Falling Sweetly (Starling Falls #2) (13 page)

Tisha and Martina exchanged a look, before Martina asked, “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack. I’m going to the listing agents and the bank after we’re done.” I was met with a silence that made me nervous.

“I know it’s a risk but-”

“Of course I’m on board!” Martina said, giving me a hug.

“I’m in too, Chef,” the new, young kitchen assistant Derek, whom I’d never even heard speak before, said quietly but firmly.

A few other murmurs from some of the wait staff echoed with interest.

“But just so you guys know, I can’t afford to pay you what you were getting here. At least not to begin with, but as soon as business picks up, and I’m able to, I’ll match it. I get if that changes things. A lot of you have hungry mouths to feed and families who depend on you.

“No hard feelings if you want to find somewhere else that pays what you were getting here. I’d give any of you a glowing recommendation.”

A few nodding heads were amongst the small group. “There’s no time limit on my offer. Any of you ever want a job, you’ll have one with me. Go home, think about it, and let me know.”

A chorus of ‘Yes, Chefs’ sounded before people began to make their way out of the restaurant.

I nodded at the staff as they left. An oddly calm Tisha came up to me. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her smile that widely before, and it was starting to freak me out. “Tish? You in?”

She was silent, but kept smiling at me, with a chilling yet serene expression. I’d imagined that was a look she would generally give someone before they lost a limb for pissing her off.

You should be afraid.

I opened my mouth, but closed it again, deciding to let her speak first. Maybe then she would at least have the decency of allowing me a head start before she inflicted any kind of injury on me.

She was silent for a moment longer before she spoke. “You. Asshole. You let me worry about having to find a new job and moving, and all along you knew you were going to open your own place?”

“No, I didn’t. I literally made the decision yesterday. I didn’t even know if you would want to join me, Tish.” I started inching towards the door.

She frowned at me. “Why wouldn’t I want to join you? I mean, you’re okay. Working with you hasn’t been awful.”

High praise indeed.

“You said you made the decision yesterday? Weren’t you at your Aunt and Uncle’s party?”

“Yeah. I was thinking about taking a job in Chicago, when Niki gave me the idea of opening my own restaurant, but cooking what I want to. I can’t believe the idea never occurred to me.”

“Niki?” Tisha looked confused before recognition flashed across her face. “Oh, the bakery girl?”

I grinned and nodded. “I’ve asked her to help with the new menu.”

Tisha looked very unimpressed. “Is this just a way for you to get into her pants? Because I swear, if it is Jake-”

I didn’t let her finish. “She’s an amazing cook and she’s got a great palate. I really think we could use her input,” I paused, “And if anything just happens to transpire between us while we’re working together, well…” I trailed off and let my wide grin speak for me.

Tisha groaned, “Oh God. I’m going to be stuck between the two of you acting like a pair of sappy idiots.”

“That’s the hope.”

CHAPTER 11

Annika

I tapped my fingers nervously against the steel counter in the kitchen of the bakery, as I waited for Jake to arrive.

I smiled at Laurie as she walked out of the kitchen with a tray of cookies. She smiled back but gave me an odd look as her eyes fell to my fidgety, tapping fingers.

In addition to Mitch there were two other lovely ladies that worked at the bakery. Laurie was a student at the local college and worked part-time. She was striking with her slender figure, auburn hair and bright green eyes.

She had told me baking was a hobby, but not something she intended to make a career of. She had been a great addition to the small team at Trudy’s and I would be sad when she eventually decided to leave to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer.

Gloria was a Starling Falls local, and had been working in the bakery for decades. She was in her fifties, had short dark brown hair, kind hazel eyes, and had a warm, booming laugh that could fill an entire room.

She had helped get me settled when I had first taken over running the bakery, and was feeling a little out of my depth. Gloria and Mitch had been the best support system I could have asked for, and their outrageous comments had kept me in stitches.

She had been hired by Aunt Trudy because “she made all the annoying chit-chat with customers” that she herself “couldn’t be bothered to do” as she had “more interesting things to do in life, like watching paint dry.”

I smiled sadly as I always did when thinking about Aunt Trudy and her acid tongue. There were days that I missed her so much, I swear I could hear her voice in my head telling me ‘to get over it already, and move on.’

I checked my phone for the second or third (or twenty-fourth) time to see if he had sent a text cancelling going to see the empty premises and lunch today.

“Nope, nothing. Okay. It’s okay. Just be cool,” I said aloud to myself. “Just keep yourself busy, don’t stand here like a lemon.”

I looked around the kitchen, and my mind seemed to go completely blank, as if I hadn’t been working at bakeries since the age of eighteen.

The door to the kitchen opened as I was walking around aimlessly, randomly opening and closing various cupboards, looking for something to do.

I groaned as I knocked several whisks and spoons over, and they fell onto the floor as the door to the kitchen swung shut with a creak.

Assuming that it was Mitch who had come into the kitchen, I didn’t bother to turn around. I bent over to pick up a spoon that had had fallen in an awkward, narrow gap between two cupboards.

“Mitch, if you get some free time later could you check how much fresh vanilla beans we have left in stock and make a note if we need to order more.

“Also, could you and Laurie taste the blackberry and cherry jams and see which you’d prefer on the Danishes. And don’t complain about all the butter going to your hips. There is nothing wrong with your hips.”

A throat cleared. “Um, not Mitch. But I’d love to taste the jams, and I promise not to complain about my hips after,” a familiar voice said, sounding very amused.

I gasped in shock and stood up far too quickly, forgetting all about the opened cupboard above my head.

There was a horrible
thud
that sounded as my forehead made contact with the door of the cupboard, and it shut with a loud
bang
.

Ouch. Well, that was completely mortifying.

“Oh, shit. Niki, you okay?” Jake looked concerned, walking over to me quickly.

“I’m fine, honestly,” I said flustered when his hand brushed my fringe aside to look at my forehead, which I was sure would be turning a bright red from the impact.

Well, at least it’ll match the rest of your face now.

Laughing lightly, I brushed his hand away. “I’m such a klutz. Honestly, I’m okay. I hit my head on things all the time.”

I paused when I realised how odd that sentence sounded.

“Not on purpose or anything!” I clarified quickly and then kept talking because making a fool out of myself in front of Jake seemed to be something I was becoming an expert at.

“I’m just clumsy and tend to get off balance sometimes. I mean, there are genuine balance disorders, like vertigo or Meniere’s disease, where people feel unsteady and have blurred vision or feel disorientated; Liya and I saw a documentary on that once. But I haven’t got that. I think I must just have big head or something.”

Kill me. Just kill me now.

Jake just nodded while looking slightly bewildered as if not quite sure what to say after the impromptu mini medical lecture he had just received.

After a moment of silence, he asked softly, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I merely nodded, not wanting to chance my runaway mouth taking over again.

He looked at me unconvinced, brushing my hair aside again to look at the throbbing spot on my forehead.

“Maybe we should put an ice pack on it, so it doesn’t swell.”

“Oh, no. Please don’t fuss. If Liya found out about this, she would never let me live it down. I promise I feel fine. Shouldn’t we be going? We’re going be late,” I told him as I walked over to the small office attached to the kitchen to get my bag.

Jake didn’t look happy but nodded reluctantly. “I’m parked out front.”

As we walked through the bakery, I waved to Mitch and Laurie, ignoring the exaggerated waggling of Mitch’s eyebrows and obscene thrusting of his hips that occurred as soon as Jake’s back was turned.

I thanked Jake when he held the passenger side door open and waited for me to get in before closing the door for me.

When he got in the car, I felt a layer of tension begin to build between us. Jake pulled away from the curb and made a U-turn in the middle of the road.

I felt his eyes on me, and I met his gaze. I smiled at him awkwardly before staring resolutely out of the window.

“So… thanks again. You know for agreeing to help with everything and come see the property,” Jake said with a small smile.

“It’s not a problem.” I looked around at the area we were driving through. “Where are we headed?”

“Some place on the edge of town that I think used to be a bar. The owner retired a long while ago, and none of his kids wanted to take over the running of the place. So it’s been empty for about ten years.”

“A bar? Could that space work as a diner or restaurant?”

Jake shrugged. “Not sure. All the listing agent said was that the price is within my budget, but it may need some work.”

“Okay,” I said with a small smile before we both fell silent again.

This is so painful.

I was debating how to break the silence when Jake beat me to it.

“How’s business at the bakery been?”

“Oh, fine.”

“I hope I’m not taking you away from anything important you need to get done there today.”

I shook my head. “Nope, Mitch and Laurie have it covered.”

Jake smiled fondly. “Mitch is good guy. You know, a while back, I thought that there was maybe something going on between the two of you.”

A startled laugh left me at the notion of Mitch and me being anything more than friends.

“Seriously? I’m pretty sure he’s saving himself for Michael Fassbender.”

Jake chuckled. “Yeah, I know that now. He told me about it in great detail one morning when I came into the bakery. I also learnt about his strong feelings for James McAvoy, Ewan McGregor and Gerard Butler.

“He has a thing for kilts and accents, and apparently I’m missing out by not watching something called
Outlander
. I heard about it all in
great
detail… more detail than I’d ever wanted to know about anything.

“Did you know he once dated a Scottish man for a year? Apparently, it was the best relationship he’d ever had because he didn’t actually understand anything he was saying.

“I also learnt that oversharing is not a word that exists in Mitchell’s world. I may have picked up some new vocabulary from him. Side note; if Mitch ever mentions any sexual terminology to you that you don’t understand, do not get curious and look up the meaning online, and definitely do not click on images.”

I laughed when he shuddered slightly.

“Mitch and I have really had a chance to bond since he became the person serving me my coffee in the mornings.” He sent me a meaningful look.

“Again. I’m sorry about that,” I said with a cringe.

“I’ve missed our morning talks, Niki.”

“Me too,” I replied truthfully.

Jake had always managed to make me smile whenever he stopped by ridiculously early to get his “fuel for the day”. Of course this only intensified the ridiculous crush on my part, but I’d really missed spending time with him.

“Maybe we can get back to doing that now?” he asked as he made a left turn down a road lined heavily by trees on either side.

I nodded eagerly in agreement. “I would like that.”

“Awesome,” he said happily, though his smile quickly faded as we pulled into a small parking lot, and the GPS informed us that we had reached our destination.

A decent sized property stood alone in the clearing.

“Is this the place?” Jake asked, sounding confused and appalled.

The brick structure looked very dated, there were a few broken windows, and most of the paint had peeled off.

There were overgrown plants surrounding the property and a large number of tiles were missing from the roof.

The large lettering over the entrance, which I assumed should have said ‘The Saloon’ had lost its H, and the S - one of the O’s, and N were swinging precariously in the slight breeze.

Despite all this, I thought that the bar seemed to be in a fairly decent condition.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover?” I said unsurely, opening the car door.

Jake grimaced as he got out and walked around the car. “Niki, it’s a dump.”

“Maybe it’s not so bad on the inside?”

“Is there anything you’re not optimistic about?” Jake asked with a small laugh as we walked towards the property.

The door to the bar swung open and a familiar looking, small, blonde in her mid-thirties with piercing light blue eyes walked up to us. Her pressed navy blue blazer and matching pencil skirt were crease free, and her hair had been put up in a no nonsense bun.

“Hello, Jacob. I see you managed to find the place without a problem. So, what do you think about this little gem? It’s quite a find, right?” she said in a tone that oozed confidence.

Jake huffed, “A gem? I can think of lots of words to describe this place. A
gem
, is not one of them.”

He noticed that the lady was looking at me curiously, and he made the introductions.

“Annette Turner, this is Niki Abbott. She’s going to be helping me create the menu. Niki, this is Annette. She’s apparently going to try to convince us that this hovel can be turned into a place that people are actually going to want to come to eat.”