s phone rang and she took the call. “I already did and she said yes,” Charlie heard Delaney say as she pulled some of the cash out of the drawer to deposit at the bank on her way home.
“That was Blake. He called to say Justin and his gang will be coming to the barbecue and asked me to see if you wanted to come as well.”
“Great. I’ll bring some leftover cupcakes for dessert.”
“Oh, the kids will love that!” Delaney snagged her purse from under the counter and flashed Charlie a broad grin. “And the rest of us will probably do a little drooling, too.”
When Charlie opened the front door a few minutes later to let Delaney leave, Cooper was standing on the other side, his arm poised to knock as it swung open.
“Hey, Coop,” Delaney greeted him warmly. She leaned toward Charlie to give her a hug, eyes sparkling like backlit jade. “I need to get going. I have to swing by Gab’s to pick up Ben and Kate before I go home. See you later, honey. Feel free to bring a date,” Delaney whispered in her ear before letting go. When she stood back, there was a definite gleam in those bright green eyes.
“Bye, Cooper, hope to see you again soon.” She looked between the two of them with a twitching grin and then turned to go, a bounce in her step as she walked away.
COOPER EYED Charlie suspiciously. “What was that all about?”
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