couldn’t be on the register or handle money. He wouldn’t take the risk. Pulling his phone from his back pocket, he shot a text to Gabriel, giving him a rundown and asking him to come by the bakery to help with the customers. If his dimple and smile couldn’t soothe the crowd, then nothing would.
He typed out a note and then tapped Natalie’s shoulder. He turned the display toward her to read. I’ll help get their orders sorted, but you’re going to have to ring them up. Does that work?
He walked toward the front the moment she nodded, leaving her in the back area as she pulled out another set of trays to cool. He tapped out a short note on his phone and turned the screen toward the first customer in line. The sheer rage in her eyes, her jabbing finger in the air, and her insistence on pointing to her watch made it crystal clear she was pissed about having to wait. He held up his phone to her more firmly so that she could read the text lines, asking her to point to the items and indicate how many she wanted of each with her fingers.
She stared at him as if he had asked her to do some complex level of math calculation in her head or find a solution to world hunger. He sensed her response seconds before she started pointing at his face. Ignoring her ire, he plastered on his biggest smile and shook his head and pointed to his ear. He held his phone up again to the customer, reminding her of what he needed from her to move things along. He shoved the phone into his back pocket and grabbed a pair of disposable gloves. After sliding them on, he folded one of the boxes into shape and then grabbed one of the pastry tongs Natalie kept in the display, waiting for the customer to point to the treat she wanted.
The other customers in line tried to calm her but the woman was outraged. He read her lips for a few words but switched off that part of his brain, refusing to allow her name-calling and curses to affect him. The woman suddenly stilled, as did the others in line. They stared off to the side, toward the back area. He glanced over his shoulder and caught Natalie mid-sentence, her posture rigid as she asked for the customers’ understanding and thanked them for their patience. But then she channeled her gaze to the woman at the head of the line.
She thanked her for stopping by but respectfully asked her to leave the store.
Ben took a slow deep breath to steady himself. He wasn’t used to people sticking up for him.
The woman’s rage was a force to be reckoned with, but she was no match for Natalie and the del Toro stubbornness.
Most of the customers were understanding, some were irritated. He tried as best he could, making a note of each customer’s items on a notepad to be rung up at the register. Natalie rang up the customer orders and glanced back over to the baking area. The line was building again, and it was obvious Natalie was getting stressed by the number of times she glanced back to the ovens.
Barely fifteen minutes had passed. Yet it seemed like an eternity.
Gabriel chose that precise moment to make his appearance. The instant he stepped inside the bakery, he scanned the room, assessing the situation. Even if he hadn’t revealed his time in service, his behavior the second he entered a room was a dead giveaway. Natalie sighed with her entire body when she spotted her brother. He stalked over to the register and spoke while signing. “I got here as fast as I could. What can I do?”
Ben placed his hand on Natalie’s forearm to get her attention. “We’ve got this,” he signed. She squeezed his shoulder and darted to the back to tend to the ovens and pastries.
He glanced up at Gabriel. “I’m not supposed to handle the money. I’ll get the orders ready and write down everything in the notebook so you can charge the items,” he signed, hoping he had signed everything correctly with his shaky hands. He ripped the two pages of orders he had ready and handed them to Gabriel.
The second Gabriel flashed that smile and dimple to a customer, Ben’s knees weakened.
As did those of every man and woman in that shop.
Gabriel soothed the crowd with his charisma and