Whispers of Winter: A Limited Edition Collection of Winter Romances

by Nicole Morgan

  Alexandra nodded. It felt good to have someone take care of her. Once they opened the café, they would be working their butts off everyday with little downtime for themselves.

  Billy returned with all the food on a serving tray. He placed everything on the table and made her plate.

  “I thought this would be a start. But I need you to be honest with me. If you think something isn’t going to work in the café, then tell me and I’ll find something else to replace it with.”

  “I have a feeling that everything will be just perfect.” She stuck her fork into the bow tie macaroni and slid it into her mouth. “Oh dear God. This is incredible.”

  “Thank you. I have faith in my cooking, but I value your opinion. I don’t want to get too gourmet that it turns people off. I want to keep the cost down, yet offer quality food.”

  “I agree with you. And the appetizers,” she pointed, “look awesome. I love the carrot and tomato garnish.”

  “So you think what I have prepared is okay.”

  “Okay? It’s perfect. And I’m sure you have already put it on the menu.”

  “No, I did not. I penciled it in, waiting for your approval, because we are in this together. I want you to be happy with everything.” He reached over and ran his fingers along her cheek.

  Alexandra placed her hand over his and slid her fingers through his. “Are you going to show me the menu you started making?”

  Billy grinned and kissed her forehead. “I have it in my office.”

  “So what are you waiting for? Go and get it. I can’t wait to see it so I can offer my two cents’ worth.”

  “Be back in a minute.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The menu took longer than they had anticipated. Every time they felt confident in how it looked, they would make another change. Alexandra thought it was best to list the ingredients, especially in the salads Billy created. After a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner out, they went back to Billy’s house. He opened his front door, Alexandra gasped when she walked in. Soft music played and in the living room was multiple bouquets of heart shaped balloons along with dozens of red, pink and white roses.

  “Billy, this is gorgeous.” Alexandra walked around the room looking at all the personalized writing on the balloons. “I’m amazed. You’ve made this the best Valentine’s Day ever for me.”

  “I just want you to know you mean the world to me.” He reached his hand out to her. “Come here. There’s still more.”

  Alexandra took his hand as he led her to the couch facing the fireplace. To the left of the fireplace was a huge easel covered by a black sheet.

  “What’s going on here?”

  “Just give me a few more minutes to set everything up,” he said, lighting the candles on the table and throwing a few more pieces of wood into the fireplace.

  “You’re up to no good. Should I close my eyes and give you a chance to get into your black silk boxers, the ones that totally turn me on?”

  Billy kissed her forehead. “Nope. That’s for later. We’ll have the rest of the night to make love and talk about sweet nothings. But for the time being, I want you to see what I’ve been working on every night after I drop you off.”

  Alexandra sat back and crossed her legs. “Now that you have my curiosity, are you going to tell me what you’ve been up to?”

  “I’m not going to tell you. I’m going to show you.” Billy walked next to the easel and pulled the sheet off. “The first one shows what I envision the outside of the café to look like.”

  Alexandra uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “I love the way you left the old-fashioned storefront. It’s what makes the café look so quaint. The navy blue and tan sign gives the place a homey look.”

  “I left the sign blank until we come up with the perfect name.” He lifted up the board and exposed the inside of the café. He pointed, “I think keeping the original wooden floors adds to the vintage look we spoke about. What do you think?”

  “Can you pass me the picture?”

  Billy handed her the posterboard and sat down next to her. “I think keeping the building’s vintage look will attract more people. Now if you look at this side,” she pointed, “I’d like to keep the mahogany bar and use it as a coffee bar and also offer people to sit around and have a latte and appetizers.”

  “I think we can also fit tables along the wall and another row in the middle. We can use the back of the cafe if there’s a large party.”

  “I went into the building again, and this time I went down into the basement.”

  “I never looked. The real estate broker told me there was nothing down there.”

  “Well he lied. When I went down and turned on the light switch and there was another room large enough for a party. Next to it was a room with two more brick pizza ovens. I walked up the stairs to a locked door. ” Billy stood and walked back over to the easel. “Remember when you questioned about the door that was padlocked next to the bathroom?”

  “Yes. The agent said she didn’t have the key and explained it was just a storage closet.”

  “I have news for you. Behind that door is the spiral staircase from the basement.” Billy turned over the next posterboard, which consisted of pictures of the staircase and the two rooms.

  “I love it. I want to go see it, now!”

  “Wish we could, but we’ll have to wait till tomorrow when it’s light out. The previous tenant shut off the electricity the day I signed the lease.” Billy removed the posterboard and held it in his hands, blank side facing her.

  “What else do you have there?” Alexandra asked, standing and walking over to him. “From the way you are hugging it…let me see,” she counted two boards in his hands, “you have something very interesting to show me.”

  “Yes. But you must promise you’ll be honest with me. If you don’t like something, let me know.”

  A huge smile appeared on her face. She knew exactly what he held in his hand. One of the boards had to be the menu, but what was the other?

  “Promise. Now come on,” grabbing at the pictures, “let me see.”

  Billy exposed a picture of the inside of the cafe, “I computer generated this on what I envision the inside to look like.” Pointing to the table in the picture, “the dishes.”

  Taking hold of the board, Alexandra was amazed at the detail Billy captured. “It looks great. I don’t understand how you were able to do this.”

  “It’s a computer program. And what a pain in the ass it was to use. I worked hours on it until it looked exactly how I wanted.”

  “Looks great. I especially like how you converted the bar into a coffee station and you displayed the desserts under the glass counter.”

  “It’s just a sample. Once we get in there we can do anything we want. I just wanted to have some sort of a springboard to work from.” Wrapping his free arm around Alexandra, he walked her back to the couch. “And lastly, here’s the tentative menu. I’m not sure of the design or layout. That I’ll leave up to you.”

  Just as Billy handed her the posterboard, her cell phone rang. When she didn’t recognize the number, she assumed it was work related and pressed talk.

  “Alexandra?” The voice was husky and familiar.

  “Speaking.”

  “I’ve been trying to reach you for months.”

  Alexandra’s mouth dropped opened. This couldn’t be happening. Not at this point in her life. Pressing mute on the phone, she turned to Billy. “I have to take this call. It’s work.”

  “Sure. You can take it in my office.”

  “Thank you.” She stood and walked into his den. “Dan?”

  “Hey Babe. Thought you forgot about me.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t talk to you. “

  “Give me a few minutes to explain.”

  Alexandra held her head with her free hand. This was a nightmare. “I’m busy right now.”

  “We have to mend what we broke.”

  “I’m hanging up.”


  “I’ll stop by your house in the morning.”

  “No, you will not.”

  “Then I’ll expect you at my apartment at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. If not, I will be at your front door. You owe me that much.”

  “But…” Before she could finish, she heard the dial tone on the other end.

  Next morning, Alexandra stood outside Dan’s front door. This was the last thing she expected to be doing. When she had said goodbye to Dan two years ago, she had closed the door to that part of her life. In the beginning he was great, but the more she got to know him, she realized he wasn’t the one for her. The worst part came when she had to fire him. He blamed her, saying she told someone they were dating, which was prohibited by the company. However, their relationship had nothing to do with it. His greed turned out to be his demise, which led to his dismissal. What could he possibly want from her now?

  The previous night she wanted to tell Billy about Dan. She had nothing to hide, but felt the past should remain in the past. Besides, Billy had given her the best Valentine’s Day ever and she wasn’t about to talk about her prior loves.

  Alexandra knocked on the door, anxious to get this visit over and done with. Dan opened the mahogany front door and looked at Alexandra with a smirk on his face.

  “I’m here. Wipe that smirk off your face and tell me what the urgency of seeing me here this morning is all about.”

  “Calm down Alex. I just want to talk to you, catch up a bit.” He stepped away from the door. “Why don’t you come in? I put on a pot of your favorite coffee.”

  Her body cringed. She hated when he called her Alex, but she’d let that go, for now. “Coffee is coffee.” Alexandra walked in with Dan following behind. Pivoting, she faced him. “I don’t have much time. What is it that you want?”

  “The problem that I’m faced with is, since you fired me from my job, I haven’t been able to find any steady work.” Dan folded his arms and leaned against the living room doorway.

  “I repeatedly told you I’m sorry that I had to fire you. I had no choice.”

  Dan covered his mouth with his hand. “Hmm… I see.” Hesitating for a moment he pointed at her. “My life has been a living hell since that day. You owe me, Alex.”

  “I don’t owe you anything. I….”

  “Yes you do. I think Mr. Jumel would be quite intrigued when the truth is revealed that we carried on a three and a half year relationship while we were both employed by him.”

  “I don’t think so Dan.” Alexandra walked to the front door. “I will not let you intimidate or mar my reputation. I don’t get what you want from me.”

  Alexandra’s hand covered the doorknob. Right before she opened it, she turned to face him. Dan stood in place, his arms folded above his stomach, stoned faced.

  “Go ahead and run. You are good like that.”

  “I am so over you. Just for a second I tried to remember what went wrong with us.” She pointed at him than back to herself, “But now I remember. You were nothing but a control freak, thinking you were indestructible.”

  “You are wrong.”

  “No, I am right. I warned you when I suspected you were cheating the company that if you didn’t get back on track, you were going to get fired.”

  “You let me go down with the ship. I loved you. I would have given you the world. I just needed to be financially secure before I took our relationship to the next level.”

  “By cheating people.” Shaking her head she said, “Apparently you really didn’t know me. All I ever wanted from you was love and affection.”

  “No. You wanted more. I felt it. I saw the way you looked at your friends, the ones that live up on Todt Hill in the huge mansions. I know that’s what you wanted.”

  “You are so off.” Alexandra opened the door, “Please, don’t call me again. If you feel the need to tell Mr. Jumel, then be my guest. I’m not going to stop you.”

  “You wait and …”

  Alexandra slammed the door. Once she pulled away she knew what she needed to do.

  Billy opened his front door. “Hey Babe. I didn’t expect you.”

  Alexandra hugged him. “I need to speak to you about something that happened.”

  “What can I get you?”

  “Nothing.” Alexandra tapped the couch. “Come sit. I think there are a few things I need to discuss with you.”

  Alexandra dropped her eyes to her lap. This was the last thing she expected to be doing. She was a firm believer in leaving the past in the past, but it would be better if she filled Billy in on what Dan had presented her with. Billy eventually sat down, only after bringing her a hot chocolate scone.

  “Fresh out of the oven.”

  “Thank you. I feel like I’m in a chocolate factory. I couldn’t ask for a better greeting.”

  Alexandra sat, placed her dish on the cocktail table. She crossed her legs and leaned forward. “Two years ago I broke up with a man that I had been dating.” Carefully, she chose her words, not feeling it necessary to give him too much detail. “Last night he contacted me and I went to see him this morning.”

  Billy stood, slid his hands in his front pocket and rocked on the heels of his feet. Silence filled the room. Alexandra waited for Billy to speak, as she was certain he needed time to get his thoughts together.

  “And you’re telling me this because?”

  “He’s threatening to tell my boss we were dating while we worked together. I don’t trust him and I just wanted to tell you about the encounter.”

  “And what was the outcome?”

  “I told him I didn’t care.” Alexandra walked over to Billy and took his hands in hers. “My fear was that he’d contact you, trying to ruin us. My job, I can handle.”

  Billy reached up, took her face between his hands and kissed her forehead. “I would never let anything come between us. And as far as your job goes, if we are going to be owners and running a café, I don’t think you’re going to have time to work.”

  “What if it doesn’t work? Neither one of us will have a job.”

  “We are in this together. But if you want a cushion, then ask your boss for a six month leave of absence. That will give us enough time to see if it’s going to work.”

  “Boy, are you optimistic. Most businesses don’t start seeing revenue for years.”

  “Baby with you by my side, we are going to succeed. Just wait and see.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Billy played with the key in the lock. It was raining so hard that the umbrella Alexandra held over his head blew inside out. By the time he pushed the door open they were both soaking wet, and smelled like a wet sponge.

  “Surprise!” Billy leaned over, scooped Alexandra into his arms, and carried her in. Pivoting on the heels of his feet, he showed her the full view of the café before putting her down in the center of the room.

  “When did you have a chance to do this?” Alexandra asked, walking around the room. “The floors are magnificent. I can’t believe you were able to restore the wood.”

  “I love your excitement. But don’t use it all just yet. I’ve been coming here and working into the wee hours of the morning.” Billy outlined her lips with his free hand.

  “You keep on amazing me each and every day. Whenever I begin to question our relationship, you go and do something to blow my mind, causing me to fall deeper in love with you,” Alexandra said.

  “I do these things, not because I’m trying to buy your love, but because I love seeing the excitement in your eyes, knowing it’s the little things that make you happy.”

  “You’re right.” Alexandra gave him a kiss and firmly gripped his hand.

  “Are you ready to see the rest?”

  “Yes.” She pointed to the tiffany style light that hung from the ceiling. “I love it. So original.”

  “Thank you. I found it in the storage room downstairs behind the pizza ovens. I missed the door the first time around because an old wooden table leaned against it.”

&nb
sp; “Is that where the tables and chairs came from?” Alexandra asked referring to them leaning against the sidewall.

  “I found them downstairs in the basement. I wanted you to take a look at them and see if you think they are workable.”

  The rectangular and round tables had thick legs and a four inch solid top made out of mahogany. Knocking on the top she nodded her head in approval.

  “The tables are perfect. But I bet cost a small fortune.”

  “Not for you to worry about. How about while you go check out the kitchen, I’ll set up a couple of tables. You can do your magic, dressing them with the navy and beige linens I bought.”

  Alexandra walked across the room to the long bar and ran her fingers along the shiny mahogany top. Thinking about it for a few moments, she’d thought maybe they should consider putting a glass top over the wood to preserve it.

  Pushing open the doors, she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. The once dirty, grease infected kitchen appliances and floor shone, like they were brand new. It seemed like those nights when she let her mind run wild with thoughts he was cheating on her, he was in fact at the café scrubbing away.

  A carousel of pots hung above the workstation. What amazed Alexandra was how much Billy did without her knowing. He had told her when they signed the bank papers that he didn’t want her doing any of the dirty work. He just wanted her to work on the public relations end.

  “So what do you think?”

  Alexandra turned and Billy stood in the doorway grinning at her.

  “I can’t believe what you did here. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought you went out and bought brand new pots.”

  “But that’s where you’re wrong.” Billy opened one of the cabinets and took out a frying pan. “This baby was the only pan I couldn’t get clean. And the only pan I replaced.”

  Alexandra took the pan from his hand. It looked like something burned big time in it. Billy got the sides of the pan clean, but the middle remained black.

  “I’m so proud of you for not taking the easy way out.” She pointed to herself. “I personally would have said screw it and purchased new pots and pans.”