parking spot in the alley behind the bakery hadn’t been available, so he had driven around toward the front. The bakery sat on a busy street at a main intersection with a park across the street often used for special-event photographs. He hadn’t thought much about having to park a block away. But it had never been like this.
“Excuse me,” he said, working his way through the crowd. Some people were nicer than others, and some downright refused to budge.
“I’ve been in line for five minutes. I don’t care how cute you think you are, you are not getting by me.”
He raised a brow and hid a smile at the older woman. With her high heels, she barely stood five feet tall, but it was her perfectly manicured gray hair and polished appearance that had him imagining her as the power person behind the scenes for some executive. He respected her firmness. There were far too many people who faked knowing someone closer to the front of lines to sneak in sooner. She looked familiar, likely someone he had seen during the lunch or morning rush. He glanced up, squinting at the bright afternoon sun. Standing out in this heat dressed in business attire couldn’t be comfortable.
“What’s so appealing to have you waiting in line for five minutes during the lunch rush?”
“One of the office workers said Natalie was giving out cake samples. I like her little pastries, so I thought…why not try the cake? Besides, who says no to cake?” She peeked at her watch. “I thought I could take a short walk here, grab the sample, and then window shop for the rest of my lunch. I thought it might be a little busy, but I didn’t expect this.”
Likely, neither had his sister.
“So you’ve been here before?”
“Every Tuesday and Thursday. Other days are tougher to escape the office.”
He bent his arm and angled out his elbow to her. “C’mon. Nat’s my sister. Let’s get out of this heat and get you your cake sample.”
She rested her small hand in the crook of his arm. After squeezing their way to the front of the line, he saw one of the small corner tables emptying out. “Take a seat there, please.” He was thankful she didn’t argue with him.
Rounding, he immediately spotted his sister, flustered by a mix of both paying customers and those wanting to get a free sample. He stalked over to her and ducked under the divider and back behind the counter.
“Nat?” He didn’t need to say anything more. What the hell were you thinking? was on the tip of his tongue, but her frazzled look urged him not to push her off the deep end.
“Obviously, I screwed up. Please don’t beat me up right now. Ben is baking as fast as he can, and I’m trying to handle everything here. I need help. I can’t…” She swiped her forearm against her forehead. “Just help me. Yell at me later.”
One thing he respected about his sister was her steadiness. She rarely, if ever, asked for help. And she was obviously drowning.
He surveyed his surroundings. She was trying to ring up paying customers while plating samples of thin cake slices. “Do you have those small inch-high paper cups?”
She quickly nodded.
“Get those. If you hand out full slices like this, you won’t have enough. The line wraps around the corner.”
She blanched. “What?”
“Check on Ben and grab those cups.” The moment she darted toward the back, the crowd rumbled in protest. He aimed his next words to the shop full of patrons. “I know some of you are waiting for samples, so I want to split the line up to make things easier. If you’re here to try out our new cake flavors, thanks for giving us a taste. If you’re here to buy some of Nat’s awesome pastries with fancy names I can’t pronounce, please stand over here.” He gestured to his right as the crowd chuckled.
Natalie returned with her arms full of small cup packages.
“Handle the paying customers, I’ll work the sample line.” He grabbed two of the trays from the cabinet and nudged his sister toward the shorter line of paying customers.
With his hands washed, apron tied, and a fresh pair of gloves on, he cut the cake into smaller squares and loaded up the sample cups. After filling the two trays with samples and one small plate with a thin slice, he started working the crowd.
“Here you go, Ms. Tuesday and Thursday,” he said, serving the