Speaking of his brother.
“Bradley get your ass back to the front. Jax doesn’t need your help,” my business partner, and best friend since childhood, growls as he walks through the back door.
“One of these days she’s going to say yes to me,” Brad responds and smirks as he walks off.
“Fat chance little brother,” CJ mumbles, grabbing a towel on his way over to me.
He has a point. If I were going to date either of them it would be CJ. Hell, it actually was CJ once upon a time, but we made better friends than lovers. And while Brad has those striking baby blue eyes, something always drew me to stare at CJ’s miss-matched ones. He has one blue and one brown eye, and even after knowing him all these years, I’m still intrigued when I look at them.
“Here you go.” He tosses the towel at me. Catching it, I start to clean my arm off as he asks, “So what happened? Normally it's just flour you have all over yourself, not the dough.” His smile is huge and maddening, as he can’t hold back his mirth.
I just want to punch him. But I won’t, because he’s like family. Huh... maybe that’s why I should.
Worrying my bottom lip, I lean against the counter I was working on and drop the towel on the edge. “What happened is I keep thinking about this guy.”
“Oooh a guy,” he teases.
“Are we twelve again?” I shoulder check him.
CJ chuckles. “No, but when a guy makes you lose focus while you’re baking, I’m honor-bound to give you shit. You do it to me all the damn time.” He bumps me back.
“Yeah. Yeah.”
“So who is he? What did he do to make you act all girly?” he gestures to me and the mess I created while I was daydreaming. “Could I take him out if I needed to? I haven’t had to kick anyone's ass for you in years. I might need to practice on Bradley.”
Covering my mouth, I try to hold back my laughter. It doesn’t work and the smile that accompanies the laugh is big enough to reach my eyes.
“No practicing on your brother. Although, if you keep calling him Bradley he’s going to want to try to take you down. Now he wants to be called Brad. You know this.” CJ waves me off. He likes to fuck with his little brother, as siblings usually do, and since Brad has been trying to one-up CJ at every turn lately, the hassling is what he gets. “As far as this guy is concerned,” I continue, “I met him Tuesday morning. His name is Forest, and he’s the pastry chef at Belladonna. I only know that because the owner and another chef have been in here a few times.”
“Calla, right? And Trey is the one she comes in with?” he confirms, checking the counter before crossing his arms and leaning against it.
“Right. So Tuesday, Trey called in an order for pick up under Forest’s name. Forest came in with his little girl. They were off to her mom’s funeral. I’m not sure what the dynamic is between them, though. It seemed a little... off, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. But his daughter, Ella, was sweet and so incredibly sad.” I pause, thinking back to the little girl, and how she let me hug her.
“You felt a connection to her didn’t you?” CJ questions me, unfolding his arms and pulling me into a hug. “So is it him? Or her?”
“Honestly? Both. They both pulled on my heart strings, and I can’t stop thinking about them.” Resting my head on his shoulder, I wait for him to tell me how crazy this sounds.
“So, on the crazy scale, eh... it’s about a three, but if you run into him again, who knows what could happen.” He kisses the side of my head. “Now get back to baking, so I can work on my geeky stuff,” he jokes, using cheesy air quotes, “as you like to call it.”
I stick my tongue out at him as he releases me and heads toward the office. Turning to the counter, I get back to work on the doughnuts. Thankfully, my mind doesn’t wander as much after telling CJ about Forest and Ella. In fact, I’m able to make several more batches of doughnuts without incident now. It’s like I’m supercharged.
“Hey Jax?” Brad calls back to me. “There’s someone here to see you.” I scan the room to see where everyone is in their baking process. Satisfied everything is moving along like it should be, I head to the front, glancing at my watch as I go. Shit! Time really has been flying by.
“Who’s here to see me?” I ask Brad once I’m at the display counters.
He gestures across the room to two women and a little girl. His hand comes up to my face, and he brushes something off my cheek.
“You and that flour. I’m not sure how y’all don’t have to order more flour than you do. I swear you’re always covered in it. Can you take these over there with you please?” He hands me one of our pink boxes and a drink. “I’m going to help the next person in line.”
“Sure. Who does the drink go to?” I question as he starts to move away.
“The blonde,” he replies and steps up to the counter, taking an order from the next customer.
With a sigh, I amble over to the table. The seating area is almost full today, which I love seeing. A lot of the time, folks order their doughnuts and go, but it’s nice to see when they sit and enjoy them here. With fall classes just starting back up, we’ll get more students wanting the sugar high as they study.
“Excuse me… ” I say to the table as I arrive. “... y’all needed to speak to me?”
The little girl turns around, and the ladies stop speaking. “Ms. Jax!” Ella exclaims, a small smile on her face. Her eyes are so puffy and red-rimmed that it breaks my heart all over again. It’s not easy to lose a mom, but at her young age, I can’t even imagine. And here I thought fourteen was hard enough.
I place the box on the table before squatting down to her level. “Hey pretty girl. How are you today, Ella?”
She slips out of her chair and hugs me like she’s never going to let go.
“Not so good. Daddy had to work for Aunt Calla today for a little bit, and I’m supposed to be doing my homework from the days of school that I’ve missed, but I can’t con-cen-trate,” she stammers out the word. “So I asked Daddy if Aunt Nessa and Aunt Calla could bring me down here for a pick me up.”
Her explanation fills my heart, and I smile. “Well, hopefully these will help.” I gesture to the box. “But wouldn’t one of your dad’s desserts do the trick?”
She shrugs. “Maybe. But I wanted to visit with you. Also, the other day, Thursday I think, when we were all having lunch before Belladonna opened, we were talking about you.”
“Ella,” the blonde groans as Calla chuckles.
“She is just like Forest. Hi Jax, this is Nessa,” Calla nods to her friend. “She is Forest’s twin. What Ella is trying to say, in a long-winded and roundabout way, is that she and Forest mentioned you had invited them back here for donuts. Ella informed a small group of us that you’d lost your mom when you were young, and we were wondering if you could kind of give all of us a little guidance?” Calla’s expression turns sheepish.
Blowing out a deep breath, I study Ella’s face then her aunt’s. “Every situation is different…. ” I focus on Ella again. There is so much hope shining in her eyes, and I know I can’t say no. “If it will help, I’d be happy to talk to whoever wants to listen.”
Ella flings her arms around me again and squeezes me tight. “Thanks, Ms. Jax. Daddy really wanted to ask you himself. He thinks you’re pretty,” Ella whispers in my ear.
How can I refuse this adorable little girl?
“Thank you,” Calla says, and Nessa nods. “If you’re up for it after your shift, why don’t you come down to Belladonna? You can have dinner, and either Forest or I can get something set up. Honestly, it might be all of us asking you questions to help Forest out if he’s busy.”
“Sure.” My head is spinning at this turn of events. The ladies start to gather their box of doughnuts and drinks as my brain restarts. “Can I bring a friend with me?” I blurt out.
“Please do. We realize this is a crazy request. We’d rather you feel as comfortable as possible,” Calla says as she moves toward the door.
>
Ella hugs me one more time, her little frame buzzing with a little more life. “See you soon Ms. Jax!” she tells me before taking both women’s hands and walking out.
That little girl might be the death of me. Or... maybe new life?
Chapter 10
Forest
Tonight has been a clusterfuck, and there is no way to blame it on Calla’s mojo being gone. However, I still wish like hell that it would come the fuck back… like yesterday. Being down a chef sucks, and she’s such a great chef. Though, if she’d been cooking today, she wouldn’t have been able to run my errand, so maybe it's a small blessing after all. The kitchen door swings open, and Ella flies into the room.
“Daddy, with Jax coming to dinner tonight, can I please stay and sit in the bar area with Uncle Adam while everyone works? I’ll do my homework. I don’t want to leave with Aunt Piper!” Ella pleads, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout as she crosses her arms over her chest.
Damn I’m in trouble with that look. I fight to hold back my grin. I do understand that I can’t encourage this behavior, but it is cute, and if it wasn’t for the woman strolling back here right now, I’d say no. I stop working on the dessert I really need to finish, moving around my station to pick up my daughter. Furrowing my brows, I stare at my younger sister as tension fills the room. She’s damn lucky Nessa hasn’t walked back here after her. And whether anyone realizes it or not, in the short amount of time since Ella came into my life, she’s become a part of the Belladonna family. There isn’t anything these friends of mine wouldn’t do for her.
“Piper, what the hell are you doing back here? You’re not staff,” I growl at her, grinding my molars together.
“Ella took off, so I followed her. Since half the family works here, I figure I can go anywhere I want,” Piper snarks as she rolls her eyes.
And this is why I’m still pissed at her. She doesn’t get that her actions have consequences. Just one more reason I’m glad Calla took Nessa with her when she offered to go down to Voodoo Doughnuts and talk to Jax with Ella.
“First of all, the staff knows Ella. They don’t know you,” I remind her as the kitchen door swings open again, and Nessa strides purposefully in, a scowl firmly in place on her face.
“Get the fu... sorry, Ella... hell out of the kitchen, Piper. Ella, Sweetheart, if your dad says yes, Uncle Adam and I will watch over you in the bar area. We’ll let you stay in the booth you were in.” Nessa moves further into the kitchen.
“She shouldn’t been here all the time,” Piper frowns at Nessa then me, her hands going straight to her hips like Mom used to do. Mom could pull it off. Piper can not.
“Please Daddy? Can I? Just tonight. Monday, after school, if you want me to stay at Nonna and Gramp’s house, I will.” Ella’s eyes are glassy as she pleads with me, and my heart hurts so bad for her. I’m not sure it has stopped hurting for my little girl at any point since Hallie died.
“Okay,” I agree. “You’ve been here all week, anyway. Tonight’s not going to hurt anything. That said, you will listen to Aunt Nessa and Uncle Adam. If Aunt Piper stays, you’ll listen to her as well. If one of them tells you no, don’t ask the others and, under no circumstance, do you come in here because they won’t let you have anything. Do I make myself clear?” I insist as I maintain eye contact with her. It’s something my father used to do to me when I was a kid. It didn’t always work, but for the most part we understood he meant business when he looked at us like that.
Piper huffs. Her rigid posture saying more than any words that might come out of her mouth. What she doesn’t realize is... I really don’t give a fuck what she thinks right now. Sure she helped raise Ella, so she knows how Hallie handled everything. Yet, the fact that she never told me about my daughter is still a huge issue, and now that Hallie has been laid to rest, we definitely need to have it out. Tonight is not the night, though. And neither is having this fight in front of Ella the right way to handle our issues. She’s an innocent in this mess, and right now, I’ll do whatever my daughter needs to feel loved and wanted.
“Hallie, wouldn’t-” Piper starts, and I glare at her.
Ella’s breath hitches at the sound of her mother’s name.
“Piper, I’m not having this conversation with you. Especially not right now. You are Ella’s aunt, not her mother. Stop and think about your niece instead of yourself. If this is what Ella needs right now then it’s what she’s going to get.” My focus moves back to Ella. “Alright young lady, go out with Aunt Nessa. If I get a minute, I’ll come check on you. If you get hungry, let one of them know, but don’t chase them around the restaurant,” I remind her before kissing her head and setting her back on the ground.
“Yes sir. Thanks, Daddy.” She kisses my cheek before walking over to Nessa and grabbing her hand. They quickly exit the kitchen, Piper on their heels after she finishes glaring at me.
Guess she wishes Hallie would’ve given her custody. Speaking of which, I need to read that damn letter she wrote that her attorney handed to me after the reading of her will. Maybe it will give me a little more insight on why she didn’t.
Rounding my prep counter, I pick up where I left off on the dessert and hope the servers don’t come back anytime soon. One by one, as I start on the next orders, Calla, Trey, and Wes stop by my area. They don’t say anything. They just pat my back or arm as they make their rounds around the kitchen. Calla does take a little extra time to taste whatever batter I’m working on. At least her taste buds didn’t go wonky when her cooking did. She still has a palate I would die for. It’s one of the reasons she’s such a great chef. Normally.
As the first round of the dinner rush starts to ebb, the second wave of orders flow in. It’s at this time Nessa comes back into the kitchen, a mischievous grin filling every inch of her face.
Oh shit. What did she do? The only time I saw this expression growing up was when I was about to get in trouble because, God forbid, my twin do something devious. It had to have been me. Granted, I was normally right there with her. But still, our parents didn’t call her out on anything we did. It was always me that took the fall. I can’t believe you let your sister do that with you! Forest, why did you take Nessa with you? Yeah, I’m so going to need to watch what Nessa teaches Ella.
Nessa strolls over to me. “So... you want the good news first, or bad?”
“Neither? I don’t know if I can handle more of either this week,” I tell her, kneading the dough I’m working.
“Too bad. Mom and Dad are here. They’re sitting in the bar with Ella and Piper. Before you ask, yes, Piper is griping about you letting Ella stay here tonight. Mom and Dad gave her that look.” She chuckles, and chills run down my spine.
“That laugh is still evil, and you know it. Is that the good news or the bad?” I ask, setting the dough to the side and starting on the next dessert that spits out of the order reader.
She stands there, not saying anything, tapping her finger against her bottom lip. My brow arches at her.
“Jax just arrived. She’s with a guy, and they’re sitting in the bar in the booth next to Ella,” she says and turns to leave.
“Well, fuck. Okay. Uh... let me finish this order, and I’ll stop by the tables,” I state, letting out a long, deep frustrated breath.
Jax will be one more issue Piper’s going to bitch about.
“Forest, I’m pretty sure Jax and the guy she’s with are just friends.” Nessa grins then laughs. “With how they talk to each other, I’d be shocked if they’re on a date. By the way, she’s fucking hot. If you get a shot at dating her, take it.” And with that pronouncement, she exits the kitchen.
Laughter soon fills the kitchen as I roll my eyes. At least something finally broke the spell Piper created earlier. Granted, I can’t throw the blame all on her. We had people call in sick tonight, which threw off the kitchen and the waitstaff, but she sure as fuck didn’t help.
Focusing on what I need to finish, I block out everything around me. That is, until t
he feeling of eyes boring into me send chills running down my spine. Glancing up, I see Wes is standing next to me.
“Dude, where the hell were you just now? I said your name twice.” He smirks. “Let me take over for a bit. Go talk to your parents and the chick that’s going to help us with Ella.”
I run a hand through my hair. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Wes.”
“No problem, man. We’re family. It’s what we do.” Wes steps back and lets me escape my space.
As I’m heading for the door, Calla stops me. She doesn’t say a word. She simply takes a towel to my hair and rubs it before taking her hand and fixing whatever she did to it.
“Really? You’re cleaning me up?” I ask as I see Trey off to my right shaking his head.
Calla shrugs and steps out of my way, and I leave the kitchen.
I’m never nervous around chicks. But as I make my way toward Jax, I realize my confidence has disappeared.
Fuck.
Chapter 11
Ella
Aunt Piper is driving me crazy. I swear, if she doesn't stop being a witch to Daddy, I’m going to scream. The routine she wants me to keep was Mom’s. It’s not Daddy's, and I need to be on Daddy's routine. I hope she goes home to Houston soon.
That is a thought I never thought I’d have. I hope that doesn't make me a bad person. Until this week, I hadn't realized the differences between Aunt Piper and her brother and sister. Sure she’d said they were very different, but I don't think I wanted to believe it. After the episode in the kitchen, and what she's been saying to Nonna and Gramps... yeah, I can see it. Thankfully, they’re trying to shut her up.
Keeping my head down, I shift in the booth, pretending to focus on my homework so the adults around me don't realize my attention is mostly on their conversation.
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