“Oh, I need an assistant.” She huffed, sagging down. “I’m not sure I can do everything by myself. Are you sure you can’t work for me?”
London shook her head. “Sorry, Pi. I can’t be here when you need. At least with the paper I can work from home.”
Piper sighed again and dropped onto one of the stools. “I really didn’t think this through. Who am I kidding? I can’t run a business. I can’t even run a race, for God’s sake.”
I bit back a laugh. “Why don’t you ask Felicity?”
“Felicity?” she frowned. “Who’s that?”
“Johanna’s daughter,” I reminded her. “She works with her at the café. Johanna was going to buy this place for her.”
Piper wrinkled her face up. “Won’t that be awkward?”
“Yes.” London reached over for a cupcake and stuck her pinky finger in the frosting.
“No, it won’t be awkward,” I reassured her. “I doubt Felicity will be making many things for the café now, and she ultimately wants to bake, not own the café. You could at least speak to Johanna and see if she’d share her with you part-time.”
Piper tucked her blonde hair behind her ear and shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t want her to feel like I’m taking her daughter from her. Especially since I kind of swiped the bakery out from under her.”
“It was technically closed bidding,” I reminded her. “Just because Johanna had the wrong information and didn’t get her bid in doesn’t mean you swiped it.”
Seriously. Despite what she said to us, Johanna hadn’t actually made the bidding deadline. Piper had, and she’d won, fair and square.
“I haven’t been in there since I moved back.”
I stared at her. “Dear God.”
“Anyone else hungry?” London jumped to her feet and checked her phone. “I have forty minutes before I have to get back to work, then I have to get Leo from school. Let’s go and get some lunch.”
“This feels like an ambush,” Piper muttered as I pulled her to her feet and dragged her toward the front door. “I resist.”
I literally pulled her out onto the sidewalk. “Oh, yes. You put up one hell of a fight there.”
She grunted. “I’m hungry, too.”
“Lessgo!” London all but bounced out of the bakery with the vigor of a child. “Snacksss!”
“She really needs to spend less time with Leo,” Piper muttered, looping her arm through mine and holding onto me. “I don’t wanna do this.”
“I don’t care.” I clasped my hand over hers so she couldn’t go anywhere and dragged her across the road and up the street to the café. “You can do this, Piper. You’re giving Felicity a chance and that matters.”
She groaned, but she didn’t release me. She let me drag her to her uncomfortable doom.
London held the door open for us, letting us pass by, then skipped in front of us. It was mercifully quiet in here today, but that just made her singsong of, “Johaaannnaaaa!” seem all the louder.
Piper flinched.
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t help it.
She was being ridiculous.
“Hi, girls!” Johanna stepped out from the back, wiping her hands on a towel. “What can I get you?”
“Coffee. It’s too Monday for this.” I leaned on the counter. “Is Felicity here?”
“Coffee for everyone?” she asked, then turned at Piper and London’s nods. “No, she’s out with friends today. I think they’re at Seb’s place trying out the new rock-climbing wall or something.”
“Oh, that’s cool.” London perched on a stool at the counter. “They were installing them last week when I took Leo for his soccer training and Seb said something about getting people in to test it.”
“That’s what they’re doing,” Johanna said brightly. “I don’t mind. She took her brother and that means peace for me.” She set three cups down with a wink. “You want food, too?”
“Yes, please,” I said. “Sit anywhere?”
“Wherever you’d like.”
I nudged Piper.
“Ow!” She rubbed her arm and shot me a glare before turning to Johanna. “Actually, Johanna, could I speak to you for a second?”
“Sure, darlin’. What’s up?” She beamed at her.
“Um, I’m getting ready to open the bakery.” She gestured awkwardly at the door. “And, um, I was wondering…”
Johanna raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry. I was strongarmed into this.” Piper rubbed the back of her neck, not even trying to hide her awkwardness now. “I really need some help, and I know you were going to buy it for Felicity, so I was wondering if you could spare her occasionally to help me.”
Johanna’s lips curved. “Why, Piper, are you trying to steal my daughter?”
“No! No, I—” Piper’s eyes were wide and shocked.
“Kidding.” Johanna roared with laughter. “Darling, if you want to hire my daughter, you have my permission. It’s getting hot around here with us clashing heads, so you’d be doing me a favor. I’m sure she’d much rather work with you anyway.”
“Oh.” Piper blinked. “Are you—are you sure?”
“Positive. Trust me. If you give me your number, I’ll have her call you and you can talk about it.” Johanna slid a pad and pen across to her.
Piper scribbled it down and passed it back. “Thank you. I really appreciate that.”
“Not half as much as I do.” She winked. “Go and sit down. I’ll be over in a minute to take your orders.”
We went to an empty table near the window and pulled the chairs out to sit down.
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” I asked, plucking the menus from the holder like I didn’t already know that it was meatball sub day. “She didn’t mind at all.”
Piper made a noncommittal noise. “I hate it when you’re right.”
“So does everyone else. It’s why I’m so glad it happens so often.” I handed London a menu with a whimsical smile. “Gives me at least a day’s peace and quiet after it happens.”
London giggled. “You’ll get no peace and quiet here.” She nodded toward the door where Colton and Josh were about to walk in.
“Ohhh.” I leaned forward and dropped my forehead to the table. “You have got to be kidding me.”
I hadn’t replied to Colton’s text that he’d sent on Saturday morning. I was steadfastly ignoring him, mostly because I could. I wasn’t even that annoyed anymore. Having to use a brush to clear your sofa of cat fur was very therapeutic.
I just didn’t want to talk to him right now.
If I’d learned anything this weekend, it was that I wasn’t going to get away with not dating anymore, and in order to date properly, I had to call it quits with him.
The problem was that I didn’t really want to do that.
There was a romantic living inside me that believed that maybe our booty calls could become something more.
The realist thought the romantic was an idiot.