Take the Cake (18 page)

Chapter 12

Honey to the Bee

Michael wrapped an arm over his chest, pulling against it to stretch the muscles, and then repeated it on his other side, going through his routine warm-up stretches. He’d half-walked, half-jogged his way over to the park, and after his warm-up was completed, he set off along the path. As he jogged, he exchanged nods of acknowledgment with other runners whose faces had become familiar. He felt his body begin to grow warmer, and sweat prickled between his shoulder blades. His head felt hot, and he ran an impatient hand through his hair, pushing it off his face, although after a few paces his hair fell forward into his eyes again. He was going to have to get a haircut soon.

Michael ran on, thinking about his writing, thinking about Kate. He increased his pace, willing himself to push through the burn that was beginning in his thighs and chest. He gulped for air, running faster still, his long stride devouring the path before him. He’d completed half a circuit when, to his surprise, David appeared on one of the smaller arterial paths and joined him. The two of them exchanged a quick grin and a fist bump before settling into a matching pace. Neither of them spoke until the circuit was completed and they slowed to a stop near the park entrance, their usual starting point.

“Good weekend?” Michael asked by way of greeting.

“Yep.” David nodded. “Yours?”

“Great,” Michael replied, grinning as he thought of the time he and Kate had spent together.

“So, how did the date go? Did you guys end up at the M Bar?”

“We did, and thanks for the suggestion,” Michael said. “That’s a great place. You go there much?”

“Now and then,” David replied as he did some quick cool-downs stretches. “It’s my go-to place when I want a low-maintenance evening.” He raised an eyebrow at Michael. “So, what sort of an evening did you have?”

Michael shrugged and gave a slight smile. “It was good.”

David nodded. High praise indeed. Although he was a writer, Michael was inclined to be a man of few words when something was important to him. David suspected that the bakery was going to have more of an impact on his friend than even he was aware of. There was also, he realized, the matter of Wren.

“You got a busy week ahead?” Michael asked as they both headed out of the park at a brisk walk, still cooling down from their jog.

“Patchy, but yeah.” David shrugged. “I gave them two weeks’ notice, so I just have to finish a few articles and tie up a few loose ends and I’m outta there.”

“How were your folks with the news?” Michael asked, stretching his hamstring muscles as they waited for the light to change. It was still early, but the morning traffic was already getting busy. The two men stood in their running gear chatting, as other people in business clothes gathered at the intersection.

“How do you think they were? They’re over the moon. It’s what they’ve always figured I’d end up doing anyway,” David said with a rueful smile. “Although, points to my mom, she managed to hold off on any
I-told-you-so
comments.”

Michael laughed. The light changed and the crowd surged across the street.

“Want to grab lunch later this week?” David asked as they reached the curb on the other side.

“Sure. Give me a call. Usual place?” Michael replied, thinking of the bar David seemed to favor.

“Uh-uh, I’ll see you at the bakery,” David replied.

“Oh, really?” That stopped Michael in his tracks and he looked at David. “So, the place is getting to you too, huh?”

“Something like that,” David conceded. “But it’s still early days yet.”

~~~

“Morning, boss.” Wren popped her gum as Kate approached.

“Wren, don’t call me boss.” Kate smiled, unlocking the security grill and then the door lock, pushing it open with her hip.

“Sorry, boss.” Wren shrugged, giving her gum another pop. “So,” she continued, taking off her light coat as she followed Kate through the store toward the kitchen, “how was it?”

Kate flicked on the coffee machine and went to the back to dump her bag. She straightened and made a play of looking at her watch. “I’m impressed. You almost waited a whole second before you asked how—” She broke off as Emily appeared in the doorway, breathless.

“I’m here.” Her announcement was unnecessary as she hurried in to hang up her bag. “Have I missed anything?”

“Not yet,” Kate said in a resigned tone.

Wren muffled a laugh as she and Emily followed Kate out toward the coffee machine. Kate picked up the stainless steel jug and held out a hand in silent request. Emily had anticipated this and had already grabbed the milk for her. Kate accepted it with a smile and began to get the coffee ready. She shot the two women a look as they both stood leaning against the counter, watching her work, waiting for her to talk.

“You’re both driving me nuts and you know it. Would I be right in thinking that you’re going to stalk me until I tell you about the date?” Kate ventured at last.

“Is that what we’re doing?” Wren looked at Emily with an expression of mild surprise.

“We’re just standing here, is all,” Emily said.

Kate poured the frothed milk into the cups, sketched a quick line into the foam that created a coffee colored leaf, and handed the girls their morning heart-starter.

“Well,” Kate said, “if that’s the case, maybe we ought to start—”

Wren held up a finger to stop Kate’s words. “Uh, boss, now that you mention it, Emily and I
might
be a bit curious about your date, and maybe it would be nice if you told us about it now,” she said. “You know, otherwise it could be hard to get things going.”

“Hard to concentrate,” Emily agreed.

“Right,” Wren agreed with a quick sidelong look at her cohort. “It could be hard to get going until you—”

“Fess up and tell us everything,” Emily completed.

Kate sipped her coffee and slumped against the counter. “Oh, God,” she said in a long suffering tone. “All right, what do you want to know?”

“Just the important details,” Wren said as she sipped her coffee. “Like
everything
.”

“Well …” Kate sipped her own coffee and thought, unable to stop the smile of satisfaction that was spreading across her face. “It was wonderful.” She took another sip and smiled again.

“What was?” Wren was all but vibrating with impatience. “What did you wear? Did he kiss you? Of course he kissed you,” Wren answered her own question as Emily laughed. “Where did you go?”

“Calm down,” Kate said, flapping her hand at Wren in a shushing gesture. “I’ll talk. It’s obvious you’re going to be useless until I tell you anyway.”

“You got that right,” Emily said, watching Wren who had hoisted herself up to sit on the counter, crossing her feet at the ankles and swinging them back and forth as she waited for Kate to keep talking.

“Okay, but I’m going to keep this short because we’ve got work to do,” Kate admonished. “First off, I wore that lilac halter-neck dress you made for me, Wren.”

“Great choice, the color on you is stunning.” Wren nodded.

“Thanks, glad you approve,” Kate replied.

“It leaves her back bare—perfect for a bit of hand-on-skin contact—and it makes her tits look fantastic,” Wren said on an aside to Emily.

“I—” Kate stopped, nonplussed. She hadn’t even considered that when she chose the dress; she just liked the color. Wren waved her free hand in a wind-up gesture for Kate to continue, so she did. “Uh, yeah. Anyway, he took us to dinner at a little place called Resto on 29th, and then afterward we went for drinks at a rooftop bar on 32ⁿd called M Bar.”

“And was there kissage?” Emily asked with a knowing smile.

Kate felt her cheeks warm up as she grinned again. “Yes,” she said. “There was
much
kissage.”

Wren hopped down and finished her coffee in an unladylike swig before throwing her arms around Kate. “Well done, girl,” she declared, and then held Kate away at arm’s length. “And did he stay the night?”

“Wren.” Kate wriggled away with a laugh. “He did
not
.”

“Huh,” the smaller woman said in a thoughtful tone.

“Really.” Kate shot her a glance as she picked up their empty cups and put them in the dishwasher. “Now, have you got a quote for us today?”

“Hmm, tricky,” Wren said, putting a finger to her lips in apparent thought.

“When you’re ready,” Kate said, glancing at Emily who shrugged. No help there, but she knew that Wren, or rather the chalkboard, was going to have something to say about things.

“I’ve been thinking about this over the weekend, about
you,
I should point out, and can think of nothing better than:
If life is the flower, then love is the honey.
”

Kate laughed at that and watched as Wren picked up her stub of chalk and collected the chalkboard to carry outside. Emily followed Kate as she wandered into the kitchen and stood, hands on her jeans-clad hips, deep in thought.

“Don’t tell me she has you stumped,” Emily began, but was waved into silence.

After a minute, Kate looked up with a gleam in her eyes. She’d known Wren was going to make some sort of comment about love or sweetness and had been racking her brain all weekend to think of some sort of baked retaliation to the chalked gauntlet. “I think I’ve got it.” She turned toward the industrial ovens and switched them on.

“Can’t wait to see the comeback.” Emily grinned, and then went back out into the store to start the day. She watched as Wren came back inside looking very pleased with herself. Emily waited until Wren was occupied with slicing the oranges and lemons for the water jugs before launching a quiet attack of her own. “And how was
your
weekend, Missy?”

“Me?” Wren faltered and the knife skittered off the lemon and onto the chopping board with a dull thud. “It was fine,” she answered in a noncommittal tone.

Emily didn’t push the issue but could tell Wren was a little off—and she was pretty sure she knew why. For now, she’d keep an eye on Wren, who had now turned back to the chopping board and begun slicing. Emily went back to making up the bagels, shooting Wren a glance from time to time. After a few minutes, Wren went to the stereo and put on some 1970S disco. It wasn’t long before the two of them were singing along under their breath, swiveling their hips and shuffling around in time to the music, good mood restored. It was impossible to stay in an unsettled mood when disco was on.

Kate poured flour into the mixer and watched the beaters whir it into a creamy batter with the other ingredients, spinning to pick up the vanilla essence, shaking her groove thing in time to the music as she added the sweet spice to the mix. She smiled as she watched the batter smooth out, humming as she got out the trays, thinking about the weekend.

“Is that them?” Wren arched an eyebrow as Kate later appeared from the kitchen with the first tray.

“Sure is,” said Kate, feeling smug. “Get your chalk.”

“Okay, boss.” Wren touched two fingers to her forehead and flicked them out in an odd little salute that Kate had never seen before. “Fire when ready.”

Emily put down the storybooks she had been tidying and strolled over, interested to see what Kate had come up with. Kate put the tray into the display cabinet with a flourish and stepped back, hands on hips as the girls surveyed the special for the day, and then looked at her expectantly.

“Today’s is
Bee Still My Heart
,” she intoned. Emily choked back a laugh as Kate continued, “Bee hive honey cupcakes with honey buttercream frosting, topped with peanut butter crunch.”

“Damn,” Wren muttered.

“I believe you mean
touché
,” Kate said with a twinkle in her eye.

“Do you think there will ever come a day where you don’t have a cupcake to match the quote?”

Kate gave her a laugh and a hug. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

~~~

Wren glanced up at the door as a shadow of movement blocked the morning light, and then she went back to work as the customer walked inside. It wasn’t him.

Emily handed over some change to her customer and bid them a good day, then turned to regard Wren. “Hey, girl, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Wren jerked her head up in surprise as she frothed milk for another coffee order. “Why’s that?”

Emily shrugged. “Every time a customer comes in, your head goes up like a sniffer dog. Are you expecting someone?”

“I don’t know,” Wren admitted. She was silent as she finished getting the coffee order ready and slid the cups across the counter to her customers with a broad smile.

Emily decided to investigate her suspicions further. “I was in Chinatown on Saturday night and I could’ve sworn that I—” she broke off as she glanced over and saw Wren standing still. “What?”

“What did you see?” Wren said in a quiet voice.

“Uh, well, I saw you with …” Emily flicked a glance toward the kitchen doorway and then leaned over and spoke in a quieter tone. “I saw you with a guy … and you looked … happy.”

“Did I?” Wren gave a hesitant smile.

“You did. Actually at first I wasn’t sure if it was you because you looked different.”

“How?”

Emily thought back. She’d been out getting dinner with company of her own, and her gaze had flickered into the restaurant for only a moment, but it had been enough for a double take and a knowing smile. “I don’t know really. Quiet? No, that can’t be right. You were talking, but you just looked more …” She paused and searched for the right word as Wren stood waiting. “
Involved
in the conversation.”

“Really?” Wren mused. Perhaps Emily had a point. Her dinner with David had certainly been something different.

“Were you guys on a date?”

“No, maybe, I don’t know,” Wren stumbled. She huffed and glanced up again. “We just got some dinner.” She turned back to her task, and then looked up again. “But nothing happened. He saw me home and that was it.”

“I believe you,” Emily said quietly.

Wren went back to work, and after a while, the frown of concentration eased into a calmer expression as she lost herself in the mindless chore.