‘I can’t believe this is really happening,’ Paige exclaimed, bending down to pull two chocolate cupcakes with mint frosting from the glass display case. Rising to her full height, she closed the takeout box and met Allison’s gaze. ‘‘I guess what I really mean is I still can’t believe you talked me into this.’’
Allison expertly rang the sale through the cash register and bid the customer – Mrs O’Connor from Huntington Street was how she’d introduced her to Paige – a good day before turning to her cousin, eyes gleaming so bright they sparkled. ‘Oh, please. You can pretend you’re still unsure about this whole venture, but you’re not fooling me. Either you’ve laced the baked goods with some damn good stuff that’s making people think it tastes good, or maybe, just maybe, the people of Port Landon have spoken, Paige … and The Cakery is officially a hit!’
Paige couldn’t hide her smile. Leave it to Allison to decide that the only two plausible options were either real, honest-to-goodness success or the clandestine addition of hallucinogenic drugs.
She might not have had a clue what she was doing as a first-time business owner, but, by God, she was learning on the fly. And she was doing something right. It felt like the entire population of Port Landon had left their homes and jobs on this cheery sunny day to get a chance at the free coffee and sweet treats being handed out in celebration of Paige’s first official day up and running on the bustling downtown street.
Or, if Paige was honest, to catch a glimpse of the newest addition to the small portside town they all called home – her. Most customers weren’t even trying to hide that they were just as interested in the New Yorker who had snatched up old Wilhelmina Morrison’s bakery within days of it hitting the real estate market as they were the baked goods that were strategically displayed about the room. It was like they’d never seen a girl from New York before. Like she was something akin to a Yeti from the Himalayan Mountains, something they’d heard of but never truly witnessed.
Well, they were witnessing her now, a real live city-girl-turned-small-town-entrepreneur, living in what she hoped would remain her natural habitat, her very own dream come true.
And that’s what this grand opening day was turning out to be – a dream come true. With Allison graciously allowing her own business, the coffeehouse too-conveniently located beside the bakery, to be solely run by her two employees so she could volunteer to help Paige ‘control the impending chaos’ – Allison’s words, not hers – the doors had been unlocked for the very first time at nine o’clock sharp. The coffee Allison had donated for the event had been brewed and piping hot, ready to be sipped by the patrons who attended. Paige had expected there to be a handful of people who would come out, mostly for the free food that had been mentioned in the Port Landon Ledger advertisements, but she never would have expected the line-up of people that waited patiently outside for the heavy glass door to be unlocked, or the way the cupcakes, mini cheesecakes, and scones that had been on display had sold out in a matter of hours, leaving Paige with no choice but to begin cutting the large cakes into individual pieces and sell them by the slice so that everyone would have a chance to try the different frostings and cake flavors she’d boasted about in the ads.
If this day was any indication, The Cakery was going to need to be better stocked on a daily basis than she ever dreamed. The thought had Paige bursting with pride. Every sliver of fear she’d had about leaving her marketing career back in New York, every not-so-subtle hint from Allison that she should take a chance and follow her dreams of owning her own bakery, every doubt she’d harbored since giving her notice and selling her closet-sized condo in the heart of the city …
It was worth it. Crazy and reckless, but absolutely worth it. And it made Paige feel more alive than she had in years. Maybe ever. Even if she had to spend her evenings whipping up buttercream frosting just to keep up, she would do it, because this was her dream, and it was coming to fruition in front of her sapphire eyes.
Yeah, it was definitely worth it.
‘Paige, this is Sonya.’ Allison’s voice cut through Paige’s thoughts. She turned to see a slender woman with short, gray hair cut smartly into a bob hairstyle. She wore a black T-shirt identical to Allison’s, with the round Portside Coffeehouse logo on the front. The woman looked to be at least sixty-five, which Paige hadn’t expected by the way Allison talked about her.
‘Oh, Allison’s told me so much about you,’ Paige gushed, dusting her hands on her block-patterned apron. ‘You help her to run the coffeehouse, right?’
‘I do what I can,’ Sonya replied, nodding as she shook her hand with a surprisingly firm grasp. She leaned forward, a faint grin on her lips as she added in a whisper, ‘Which is pretty much everything.’
‘Easy, now. I can hear you plotting your stealthy takeover from here.’ A wider grin crossed Allison’s face as she placed her hands on her hips. This was obviously a running joke between the two of them. ‘Taking a break, are you?’
Sonya pointed toward the brick wall to the right that divided the bakery from the coffeehouse. ‘I’ve got Adrian running the place for ten minutes while I grab myself a treat. Got anything with peanut butter in it?’
Paige jumped into action immediately, gesturing toward the other side of the room where a long table with trays of colorful cupcakes and squares were on display. They’d been picked over a bit, but a good selection still remained. ‘I put chocolate fudge cupcakes with peanut butter icing on the treat trays this morning! Help yourself to those. They’re free for the taking.’
Sonya glanced back at the setup, but she quickly turned back to the front counter where Allison and Paige stood, pulling a crumpled ten-dollar bill from her pocket. ‘Anything with peanut butter in it that I can buy?’ She waved the bill in her hand.
Paige tilted her head, curious. ‘Of course, but you don’t have to—’
‘Look, sweetheart …’ The older woman leaned in as though about to reveal a deep, dark secret. ‘Around here, we shop local. We help each other out as best we can. It’s what we do, in case Allison, here, hasn’t told you. So …’ She slid the bill across the counter, her deep brown eyes never wavering. ‘Sell me ten dollars’ worth of sugary goodness, and let me be on my way, will you?’
Paige’s cheeks burned hotly at having been put in her place by the older woman, but at the same time, her heart swelled with adoration and respect for Sonya … and for the town. ‘A handful of peanut buttery decadence coming up,’ she announced, pulling a takeout box from the shelf behind her and beginning to place an array of sweet treats into it. She was just about to disappear into the back of the shop where the kitchen was hidden by a wall when another voice broke into the conversation.
‘Sonya, are you giving this poor lady a hard time?’
The voice brought Paige back around to see who it was. It was unfamiliar and deep, the voice of a man.
Sonya had turned around at the front counter, and judging by both her and Allison’s easy smiles, they recognized the owner of that voice.
He was tall, standing over by the table of treat trays, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the large coffeepot Allison had brought over from her shop that morning. The steam billowed up from the paper cup in his hands, and his hazel eyes shone with amusement.
‘You got one thing right, Dr Cohen. The lady’s definitely going to be poor if she doesn’t start letting us folks pay for the stuff in her shop.’ Anyone else might have sounded crass, but Sonya’s tone was anything but. She was blunt and to the point, but there was heart behind her words, not malice. ‘Speaking of that, you’d better come up here and see what you can find to buy that sweet boy of yours, yeah?’
‘Don’t you worry, I’ve been given my orders,’ he assured her, placing a plastic top on the cup before making his way to the front counter. ‘I don’t believe we’ve met, yet. I’m Cohen.’
A glass display case stood between them and he jutted his hand out over it. His smile was the first thing Paige noticed about him, genuine. His e
yes gleamed with just as much sincerity, and a gentle kindness seemed to emanate off him in waves. He wore dark stonewash jeans and comfortable looking loafers, but the ensemble was paired with a solid green scrub top that made the flecks of gold in his eyes shine all the more brightly.
‘Hi,’ Paige greeted him, shifting the box into one hand to shake his with the other. ‘I’m Paige.’ She could hear a sudden shyness tainting her own voice. ‘Paige Henley.’ She couldn’t bring herself to tear her eyes away.
Cohen gave her hand a gentle squeeze, his gaze meeting hers and holding it for what could have been a minute but was probably only seconds. ‘This town’s been talking nonstop about you and your bakery, Paige. It’s good to finally put a face and a name to all the chatter.’
‘The novelty will wear off, I’m sure.’ She had been living in Port Landon for the past three months, but for the first time, Paige idly wondered just what exactly the gossip was that Cohen had heard.
‘As quickly as the sugar fix?’ Cohen arched an eyebrow, a crooked grin dancing on his face.
‘Well, hopefully not quite that fast.’ She laughed.
The sound of a throat being cleared made both Paige and Cohen turn at the same time. Allison and Sonya stood there, their lips pursed, unable to hide their mischievous intrigue. It was too alight in their eyes to go unnoticed.
‘Find something you like?’ Allison asked, crossing her arms.
Paige didn’t know if she was addressing Cohen or herself, but she quickly realized it didn’t matter. What did matter was that she and Cohen were still standing there, her small hand enveloped in his.
She pulled her hand from his as easily as she could. ‘Right.’ She glanced down as she smoothed her apron out, giving herself a moment to compose herself and stamp down her embarrassment. ‘Anything I can get you, Cohen?’
‘That’s Dr Cohen,’ Sonya interjected, still rooted in place, watching their exchange with distinct interest.
Paige shot her a pleading glance, silently begging the woman to stop making this worse, but quickly tried to cover it up. ‘Sorry, Dr Co—’
Cohen chuckled, shaking his head. ‘No, just Cohen is fine,’ he insisted. He glanced over at Sonya. ‘I see what you’re doing Sonya, and you can put the brakes on anytime.’
‘I could.’ She shrugged, waving a dismissive hand. ‘But you know I won’t, sweetheart.’
Paige wasn’t sure whose expression was more amused, the older woman’s or Cohen’s, but whatever passed between them was a silent, mutual understanding. They had history, those two. Cohen turned back to Paige, unfazed. ‘As I was saying,’ he began again. ‘I got a specific request from my son this morning for something that’s double fudge, and I promised I would come and see if I could make good on that request before he got home from school. Unfortunately, I got behind in my appointments and it took longer to get here than planned. Am I too late?’
‘I’ve got just the thing, Just Cohen.’ She flashed him an excited smile, relieved that she did, in fact, have something that would fit the bill. She ducked down, intent on seeking out the cake she had in mind. Paige didn’t even realize she was still holding the box – Sonya’s box – in her hand until she was about to set it down and retrieve another one for Cohen.
Immediately, Paige stood up, her eyes wide as she came face to face with the older woman. ‘I’m sorry, Sonya. I didn’t finish getting everything for you! I’ll be right back.’ She whirled around, sending an apologetic glance at Cohen for making him wait as well, then scurried into the kitchen to add a slice of the chocolate peanut butter pie she’d made to have as her own dessert tonight, mortified at forgetting what she’d been doing the moment Cohen had entered the shop.
What in the world had come over her?
She knew all too well that Allison wasn’t going to let her live that one down. And if her first impression of Sonya was anything to go by, she wouldn’t, either.
Paige put on a brave face after slipping the piece of pie into the box and made her way back out to the counter. ‘An assortment of cupcakes and a slice of gourmet chocolate peanut butter pie,’ she announced, sliding the box across to Sonya. ‘You’ll have to let me know what you think.’
Sonya didn’t bother to open the box and inspect the choices Paige had chosen. Pushing the ten-dollar bill closer to her, Sonya tucked the box under her arm. ‘Trust me, Paige, I always let people know what I think.’ She cast a fleeting glance from Cohen to Paige and back again, then winked. ‘It was good to meet you, sweetheart.’ She turned to leave, but not before adding, ‘Have a good day, Dr Cohen,’ as she closed the door behind her.
The void of Sonya’s absence was felt the moment she left, but her words hung in the air like a thick veil. Allison had advised Paige on more than one occasion that the woman was a force to be reckoned with, but her spitfire personality was even more fiery than she’d expected.
‘Now, about that order for double fudge anything …’ Paige turned back to Cohen, unable to look Allison in the eye just yet, and went about cutting an enormous slice of chocolate Oreo cake with chocolate fudge icing and double chocolate fudge drizzle on top, carefully boxing it up. She added in a pair of mocha chocolate cupcakes for good measure. ‘If that doesn’t fit the bill for your son, I don’t know what will.’
‘It looks like he’s going to be swinging from the rafters till midnight once the sugar in that hits his bloodstream.’
He was smiling, but Paige immediately wondered if he thought it was too much. ‘I guess the doctor in you would be worried about the effects of all the refined sugar.’
‘Nah, it’s the dad in me that’s worried about that,’ he chuckled. ‘Besides, I’m not that kind of doctor. I’m a veterinarian. Believe me, I understand the need for a good sugar fix every now and then. What do I owe you, Paige?’
Allison stepped back, gesturing for her to take her place at the cash register. Paige punched a few buttons, ignoring the smug grin on her cousin’s face. When the amount came up on the screen, Cohen arched a brow. ‘That can’t be enough.’
‘It’s just for the cake,’ she advised happily. ‘The cupcakes are on the house.’
He pulled his wallet out and held out a twenty-dollar bill. ‘Thanks, Paige. Looks like I owe you one.’
Paige counted out his change and handed it to him. ‘You owe me nothing. I’m just glad I could fulfill the request of a boy with dreams of chocolate fudge.’
‘One forkful of that chocolatey masterpiece and I’ll bet you’ll be seeing my son and me in here a lot more.’
‘I’m looking forward to it, Cohen.’
He shoved his wallet back into his jeans pocket, his eyes gleaming when they met hers once more. ‘Me too,’ he assured her. ‘But I’d better get back to Jazz. She’s probably scaling the walls looking for me. It was nice to meet you, Paige. Have a good day, you two.’ He offered a slight nod toward Allison, and then they both watched as he made his way out of the shop, the bell above the door tolling lightly to announce his exit.
With the shop empty for the first time since the doors opened that morning, Paige turned to her cousin, who was still grinning. ‘What?’ Paige asked, rolling her eyes. She knew exactly what her cousin was thinking. They had been best friends too long not to know. ‘You’re looking at me like something big just happened.’
‘Something big did just happen,’ Allison exclaimed. ‘You, Paige Henley, just met Port Landon’s most eligible bachelor.’
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