by Aurora Rey
“You realize that makes me less likely to tell you the truth, right?”
“I’d behave.” She fluttered her eyelashes, all innocence.
“I love you like a sister, but no, you would not.”
“It’s why you love me.”
That part was true. Erin had fewer filters, fewer inhibitions, and a bigger taste for adventure. And wine. Between that and being a decade younger, Erin managed to keep Amanda from becoming too much of a stick in the mud. “It is.”
She sighed. “I don’t want to go to work.”
“But if you don’t, who will keep the streets of Kenota safe?”
“Yeah, that pack of raccoons has really been terrorizing folks.”
“Easy for you to say. They’ve not upended your garbage twice in the last week and a half.”
Erin pressed her lips together. “Tragic.”
Amanda stood and smacked her on the arm. “Get out of here. I’ve got work to do.”
“Fine. Do I want a donut for the road or a croissant?”
“Um.” It was a rhetorical question, but she couldn’t help but think on it. Erin, who ate like a linebacker and never gained an ounce, had already inhaled a muffin with her coffee.
Erin waved her off. “What am I saying? I’ll take both.”
Of course she would. “I’m going to leave you in Mei’s capable hands.”
Amanda gave her a hug and headed back to the kitchen. She found her assistant Tanya filling a row of cake pans. “I’ve got one more batch after this and the table is yours.”
When she’d opened the bakery fifteen years prior, the kitchen had felt massive. Compared to her home kitchen, where she’d baked cakes and cookies as a side hustle to her job at the Statler Hotel, it was. Even if she had moments of frustration with her current situation, outgrowing her space was a very satisfying problem to have. “Take your time. I’m going to make modeling chocolate and start the gum paste flowers for next weekend.”
“When are you meeting with the architect again?”
She laughed. Tanya’s interest might be even keener than Erin’s, but it had nothing to do with whether or not the architect was hot. Or single. “Tomorrow.”
Tanya slid pans into the convection oven. “Not a moment too soon.”
* * *
Quinn studied the front of Bake My Day. She’d been there a handful of times, mostly with Lesedi. They’d spend Saturdays meandering the Seneca Lake wine trail and would stop in for coffee or a fortifying treat after sampling one too many local vintages. It somehow felt like a lifetime ago and just last week. Was that standard protocol for life a year after divorce?
Inside, the question evaporated with the aroma of donuts, muffins, and God only knew what else. She closed her eyes for a second and breathed it in, letting her sweet tooth momentarily rule her imagination. She’d get something, or maybe several somethings, to take home. And perhaps a cup of coffee. The smell of fresh espresso and the hiss of steam coming from the machine tempted her almost as much as the pastries. Almost.
She had an idea of what Amanda looked like from her photo on the website. Well, that and they’d technically met a couple of the times she’d been in. Since she was nowhere to be seen, Quinn joined the queue. It wouldn’t be rude to bring a latte into her meeting, would it?
When her turn came, she offered the woman behind the register a smile. “Good morning. I have a meeting with Ms. Russo.”
The woman, whose name tag read Tanya, gave her a quizzical look. “Is this about a cake?”
She was tempted to make a joke about wishing it was, but a number of people had joined the line after her and it felt rude to take more time than was necessary. “No, no. I’m her architect.”
Tanya’s eyes got big. “Right. That’s today. Oh, we’re so excited. Can I get you something while you wait?”
Memories of her marriage or not, she liked this place. “That would be fantastic.”
Tanya called her coffee order to the guy working the espresso machine. “Something to eat? The donut of the week is strawberries and cream.”
She should decline. She was about to take a business meeting. And she already had plans to bring things home. “Sold.”
Tanya grinned and nodded her approval. “You go make yourself comfortable. We’ll bring it over to you and I’ll let Amanda know you’re here.”
Quinn pulled her wallet from her back pocket, but Tanya waved her away. “Amanda would have my head.”
The choice of phrase gave Quinn pause. Was she kidding or was Amanda a tyrant? She’d figure out one way or the other soon enough. She’d barely settled at a table by the window before her coffee and donut appeared. “Thanks.”
Tanya poked her head into the kitchen. When she emerged, she looked Quinn’s way. “She just needs to clean up. She’ll be with you in a few minutes.”
Quinn didn’t mind waiting in general, but especially when she had a gorgeous sugar bomb in front of her. She took a sip of her coffee—even better than she remembered—then dove in. The donut was fried to perfection and dusted with powdered sugar. The filling, though, put it over the edge. Fresh strawberries surrounded by a heavenly concoction somewhere between custard and whipped cream. It oozed onto her fingers. She licked it away, not wanting a drop to go to waste.
“Quinn?”
She looked up, thumb still in her mouth. Amanda was prettier than Quinn remembered, her features softer. And, because that’s how her life worked, here she was looking like an idiot. She grabbed a napkin and wiped her fingers as she stood. She extended her hand, glad it wasn’t the one she’d been licking. “Ms. Russo. Yes, hi.”
Amanda shook her hand, an unreadable smile on her lips. “Amanda, please. Thank you for offering to meet me here.”
“Of course. I’d want to see the space sooner rather than later anyway.”
Amanda took the seat across from her. She bit her lip in a way that might be flirtatious. Could Amanda be flirting with her? Either way, it bumped Quinn’s pulse up a few notches. Even if she had no business flirting with a client. “So, let’s start with your big ideas and then we can get into the nitty-gritty.”
“You, um…” She trailed off, leaving Quinn to wonder if maybe she made Amanda nervous.
Quinn offered her most reassuring smile. “I what?”
“You have some powdered sugar on your nose.” Amanda bit her lip again, and seemed to be stifling a laugh.
Quinn’s stomach dropped. She grabbed a napkin and wiped it across her face. “Did I get it?”
“Not quite.” This time Amanda did chuckle. She picked up another napkin and leaned across the table. “May I?”
Mortified, all she could do was nod.
“There.”
“Thanks.” Quinn swiped her hand over her face. She didn’t think Amanda would lie at this point, but it was like having a spider crawling up her arm. The phantom tickle got the better of her and probably would for the rest of the morning.
“I really did get it. Sorry. I figured you’d rather know than get in your car and realize it had been there the whole time.”
The sincerity of Amanda’s voice lessened her embarrassment, at least a little. “I appreciate it. Really.”
“Considering it was one of my donuts you were enjoying, I take it as a compliment.”
“That’s nice of you to say.” It was. Under normal circumstances, it would break the tension and be the end of it. Too bad she’d interpreted the whole thing as flirting.
Amanda clasped her hands together. “So, let’s talk about why you’re here.”
She appreciated Amanda’s ability to shift the conversation away from her gaffe so smoothly. “Yes. Right. You’re expanding.”
Amanda’s eyes lit up then, enthusiasm radiating from her. “That’s the plan. I’m taking over the space next door.”
“Aha.” She’d noticed the empty storefront when she parked. It looked like a mirror of Bake My Day, only she hadn’t been able to tell what it was before and had no memory of
ever setting foot inside. “Has it been vacant long?”
“About a year. It was an inspirational gift shop.”
That would explain why she hadn’t been inside. “And it’s similar in size to what you have here?”
“Identical, only they didn’t take half the floor space for a kitchen. There’s only a small storeroom in the back.”
She could work with that. “And what’s your vision?”
Amanda let out a small sigh. She’d clearly been thinking about this for a long time. “I’m hoping to completely reconfigure the major equipment in the kitchen. I need more work space, mostly for assembling and decorating wedding cakes, but I think it makes sense to improve the overall flow.”
Quinn opened the notebook she’d brought and started scribbling notes. “It shouldn’t be difficult to combine the spaces and create something more efficient.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. The other big thing is more seating. We started offering lunch a few months back and people have to take it to go because there’s nowhere to sit.”
Quinn hadn’t sampled the lunch offerings, but if they were half as good as everything else, it would follow that business was booming. “But you don’t want it to feel like an add-on.”
“Yes. Exactly. I don’t want customers to feel like they’re at the kiddie table in the living room for Thanksgiving dinner.”
She chuckled at the analogy because of just how well she could relate. “We’ll have to see how much of the wall can go without having to put in new beams.”
“I should say up front it’s the part I’m willing to splurge on. It’s that important.”
It was hard to say which she liked more—Amanda’s willingness to splurge or the fact that she cared about such a key architectural feature. “Then that’s what you’ll have.”
“I was hoping you’d say that, too.” Amanda smiled again. This time, it was all enthusiasm. Which Quinn didn’t mind. This was, after all, a professional arrangement.
“Have you taken over the lease of the other space? Can we get in and walk through now?”
“One better. I bought the building.”
One better indeed. They wouldn’t have to worry about any approvals beyond the usual permits and things. “Fantastic.”
“Shall we?”
“Please.”
Amanda led her next door. She could already see the wall gone. They could add a second display case, another register. More lighting and, as Amanda mentioned, more seating. Probably three times as much as she had now. It wasn’t hard to imagine the bakery going from a place to grab a quick bite to a destination. She’d make a point of coming more often for sure. For the food, of course, but also to maybe spend time with the beautiful owner, without powdered sugar on her face.
“Why do you look so worried?” Amanda’s question cut through the haze of her imagination.
Quinn cleared her throat. “Not worried. Getting a little ahead of myself. I have that tendency sometimes.”
“I imagine it’s a good trait in your line of work.”
Work. Right. That was the point. Not her fantasies of spending mornings working at one of the new tables and chatting up Amanda when she emerged from the kitchen. “It has its perks I suppose.”
They spent a few minutes discussing next steps: measurements, initial blueprints, a visit from a structural engineer. Quinn scheduled an appointment to return the following week and bid Amanda a good day. But not before snagging a few cupcakes and another one of those strawberry donuts for the road.
Chapter Two
Amanda walked into the house to the sound of gunfire and explosions. Fortunately, they were the digital kind and coming from the basement. She headed downstairs and found Cal and Zoe playing Fortnite. “How was the AP exam?”
Cal paused the game and they both looked her way. “Brutal.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “He’s being dramatic. We’re both pretty sure we got at least fours.”
She looked at Cal. He made a face. “Yeah. What she said.”
She wasn’t worried. Physics was like a second language to Cal and he spoke it more fluently than she ever did. English, on the other hand, not so much. “Good. I assume you two are blowing off steam before your last stretch of studying for tomorrow?”
“Mom, if I write one more rhetorical analysis essay, I might literally die.”
Zoe shook her head and looked at him with a mix of exasperation and pity. “Your misuse of the word literally begs to differ.”
He turned his attention, along with a withering glare, her way. “I was being hyperbolic.”
“Nice recovery. I withdraw my insult.”
It was their usual banter—sarcastic and a bit brainy—but still made her smile. Zoe had been Cal’s best friend since preschool. She’d come out as trans just as they hit puberty and Amanda had worried the combination of hormones and middle school angst might pull them apart. Cal never wavered, though, remaining so loyal she then wondered if maybe he’d developed a crush on her. But by all accounts, she was wrong on that front, too. They remained inseparable and, she was pretty sure, had similar taste in girls. It baffled her at times, but seemed to make perfect sense to them.
“Can Zoe stay for dinner?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you can play video games until it’s ready.”
Cal sighed, but said, “Okay.”
Zoe, a lit nerd as much as a physics nerd, beamed. “I made Quizlets.”
Cal groaned and Amanda chuckled. “I’m going to take a quick shower and then I’ll get chicken on the grill. Sound good?”
Zoe asked, “Would you like help?”
“I’ve got it. I’ll let you two tackle dishes.”
Another groan from Cal, but there wasn’t any feeling behind it. “Thanks, Mom.”
She pointed at the television. “Go ahead and finish this round or whatever it is. Just don’t blow the next hour on it.”
They nodded and Amanda left them to finish saving the world. Or were they destroying it? She could never keep track.
She climbed the stairs to the main level, then up to her room. She peeled off her work clothes and headed for the shower, scrubbing off the powdered sugar that seemed to seep into her pores when she spent the day making frosting and rolling fondant. Thinking of powdered sugar made her think of Quinn. It was a good thing Erin hadn’t stopped by because she’d never let Amanda hear the end of it. Because despite what Amanda might say about not having a stake one way or the other, Quinn was crazy good-looking. The dusting of sugar on her nose had only intensified that fact, adding a layer of adorably approachable to what might have been an intimidating level of hotness.
Not just general hotness, either. In gray pants and a white oxford, Quinn was rocking butch business casual hardcore. Her salt-and-pepper hair was cut short, with enough on top to enjoy running her fingers through. Not her fingers, obviously. One’s fingers. Quinn’s. Or someone she was dating.
Attempting to back out of the thought proved worse than the thought itself. Being in the shower didn’t help. Amanda shook her head and scrubbed her arms with renewed vigor. She was being ridiculous. And she didn’t do ridiculous.
After cutting the water and toweling off, she slipped on her robe and padded to her dresser. She had no business thinking about Quinn and her hotness. She was a grown woman with near-adult children and Quinn was her colleague. Or employee. Or something. Whatever the word was, it had professional in the definition, which made Quinn squarely off limits.
She got dressed and pulled her hair up in a clip. Working together or not, she wasn’t in the market, so on or off limits didn’t even matter. She could appreciate an attractive woman. That could—would—be the end of it.
* * *
After the meeting at the bakery, Quinn spent the rest of the day in her office, working on the plans for the Trumansburg Library expansion and trying her best not to think about Amanda. Or how badly she’d embarrassed herself when they met. She’d eaten enough donuts to kno
w better. Such a rookie mistake.
Amanda had been gracious, not that she would have expected anything else. But it was more than that. She had this energy Quinn couldn’t quite put a finger on. An easiness. Or maybe more accurately, Amanda put her at ease.
Given her recent track record with women, it was saying something. She’d been on probably twenty dates in the last year, and most of them had been first dates. Her sisters, her co-workers, and even her hiking buddies had attempted to set her up. They were so damn enthusiastic about it, she didn’t have the heart to turn them down.
It wasn’t like the women she went out with were awful. Okay, a couple of them had been awful. But most were nice, successful, attractive. A few were divorced, like her, but some were still looking. Maybe that was the problem. Women in their thirties and forties looking to get married didn’t feel like her speed at this point. She’d sort of been there, done that. Which said nothing of the ones who wanted to have kids. At fifty, any desire to go down that path was long gone.
Quinn shook her head. It was all a bit more than she could handle. Or maybe more accurately, wanted to handle. She could handle all sorts of things, but God, it was exhausting.
“Do you have a minute?” Arti’s head appeared in her doorway.
“Of course.” Hopefully, whatever it was would take her mind off women.
“How’d the meeting at the bakery go?”
Amanda immediately popped back into her mind. “Really well. Have you been there?”
Arti made her trying to remember something face. “What’s it called again?”
“Bake My Day.” Every time she said the name, it made her smile.
“I think so. Kenota, right? Near the wine trail.”
“That’s the one. The cupcakes are to die for. Well, everything is to die for in my opinion.” She grabbed the box from the console behind her desk. “I’d planned to eat all these myself, but I’ll share.”
Arti eyed the contents of the box. “I don’t think those are paleo.”
“No, but if cavemen could have eaten them, they would have.”
“What the hell.” She picked up the chocolate one with peanut butter frosting. “All in moderation, right?”