tell you where to go. You just knew. No matter if you want to accept it or not, you’re a natural, Cade.”
I don’t bother replying to that. Choosing to check the upper level isn’t rocket science. I already know the main bar and the back bar are doing fine. It’s only logical to head upstairs.
That’s not being a natural at anything here. He just wants to think that because he hopes I’ll take after him some day.
Never going to happen.
Chapter Seventeen
Hailey
My phone buzzes across my table, and I see Cade’s name come up in the center of the screen. I shouldn’t be so excited to hear from him, but my heart practically skips a beat and I hurry to clean off my hands before reaching for the phone to read his message.
I’m sitting in a booth wishing the world’s best cupcake maker was sitting with me.
That’s so sweet. Where is he?
I begin to type out my question, but I stop and run to look out the window into the dining room. There in the booth where I first met him Cade sits smiling at me. He waves for me to come out, and without even checking how I look, I hurry out to join him.
“What are you doing here? I wish you told me you were coming. I would have come out so you didn’t have to sit here alone,” I say as I slide into the booth on the other side of the table.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind sitting here for a few minutes. I was going to mention to your father that I was here to see you, but I didn’t see him either. Are you busy?”
I shake my head, and at that moment, I realize I’m still wearing my apron covered in chocolate batter from today’s dessert creation disaster. I look down in horror to see it’s even worse than I thought.
“Oh, God. I must look like a mess. I’m sorry. I didn’t think to take this off before I came out here. I’m glad I sat over here because if I had slid in next to you, you’d be covered in chocolate,” I say as my cheeks heat up from embarrassment.
Cade reaches across the table and takes hold of my hand. Instantly, I feel like my anxiety calms. “It’s okay. You look great. When are you off work?”
“I don’t even know what time it is,” I say as I look over toward the big round clock on the wall behind the counter. “It’s one o’clock already? Wow, time does fly when you’re making a mess.”
He laughs at my mistake with the saying. “I’m not sure that’s how it goes. What were you making that ended up all over you?”
“Well, I started with these cookies I wanted to try. They came out okay, but I wasn’t happy with them, so I threw them away. So then I got really ambitious and tried a chocolate torte with a chocolate glaze and ribbons made of chocolate. The torte worked out, but I wasn’t crazy about the glaze and the ribbons ended up as a disaster.”
Pointing at my apron, I say, “Thus the chocolate everywhere.”
“I bet the cookies and everything were terrific, even if you did end up wearing most of it.”
“I wish. I really wanted that cake to turn out great. It would have looked so incredible in the case, and each piece would have been gorgeous,” I say, still disappointed I couldn’t get those ribbons to work for me.
“So what time are you off?” Cade asks for a second time.
“I can go whenever I want. I’m not really even an actual employee, to be honest,” I explain, letting him know the truth for the first time.
“What do you mean? You work here, even if it’s for your family. That sounds like an employee.”
I force a smile, but it’s always hard to explain that what I do for my parents isn’t really work. At first when I came home last summer, having me in the kitchen was a way for them to make sure I was okay. Those days were rough, so leaving me alone wasn’t anything either of my parents thought was a good idea.
Out of that grew what I do now. They never meant for it to be permanent or anything, really, which is why whenever anyone says I’m some fancy pastry chef or baker I balk at the very mention of those.
I’m just Hailey, someone who tinkers around with chocolate and ends up wearing it more