Sugar And Spice (Holidays: Valentine)

by Charlotte French

Amy disappeared and after a moment, a young woman – maybe in her early twenties - popped into the kitchen, wearing knee high boots and an oversized white fluffy coat. She stepped forward with a brilliant, beaming smile and extended her hand.

  “Hi,” she said. “I’m Ellie Milligan. I heard there was a position available?”

  “That’s right,” Crissy said. “We need someone who can handle people well, make them feel comfortable and welcome.”

  Ellie’s gaze fell to the tray of eclairs cooling behind Crissy.

  “Can I help with the baking?” she asked. “I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook from a real chef.”

  Crissy hesitated and glanced at Amy. Amy raised an eyebrow, a slight smile teasing at her lips.

  “Well, I’m not a certified chef or anything…” Crissy said.

  “But you cook so well,” Ellie replied. “I’ve been so jealous of your chocolate raspberry tortes ever since you opened. That’s the only thing that matters to me. I don’t care about proper certification or anything like that. I just care about taste.”

  Amy ducked her head to hide her smile and coughed into her hand.

  Crissy shot a look in Amy’s direction then focused on Ellie again. “Well, I handle the baking and…”

  Amy cleared her throat. Crissy broke off, glanced at her. Amy jerked her head to the shop.

  “Crissy, could I talk to you for a minute?” she asked.

  Crissy gestured for Ellie to wait here and followed Amy out of the kitchen.

  “What is it?” Crissy asked.

  “What is the point of getting extra help here?” Amy asked.

  “To get a few weekends off every once in a while.”

  Amy nodded, waiting expectantly. Crissy sighed.

  “But I don’t want her taking my job.”

  “She won’t, sugar. She won’t. You are the best at what you do. She can never replace you. She just wants to learn. And if she’s horrible, then we can just keep her relegated to the register. But think about it, Cris. You could teach another person how to bake. You could share your love of food with someone else. She’s so excited to learn, you saw it on her face.”

  Crissy fidgeted, glanced away. “I guess so.”

  “That’s pitiful. Try again. With a little more enthusiasm please.”

  “It’s weird,” Crissy said at last.

  “What is?”

  “I’ve always been the oddball out. I’ve always been the only one in the kitchen who actually enjoyed baking.”

  “Hey,” Amy said, lightly, gesturing to herself. “What about me?”

  “You know what I mean. You love what I cook but you don’t love to actually cook it with me.”

  “Good. Then it’s settled. Ellie’s hired.” Amy turned and headed back to the kitchen.

  “Wait, Amy, I haven’t even run her through the basic questions.”

  “I’ve got everything I need to know already,” she said. “Ellie! You’re hired!”

  ***

  Come Saturday morning, Crissy was still uncomfortable with having another body in her kitchen, asking her how to bake things, but a small part of her, a very, very small part of her was liking it. Actually might be getting used to it too. Though she couldn’t admit it out loud, not even to herself yet.

  Amy was thrilled with Ellie and they were already thick as thieves. When the two of them got together and started talking, it felt like they were both going to run each other into the ground with their energy.

  A light tap on the shop door drew Crissy from her thoughts. Quinn smiled at her and pressed his hand to the glass. She smiled back and opened the door to let him in. He brushed his gloved thumb over her chin and kissed her forehead.

  “Please tell me your sister is gone,” he said. “Because I’m not letting you escape this time.”

  “Left on Monday morning. It’s safe to whisk me away.”

  Quinn beamed and took her hand, pulling her arm through his elbow as he started for the door. Crissy glanced over her shoulder one last time, just to make sure Amy and Ellie had everything under control. Ellie was busy at the coffee maker but Amy gave her a thumbs up and a huge smile.

  Crissy had run Ellie through her kitchen duties at least a dozen times that morning. It felt strange, giving up her kitchen to someone else. It had been hers alone for so many years and the idea of leaving it in the hands of another person, a virtual stranger at that, made her uneasy. But Amy reminded Crissy over and over that Amy would be there to keep an eye on things while Crissy was out. Nothing would go wrong. And if Crissy was still unconvinced, one threat of postponing her date was enough to get Crissy hurrying to change for Quinn’s arrival.

  “Where are we off to this time?” Crissy asked as Quinn pulled out of town and headed towards the mountains.

  “I’ve been debating on whether or not I should tell you,” he said. “I feel like I should keep it a secret a little while longer.”

  Crissy groaned. “You’ve already kept me on edge long enough, don’t you think?”

  Quinn glanced at her out of the corner of his eye with a sly little smirk. She poked at his side and he flinched, pulling away from her.

  “Tell me or I’m going to pester you for the entire drive,” she said.

  Quinn chuckled, low and deep, at the same time that he veered off of the road and onto a country lane surrounded by trees. The sudden bumpy jolting ride was an unpleasant surprise and forced Crissy to grab onto her door handle. He made another sharp turn out of the trees and a hillside stretched out before them, with at least a dozen people floating down on sleds. She recognized a few of them, Pete, Stephen, a few other people she had met at the Valentine’s Day party…

  “No way,” Crissy said, eyes wide.

  Quinn’s smile suddenly faded and a flicker of concern clouded his eyes. “Is something wrong?”

  “I haven’t been sledding in years!”

  “Is that…a good thing? We can do something else if you’d prefer…”

  Crissy shot him a look. “Don’t even think about it. Race you to the top!”

  She jumped out of the cab and started the long, snowy climb to the top of the hillside with Quinn laughing behind her, lugging up two sleds, one blue, the other purple. She knew Quinn was slowing down on purpose to let her win but she didn’t care. She’d rib him about it later.

  When she reached the top, Pete was standing there, a toboggan in hand, preparing to slide down.

  “Hey, Crissy!” he said. “It’s nice to see the old man whipped into shape every once in a while.”

  “I have full intention of ensuring that he never forgets I beat him to the top,” she replied.

  Quinn crested the ridge, laughing, a little breathless as he set the sleds on the ground.

  “How about I beat you to the bottom?”

  “You’re on, dude,” Pete said as he dropped his toboggan to the ground and prepared to lay out on his stomach.

  Quinn kicked the toboggan away and sent it skidding down the hill, sending Pete racing after it.

  Crissy picked up the purple sled and smiled up at Quinn, tugging on his coat lapel to draw him in for a kiss.

  “Thank you for this,” she said. “It was just what I needed.”

  Crissy and Quinn stayed on that hillside until late into the day, long after everyone else had gone home and they were alone in the snow blanketed world, with their laughter ringing off the trees and stealing chilled kisses in between sled rides.

  Crissy stopped at the top of the hill one last time to huddle close to Quinn, sliding her ice cold hands into Quinn’s coat. Quinn yipped and shivered but he didn’t move away from her hands.

  “You are freezing!” he said.

  “And you’re soaking wet,” she replied.

  “That’s what happens when you keep shoving snow down my coat.”

  She chuckled as she snuggled tighter against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. She could stay this way forever, with him, at the top of the hill overlooking the sleepy t
own, glowing with golden light. Nothing but each other and the perfect soft white of the world around them.

  “One more ride,” he said. “Then we’ll call it a day. I’m starving.”

  “The shop will be closed up by now. We can have the place to ourselves if you want to stay, have dinner with me.”

  Quinn kissed the top of her head. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  She pulled away and retrieved her sled from the ground. Quinn settled onto his sled and held his hand out to her.

  “Ride down with me?” he asked.

  Crissy took his hand and wiggled onto the sled in front of him. He brought his arms around her and kissed the back of her neck, smiling against her skin.

  “You’re freezing too!” she squeaked, hitching her shoulders up against the cold of his lips.

  Quinn shoved off of the snow and they went careening down the hillside. Crissy shrieked with laughter and gripped Quinn’s hands as they flew and tumbled into a snow drift, tangled in with each other.

  Quinn propped himself up on one hand, dusting snow out of Crissy’s hair. His hand brushed across her cheek and he let his touch linger a moment longer. Crissy looked up at him and didn’t bother moving. She liked things this way, with him looming over her, filling every inch of her vision, his body warm and close.

  He took her hand and pulled her up.

  “We should go,” he said, nuzzling at her hair and kissing her cheek. “It’s too cold for this.”

  Crissy smiled as she kissed him, tugging him closer to her while they fumbled towards the truck. Quinn wouldn’t stop touching her, touching her hand, her knee, brushing his thumb over her cheek, resting his hand comfortably at the back of her neck as he drove back to the coffee shop and parked.

  They tumbled inside, kissing all the while, barely breaking apart to open the door and not trip over each other. As soon as they were safely inside and Crissy knew no one else was around, she stripped Quinn’s jacket off and tossed it on the counter.

  “You are soaked to the skin,” she said. “Go take a hot shower while I get dinner ready. You’re not allowed to get sick.”

  Quinn groaned as he tried to pull away from her. “Can’t it wait until later?”

  She laughed and pushed him away, guiding him to the stairs.

  “Go,” she said. “I’ll be here when you’re done. And leave your clothes outside the door. I’ll get them dry so you have something to change into.”

  Quinn grumbled a little more but he relented and climbed the stairs. Crissy took a breath before she headed to the kitchen. Her precious, beloved kitchen had been left in the hands of Amy and Ellie for the day. What could she expect, walking through that door?

  But the kitchen was in perfect order, exactly as she had left it. All the dishes had been cleaned. And there wasn’t even a crumb out of place. Of course Amy had been right. Ellie was the perfect fit. Amy was going to love crowing her victory when Crissy admitted that…

  Crissy set the stove to warm up and started browning butter for crepes before she slipped up the stairs and peeked into her room. Thin trails of steam slipped out from beneath the closed bathroom door accompanied by faint sounds of the shower. Quinn’s clothes were neatly folded on her bed and she picked them up, hurrying back down the stairs. She draped them in front of the oven and fanned them out as best she could.

  By the time the clothes were dry, the crepes were done and she was working on the apple pie filling and the chocolate caramel glazes to go with them. Crissy folded up the clothes and tiptoed up the stairs. The shower was off now and she tapped lightly at the door.

  “Quinn, your clothes are just outside on the…”

  Before she could finish, the door opened. Quinn stood in the doorway, his body slick with water, his blond hair combed back neatly. Crissy’s face flamed with heat as she watched a single bead of water run from his right shoulder down his chest, down his ribs, down the hollow of his hip, and disappeared into the towel he held in place around his waist.

  Crissy tore her gaze away and forced herself to look at his face. She held the clothes out to him, wordlessly, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, unable to speak. Quinn’s gaze roamed over her face and finally settled on the clothes between them.

  Then Quinn took a step forward, closing the last bit of space between them as he reached out and took Crissy’s face in his hands and kissed her, deep and hungry, nothing like the way he’d kissed her before. Crissy whimpered and the clothes dropped from her hands as she reached for him in return, her hands sliding up his back, fingertips biting into his shoulder blades. She could feel every inch of his body and the searing heat radiating off of him. And the way the hard length of him pressed against her through the all-too-thin fabric of the towel.

  Quinn hooked an arm around her waist, pulling her even closer to him, as he stepped forward and she backed up until her knees hit her bed. He caught her as she fell and laid her out on the bed. And he was there again, in her favorite spot, solid and warm and comfortable above her. His hand settled at her waist and he pulled back, watching her, as he slipped his hand beneath the hem of her shirt.

  “Okay?” he asked softly.

  She nodded and sucked in a breath as his thumb skated over her skin, sending shivers rippling through her. His hand slid further up her shirt and skimmed the edge of her bra, dipped underneath to brush against her breast. He trailed a line of kisses along her jaw and when he ducked to kiss her collarbone, teasing with his tongue, she tipped her head back with a sigh and her eyes fluttered closed.

  Crissy’s hands floated over him, memorizing him by touch in case she never got this chance again. She had never been treated like this, like she was precious, like she was fragile, to be touched with a reverence and kissed with raw passion that left her head swimming.

  Quinn crawled up her body until Crissy’s knees were on either side of his hips. But as he took her hand in his and laced their fingers together, the only thing holding up the towel around his waist was gone and it took nothing more than the slightest shift of weight for the towel to slip and Crissy was granted an unobscured view of him.

  Crissy’s breath caught in her throat and she suddenly realized how far they were going, and how fast they were moving. At that slight intake of breath, barely noticeable even to herself, Quinn stopped, looked at her.

  “Crissy?” he whispered, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “You’re shaking.”

  “It’s just…I need a minute,” she said.

  He kissed the back of her hand and sat up. “Sure, take all the time you need.”

  She smiled a little at him and as she headed to the bathroom, she snatched her purse from her nightstand. She shut the door, fished her phone from her purse, and dialed Amy.

  “Yeah?” Amy said, voice groggy with sleep.

  “I can’t do this. The sex thing.”

  “About damn time we had this conversation.”

  “Amy…please…” Crissy pleaded, her voice trembling.

  “All right, just breathe. Are you really not interested, sugar?”

  “I am but…”

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  “I don’t…know how.”

  “Sweetie, I know past experiences have been less than stellar but I’ve seen the way Quinn looks at you. It won’t be like that again.”

  Crissy nodded but said nothing, too many protests whirling through her head. Her body was still vibrating from Quinn’s touch and how much she utterly ached for him. But at the same time, she was terrified of this foreign landscape…of getting hurt again…

  “Crissy, are you there?” Amy’s voice finally broke through her thoughts and brought Crissy back to reality.

  “Yes,” Crissy said in a small voice.

  “Tell him how you feel,” Amy said. “Right now. That man has more patience than I have ever seen in another human being, other than you of course. If he really loves you, he’ll accept it. If he doesn’t, boot his naked ass out onto the snowy streets, lock the do
or, and my raging pregnant hormones will take care of the rest.”

  Crissy laughed a little. “Thanks for having my back in everything, Amy,” she said.

  “No problem, sugar. Now go. And tell me all about it later. By later I mean in the morning, okay?”

  Crissy agreed and hung up. She held the phone to her chest, bowed her head, and took in a deep, shuddering breath before she tucked the phone back into her purse and stuffed the purse under the sink. She splashed a little water on her face and opened the bathroom door.

  Quinn sat on the end of her bed, completely dressed this time. Her heart sink a little mingled with a rush of relief. He held his hand out to her.

  “Come here,” he said softly.

  She stepped forward and he pulled her to stand between his knees, his hands resting on her hips as he looked up at her.

  “What did Amy say?” he asked.

  Crissy startled, surprised. He laughed quietly.

  “You took your purse to the bathroom,” he said. “Seemed a little off to do in your own home.”

  She sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

  He brushed his thumb over her lips and shook his head. “Don’t be sorry. I want to do this when you’re ready, Crissy. And not a second before. It’s not supposed to be rushed and it’s not supposed to be scary.”

  “You’re not upset?”

  He shook his head. “Not even remotely. But I am concerned for you. Did I go to fast again?”

  “No, I want this, it’s…” She wrestled for the right words but Quinn beat her to it.

  “Not the right time,” he finished for her.

  She watched him, studying his face for signs that he was really upset and simply not telling her. But he met her gaze steady, unwavering, and she couldn’t find a trace of anything to contradict his words.

  “What?” he asked, laughing a little as she continued staring at him.

  “I just realized how incredibly lucky I am to have met you,” she replied, whisper soft in the breath of silence between them.

  Quinn took her hands, turned them over, and kissed each palm before he looked up at her again. And there was something in his gaze, something that made Crissy go very, very still.

  “I love you,” he said. Simple and straight forward and so…honest. As if it was the easiest thing in the world.