“Well, that’s not surprising. I’ve been trying to get Toni to come to church for years.”
“She’s been going through a lot and, well, I was thinking that if she had her faith to lean on, then things might not seem so bad.” He sighed. “There’s so much about her that I don’t know. When Brian visited the bakery the other day, Toni almost got sick.”
“I know what you mean. When she gets really upset about something, she gets an upset stomach. It’s been happening to her since she was a kid.”
“Well, if seeing Brian is going to make her so upset, then maybe she still has feelings for him, and she just doesn’t want to admit that to me. What do you think?”
Sheila added more sugar to her coffee, apparently thinking. “I know she doesn’t want to get back together with Brian, but I think the way they broke up still bothers her. I know she loved him, and, it hasn’t been very long since she ended their relationship. All I can say is, be patient with her.” She peered directly into Jason’s eyes. “You care about her, don’t you?”
She placed her hand over his. He quickly turned his head away, focused on the wall painting. No way was he confirming what she’d just said. He thought about Tangie. He’d fallen for her too quickly, and the whole experience still haunted him. He could not let that happen again. He hadn’t known Toni for long, and already he anticipated each day he spent with her.
“Jason?”
He hadn’t answered her question, he sipped his drink. “I suppose I do, but I don’t want this situation to get out of hand. As far as I know, she’s not a believer yet. I don’t want to interfere with what God is trying to do in her life. But I want to help her with her search for an authentic faith. But with those crazy phone calls, and Brian’s visit, and Eva’s foolishness, I’m not sure what to do make her feel better.”
“I understand. I’ve prayed for Toni for years, and I want to help her, too.”
*
Breathing hard, Toni took her evening run. When she rushed past Henderson’s Drug Store, she spotted Jason and Sheila sitting at the table, Sheila’s hand rested on Jason’s hand. Gasping, she quickly ran past the window before they spotted her. She turned a corner, stopped, and paced around the sidewalk.
Sheila and Jason were having a drink together. It looked like a date. A few of her customers had commented about seeing Jason and Sheila together, socializing like a couple. But Sheila was her best friend, and they’d just recently reconciled. If she had feelings for Jason, wouldn’t she have let Toni know? But maybe she didn’t want her to know?
Continuing to wander around the block, Toni digested what she’d seen in the drug store window. Sheila had placed her hand over Jason’s almost the way a girlfriend would touch her boyfriend. She also could’ve been comforting him, couldn’t she? Sheila was very affectionate, and she would usually touch a person whenever they confided in her.
Toni finally came to the park. She ambled along before sitting on a bench. She studied the ducks quacking, swimming on the sparkling water of the lake. She supposed that Sheila would make a good mate for Jason. After all, they worshipped together, shared the same faith. Jason would probably want a girlfriend who would come and worship with him.
She recalled Jason’s Easter basket gift. Was he seeking friendship or something more?
*
When Toni slept that night, she dreamed about Jason. He was packing his suitcase and leaving Blue Spring forever. He kissed her cheek and said it was time to return home. She screamed at him, “Why can’t you stay with me forever?” But he turned away and disappeared into the darkness. Suddenly Sheila ran into the black void after him. “Wait for me!” yelled Toni. But they didn’t listen. They left her behind. She forced her eyes open. Hot sweat rolled down her forehead. She guzzled the glass of water beside her bed. Maybe she needed to be honest with herself, openly admit that she had feelings for Jason.
Chapter 22
Toni blinked, trudged into her bakery kitchen, flipped the light on. Her spotless stainless steel appliances and marble countertops shined beneath the lights. At three thirty a.m., she’d decided to start her day one hour early. The dream she’d had last night still lingered in her mind like a bad movie.
She needed to get a grip. Seeing Gia at the homebuyer’s seminar made her realize that she was letting her feelings for Brian take control of her life. She needed to stop this and think about other things.
Her house. That’s what she’d focus on from now on. She needed to reach her goal and the first step to reaching that goal would be to bring in more money from her baked goods. She’d make her fabulous chocolate cream pie. She really wanted Jason to taste it, give his opinion. If he thought it tasted perfect, she’d offer it for sale the next day.
I’m not going to think about Brian while I make this pie. She scanned her shelves, focusing on the ingredients for her luscious pie. She removed blocks of her imported, bittersweet German chocolate, sugar, and cornstarch, placed them on her workspace. She opened her refrigerator, and the cool air wafted against her warm skin. She selected her heavy cream and half and half. As she turned on the stove, thoughts of the previous night slammed into her mind. Seeing Sheila and Jason together at the lunch counter of Henderson’s…She placed the pot onto the range, added the ingredients for her chocolate filling. She slowly stirred the melting chocolate.
What was she going to do? If Sheila and Jason were actually dating, how could she handle that? Her feelings for Jason had grown stronger every day, and she started to wonder what would happen once he left Blue Spring. Sure, he was a nice guy, and he’d probably agree to stay in touch with her. But he’d only be doing that to be nice. He probably didn’t have any romantic interest in her at all. He even admitted his mother had raised him to treat people with kindness.
Again, she recalled the Easter basket. Maybe buying her the gift was no big deal to him. After all, he drove a BMW, and then he unexpectedly showed up in town and stayed to work in her bakery. She still didn’t know a whole lot about Jason’s background. She’d assumed he was wealthy, but was that really true?
He was kind, caring and thoughtful, probably one of the nicest guys she’d ever met. But his coming to Blue Spring to stay, while she paid him minimum wage, just made no sense. Plus, he’d arrived right when she’d been hurting from her huge breakup with Brian, not long before the prank phone calls started....
She’d been daydreaming again. She’d been doing a lot of that since Jason had started working for her. The sweet, delicious scent of chocolate dominated her kitchen. The chocolate-pudding-like filling was now smooth and slightly stiff, the perfect consistency. With a disposable spoon, she lifted out some filling and tasted it. So good. The bright chocolate and cream and sugar flavors danced on her tongue. It was tempting to eat the entire bowl of filling, without making her pie. After pouring the custard into the chocolate crust, she placed it into the freezer to quickly cool. Once it had cooled, she removed the pie from the freezer, placing it back on the workspace. She then prepared the whipped cream topping.
While she whipped the cream with her mixer, the key turned into the lock of the front door. Jason strolled in, humming. She’d never heard him sound so happy. Perhaps he’d had a great date with Sheila last night.
“Toni!” He sure sounded surprised to see her. “You got started early today.” He checked his Rolex while stopping at the sink to wash his hands. “It’s four o’clock, and you’ve already made something.” He eyed the pie. “That looks great.”
“It’s my chocolate cream pie.”
He raised his eyebrows, smiling. “This is something new you’re adding to your menu?”
She nodded. No way could she tell him about the last time she’d made this recipe.
He peered at her, giving her the once over. Oh no, he knew something was up.
“What’s wrong? You look upset and tired. You didn’t get any sleep last night?”
She shrugged. “I had a lot on my mind.” She didn’t want to mention her sleepless night. He didn’
t need to know that she was jealous that he’d gone on a date with Sheila.
He put his apron on, stopped, and scrutinized her. Good gracious, his eyes were so beautiful. Her heart skipped, suddenly realizing she wanted Jason to kiss her right now. She pushed the unwelcome thought from her mind. “Did you get another phone call last night?”
“No.”
“Well, what’s wrong?” He leaned against the counter, still staring at her. Sure seemed like he wasn’t going to drop the subject.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” She turned away, didn’t have it in her to confide in him. After she expertly swished the whipped cream on top of the pie, she removed her container of chocolate shavings from the freezer, sprinkled them on top of the pie.
She gestured toward her masterpiece, wanting to change the subject. “We can sample this if you want.” She admired her work. The pie looked amazing. Maybe if she talked about the pie, Jason would forget about her foul mood.
Before she knew it, he stood beside her, took her hand, stared right into her eyes. She really needed to get ahold of herself. Oh, how she’d enjoy a nice long hug from him. Her heart literally pounded when he leaned toward her. Swallowing, she tried to relieve her dry mouth. “Talk to me, Toni. What’s bothering you?”
She jerked her hand away. “I can’t talk about it now. Maybe later. We have to make donuts, and I’d wanted you to bake a few loaves of chocolate chip bread.” She’d recently concocted the new recipe. The first time she’d served it, her customers had raved about the rich fudge flavor. She’d wanted to start serving it regularly. She studied him while he dumped some yeasty dough into a bowl.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jason peered at her like he didn’t believe she was okay. He’d keep asking her until she confided in him.
She needed to get away from him. She spotted the container of whipping cream on her counter. She opened the carton and saw some cream settled in the bottom. She poured the leftover liquid into a battered bowl. A stray tom cat had been coming around searching for food. She’d leave the cream out for him, sure that it’d be a treat he’d enjoy.
She pushed the back door open and stopped, dropping the bowl of cream. “Jason!”
She pressed her hands together, her heart slamming against her ribs. Graffiti decorated the back of her bakery and the Dumpster. Ugly curse words in bright red letters were scrawled everywhere. She covered her quivering mouth and Jason pulled her into his arms. “Toni, stay calm.” He took a deep breath. “I’m calling the police.”
Chapter 23
Toni was the most stubborn woman he’d ever met. After the police had visited and had taken her statement, they’d asked her if she’d considered installing a video surveillance system. Toni had researched it and balked at the price. Surveillance systems were expensive, but at least she could get a simple burglar alarm installed. She’d researched that option and had been complaining about the monthly fee.
What was wrong with her? Her life was in danger, and she was balking at the price of safety systems!
He’d been worried about her, so worried he didn’t know what to do with himself. The woman haunted his dreams, and he had no way of letting her know how he felt. At times, she seemed to enjoy his attention, and other times, well, she seemed to set up barriers around herself, like she was afraid of having feelings for him.
Didn’t Toni realize that he’d never intentionally hurt her? Why couldn’t she understand that? He consistently ignored the urge to hold her and comfort her, make her feel better. He wanted to kiss her so bad that his lips literally ached to have contact with hers.
Toni was tough, but there was a softness about her, a vulnerability, that she didn’t want him to see. But he was here every day and he could see it. When she didn’t think he was paying attention to her, he’d been watching her. When she worried, she chewed on her lovely lower lip, her light brown eyes furrowed, and she scratched the back of her neck. These crank calls and the attacks against her bakery had been bothering her, but for some reason, she didn’t want to spend money on things like surveillance systems and burglar alarms.
It was the end of the day, and Toni had been worried about the graffiti. He’d found a company to remove the awful curse words spray-painted across the bakery and the Dumpster. They were due to arrive the following morning, and since Toni had been so worried about money, he’d told the company he’d pay for it.
Now he just needed to let Toni know they were coming tomorrow. He had something else he wanted to discuss with her, too. He sensed she wouldn’t like his taking the lead, calling the paint removal crew and paying for it himself. But Toni needed protection, even if she didn’t want to admit it. She wasn’t invincible, and every night, he’d been praying for her safety.
He studied her while she wrapped the leftover pastries. Chewing her lower lip, she glanced around the sitting area, scratching the back of her neck. He balled his hands into fists, resisting the urge to take her slim body into his arms and kiss her senseless.
She gave him a sideways glance, caught him staring. He gave her a quick wink, her pretty mouth dropped open. He knew he was flirting with her, but heaven help him, he couldn’t resist. She still had dark circles under her eyes, and he wondered if she’d get a good night’s sleep tonight. He gestured toward the empty chair. “Mind if I talk to you a minute?”
“Just a second.” She rushed back into the kitchen, returned seconds later, holding the chocolate cream pie. “We never sampled this. I really wanted you to taste it.” She cut two generous pieces of the pie, placing each slice onto a plate. “Let me get some coffee to go with that.”
After getting two steaming mugs of her cocoa-laced coffee, she sat beside him, gesturing toward the pie. “Go ahead, taste it.”
He sliced into the pie with his fork, popped it into his mouth. The luscious creamy sweet chocolate and the light vanilla whipped cream were like an explosion of happiness in his mouth. He grinned, feasting on another bite. He then took a sip of coffee. The coffee and pie paired nicely. “Toni, this pie is amazing.” He gestured toward her slice. “Aren’t you going to sample yours?”
She shook her head, pushed her plate away. “Maybe later.”
He frowned. Because of all that had happened today, he figured she might be too upset to eat. “When will you add this to your menu?”
“Tomorrow. That is, unless you can give me some tips on how to improve the recipe.”
“Honey, there are no improvements for this recipe. This is the best chocolate cream pie I’ve ever tasted.”
She smiled, but her small smile seemed forced. He touched her face. “I hate seeing you sad. I’m worried about you.”
She shook her head, narrowing her eyes. “Jason, don’t.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You just want to help me out. You feel responsible for me since you’re working here.”
“What?” How did Toni get these wild ideas in her head? Women could be weird sometimes. Heck, women were weird all the time. “I don’t know what you mean.”
She pursed her pretty lips, studied the pie for a few seconds. “You just feel like you want to save the world. Like, if any woman was working in this bakery, you’d be willing to help.” He stared at her, thinking about what she’d just said. He thought about his sister and other females he’d known in his life. If one of his church friends was in the same predicament as Toni, then he’d be worried about their safety too. Was Toni upset because she thought his worry for her was not personal? Did he need to make his feelings known? Did she really want to hear what he had to say?
Well, he’d do it. He’d let her know how he felt about her, but he wasn’t going to just blurt it out here, right now, in the bakery. Besides, after he told her what he’d done, she’d probably be even more upset, but he didn’t care. He was doing this for her safety. “There’s a company coming tomorrow to remove the graffiti. I’m paying for it myself since you seem to be worried about money.”
“I didn’t tell y
ou to do that. Besides, I’m not some charity case.” She shook her head, softening her words. “I just…I don’t like people spending money on me. I can afford—-”
He interrupted her. “But you were worried about spending money on the alarm system. I figured you had debts or something to pay and that’s why you put your finances before your own personal safety.”
Her shoulders slumped, and she hung her head. She took a deep breath. “Oh, Jason.”
Unable to resist, he took her hand. “I called Mrs. Dukes. One of her rooms is empty. If she doesn’t need it for another boarder, she said you can stay there for free.”
She pulled her hand away. “Jason.” Her mouth quivered.
He took her hand again, squeezed her fingers. “I’ve been worried about you. Thinking about your safety keeps me up at night.”
She focused on him, her voice quivering. “It does?”
He nodded. Goodness, she looked so pretty and vulnerable right now. It was hard to be tough when it appeared someone was threatening your business, possibly your life. He’d wanted to take her out on a real date to a fancy restaurant, but he sensed if he did that, his actions might scare her away. He needed to take this extremely slow, but he felt he needed to do something to try and get to know her better. “Did you want to go to Pedro’s for dinner tonight?” Pedro’s was the only pizzeria in Blue Spring, and they had awesome, deep-dish Chicago-style pizza. If they went on a casual date right here in town, then Toni might not be hesitant about going out with him.
She pulled her hand away, stared down at the pie. “I appreciate all that you’ve done to help me.” She paused, peered into his eyes. “I can’t thank you enough, but….” She paused again, blinking rapidly. “I just can’t go out to dinner with you.”
Chapter 24
Placing her apron over her clothes, she opened her kitchen for the day and began making dough for the pastries and donuts. Jason and Sheila possibly dating, the vandalism on her building…it was just too much to process.
Shades Of Chocolate (The Bakery Romance Series Book 2) Page 11
