“Because he’s my boss,” Gwen said. “And he’s kind of a control freak at the restaurant.”
“True, but that’s not why he’s watching you . . .” Alicia said, drawing out her words. “And I don’t think his offer to make two hundred cupcakes from scratch in the middle of the night was out of the kindness of his heart.”
Gwen was afraid to ask Alicia to clarify. It turned out that Alicia went ahead and did it anyway.
“Don’t you see, Gwen?” Alicia asked. “Seth Owens likes you. As in . . . he’s interested.”
Gwen wouldn’t let it go to her head, even if Alicia was right. “That just strengthens my theory that he’s a party guy and looking for a fling.”
“What about his girlfriend he had to get away from?” Alicia said. “Wasn’t that a long-term relationship?”
“I’m not sure how long, but their parents are close friends,” Gwen said.
“And he hasn’t dated any of the waitresses or anyone, from what I know,” Alicia said. “Maybe that’s a clue right there.”
“What clue?”
“You know what clue,” Alicia said. “Tell you what, let’s test my theory. Waitress for his family’s barbeque on Thursday, and if he doesn’t ask you out by the end of the night, I’ll take back everything I said.”
“And?” Gwen prompted.
“And I’ll come with you next week to the homeless shelter.”
“And?”
“I’ll buy lunch on the way home.”
“All right,” Gwen said, smiling to herself. “That sounds like a deal.” A few moments later, when she’d hung up with Alicia, Gwen realized she didn’t really want Alicia to be right. Because if her friend was right, and Seth was interested in her, then that would mean that Gwen would have to turn him down. Dating her boss would never be an option, especially someone like Seth Owens. It would go against every principle she’d ever fought her parents on.
In the meantime, Gwen was enjoying driving Seth’s car, but she told herself it was only a means of transportation, and temporary at that.
She pulled off the freeway and drove the rest of the way to the homeless shelter. She could hardly wait to set up the cupcakes at the end of the lunch line. She pulled around to the back door of the building so she could unload the cupcakes by the kitchen entrance. When she pushed through the door, carrying the first box of cupcakes, Mac looked up from where he was stirring a big bowl of macaroni salad.
“You’re early,” he said. His dark brows lifted when he saw that she was carrying a pastry box. “What did you bring?”
“A surprise.” Gwen set the box on the table and slid off the lid. “Ta-da!”
“Wow—did you make those?”
“Yeah, but I had help.” A lot of help.
“Our friends will want you to replace me as cook,” Mac teased.
“Never.” She smiled back at him, then headed outside to fetch the rest of the boxes. Once she had all the boxes on the tables, she stuck the toothpick flags in each cupcake.
Then Gwen helped Mac finish preparing the sloppy joes that would go along with the macaroni salad. Less than an hour later, the patrons started coming inside the homeless shelter.
When Jerry saw her, he called out in his typical way. “There’s my princess!” For a man in his seventies, he looked much older. His limp was more pronounced today, and Gwen stepped around the table so she could pull him into a hug. He didn’t smell too great, but that didn’t bother Gwen. As long as Jerry got something good to eat, she’d be happy.
“Ricky, you made it,” Gwen said when the next man approached the lunch table. Ricky’s shoulders were stooped from what Gwen suspected was a form of MS. But his gap-toothed grin made Gwen smile in response. He hadn’t been around the week before, and that always made Gwen nervous. The streets weren’t always safe.
Bo and Silvia came through the line, and Gwen was pretty sure the two were sweethearts even though she guessed that Silvia was about five years older than Bo. They always stuck together.
Maddy walked into the shelter, wearing her usual bright red sweatshirt, which she wore rain or shine. Last year, Gwen had replaced it with a new red sweatshirt, since the first one had worn through at the elbows and hem. Maddy was a hugger, and Gwen moved out of the serving line to give the woman a quick hug.
“I like your earrings,” Maddy said.
“Thanks.” Gwen touched the flag earrings she’d been wearing for two days now. “I brought you a special dessert, so be sure you save room.”
Maddy’s brown eyes warmed. “I will. Thank you.”
Gwen’s attention was caught by the next man in line. He was one of the younger homeless, probably no more than twenty. And he wore a cast on his left arm. “What happened to you?” she asked.
Declan’s blue eyes shifted way.
“He got in a fight,” Maddy said. “Mac made him go to the clinic.”
“Broken arm?” Gwen asked. “Sounds like a nasty fight.”
Declan shrugged. He didn’t speak much, but he paid attention to everything going on around him. Gwen served up his lunch, then said, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, then shuffled away.
She wasn’t bothered by his lack of communication. She knew he’d understood her concern. Mac had told her that Declan stuck around after most people went back into the streets to help clean up. That told Gwen right there that Declan wasn’t self-involved. He cared about his environment, and he cared about others.
The cupcakes disappeared quickly, and when the lunch line had ended, only eight cupcakes were left. “Why don’t you take these home, Mac?” Gwen told him.
“Oh, I’m sure more will wander in,” Mac said, wiping down the long tables.
“Yeah, but your daughters would like them too,” Gwen said. “Tell them they’re from the crazy holiday lady.”
Mac laughed. “All right. I will. They’ll like that.”
Once in a while, Mac brought his wife and two daughters to help at the shelter, so Gwen had gotten to know the family. She already knew that if she had a family of her own one day, she’d involve them in charity work as much as possible. Mac was her hero. He cooked at the shelter weekdays as a volunteer. Then he worked as a security guard in the evenings at a bank. He was one selfless man.
The type of man she hoped to end up with someday.
“What are you up to, Seth?” Emmy said, coming into the kitchen.
Seth glanced up at his sister. Her sandy-blonde hair was cut shoulder length, and she wore a blue skirt and red-and-white blouse. No flag earrings or decorated nails. “Just doing a little food prep. How was your drive?” Seth returned to rolling out the pretzel buns he was making for the barbeque.
“Oh no. You’re not getting away with brushing me off.” Emmy came around the counter, and despite the flour on Seth’s hands and chef’s apron, she pulled him into a hug.
“Hey, sis,” he said, hugging her back with a laugh. “Great to see you.”
“That’s better.” She drew away and scanned his face. “Mom’s right. Something’s going on.”
Seth had already had this conversation with his mom, and he didn’t need a repeat. Obviously his mom didn’t believe him that nothing was going on—that he only wanted to prepare some of the food for the barbeque tonight . . . and try out a few recipes.
“Where’s the kid?” he asked. “And did you bring along Jed?”
“Jed came, and Ryker’s probably peppering Dad with a million questions.” Emmy folded her arms. “Is it true that Cynthia’s coming tonight with her parents?”
Seth shrugged as he cut the dough into circles with a pastry cutter. “That’s what Mom said.”
“And . . . it doesn’t bother you?”
He looked up, trying not to act annoyed. He and Cynthia had been over for a long time. There was no reason they couldn’t be at the same event together. After all, they’d been friends long before they’d ever dated. “Not really. Why?”
Emmy’s mouth twitched.
“There is another woman. Who is she?”
“Why can’t I just be happy and content without a woman involved in my life?” Seth asked, shaking his head but holding back a smile.
“You can,” Emmy said. “But a woman adds something extra to your life. When Mom told me that you’ve been annoyingly cheerful the last couple of days, we both suspected something. Come on. Who is it?”
There was no way Seth was going to tell his sister that he simply had a crush on someone. She’d get a huge laugh out of that. Besides, he wasn’t entirely sure how Gwen would react to knowing he was talking about her to his family. Yep. He had a crush on Gwen, and at this point, he wasn’t sure if it was just because she was so different from Cynthia or any other woman he’d dated. She charmed him. She made him laugh. She cared about things in a way he found endearing. She was also a mystery and entirely frustrating most of the time.
He was glad he’d been able to spend time with her on the cupcake project the other night, because she had lowered some of her barriers toward him. He never really thought he’d be interested in a woman who thought critically of him because he was ambitious and came from a successful family. In his world, those two things were admired. In Gwen’s world, things like service and making the most out of holidays seemed to be at the top of the priority list.
And yeah, the whole boss-employee thing wasn’t ideal; but they lived in a modern era, and if they started dating, and if the other employees found out, they’d just have to deal with it.
Tuesday afternoon, he’d awakened from a nap from the all-night-baking spree when he noticed his car was back in the driveway. And Gwen was standing behind it, rubbing it down with a cloth. He’d gone outside to tell her to not worry about cleaning up anything. She’d stopped, but she thanked him over and over as he drove her to her car in the restaurant parking lot. He’d waited to make sure the car started before going home to plan the menu for the barbeque.
That had been two days ago, and Seth had hardly talked to Gwen since. At the restaurant last night, she said maybe two words to him. Seth had expected a little more interaction, a little more warmth or friendliness; but she was back to her closed-off self. At least she’d committed to helping at the barbeque tonight, and Seth would hopefully have more alone time with her in the kitchen.
“Wow,” Emmy’s voice cut into his straying thoughts. “You’re really into her, aren’t you?”
“What?”
Emmy laughed, then snatched his phone from the counter. “Is she in your contacts? Maybe the most recent phone call or text?”
Seth reached for the phone, but his sister moved around the counter. “Why you never put a password code on your phone is beyond me. Hmmm.”
He folded his arms as she scrolled through his phone. He’d never called or texted Gwen, although he did have her number saved.
“Alicia? Who’s that?”
“The hostess of the restaurant,” Seth replied. “She called last night to tell me she’d be late.”
“It’s not Alicia,” Emmy said. “There was nothing special in your voice when you talked about her.”
He scoffed. “You should be a detective. Go ahead, search my phone. You won’t find anything.”
Emmy set the phone on the counter. “So, it’s new, then. Or . . . she doesn’t know.”
Seth opened a lower cupboard and pulled out two baking sheets.
“That’s it! She doesn’t know.” Emmy laughed with what sounded a bit too much like glee.
“Fine.” Seth set down the baking sheets on the counter a little harder than necessary. “She doesn’t know.”
Emmy clapped a hand over her mouth. Then she released a long breath. “This is a first. Seth Owens is crushing on a woman who has no idea what’s about to happen.”
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
“You always have a plan, little brother.”
Emmy was right. He did have a plan, but Seth wasn’t going to admit that.
“So, do you have a picture of her?” his sister asked. “Or can you tell me what her Instagram account is?”
“She’s not on Instagram.” Seth started loading the dough onto the baking sheets. “Besides, I’m not telling you her name unless she agrees to go out with me.” Officially go out. Baking all night didn’t count.
“Okay,” Emmy said. “So when are you asking her out?”
“Tonight.”
“Great,” she said. “I can’t wait to hear her answer. Are you calling her after the barbeque or something?”
Seth hesitated, debating about what he should admit. But Emmy was the person he was closest to. Maybe it would be nice to share. “She’ll be here, so I’m asking her in person. I’m sort of old-fashioned that way.”
“She’ll be here, at the barbeque?” Her voice rose in pitch. “Oh, my gosh. Does Mom know?”
“Of course not.” Seth stared his sister down. “You’d better not say anything, or I’ll never tell you about my dating life again.”
“You know I’m good at keeping secrets,” Emmy told him, a grin on her face. “I’m so excited! And you’re sure it’s not Cynthia?”
“Ha. Ha.” Seth slid the first baking pan into the oven. He looked over at his sister. “This woman is about as opposite as you can get from Cynthia.”
Emmy lifted a brow. “Which means it might actually work out.”
Seth didn’t respond. There was a very good chance Gwen would turn him down tonight. But he planned on asking her anyway.
The next few hours both sped by, or crawled, depending on how much Seth was distracted. His four-year-old nephew Ryker wanted to “help,” which amounted to Seth handing the kid the multi-colored chocolate chips and having him put them into piles according to color. Seth loved his nephew, but the kid was a handful and had already had enough sugar to last him for the rest of the week by the time Emmy came and ushered him to another activity. Apparently “Grandma” had set up a water slide.
Gwen was coming at 4:30, and at 4:15 his cell phone rang. Seth was surprised to see that Gwen was calling him, but that surprise quickly turned to dread. Was she cancelling? He answered while he turned down the heat to the homemade barbeque sauce he had in the slow cooker.
“Hey,” Gwen said. “I’m sort of in a bind.”
No . . . Don’t cancel, please.
“Marge is having a rough day, and . . . well . . . she’s not going to make it up your hill.”
Seth exhaled. Gwen wasn’t cancelling. Hallelujah. “I’m so glad you’re not cancelling. My ex-girlfriend Cynthia is coming with her family. I need a buffer.”
Gwen laughed. “Okay, I’ll be your buffer.”
“Great. I’ll be right there.” He looked about the kitchen as the oven timer went off. “Actually, I’m going to send Emmy—my sister—I don’t dare leave the kitchen for even a few minutes.”
“Are you sure?” Gwen asked. “I don’t want to put out your sister. I can walk up the hill—I should have thought about that in the first place.”
“No, stay put,” Seth insisted. “Emmy will be there soon.” When he hung up, he called out to Emmy. She came into the kitchen.
“Can you pick Gwen up at the bottom of the hill? She’s one of my employees who will be helping out tonight.”
“Sure,” Emmy said, then turned to leave.
Seth breathed easier when his sister had left. He’d played it nonchalant, and she hadn’t clued in. Lowering the temperature on the sauce, Seth reset the oven timer, then took out the veggie and fruit trays from the refrigerator. He’d ordered them from the restaurant, and they’d been delivered a couple of hours ago, along with the bottles of wine to be served at the bar.
“You are in the kitchen,” a woman said.
Seth recognized the voice before he turned to face Cynthia. She was early, and Seth hadn’t prepared himself mentally to see her yet.
“Hi, sweetheart,” she said.
It irritated him that she called him “sweetheart,” but he decided to let it pass. Gwen would b
e arriving at any moment, and he didn’t want her to walk into an argument between him and his ex.
“Hi, Cynthia,” he said, keeping it simple and neutral. She was obviously dressed to impress, and her dark blue dress clung to her slim body that she spent hours each day working on. Exercising, waxing, primping . . . the works. He could smell the scent of her expensive perfume above all the smells in the kitchen.
“You’re looking good,” she continued, her voice dropping into a low purr.
Seth tried not to scoff. He was perspiring from all the food preparation and would have to change his shirt before the rest of the guests arrived. He’d already planned on that, since his red T-shirt and white chef’s apron had plenty of stains on it.
“Are you here with your parents?” he asked, keeping to his side of the counter.
Cynthia smiled. “Yep. They’re talking to your parents. It’s so great to have everyone together again.”
Seth grabbed the long bread knife and began to slice through the now-cooled-off pretzel buns.
“It smells amazing in here,” Cynthia said. “I didn’t know you took up cooking again.”
“I never abandoned it.” Seth tried to keep the bite out of his tone. Then he heard the front door open and Emmy’s voice—likely talking to Gwen.
“Your mom told me you were doing some of the dishes for tonight,” Cynthia said. “That’s so fun.”
Seth nodded, not answering, his hearing trained to what Emmy was telling Gwen.
“And your mom said there’d be dancing,” Cynthia continued as Emmy and Gwen rounded the corner. “I hope you’ll come out of the kitchen long enough to dance with me.”
“Oh, he’ll be out of the kitchen soon enough if my parents have anything to do with it.” Emmy walked toward the island, her smile on Seth.
Damn. She had that knowing look in her eyes. Had she guessed about Gwen? His gaze slid past his sister to Gwen, who had paused in the entryway to take in the scene. Her blue eyes didn’t miss a thing. She was wearing her traditional waitressing outfit—white blouse and black slacks—but she’d pulled her hair back into a twist, and she had sparkly red and white stars in her hair. Bobby pins? Silver earrings dangled from her ears, and hanging at the end were tiny red, white, and blue stars.
Waiting for You_Pine Valley Page 6