since he’d learned that Aubrey was the recipient of his scathing review. He wanted to fix it, and his inability to help was eating away at him, but that was no reason to be short with a kid.
“Christ, Landon. You’re scaring her.” Craig shook his head at him and turned to the girl with a kind smile. “Okay, young lady. We do need to know who you are and why you’re here, but go ahead and catch your breath. Would you like some water?”
The girl shook her head and made an effort to breathe normally. After several seconds, she squared her shoulders and faced Landon.
“My name is Lily, and I work part-time at Comfort Zone.”
Landon groaned and ran his hand down his face. He belatedly placed where he’d seen her before.
“What my friend means to say is”—his editor paused to glare at Landon—“please continue.”
“Mr. Kim, that day you came to Comfort Zone. I was the one who gave you the wrong cake. It was for Andy’s birthday party, but I screwed up. Aubrey is an amazing baker and a wonderful person. Everyone in town adores her.”
“Lily, I understand the cake wasn’t meant for me, but what’s done is done.” He did his best to soften his tone. “I never review the same place twice, and I can’t make an exception.”
“Just try this.” She plopped a small white box on Craig’s desk with a plastic fork on top. “It’s Aubrey’s pretzel bread pudding. It’s better warmed and served with vanilla bean ice cream, but it’s incredible on its own. Just try it.”
It was a pointless exercise, but he didn’t want to upset her again, so he obliged. The moment the pretzel bread pudding hit his tongue, he was enveloped in a perfect harmony of flavors and textures. It wasn’t an explosion of sugar and spice. It was much subtler than that. The familiar flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla wove through the bread with the added smokiness of the pretzel dough. The salted caramel with the faintest hint of espresso added a modern edge to the classic.
“Damn.” Landon had detected Aubrey’s talent even when it was buried under peanut butter and gummy worms. But this? It was extraordinary.
“What? Is it that good?” Craig forked a big morsel and popped it in his mouth. “Holy shit. I mean, crap. Sorry, Lily.”
It was the most delicious, creative, and masterfully executed bread pudding Landon had ever had. For the first time in a long time, he was at a complete loss. He might have ruined the career of a promising pastry chef with his review. The strange cake deserved his scorn, but Aubrey and Comfort Zone didn’t. But nothing had changed. If he wrote a second review and their fling was discovered, both of their reputations would be shredded.
“You see? She really is an amazing baker and boss.” Lily was practically bouncing up and down in her seat. “You’ll give Comfort Zone another chance, right?”
Landon squeezed the back of his neck and resisted the urge to let loose a parade of profanity in every language he knew.
“Look, Lily. That is one of the best bread puddings I’ve ever tasted.” He held up his hand when the girl opened her mouth to interrupt. “But the situation is more complicated than you think. I can’t bend my policy without my readers questioning my objectivity. Besides, the entire town of Weldon seem to be fans of Comfort Zone. Business will go on as usual soon with my review long forgotten.”
“No. You don’t understand. Weldon has a tiny population. The bulk of Comfort Zone’s customers were online or travelers stocking up on their way to the mountains and the lakes. Aubrey was always busy filling online orders on top of running the shop, but I haven’t seen her send anything out since the review.” Lily leaned forward in her chair, gripping the edges of the seat. “The bakery is going out of business because of your review. I think Aubrey spent a whole lotta money on a lease to move Comfort Zone to a bigger location. I don’t know what’s going to happen now, but when I mention the other store, Aubrey just looks sad. And scared.”
Expansion? The kid had to be exaggerating. Could the situation truly be worse than he’d imagined? Landon scowled in frustration, and Lily shrank in her seat.
“You must be exhausted, Lily. It was a long drive from Weldon, right?” Craig led the kid, who was sobbing again, out of his office with a