Sweet Baklava (24 page)

Suddenly, mid-sentence, she stopped. "You haven't been listening to a word I said, have you?"

"I'm hanging on every word."

"No, you're not. What did I just say about this caramel sauce?"

Nick thought before saying, "You said you like it."

"See? I knew you weren't listening. I didn't say anything about the caramel sauce."

He put down his spoon, lifted his hands, and laughed. "Busted."

"At least you still fess up."

"But only after I'm caught." He lifted his spoon. "You have to admit this is excellent caramel sauce."

"The best." She licked the back of her spoon before refilling it with ice cream.

"Mama asked if we could stop by later. She said she has a present for you."

"A present?"

"She made another batch of baklava."

"If I keep eating all that baklava your mother sends home with me, I'm gonna get fat."

Nick looked back and forth between her nearly empty ice-cream bowl and her. "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

She shoved her bowl away. "Okay, in that case, I'm done messing around with ice cream. Let's go to your parents' house for some serious baklava."

When they arrived at his parents' house, Nick's dad was outside whacking at some shrubs. "Need some help, Papa?"

"Nah, I'm just about done. Your mama's been after me to trim the yard, so I left the store early."

"I would've done it if she'd asked," Nick said. "It's late. Why don't you let me take care of this tomorrow?"

His dad stopped, smiled at Paula, then looked at Nick. "Sometimes wives want their husbands to do things just to show their love. I think this is one of those things. Your mama never was one for flowers, but she's crazy about me when I do yard work." He lifted the clippers and took a few whacks before pausing again. "It helps to keep the romance alive."

"Interesting," Nick said before lowering his voice to a whisper only Paula could hear. "But a little strange."

"Not really," Paula whispered back. "That's called love language."

"Love language?"

She nodded. "There's a book about it."

"So this is a book you like?"

Paula shrugged. "I guess. The pastor mentioned it during a sermon, so I got it. I read it one day when business was slow. It's pretty interesting, if you like that sort of thing."

Nick made a mental note to buy that book. He needed every advantage he could get.

T
he clerk handed Nick the bag. "I hope you enjoy the book. I had my husband read it, and it's made a huge difference in our marriage."

Nick tucked the bag under his arm. "Thanks. That's good to know."

He left the bookstore and headed back to his parents' house, hoping to get to his room without having to stop and chat with his mother. He wanted to start reading right away, just in case the book had some sage advice he needed to take before he left.

He'd nearly made it to his room when he heard his mother's voice. "Nick, I've been looking all over for you."

He turned to face her. "Did you need me to do something?"

"That woman Kate has been calling."

Nick groaned inwardly. He wasn't in the mood to fend off advances of a delusional woman.

"You need to call her back. I think it has something to do with Amanda."

He nodded. "Okay, Mama. I'll call her in a few minutes."

"Whatcha got there?" She pointed to the bag.

"Oh, I just bought a book. I figured it would be good for some of my alone time." He held his breath, hoping she wouldn't ask specific questions about it.

"Good idea. I'm glad you like to read. You'll never be bored as long as you have a book."

As she turned to leave, he felt his muscles relax. That was a close call.

He wanted to start reading his new book, but instead he found Kate's number and called her. To his surprise, she didn't offer even a hint of flirtation. Instead, she got right to the point.

"Amanda's been so difficult since she became a teenager. I just wanted to thank you for everything, Nick."

"Paula's the one you should thank."

"Yeah, I know. I figure what's been happening is payback for how I was when I was Amanda's age."

"Amanda's fine," Nick said.

"Now I'd like to pay you and Paula back for being so helpful."

"You don't have to—"

"I know, but I want to," Kate said. "It's nothing, though— just a helpful hint on relationships. Don't let her get away. You and Paula were meant to be together."

"Uh . . ." Nick was speechless. He didn't expect something like this.

"Oh, and Sam and I have been talking. Ya know, he's a decent guy. Back in high school, I managed to lure him to the wild side for a night, but I never dreamed he'd ever be interested in me later."

"So what are you saying, Kate?"

Her eyes seemed to twinkle. "Each time we get together to talk about Amanda, we wind up talking about us. I think we might just have something special."

Nick tried to hide his surprise. "That's awesome. Good for you."

"You and Paula deserve to be happy, Nick, so don't ever give up on each other."

"Thanks for the advice, Kate. Have a good day."

After he hung up, he thought about Kate's words. At first he didn't think she'd changed, but now he realized that she had matured.

He pulled his book out of the bag, flopped over on his old bed, and started reading. No wonder Paula liked it. There was quite a bit of wisdom in the pages. By the time he finished reading he knew exactly what he needed to do.

Nick freshened up and went to the kitchen to let his mother know he'd be back late. "I'm going to spend some time with Paula before I leave."

"I thought you were giving her some space."

"Changed my mind. I'd rather see if there's anything I can do to help her around the shop."

Mama smiled and tweaked his cheek. "Smart boy. Let her know what she'll be missing if she doesn't take you back."

Shaking his head, he snorted. "Can't pull anything over on you, can I?"

"As Paula would say, not in this lifetime."

Paula glanced up at the sound of the bell on the door in time to see Nick walking toward her, apparently on a mission. "Hey."

"You look nice today," he said as he pulled a bouquet of flowers out from behind his back. "I brought you something."

Paula smiled and took the flowers. "How nice. Thank you."

"Is there anything I can do around here to help out?"

She cast a curious glance at him. "What do you mean?"

He followed her to the back room, where she grabbed a tall glass and filled it with water at the sink. "Anything need fixing? Do you need some extra hands?"

She turned around and shook her head, the curious expression still on her face. "No, everything is just fine. Why?"

He took a couple of tentative steps toward her and reached for her free hand. "I want my last few days in Tarpon Springs to be special."

Paula stood transfixed, not knowing what to do or how to react. Nick was always attentive, but something seemed different. "Okay. Maybe we can do something tonight after I check on some things at the Senior Center."

"Want me to go with you?"

"Nick, what is going on? Why are you acting like this?" She pulled her hand away from his, turned, and walked toward the front. He followed. She placed the flowers on the counter then spun around to face him. "Who are you and what have you done with Nick Papadopoulos?"

He folded his arms and set his jaw as he stared at her, looking like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to say it.

"Just tell me," she urged.

Nick lifted his hands in surrender. "Okay, so I went out and bought that love languages book you told me about."

She grinned. "And you read part of it, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I tried to figure out which one was yours, and I can see a little bit of all of them, so I thought I'd try everything."

Paula tried to hold back the laughter, but she couldn't. He looked hurt. "I'm sorry. If you'd asked, I could have told you."

"But I thought—" He rolled his eyes and grinned. "I want to make you happy, Paula."

"Quality time is my love language."

"I sort of thought so, but I wasn't sure."

"So you decided to tell me I look nice, give me a gift, offer your services, and touch me to cover all the bases."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I have to admit I'm flattered you'd go to all that trouble for me."

"You know I think you're worth it, Paula."

They stood there looking at each other for a while until he closed the distance between them. He didn't utter a word as he lifted her fingertips to his lips and dropped a kiss on each one. She glanced down at the floor to gather her thoughts. Through a hammering heart and swirling emotions, she slowly looked up at him.

"Please don't try too hard, Nick."

"I don't want to risk not having you in my life, Paula. You mean everything to me. All you have to do is say the word and I'll give up the Air Force when it comes time to reenlist."

"Stop. I've been thinking about visiting you, and I can't very well do that if you get out of the Air Force."

His eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious?"

She nodded. "But I don't know when yet."

"That's fine. I'm just glad you've been thinking about it. We'll make it work, Paula. I'll—"

She held up a finger to stop him. "One thing at a time."

The warmth of his satisfied smile filled the room. Paula remembered her first physical attraction to Nick, and she had to stifle a gasp. She'd never be immune to this man.

"I promised Papa I'd deliver something to his buddy in Tampa tonight. Wanna go with me?"

Paula was tempted to turn him down, but she stopped herself and nodded. "Yes, that would be nice. Where in Tampa?"

"Hyde Park. We can grab a bite to eat in Channelside afterward."

"Sounds good."

"What time can I pick you up?"

After they made arrangements, Nick left the shop, and the tiny space was instantly devoid of energy. Paula closed her eyes, remembering some of the old times they had together. No matter what she'd been through with her mother, as soon as she was with Nick, all was right in her world.

She spent more time on the phone with large wholesale orders than with retail walk-ins. When Alexa arrived, she took over the phone orders.

"We might want to have a separate division for wholesale orders," she said after getting off the phone with a West Coast customer. "Sometimes it's difficult to handle walk-ins when I'm talking to a long-distance client."

"I've already got the Web guy working on the online order form, so it should get a little easier," Paula said. "Tell me your thoughts on phone orders."

Alexa explained a plan that sounded like a good one. She'd obviously put quite a bit of thought into it.

"Would you like to head this up permanently?" Paula asked. "Since it was your idea, I figured it would make sense to put you in charge of it."

Alexa beamed. "I'd love to."

"Ya know, I've been thinking about all you've done for this business, and I believe it's time to give you a raise."

"You don't have to do that. I like working here."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't get paid for bringing in more business. Without you, Alexa, we wouldn't have half the orders on the books."

Tears sprang to Alexa's eyes. "And without you, I'd be a loser. I never caught on to the whole baking thing, but I love what you have here."

Paula nodded. "You're definitely in your element. I'm going to get with Charlene and see what we can do."

Alexa grinned. "It's funny how my sister is your accountant. I always thought she was the successful one in the family, and I was just along for the ride."

"Well, in my book . . ."—Paula planted her fist firmly on her hip—". . . you're both winners. She's good with numbers, but no one is better than you with customers, both retail and wholesale."

Alexa's whole face glowed. "Thank you for saying that."

Customers started coming in, and soon Amanda arrived after school.

"Homework?" Paula asked.

Amanda made a face and nodded. Paula pointed to the back room, where she'd set up the desk. Amanda rolled her eyes but headed on back good-naturedly. An hour later, she appeared on the sales floor.

"All done?"

Amanda shrugged. "I'm having a little trouble with some math, but I did everything I understand."

"Then come on. Let's go see what we can do about getting you all smart with math again. Alexa, we'll be out in a few minutes."

Once Paula explained the first problem, Amanda was able to do the last three. "You make it seem so easy."

"Well, isn't it?"

"You should've been a teacher," Amanda said as she wrote down the last answer.

"No, I'm right where I should be. I'm afraid if I was a teacher, I wouldn't have any hair left by now."

Amanda giggled. "You are so funny. Can I start working now?"

"Of course." Paula paused and narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure you're done with your homework?"

"Positive." Amanda lifted her hands. "I promise. I have a history test on Friday, though, and I plan to study hard."

"How's your new teacher working out?"

"So much better. She's actually nice."

"Good."

After Paula was sure Alexa and Amanda were okay on the sales floor, she left for the Senior Center. Mildred had everyone on task, and a couple of the ladies had brought snacks, which made the men very happy.

"So how's it going, everyone?" Paula asked.

George Perkins glanced up and lifted a chocolate cupcake. "This is the best job I ever had."

Mildred waved him off. "You'd like digging ditches if someone fed you." She turned to Paula. "Honestly, these people will do anything for food and something to supplement their Social Security."

Paula laughed. "As long as they're happy, I'm good. You're doing an excellent job, Mildred."

The woman grinned as a pinkish color spread up her neck and over her face. "I love working for you. We all do. Our kids even like it since you said we can each have a candle every week. My daughter loves your stuff."

"Our stuff," Paula reminded her. "If you don't need me, I'll leave you to what you were doing."

Paula couldn't believe how well everything was running without her. She didn't know if she should feel bad about not being needed, but she was actually happy.

She called Nick and told him she could be ready early, so he said he was on his way. When he arrived, she flung open the door.

"You look mighty happy," she said as she stepped outside and locked the door behind her.

"That's because I'm with you."