brown sugar underneath the main island. I saw the stainless racks where all the finished items went to wait on trays, and the ovens that were pumping out lots of heat and even more delicious smells.
I smiled when she showed me the design elements and sent up a prayer to the bakery gods that I'd be able to get my hands on them soon.
The first hour flew by with little necessary from me other than to listen to Joy's happy chattering and overwhelming overshare of every square inch of the kitchen.
And this is the mixer, we got that one about two years ago. It's a lot nicer than the one we had before.
Oh, this here is the counter you can pull right out for your own workstation. Jennifer used it all the time. Isn't it amazing that Cletus made it for her? So romantic.
We store the bags of flour and sugar here. You can lift a fifty-pound bag, right? Of course, you can; just don't pay attention to a word I'm saying.
By the time we made our way back to the register, I was ready for a nap. Of course, about half of that could've been because I really, really didn't feel ready to put on my happy, friendly, non-Jocelyn customer service face. Maybe I could leach some of Joy's joy by osmosis. I kept my chair just behind her so she could show me how to work the register, and that was when her curiosity finally got the best of her.
I'd learned pretty quickly when someone was trying to figure out how to ask me about my chair, or whether the thing about to come out of their mouth was going to be completely inappropriate.
"So, how did you …" Her voice trailed off, and she glanced quickly, guiltily down at my legs. "How did it happen?"
If Joy had been anything but sweet and sincere with me, I might have considered messing with her a little bit.
Instead, I gave her a quick smile. "I had an infection that caused inflammation in my spinal cord. The paralysis used to go higher up, past my waist, when I first got sick, but it settled lower with some steroids."
She placed a hand on her chest and gave me a sad smile. Then her eyes glossed over, and panic made my whole body freeze up like a popsicle. If she cried, right here in the middle of the bakery, I might wheel my ass out and not come back.
"And you can't feel anything at all? Like if I dropped something on your poor little feet, you wouldn't even know?" she asked, voice all whispery and trembling with emotion.
I bit down on my lip so I didn't laugh. "I'd be able to tell. Mainly because my eyes work just fine."
She blinked a few times.
"Right, sorry, I'll pull back on the inappropriate humor." I cleared my throat awkwardly.
Houston, we're losing her.
Joy sniffed, and I gave her a look.
"Joy, you promised not to make a fuss."
She blinked again, but this time, I saw her visibly pull herself together. "Right, okay. Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize." I sighed.
She nodded in answer, then waved her hands in front of her to stem the emotions literally spilling over her face. "Okay. Sorry."
I smiled. So did she.
Joy stepped back and motioned to the register. "Why don't you try the next one?"
I groaned, wheeling myself closer. "Okay, fine."
The sound of someone clearing their throat had Joy and me glancing up in tandem.
And I don't know about her, but I felt my mouth drop open a little bit.
In front of the counter, with his hands tucked into dark jeans and ridiculous ropey-muscled forearms on full display—I would've sworn it on a stack of Bibles—was the love child of Brad Pitt from Legends of the Fall and Chris Pratt from Jurassic World. And he was smiling at us like we weren't staring awkwardly.
"Afternoon," he said, voice deep and warm and caramel chocolate lava cake gooey delicious.
A sound came out of my mouth that might have been hi, but all he did was widen his smile a little bit.
Joy snapped out of her stupor first. "Afternoon. What can we get for you today?"
"You're new," he said to me.
Like directly to me. While holding eye contact and aiming words in my direction.
Joy elbowed me in my shoulder, and I swallowed. "First day, actually."
He nodded, glancing at the menu and studying it carefully. "So you won't be able to help me much with what your top recommendation