You Belong With Me (6 page)

              After one failed attempt at brownies, the girls stood and stared at the fragrant pan of rich, chewy chocolate.

              “
Oh my bread and butter
, we are so good at this. It must be in our genes or something,” Jane breathed out as she reached for the knife to cut them each a piece.

              Kit nodded in agreement. “Make mine bigger. I could use a hunk of chocolate today,” she instructed.

              Layla just stood back and grinned happily at her sisters. They were happy, they were together and they’d just made something so delicious and decadent that even she was impressed.

              “Make mine smaller. I’m still full from lunch,” she instructed. Jane obeyed and handed her a small square on a beautiful white china plate.

              Layla waited until Jane was holding her own piece. “Okay, on three,” she said watching the anticipation on her sister’s faces. “One, two . . . three,” she said and closed her eyes as she took a large bite. She couldn’t help it. She groaned. Kit and Jane made similar sounds.

              “Am I interrupting here?” said an amused voice from behind them.

              Layla immediately choked and turned around to see a tall, imposing police officer staring at them with a grin on his face. He was muscular and had that tall dark and handsome thing down. She tried to place his nationality but her best guess was that he had some Samoan heritage in his gene pool with a whole lot of other beautiful genes.

              “Hi,” she wheezed out, putting her brownie down and stepping forward.

              The officer stepped forward and held out his hand to shake hers. “I’m Officer Tate Matafeo. It looks like you all have been busy,” he said smiling over her head at Kit and Jane.

              “Not at all Officer, but um, is there a problem?” Layla asked curiously, wondering why anyone would just walk into a bakery.

              “Well, the sign said open and the door was unlocked. When Belinda was alive I came here every day for her cupcakes. She’d make a new flavor every week. Are you three the new owners?” he asked, his cinnamon brown eyes, warm and interested.

              Layla relaxed and smiled at the young policeman. She liked cops. They’d always had her back and she could depend on them when the chips were down.

              “We are the new owners, but we’re not exactly open for business yet. Max walked us through everything this morning and we’re training for the next week or so before we open. Right now, we’re just having fun though,” she said turning to her sisters. “I’m Layla and this is my sister Kit and my sister Jane,” she said pointing to each of her sisters.

              Tate shook Kit’s hand and then Jane’s last. “You have chocolate eyes,” he said with a friendly smile after letting go of Jane’s hand.

              Jane blushed, turning her cheeks rosy and her eyes wide. “Thanks. And, it’s nice meeting you too,” she said, stumbling over her words.

              Tate grinned and turned back to the brownies. “You know, I haven’t had anything decent to eat since this bakery shut down. It makes life just a little harder knowing I have nothing to look forward to,” he said soulfully.

              Kit laughed and dished him up a large brownie. “Okay, Officer, that was pathetic. Here, try this and tell us if we have any hope of becoming bakers,” she said, looking at him with a faint worry in her eyes.

              Tate stepped forward eagerly taking the brownie. “I get it. I’m your guinea pig. I have no problem with that,” he said and took a large bite.

              All three women stared at him nervously, watching as he closed his eyes and chewed thoughtfully. “
Hmmm
,” he finally said frowning in concentration.

              Layla frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “Was that a good hmm, or a bad hmmm?” she asked dryly, tapping her foot on the ground.

              Tate opened his eyes and took another bite. After he finished his bite he licked his lips and put his hands on his waist. “The texture was perfect, so you got your dry ingredients right. The chocolate was great too. Not too much, not too little. It was missing something though,” he said thoughtfully, closing his eyes as he concentrated.

              Jane stepped forward and grabbed the recipe off the counter, looking at it closely. “We did everything she said to,” she said softly.

              Tate opened his eyes with a smile. “
Vanilla
. Vanilla is what makes the chocolate shine. It was still really good though,” he said, shrugging.

              Layla and Kit glared at him and then went to stand next to Jane. Jane shook her head and looked over her shoulder at the bottle of vanilla on the counter.

              “Kit? Did you remember to put in two teaspoons?” she asked.

              Kit grimaced and walked over to the vanilla. It was a brand new bottle and still had the plastic covering over the top. “Oops,” she said with a guilty smile.

              Tate laughed and popped the rest of the brownie in his mouth. “Almost perfect. Anytime you need a taste tester, you let me know. I’ll be around the neighborhood,” he said with a wink and sauntered out the door.

              Jane waited a minute and then hurried out the door and into the shop area. Layla and Kit followed more slowly. She looked at the sign with a confused shake of her head. “I could have sworn we locked this door and the sign said closed,” she said, turning the sign over and locking the door.

              Layla frowned. “You’re right Jane. We did and it was. Kit, did you switch it?” she asked looking at her sister.

              Kit held up her hands in defense. “I might have forgotten the vanilla but don’t blame this on me,” she said.

              Layla and Jane looked at each other pensively before Jane grinned and pumped her fist in the air. “It was a ghost,” she said happily. “I knew this old house had to have one. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

              Layla rolled her eyes and turned to head back to the kitchen. The hard knock on the door had her turning around and glancing at her sisters. “We’re kind of busy for not being open for business,” she said in irritation.

              She opened the door to see Michael Bender standing there with his daughter. “Hi Michael.”

              He smiled crookedly. “I was going to come over later, but I forgot Stella is spending the evening with my parents tonight. They’re taking her to the movies. She insisted on coming and getting a treat though, so here we are. Is now a good time?” he asked.

              Stella smiled and stepped forward. “You smell like chocolate,” she said, her eyes wide and excited. “I love chocolate. Is that my treat?” she whispered as if it were a secret.

              Layla felt her heart melt as she crouched down in front of Stella and grinned. “I’m so glad you like chocolate Stella. We just finished making brownies. Would you like one?”

              Stella nodded her head fiercely up and down. “I
love
brownies. Sometimes my grandma makes me brownies. I don’t like Daddy’s very much though. He makes them from a box,” she whispered, already licking her lips.

              Layla grinned and glanced up at Michael. He looked slightly embarrassed which for some reason appealed to her.

              Michael cleared his throat as he smiled back at her. “I’m not a very good cook,” he admitted. “Stella’s had to make do with my poor attempts at baking.”

              Layla laughed and looked back at Stella. “Well sweetheart, you came to the right place then.”

              Layla stood back up, still smiling and caught Michael looking at her, his eye intense and curious. Her eyes shuttered and her smile slipped as she stepped back to let the man and his daughter in.

              “Follow me to the kitchen,” she said and turned away, grateful to break the contact with Michael.

              “Hi Michael,” Jane said in greeting, still staring at the corners of the room suspiciously, looking for ghosts.

              Kit smiled and nodded her head. “We’ve just been told by Officer Matafeo that we forgot the vanilla, so I hope you don’t mind subpar brownies,” she said ruefully.

              Michael shrugged. “I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. Stella inherited a double portion though and I can promise she’s not that discriminating,” he said with a soft smile as she scampered after Layla, through the door and into the kitchen.              

              Everyone wandered back to the kitchen just as Layla picked up Stella and placed her gently on a stool so she could eat her brownie at the counter. Michael felt his heart squeeze as he studied his daughter surrounded by beautiful women. The fact that he was raising his daughter without a mother would never stop bothering him. He’d even considered marrying again so his daughter wouldn’t be deprived of a female influence. He’d even asked out Kim Hanks from the bank for tomorrow night, but he couldn’t say he was excited about it.

              He glanced at Layla against his will and knew that if he had a date planned with her, he would be doing back flips.

              “Would you like me to walk you through the offer here in the kitchen?” he asked holding the folder in his hand up to show them.

              Layla glanced around the kitchen and shrugged. “Why not? Kit, Jane? Let’s just get it over with,” she said walking over to a clear spot on the counter.

              Michael walked over and took the papers out, spreading them on the counter. He pointed to the number at the bottom of the page, not wanting to bore them with all the details if the answer was a flat no. But he’d promised Alex he would try.

              “As you can see, it’s a very generous offer. With this money, you can pay off your grandmother’s back taxes and debts and still have a very nice inheritance. Divided three ways, you could each live comfortably for a couple years,” he said looking up to gauge their expressions. Each woman was frowning at him.

              Layla picked up the papers on the counter and scanned them quickly before handing them to Kit. Kit did the same and then handed them to Jane who went over and sat by Stella at the counter to take a closer look.

              “I have an appointment with the bank and the lawyer tomorrow. There are no back taxes to pay and the accountant told me there are only a few outstanding bills. It’s not going to take us long to get back in the black. The only reason to sell the bakery is if we don’t want it. But we do, so please tell your client that we appreciate his offer but that we’re not interested,” she said firmly and with that ever present chill in her eyes.

              Michael’s eyes narrowed as he studied Layla, staring back at him as if he were her enemy. They didn’t even know each other, so it must be men in general. What would it be like to change that chill to something warmer? Michael smiled, knowing that he didn’t have the time or patience to try.

              “Is that the unanimous consensus?” he asked, glancing at Kit and Jane.

              Kit’s eyes were warmer than Layla’s but she moved to stand closer to her sister. “We’re not going anywhere Michael. We’re here to stay,” she said, nodding her head.

              Michael turned and looked at Jane, waiting for her opinion. She put the papers down a few moments later and pushed her hair out of her eyes before looking at him.

              “It’s a great offer. But it’s
too good
of an offer. When we got back from lunch today I looked up comparative prices on other local properties and he’s over by about ten thousand.
Why?
Why does this man . . .” Jane glanced at the paper again. “Why does Alex Foster want our bakery so much?” she asked standing up to walk over to Layla and Kit.

              Michael raised his eyebrows in surprise and smiled at the youngest Kendall sister. She might be young, but she was sharp. He looked at the other two sisters and knew that any man going up against these women better be on their toes.

              “You’re right Jane. A fact I mentioned to Alex last week. He’s very aware that he’s high on his offer. Commercial property in this area has skyrocketed in price over the last five years. Alex wants to tear down the bakery and build a strip mall,” he said, hiding his smile as all three pretty faces went from curious to scowling within seconds. He saw the family resemblance much stronger now.

              Layla went over to the counter and picked up the offer and handed it to him as if it were poisoned. “Mr. Bender, no one’s tearing down Belinda’s Bakery. Not now. Not ever,” she said crossing her arms over her chest, daring him to contradict her.

              Michael sighed and put the offer back in his folder. “It’s not nice to kill the messenger Layla. And I was Michael just a few minutes ago. Now I’m Mr. Bender?” he said softly, looking into her stormy blue eyes.

              Layla looked away and bit her lip. “You’re right. It’s not your fault I guess. Sorry,” she said and looked back at him before she said, “
Michael
.”

              Michael grinned, not caring one whit that they hadn’t taken the offer. He hated the idea of another strip mall full of tanning beds and nail salons replacing a beautiful older home.

              “Michael, what will this man do when we turn him down?” Kit asked leaning up against the counter.

              Michael shrugged and walked over to his daughter who was still working her way through the brownie. “I already have a list of properties I can show him Kit. Don’t worry about Alex. Stella? We’ve got to go honey. Will you tell everyone thank you for the brownie?” he said taking the napkin Layla handed to him and gently wiping a smear of chocolate from Stella’s mouth.

              She grinned at her dad and then looked at the sisters. “Thank you. Can I come tomorrow and have another treat?” she asked hopefully.

              Layla laughed and lifted Stella down off the stool before Michael had a chance to. “You can come by any time you want to Stella.”