A Haven on the Bay - Nicole Ellis Page 0,8

disliked Lara.

“Seriously?” Meg shook her head. “I bet she had some lousy excuse for it too.”

“She had to finish and deliver a cake for her side business.” Taylor handed Cassie his credit card. He’d get reimbursed by the Lodge, but the total still made him cringe.

“Typical.” Meg glanced at Jace, then returned her attention to Taylor. “It looks like the little guy’s pretty into his homework, so I’ve got a few minutes. Do you want some help carrying everything out to your car?”

“Sure.” He flashed her a grin. “I’ve got to get back to the Lodge quickly, so I wouldn’t turn down an offer of help.”

After everything was bagged up, Taylor and Meg grabbed as much as they could carry and headed for the exit.

Cassie beat them to the door and held it open for them. “Sorry I can’t help. I don’t want to leave the bakery unattended.”

“No worries,” Taylor said. “I really do appreciate getting all of these.”

“Yeah, well make sure people know where they came from.” Cassie scrunched up her face as though she’d bit into a sour lemon. “I don’t want people giving Lara credit for them.”

He laughed. “I’ll make sure to add the bakery’s name before each item when I type up the selections.” They’d have to quickly redo the dessert menus when he got back to the Lodge, anyway, and it wouldn’t take much more effort to credit the Sea Star Bakery. Although Cassie had taken over from a previous bakery in the same location, she still had to prove her own baking skills to the town, and he was happy to help her do so.

When he and Meg were safely out on the sidewalk with their loads, Cassie let the door swing closed behind them.

“Where’d you park?” Meg asked, squinting into the sunlight.

“Up the street, in front of Johnson’s Antiques.” He led the way, with her following closely behind him. He placed the boxes on his sedan’s trunk while he unlocked the car and opened the back passenger door. After positioning his desserts on the seat, he reached for Meg’s bags. Their fingers touched as his hands closed around the handle of the plastic sack, sending tingles up his arm. Her eyes flickered to his face. Had she felt it too? She smiled, and he thought he might drop the bags.

Instead, he gripped them tighter and moved away from her to settle them into the car. As he turned back around, he said, “Looks like we should have room for everything. I don’t think there were too many more to bring out.”

She nodded, and bit her lower lip. “How’s everything going at the Lodge since I left? I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

He was silent for a few seconds as they moved around a couple who were partially blocking the sidewalk, strolling along with their arms looped around each other. “Things are mainly okay. The new sous-chef, Brandon, seems like a good guy.”

“And Lara?” She peered at him.

A flash of irritation ran through him, not at Meg’s question, but at the situation back in the kitchen. “Lara is Lara.”

“That bad?” Her words were thick with sympathy.

He stopped walking and ran his hands over his gelled hair. “Yeah. I mean, they’re not great. Most days aren’t too bad, but she’s still making huge messes in the kitchen and expecting everyone else to clean up after her. And, well, you know what happened today.” His breath came out in a loud whoosh, and he locked eyes with Meg. “I need to talk to George again. She may be his daughter, but she technically reports to me, and I can’t have this happening in my kitchen.”

Meg briefly touched his arm, so softly that he wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t imagined it. “I’m sorry, Taylor. I wish I could have stayed at the Lodge. At least then we could hate her together.”

He gave her a small smile. “I’m glad you quit. I hated seeing you so unhappy.”

“I wouldn’t say working at the Lodge was the reason I wasn’t happy.” She started walking again and he had to quicken his pace to catch up.

“What was it, then?” He’d wanted to ask her before, but things had happened so fast after she’d quit, and he’d had to focus on hiring new staff to replace her.

They’d reached the bakery, but she stopped outside the door, regarded him thoughtfully, then shrugged. “I don’t know. It seemed like everyone else had wonderful new opportunities in their lives, but mine wasn’t changing