by Andi James
Mateo stepped forward, assuming the role of unofficial spokesperson. “We’re here, boss. What do you need us to do?”
Daniel grinned. “Just a sec.” He ran back to the kitchen where Oliver was elbow deep in a sink full of dishes and hot water. Daniel grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.
“Ollie, you have to come with me.”
Oliver sighed. “Daniel, I’m sorry but we don’t have time for this.”
Daniel squeezed his shoulders. “I promise, you have time for this.” He grabbed Oliver by the hand and started to lead him to the front area. “Trust me,” Daniel pleaded. “Please trust me and let them help.”
“What?” Oliver seemed lost. “Who?”
Daniel pulled him faster until they were in the front of the shop and Oliver stood in front of the group, mouth open, apparently unable to speak.
Unfortunately, it appeared Oliver’s reputation as a jerk had preceded him, because this group of people who were so eager to help a few moments ago now looked uneasy. Daniel couldn’t blame them. Oliver had only been in town for a few weeks and the few brusque interactions he’d had with them at Cakes or at Cinnamen hadn’t been positive ones. These guys had heard enough stories to know that spending a few hours working with this man had the potential to be absolute torture.
Oliver opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
Please, please let this go well, Daniel begged the universe.
The tension in the room was thick. Owen looked ready to bolt, and he wasn’t the only one. There were murmurings among the group and Daniel started to worry that he’d done the wrong thing in bringing everyone here.
Suddenly, from through the crowd stepped an impeccably dressed Caleb. Daniel had no idea how he looked so freaking amazing at four in the morning. “Hey guys, Patty needs our help. I think all of us,” he looked pointedly at Oliver, “can agree that just for this morning, we need to put her first. Just like she does for all of us every day.”
Murmurs of assent went through the crowd, and Daniel didn’t miss the appreciative look Oliver gave to Caleb before he finally spoke. “Um, thank you all for coming. I’m so sorry if I’ve been…” he seemed to struggle for the word.
“An asshole?” someone from the crowd asked, before the room erupted into chuckles.
“Fair enough, I deserve that. Yeah, I’ve kind of been a jerk, but Caleb is right, as he always was even if I was too bullheaded to listen. This isn’t about me or Daniel or you… it’s about keeping open my mom’s favorite place in the world.” Oliver took a deep breath. “And I think we can do it, with help from her favorite people in the world.”
Daniel was suddenly incredibly turned on by this Braveheart-esque rally-the-troops speech, something he would definitely have to revisit at another time in the bedroom. He wondered how Oliver felt about kilts.
Caleb gave Oliver a gleeful smile and turned to the group. “Come on, guys. Are we in?”
“Hell yeah,” Owen called, the others echoing the sentiment.
Oliver’s grin was the widest Daniel had ever seen it, and the look in his eyes was pure excitement.
At that moment, Bossy Oliver took over, which Daniel much preferred to Grumpy Oliver. He began giving directions to individuals and small groups, things like scouring the dishes, removing the garbage, pulling expired products, and making sure there was nothing stored on the floor.
He asked Owen, Mateo, and Lucas to tackle the front area, telling them the whole place needed a good scrub down, including the bathrooms. Oliver grabbed Caleb and asked him to help him do some baking, since whatever happened in the kitchen last night did not include creating any actual product to sell when they opened.
The men worked hard for several hours, trying to stay out of each other’s way. There was a lot of conversation about sports and movies, gossip about who was hooking up with who, and good-natured ribbing, but Daniel didn’t hear any complaints. There were quite a few jokes about buns though. Daniel made pot after pot of coffee, liberally handing out cups to guys who had been up all night.
Eventually, the place began to come together and little by little it became Patty’s kitchen again. When a guy finished one job, he went to Oliver to get a new assignment, but eventually he didn’t have any more to give.
Soon the guys started to leave, one by one, Daniel offering his profuse thanks to each man on his way out. Finally, the only people who were left with Daniel and Oliver were Caleb, Owen, and Mateo.
Caleb remained in the kitchen, cooking with Oliver, while the other three men stocked the display cases, replenished the coffee supplies, and wiped invisible crumbs from the tables and counters. At some point during the frantic clean up, Owen and Daniel were moving ingredients to the storeroom and managed to cover themselves with corn syrup. Even with an apron on, the mess was uncleanable. Daniel was now working shirtless and Owen was wearing nothing but a clean, white apron, small pair of neon green shorts and his usual angelic grin.
Mateo took one look at Daniel and Owen and pulled off his own shirt. “All right! Naked baking!”
Daniel laughed and Owen cringed. “That sounds like it could be painful.”
Caleb and Oliver came out of the kitchen with several trays of cinnamon rolls, the last things to be put into the case.
A very tired Oliver came up behind Daniel, placing a soft kiss on the side of his neck. “Can we go back to bed?” he murmured.
Daniel raised a flirty eyebrow. “You only want me for my body.”
Oliver smiled. “Right now, I really want you for your pillows.” Oliver gave him another quick kiss, which earned Daniel a “we are going to talk about this later” look from Owen, before Oliver headed back into the kitchen. “Please put some clothes on before the Health Inspector comes,” he called over his shoulder. “If there’s one man in Easton who doesn’t want to see your tiny butt in booty shorts, it’s him.”
Owen scowled and Mateo gave him a hug and a grin. “Oh, sweetheart, don’t worry… your butt is amazing, and definitely not tiny.”
The chime of a bell pulled everyone’s attention to the door where three women entered the bakery, two who looked to be college-aged, and one a bit older. The two younger women approached the counter, whispering and giggling. They looked from Daniel to Mateo to Owen and back again. Daniel was comfortable in minimal clothing so his lack of shirt didn’t even faze him, but it was pretty clear these women weren’t expecting to see three underdressed men handing out scones at seven a.m.
Mateo leveled them with a flirtatious look. “What can we get for you ladies this morning?”
More giggles. “Um, don’t you guys work at Cinnamen?”
Daniel laughed. “Now what do a pair of nice girls like you know about a place like that?”
“We go there to dance!” proclaimed the one who could speak. Daniel wasn’t sure the other was capable of anything but giggles.
He laughed again. “Well, you ladies are up early. Let me guess… two large coffees?” Giggles nodded and her friend added a request for chocolate chip muffins.
“Coming right up,” Owen called, bending to the bottom of the case to retrieve the pastries. Mateo handed the women their coffees and Owen put the muffins in a paper bag.
They paid for their purchases and headed toward the coffee station, still whispering and giggling. They both had their phones out as they poured mountains of sugar into their cups and cast glances over their shoulders toward the group behind the counter.
The older woman stepped up to the counter. She was maybe in her mid to late forties, and smartly dressed. Owen grinned at her shamelessly. “And, what can we get for you, dear?”
“The owner,” she said matter-of-factly, but with a twinkle in her eye. “I’m Amanda Perkins, from the Department of Health.”
Well, fuck.
Daniel felt the blood rush from his face. Caleb and Owen shared a concerned look before Caleb excused himself to grab Oliver from the kitchen.
This was it. Make or break time.
<
br /> Daniel cleared his throat. “Welcome to Patty’s Cakes, Ms. Perkins. Can we get you anything? Coffee? Pastry?”
She smiled and shook her head. “No, thank you.”
Oliver hurried from the kitchen and walked directly over to the inspector. “Ms. Perkins,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Oliver Douglass. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She smiled and grasped his hand. “Thank you, and please call me Amanda. I know inspections are usually done during normal business hours, but I’m working very long hours to catch up since I took over when the previous inspector was terminated for negligence.” She pulled a portfolio out of her large bag and flipped through a few pages. “I was hoping to speak with the owner.” She consulted her notes. “Patricia Douglass?”
Oliver cleared his throat. “Patty is my mother. Unfortunately, she was involved in an accident.”
“Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that. I hope she’s all right.” Amanda’s face held genuine concern.
“She’s doing well now, thank you, but is unfortunately off her feet for another month at the least.”
Daniel stepped forward. “Oliver is Patty’s son. He’s taken time away from his restaurant in New York City to run the bakery until Patty is back on her feet.”
Amanda smiled. “You’re a long way from the Big Apple, Oliver. I bet you’ll be glad to get out of Easton and back to your real life soon.”
Daniel’s heart fell into his stomach at the casual mention of Oliver heading back to New York. He knew it would happen eventually, but he had conveniently pretended it was in the distant future while he was pursuing Oliver. Now that he finally had who he wanted right where he wanted, the idea of losing him made Daniel a little nauseated. He looked over at Oliver, who also looked a bit green, but he’d been a ball of nerves since Patty’s call that morning. He was undoubtedly looking forward to the time when he could finally leave Easton behind and move on from this bakery and this town… and Daniel.
Daniel missed the rest of the conversation, but Oliver and Amanda were heading into the kitchen. Daniel stayed put; he thought it best to keep out of the way.
He looked over at his friends, who had thankfully somehow stayed quiet through that whole exchange, and couldn’t help but smile. Everyone had pulled through and helped and now it was out of his hands.
Daniel addressed the group. “Thank you so much, guys. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but there’s no way we could have been this prepared without you.”
Caleb smiled and Owen said, “I think this means we get free cupcakes for life, right?” while he reached into the glass case.
Mateo rolled his eyes. “You already get more free baked goods than anyone on the planet since Patty is always trying to fatten you up.”
Owen laughed. “So, there is one advantage to being tiny.”
Daniel laughed too. “You guys can probably take off. I can handle this,” he said, just as the door opened and a group of half a dozen customers walked into the shop.
Caleb raised an eyebrow. “Do you want us to stay for a few more minutes, until we take care of these customers?”
Daniel sighed. “That would be great.”
Except, before those six customers left, another five had come in… then a group of seven. What was going on?
Patty’s had a great reputation in the area so there was always a steady stream of customers, but this rush was kind of getting a bit out of control. Daniel ran the register since he was the only one who’d done it before, and Caleb kept the coffee brewing while Mateo and Owen kept up a steady stream of flirty chatter and handed out cookies.
Before Daniel knew it, an hour had gone by. He still hadn’t seen Oliver or Amanda, but there was a line into the store about thirty people deep.
Between customers, Owen called over his shoulder to Daniel, “I’ve never seen the place like this. Is this a special day or something?”
The customer Daniel was ringing up laughed. “I hope this special day isn’t a one-time thing,” he said, winking at Owen.
Daniel had no idea what he was talking about, but he didn’t have time to ask. He smiled at the man and handed him his change, sending him down to pick up his order from Mateo at the other end of the counter.
The next customer stepped up to the register and gave Daniel his order. As he passed Daniel his credit card, he said, “I’m so sorry, I never do this, but can I get a picture with you? My husband will die when he sees this.”
Daniel laughed. He guessed the man recognized him from Cinnamen and he was always flattered when someone asked him for a photo. “Of course,” he said, all smiles. “Caleb, can you run the register for a sec?”
Caleb was a quick study and took over for Daniel, quickly smiling at the next person in line.
Daniel came around from the counter and stood next to the man. “Is this okay?” He gently put his arm around the customer’s shoulders.
“Perfect,” the man said, grinning. He took two photos with his phone, before deciding on a third.
Daniel chuckled. “Gotta get that perfect angle for the Gram.”
The man laughed. “Right?” a few taps and swipes later the man grinned. “There. I tagged the shop too.”
“Oh, thanks! We’re always trying to get more traffic on there.” Daniel had started an Instagram account for Patty’s shop a few years ago, but she wasn’t keen on posting. “Who wants to see a bunch of pictures of cupcakes?” she always said.
“Well, mission accomplished on that one.”
Daniel wasn’t sure what the man was talking about. “What mission?”
“More traffic to the Instagram page. Your tags are what brought me in here today.” The customer looked over to where Owen was holding up a white paper bag and waving at him. “Oh, hey. I should go. Thanks for the picture!” The man hurried to the end of the counter and picked up his order before leaving the crowded bakery.
What tags was that guy talking about? Daniel wondered if Patty, in her infinite boredom, had finally started posting to the Instagram feed. The idea of her posting Dick Pics put him into a panic, so he pulled out his phone and opened the app.
He pulled up the shop’s feed and it looked the same to him. He breathed a sigh of relief. But wait. When had they gotten so many new followers? The last time he checked they had about 250 but now they were up to almost a thousand. The customer mentioned the tags. He did a quick search for the mentions @PattysCakesEaston and his mouth hit the floor.
The first photo he saw was posted by the user KatieDid224 and it had more than one thousand likes. It was a photo of Owen from the back, reaching into the bakery case. His almost invisible shorts were riding up almost to the point of indecency, white strings of his apron trailing over his butt and down his legs. It was posted just an hour ago with the caption: What a way to start the week!! #cinnamenbuns
It must have been posted by one of the women who came in first thing this morning. He scrolled through the rest of the mentions. There were pictures of Daniel, still shirtless and grinning behind the register. There was one of Mateo, making a seductive face and holding a scone. There were a ton of Caleb, one that a man had hashtagged #talldrinkofwater and #gingergoals.
Daniel couldn’t hold in his laughter. He pulled up one of the many photos of Owen’s ass and tossed his phone to him. “Look, Owe, your ass is famous.”
The customers within earshot laughed and Owen scrolled through the images. Mateo looked over his shoulder. “I always knew you had some great assets.”
Daniel groaned. “That was the worst joke ever.”
“What was?” Daniel heard Oliver’s voice from behind him. He turned to find him walking from the kitchen with Amanda, both of them looking fairly calm. That was, until Oliver caught sight of the full house in front of him.
Amanda laughed. “Wow. What’s going on out here?”
Daniel gave her his most charming grin. “Oh, people come from miles around for our Cinnamen buns.”
Daniel stepped out of the shower a
nd felt like a human being again. It had only been eighteen hours since they’d gotten the call from Patty this morning, but it definitely felt like eighteen years. He wiped the steam from the mirror above his sink and ran his hand over the blond stubble covering his chin. He heard a loud “motherfucker!” come from his kitchen and decided against shaving. Apparently Ollie was awake too. He gave his hair and face a rough dry before he wrapped a green towel around his narrow hips and wandered in the direction of the kitchen.
After they’d finished up at the shop, they’d headed straight for Patty’s so they could update her on the craziness of the day. Daniel’s heart swelled as he watched Patty beam at Oliver, her son recounting the details of the Cinnamen coming together to support Patty and her bakery. After she’d listened and laughed, cooed over them both, and filled them full of freshly baked ginger snaps, Daniel could tell Oliver was dead on his feet. He wanted to get Oliver into bed… preferably his bed, though Oliver’s was right there.
“Well boys, thank you for all of the information. I knew I could count on you to handle things. I’m so proud of you both.” Patty glanced at Daniel and gave him a surreptitious wink. “Oliver, would you mind clearing out for a bit? My book club is coming over in an hour and we’re going to talk about this book Daniel lent to me.” She paused thoughtfully. “Actually, unless you want to stay. Some of the girls have been curious about the mechanics of gay sex… I think you could really enlighten them.”
Oliver’s eyes widened and five minutes later they were both in the car, heading for Daniel’s apartment. Oliver was passed out in the passenger seat before they’d gone six blocks, and Daniel smiled at the way his beautiful face seemed to be frowning, even as he slept.
As he drove in silence, Daniel couldn’t help thinking about the health inspector’s comment about Oliver leaving Easton. Oliver hadn’t responded, but Daniel couldn’t help but feel like it was true. He knew Oliver hated Easton, and while Daniel was of the opinion that holding onto feelings like that just made people miserable, he could see why Oliver would feel the way he did. Grief affected everyone differently, and Oliver’s father died just as Oliver was at that awkward stage between boy and man. He lost his role model and probably latched onto any feeling that wasn’t devastation or emptiness. Unfortunately, he chose to hold a weapon of anger and fear, and pointed it at Easton, then escaped the town before he had a chance to heal.