by Lacy Hart
I exhaled deeply and looked at Jodie.
“Okay, I’m sorry. Now can we get back to baking please?”
“You’re going to be a joy to work with today. That’s the last time I take you out on a work night,” Jodie mumbled under her breath.
I pushed my way through the prep work, focusing on the tasks we had before the doors open so we were ready for the crowds. Everyone just let me be in the kitchen, and when the shop got busy, Jodie even volunteered to go out and help instead of me going, which let me press on so we could turn out more goodies. I could hear how busy it was out in the shop and peeked out once to see what was going on and there was a line that stretched nearly out the door.
The mob scene went on for a few hours after we opened, depleting our supplies in the shop quickly. We had enough to replenish the things like donuts and pastries to keep up with demand for a Sunday, but it meant staying on top of things in the kitchen to keep turning out what people were looking for.
By about 10:30, things had slowed down enough where there were just a few people coming in and out. Most visitors had left town by then, and the new batch that was coming in for the week were staking their claims to their rental homes or condos, doing their food shopping, and then hitting the beach to make the most of the warm day. The occasional person would stroll in now looking for an iced tea or iced coffee, or a quick snack for the kids they had in tow.
I did some straightening up in the back and looked at what ingredients I would need to order for the coming week before placing orders using my tablet as I moved along. Mom came into the kitchen, carrying an iced coffee for me.
“Thanks,” I told her as I grabbed the cup and took a long sip.
“It was pretty crazy out there this morning,” Mom commented as she straightened up. She could never stand still for a second.
“That’s a good thing.” I sipped more of the coffee, draining half of it.
“Jodie’s taking a look to see what has sold well and what hasn’t. Maybe we should add some blueberry turnovers next week to go with the apple,” Mom said as she grabbed the broom from the corner and started sweeping up some of the flour.
“Mom, that can wait until later,” I said, walking over and grabbing the broom from her hand. “Why don’t you give yourself a break and go sit at one of the tables?”
I started walking her out of the kitchen and led her to one of the empty tables. I sat down with her, with my back to the door. Just as I sat for a second, I heard the bells on the door jingle as someone came in. I looked up and saw Damian standing there.
He was dressed in a pair of board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. He pulled off his sunglasses and folded them, stuffing them in his shirt pocket so that I could see his deep blue eyes.
“Good morning,” he said with a smile.
“Hi there,” I replied, picking up my iced coffee and slurping it loudly now that it was nearly empty.
Not only was Mom looking over at Damian, but I noticed Jodie and Alex both stopped what they were doing to watch our interaction. I suddenly felt like I was on stage with everyone watching what I would do.
“Come in for another donut?” I asked him as I stood up, brushing some of the flour off myself.
“I would love one if you have any left,” he said as he walked towards the display case.
All eyes followed us as we moved, and I got behind the counter and reached over and grabbed the last jelly donut from the display case.
“You’re in luck, the last one.” I placed the donut in a white paper bag. “Anything else?”
“Actually, yes.” Damian reached into his wallet and pulled out a dollar bill. “This is for the donut yesterday.”
“Damian, you don’t have to,” I said, holding my hand up. “You bought our drinks last night, which was more than generous of you.”
“I was happy to do it, but that was before I knew about the basket.”
“What basket?” I said with some confusion.
“The basket you and your sister delivered to my house yesterday,” he said to me. “It was filled with all kinds of treats. James told me you two dropped it off. It was very nice of you. We have been snacking on it.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. Jodie was now standing next to me to get closer to the conversation.
“You’re Mr. Woods?” Jodie asked since I hadn’t said anything.
“I am,” Damian answered. “I guess I didn’t mention it last night.”
“The guy with the giant house at the end of the boardwalk?” Alex added as she walked over. “Man, you must be loaded.”
I shot Alex a look and Mom came over right away.
“Alex, come and help me in the kitchen,” she said, whisking her quickly away through the kitchen door.
“Is everything okay?” Damian asked me. I was still in kind of a shock. Damian looked nothing like the Mr. Woods I had envisioned and certainly didn’t act like I thought he would.
“It’s fine,” I finally blurted out. “You’re just not… not what I expected I guess.”
“Oh?” he questioned. “What were you expecting?” I could see he was more than a little curious as to how I would answer that.
“I don’t know… I mean we get lots of people buying big houses around here, and they’re… “
Damian interrupted me.
“Fat, old guys with lots of money that are demanding and rude?”
I could feel myself starting to blush.
“It’s okay,” he said with a laugh. “I know plenty of people that are just like you were thinking. I don’t like dealing with them either.”
Damian placed two dollars on the counter to pay for his donut yesterday and for the one today. I mindlessly picked them up and rang them into the register and then handed him the bag. Damian held the bag in his hand for a second, not pulling it away from me.
“I know you’re probably pretty busy here most of the time, but I saw on the door it says you close at three. If you would like to come to the house today when you’re finished here, I would love to have you over for dinner.”
I couldn’t believe he was asking me out on a date, and inviting me to his house no less. I stood there with my mouth open a little, not knowing what to say. I felt Jodie’s foot slide over and step on mine to break my trance.
“I… I don’t know, we have cleaning and prep work…” I said trying to come up with excuses.
“Alex, Mom and I can handle the cleaning tonight, Kelly,” Jodie said to me. “And besides, we’re closed tomorrow, so you don’t have to get up early.”
I shot Jodie a look as she backed me into a corner.
“Great,” Damian said to me. “So you can come?”
“I guess I can,” I said through my teeth, still looking at Jodie. I turned back to Damian and saw him smiling at me and could feel myself melt a bit.
“Perfect, come by any time you’re ready.” Damian took his donut from me. “It was nice to see you again, Jodie,” Damian told her as he turned and walked out the door. My eyes followed him all the way out until he walked past the front window and on his way.
“Holy shit, Kel!” Jodie exclaimed, pushing me slightly.
I shook my head and walked back into the kitchen, where Mom and Alex were putting some cookies on trays to refill the cases.
“What happened?” Alex said as I walked over to the counter and went back to kneading some of the dough I had taken out to warm up to room temperature.
“Kelly is going on a date tonight,” Jodie said with a smile.
“With the billionaire?” Alex yelled.
I just kept working the dough back and forth, tossing it over and folding it, trying to block the conversation out.
“Yep. She’s going to his house for dinner tonight.”
“Kelly, you are so lucky,” Alex said to me, coming over to stand next to me. “Make sure you take pictures of the house.”
“I am not going to do that, Alex. I don’t know that I even want to go.”
“
Why wouldn’t you want to go?” Jodie asked me. “You said yesterday you wanted to see inside the house and then let him have it about how over the top it is and how he’s spoiling the beach for everyone. Now you have the opportunity to do it. You have dinner, see the house, and then say your piece. Unless you feel differently about him now that you have seen him and talked to him.”
“There’s lots of work to do around here,” I said. “I have to get next week’s orders in, plan what we are going to make, think about any cake orders we have coming up. I can’t just leave all that stuff. I have a business to run.”
“It’s one night, Kelly,” Jodie said to me. “Mom and I can plan next week and place the orders for you. Go have dinner with him. If you have a good time, then that’s great. If you find out he’s the self-centered dud you thought he would be, then let him have it and walk out. You have nothing to lose.”
“I’ll go, I’ll go,” I said, wanting to move on from all this.
“You’re not going dressed like this are you?” Alex added.
“What’s wrong with how I look?” I said defensively.
“Kelly, the guy’s a billionaire. He probably dates actresses and fashion models all the time. You want to make sure you look amazing, so he takes notice of you, not go schlepping in there in your jeans and t-shirt with your hair a mess.”
“Two of the three times he’s seen me have been in here when I am schlepping around in jeans and an apron. If he can’t handle that I look like this most of the time, that’s his problem, not mine. See, that’s just another reason for me not to do this,” I said as I took off my gloves and tossed them in the garbage.
“Don’t listen to either of them, Kelly,” Mom said to me. “If he really likes you, he doesn’t care what you wear or how you look right when you get there. He seemed like a nice gentleman that just wants to get to know you. If you’re unsure about it, don’t go. It’s not the end of the world.”
“It is the end of the world if you pass up the chance to date a billionaire!” Alex yelled. “You’ll never get another chance like this. Go home and put something nice on, or better yet go to my closet and put something sexy on that will make his eyes pop out.”
“Alexandra!” Mom scolded. “Kelly, don’t get pressured into anything you aren’t comfortable with.”
I heard the front door open and close and went out into the store to wait on the customer. I needed to get away from all three of them so I could decide for myself what to do. After giving the customer the last of the peanut butter cookies, I sat down on the stool behind the register.
Jodie came out shortly after to stand next to me.
“Look, Kelly, Mom’s right,” she said. “If you don’t want to go, forget about it. But I can tell part of you is at least curious to see what he’s all about. There’s no denying there was some attraction between the two of you. I saw it last night.”
I got up from the stool and walked back toward’s the kitchen door.
“Where are you going?” Jodie asked with exasperation.
“I’m making another batch of peanut butter cookies,” I told her. “And then I am going to Damian Woods’ house to see what he’s all about.”
I pushed open the door, confident I was making the right decision for me.
9
Damian
I strolled back towards the house, happy with the notion that Kelly was willing to come over after work and have some dinner. As I walked along, I came to the realization that I didn’t know if I had anything to cook for dinner tonight. Sure, the fridge had some stuff in it, but I wanted to make sure I made a good impression on her. How could I make a good impression though if I didn’t know what she liked? Should I make steak? Chicken? Pasta? What if she was vegetarian or had a gluten intolerance? I quickly found myself worrying about what to make the closer I got to the house.
I walked into the house and didn’t hear Shannon or James down on the first floor. To be honest, I thought Shannon might just sleep all day after the night she had last night. When I got up to the second floor, I walked over towards the exercise room to see if James was in there. He was nowhere to be found, but I did hear someone in by the pool. When I opened the door, there he was, swimming some laps and, to my surprise, Shannon was there, curled up on a lounge chair, sunglasses firmly planted over her eyes. The sun was shining brightly over the indoor portion of the pool, so I didn’t blame her for having them on.
“Good morning… actually good afternoon,” I said to her after I glanced at my watch.
“If you say so,” she muttered.
“How are you feeling?” I asked her as I sat in the chair next to her.
“Like I got hit by a bus, and then a squirrel came over and died in my mouth.”
“Powerful image, Shannon,” I said to her. I opened the paper bag I was carrying and took out the jelly donut.
“Want a bite?” I asked her, holding up the side of the donut with jelly gently oozing out.
“Ugh, no food,” she said, holding up her hand and pushing the donut away.
“Your loss,” I said as I took a big bite.
I polished off the donut in three quick bites, licking the sugar off my fingers while Shannon looked on in disgust.
“Why did you even get out of bed yet if you feel so crappy?”
“I would have stayed in bed if Michael Phelps here didn’t make me get up to keep him company. He plied me with coffee, water, and aspirin if I sat here while he swam.”
James had just finished up his last lap and made his way up the pool steps and over towards us. He grabbed a towel nearby and started to dry off before coming over and sitting down.
“Hey boss,” he said to me. “The pool is great. The water feels perfect.” James looked over and saw the empty bag on the table.
“So, you went to the bakery today, I see,” James said to me, smiling. “How did it go?”
“It went well. In fact, I invited Kelly over for dinner tonight.”
Shannon sat up in her chair and whipped off her sunglasses, revealing her dark, bloodshot eyes.
“Who’s Kelly? What happened at the bakery? What am I missing?”
“The boss ran into one of the ladies who brought the basket over yesterday at the restaurant last night and hit it off with her. He went back this morning to say thanks, and I guess now they have a date,” James told Shannon, bringing her up to speed.
“How did all this happen without me knowing about it?” Shannon said to me.
“Well, you were not really in the condition to talk about it last night when it happened,” I told her. “Now that you two know about this, I need to ask you both for a favor.”
James and Shannon both looked at me, wondering where this conversation was going.
“Actually,” I continued, “I need two favors. I need to get something to make for dinner tonight. I don’t think we have anything not frozen that I could make for tonight.”
“That’s easy enough,” James said. “We can run out and get something or call the home care service and see if they can deliver something for you. What’s the second favor?”
I looked at both of them seriously.
“I need you two to leave the house, just for a few hours. I hate to ask, but it might be weird if you guys were here, at least this first time.”
“Oh come on, Damian,” Shannon cried out. “You know I feel like crap today. Can’t I just lock myself in my room and stay there if I promise to stay quiet? I really don’t want to go out any place.”
I turned my attention to James, hoping he would be on my side and give me some help.
“Come on Shannon,” James said to her, “it’s the least we can do for him. You said it yourself – the guy hasn’t had a real date in months. Let’s give him a chance to have some space. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. We can even take the limo if you want.”
“Anywhere I want, huh?” Shannon said, a twinkle of interest in her eyes now. “Okay, I’ll go, but you owe me big, Damian. And we�
��re not taking the limo. You can’t maneuver that thing on these little streets. Let’s take the Mustang, and I want to drive.”
James and I looked at each other, and both sighed.
“Fine, you can drive,” James said with resignation.
“Great.” Shannon bounced out of her lounge chair, seemingly filled with life again. “I’m going to get myself ready, and I’ll call the service and see what I can arrange for them to bring over. James, go get yourself cleaned up and get ready to spoil me.”