Angel in Disguise

by Mitzi Pool Bridges

  He watched Julie as she readied the shop to open. At about five-foot-six, small boned enough to be called petite, she was determined to make her business work. He understood the passion. His parents had lived it. He would have, too if fate hadn’t stepped in—if they hadn’t been killed—if he hadn’t changed professions.

  That was the past.

  Right now, he was knee deep in flour and sugar. And loving it.

  For all the wrong reasons he felt safe here. A cozy little pastry shop with a pretty owner and her precious daughter in a small tourist town could lull him into letting down his guard.

  He didn’t dare.

  It was still dark outside when the bell over the door tinkled to let them know the first customers of the day were here.

  Two burly men came in. Both were large. Both had on work-clothes. Gabe went on alert. Though his gun was in its holster at his ankle, he wished it were in his pocket. If need be, he could get to it fast.

  “What’s good today?” one of them asked.

  “Everything you see was baked this morning.”

  “Wow!” One of the guys grinned and pointed to his selection. “I’ll take two of those and one of those.”

  “These look amazing,” the other put in. “Think I’ll take a dozen of the cupcakes, make it six of each. And don’t forget the coffee.”

  “You’re kidding,” the first guy said. “Even you can’t eat that many.”

  The guy ducked his head. “Thought I’d bring them for the rest of the gang.”

  “You mean those in the office, not those on the floor. Right?”

  Julie laughed as she packaged up their orders. Before they left, they stood at the window to watch Gabe work. Seeing the smile on their faces, Gabe relaxed a bit. No danger from them.

  When they left, Julie stuck her head in. “We might run out early today.”

  “Already on it,” he told her. “Another batch coming up. By the way, who were those guys?”

  “They work at the shoe factory. Oscar’s sweet on Joyce who works in the office. I’m not sure she gives him the time of day, but he buys sweets regularly, and I don’t think they’re for those on the floor. They’re here every morning.”

  Gabe chuckled, letting the last bit of tension leave his body.

  Julie moved further into the kitchen. “What’s that?”

  Gabe looked where she pointed. “I was going to ask you about it. It’s a starter. If it’s all right with you, I’d like to try my hand at baking sourdough bread. My mother made the best.”

  Julie’s brow wrinkled. “I never thought about adding bread to the menu. Won’t it take a lot of your time what with all the other items on your list?”

  He shrugged. “It’ll take a week or more for the starter to be ready. By then we should have a routine figured out. It won’t be that hard to do.” Would he be here in a week? Was he stretching it?

  Julie’s frown eased into a smile. “I’ll leave the kitchen to you, then. You know what you can do better than I.”

  A steady stream of customers came in and out of the shop. Every one sent Gabe’s gaze to the door. He had to stop this. It was unnerving to clench up every time the door opened.

  Mid-afternoon, a young lady breezed in and almost ran to the counter. “Do you have any of that German Chocolate Cake left? Dad heard about it and can’t get away. He told me to get over here and bring him a super-big slice. I don’t know what makes him think I have more time than he does.”

  Julie laughed. To Gabe it sounded like music.

  She cut a large slice and packaged it up. “What about you?”

  “Give me two of those chocolate cupcakes. They look divine.”

  She paid and rushed back out.

  “In case you want to know, that was Bobbie Darling. Her dad is Tomas Darling. He and his wife, Eva, own Merlots Wine Bar. He loves anything German Chocolate and Bobbie simply loves chocolate.”

  “Just the kind of customers you need.”

  The door opened and another customer walked in.

  Once more, Gabe’s muscles tightened.

  Chapter Six

  Even with another batch of each flavor of cupcakes, they were almost gone by the time Mia got there from school. Not only that, but they had two orders for birthday cakes. Things were looking up and Julie couldn’t be more pleased.

  But despite her appeal to Gabe to leave early, he was still here.

  Julie watched as Mia walked in, gave her mom a quick hug, and hurried to the kitchen. “What did you bake today?”

  “Who wants to know?”

  “The supervisor.”

  “The supervisor has the right to ask so here goes.” After he told the youngster the menu, he told her how they were going to use the blackboard to advertise the daily items. “That’s good,” she said as she pulled up the barstool. “Can I taste what you made today?”

  “You’ll have to ask the boss that question.”

  Mia pouted. “I thought I was the boss.”

  “Nope,” he deadpanned. “The supervisor has to answer to the boss. I have to answer to both of you.”

  “I’m glad I’m not you.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “’Cause the boss is really strict. Sometimes she gets gripey and sometimes she puts you in time-out.”

  Julie had to fight to keep from laughing out loud. To Gabe’s credit, he took Mia’s words seriously.

  “I’m finished baking for the day. Would you like to help me with one of tomorrow’s cupcakes?”

  “You bet. What do I do?”

  “Have you ever had a rose you could eat?”

  Mia’s eyebrows shot up, her blue-green eyes widened. “Maybe. On a birthday cake once.”

  “Would you like to learn how to make those roses?”

  “Can I?”

  Julie interrupted. “Gabe, are you sure about this?”

  He gave her a quick smile. One that made her wonder what or who besides Mia could make his face light up.

  “If we make a mess, we’ll clean it up.”

  “I don’t know about the we part,” she said under her breath.

  He had four parchment bags of colored icing ready. Did he have any idea what a six-year-old could do with that? Mia could have it spread over the work island so fast he’d have to start over.

  “Tell me what to do?” Mia asked, so excited she was bouncing on the stool. Julie worried she’d fall off.

  “See these little squares of parchment paper? You’ll need one for each rose, so put it in your hand like this.” He held it just so. “What color would you like your rose?”

  “Red.”

  With a patience Julie wished she had, he put the paper in one of Mia’s small hands, the bag with red icing in the other. “This is how you do it.”

  He put a hand over both of hers. “We’re going to make a base for the rose.” He squeezed the bag slightly, put a dab of icing on the paper and changed tips. “Now we’re going to make the petals.” He put the wide side of the tip down, squeezed the icing while turning, turning, turning.

  “Look! It’s a rose.” Mia squealed.

  “Not quite. Let’s do it again. And he made another row of petals. “Think that’s enough for a chocolate cupcake?”

  Mia looked at her rose. Even to Julie it didn’t look bad. “I think so, what do you think?”

  Their heads together made Julie’s heart turn over. Mia’s dad should be standing there with his daughter. But her dad wasn’t a pastry chef. He wasn’t even a good cook. But the two of them could do other things. Things they would never do now.

  She swiped at her eyes. Not now. Mia was having too much fun.

  Gabe showed her how to make a green stem. When it was finished, they carefully put it in the refrigerator where a dozen others were lined up.

  When had he had time to do all that he did? And what kind of chocolate cupcake was he going to surprise her with tomorrow? One topped by a rose for sure.

  “Wanna make some more?”

 
“Oh, yes, I’m just getting the hang of it.”

  “Good. What color?”

  They kept at it for another hour until Julie told them it was time to close for the day.

  “We’re not finished,” Mia said.

  “We have enough,” Gabe put in.

  “If you need more in the morning, I won’t be here to help.”

  Gabe didn’t know it, but he’d just created a monster. Served him right for spoiling her.

  Julie went about the closing down process, put the day’s proceeds into a bank bag with a deposit slip. Despite it not being the tourist season, they did quite well today.

  She prayed it continued.

  By the time she finished cleaning up, Gabe had the kitchen spotless and was ready to leave. “How did you get here?”

  “Walked.”

  “Good grief, Gabe. We’re at least two miles from Jeff’s house. You can’t do that every day. I’ll drop you off.”

  “No need. I like to walk.”

  “I’ll take you.” She turned a smile his way. “I am the boss, you know?”

  “Yeah, Gabe,” Mia put her two-cents in. “You told me we have to mind the boss.”

  He held up his hands. “Outnumbered. Okay, let’s go.”

  Mia skipped to the car. Gabe and Julie walked at a more sedate pace. “The customers love your creations. I want to thank you.”

  “I should thank you. I never expected to find a job I liked on the East Coast.”

  She gave him a quick glance. “Are you a wandering man?”

  “More or less.”

  “From the South?”

  “Now why would you think that?” he drawled.

  “I can’t imagine.”

  They walked in silence for a moment, then got to the car where Mia climbed into the backseat and strapped herself in her child-seat. Gabe got in on the passenger side.

  “We’ll have to make a run by the bank. It won’t take a minute. I don’t like to leave the receipts lying around overnight.”

  “Good idea. I hope all the shop owners around here do the same.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  She backed out and headed down Aspen to First Street where she turned left.

  “Thefts. Does Lobster Cove have many?”

  Julie laughed. “Nothing of a serious nature.”

  “Good.”

  Julie made the deposit and headed toward Jeff’s place.

  Having Gabe in the car next to her made her nervous.

  She couldn’t wait to drop him off.

  No. She liked him next to her.

  It wasn’t like her to be this confused.

  Chapter Seven

  When Julie dropped Gabe off in front of Jeff’s, he shut the door and took a quick breath. He had to be careful. For some reason, Julie fascinated him. Where was her husband? Did she have one? She didn’t wear a ring, and he wouldn’t ask. Why did it matter? She was off limits. Right now, his life was on hold. He almost laughed. What life? Running? Hiding? It wasn’t much of a life.

  There was no way he could get involved with anyone.

  But already, Julie and Mia were creeping under his skin.

  Careful. He had to stay cool or move on.

  But Gabe wasn’t ready to move on. He had a birthday cake on the menu for tomorrow and dozens of confections to bake.

  He went to the garage and opened the side door that Jeff said he never locked, and switched on the lights.

  There was a Harley that needed attention, and Gabe hoped he had the expertise to put it on the road.

  He looked around the cluttered space. Jeff had told him to help himself to his tools. But how the hell would Gabe find them in the jumble of stuff piled in corners, on what should be the workbench, and on the floor. It’s a wonder Jeff could fit the car inside.

  Heaving a sigh of resignation, Gabe decided it would save time if he simply cleaned up the mess. It wasn’t something he wanted to do. He’d see if Jeff wouldn’t give a hand. It was his mess after all.

  But Jeff’s car wasn’t in the garage, which meant he wasn’t home.

  Maybe that was a good thing.

  He opened the garage doors, started at one end, and separated what looked like the good stuff from the junk and garbage.

  How could one person collect so much? All Gabe owned fit in his backpack.

  Grabbing a handful of garbage bags he started in.

  By the time Jeff rolled his car to the front of the garage door and stopped, Gabe was half finished.

  “You’re late,” Gabe grumbled.

  “Why are you cleaning my garage?”

  “Trying to find the damned tools.”

  Jeff laughed. “You sound like my mom. She griped all the time about my clutter.”

  “Do you blame her? Change out of your banker’s clothes and give me a hand. I’d like to get started on my Harley.”

  “Not yours. Not yet.”

  Gabe gave Jeff a tight smile. “Maybe not. But I want to get it on the road. And your junk is slowing me down.”

  “Damned if you’re not worse than Mom.”

  An hour later, the garbage was on the sidewalk to be picked up. Gabe could actually see the worktable and the tools neatly lined up on it.

  Jeff looked around. “Place looks damned good.”

  Gabe went over to the Harley. “Are you sure it’s okay if I use your tools?”

  “As long as they stay in the garage.”

  “Like you even knew where they were underneath the mess. But, I promise they’ll stay right here. Now that I’ve found them maybe I can get to work.”

  Taking several tools off the table, he started dismantling the carburetor.

  “I’ll fix a pizza. It’s the least I can do since you gave me a clean garage.”

  Gabe grunted a reply. The guy was way too friendly.

  He kept working.

  By the time Jeff called him in to eat, Gabe was dead on his feet. He ate, went to his apartment to shower, and fell into bed.

  He was too tired to worry if he was doing the right thing.

  Because as sure as he lay in bed in the small town of Lobster Cove, Maine, he knew he was getting too entwined in the lives of too many people.

  ****

  By the time Julie walked in the next morning, there were cupcakes and cookies lined up next to the tarts. She smiled when she saw the chocolate cupcakes with a pretty little rose sitting on top of a mound of chocolate icing. She would run out of those in no time.

  A carrot cake sat on the counter to be sliced.

  She’d bet the birthday cake was in the refrigerator. And Gabe was still working.

  Heaving a deep sigh, she wondered what she ever did without him. Mom, even with Julie’s help, never had this much in the case this early.

  She started the coffee machines, walked into the kitchen. “You’ve been busy.”

  “I have.”

  “What goes on the board today?”

  “The cupcakes in the case and the carrot cake. I have a desert island chocolate cake in the oven and some applesauce—oatmeal muffins that should be ready in five minutes.”

  Julie frowned. “Do you think we’ll sell everything?”

  “Be surprised if you don’t. From what little I’ve seen since I’ve been here, word spreads around town pretty fast. You’ll sell it, don’t worry.”

  She couldn’t help but worry. She never sold day-old confections. If there were any left over at the end of the day, she donated them to the Food Bank where they were distributed the next morning. But right now, she couldn’t afford the loss.

  After filling the blackboard with today’s offerings, she served up coffee, muffins, and cupcakes to the early customers.

  There was a steady stream today, and the muffins were going fast. Not many could resist the chocolate cupcakes topped with a rose. They wouldn’t last long either.

  At seven, Sheriff Lynn Lawton Mackenzie walked in. Would Julie ever get used to her married name? She came around the counter to give
her best friend a hug.

  Julie went back behind the counter and poured two cups of coffee. What’ll you have? If I’m lucky, I’ll get a break and we can talk.”

  “I’ve never seen such luscious cupcakes.” Lynn looked through the window at Gabe. “I heard about your new pastry chef. How’s that working out?”

  Julie pulled out one of the rose-topped cupcakes and a muffin before she joined her friend. “Judge for yourself.”

  She smiled at the look of pleasure on Lynn’s face as she tasted one, then the other. “Never had better. Don’t get me wrong, your momʼs are great, but there’s something about these…” She took another bite.

  “I know what you mean. He bakes like an angel.”

  Lynn shot another look through the window. Gabe was looking at her. “He doesn’t look like an angel…more like the devil with those dark eyes, a nose that’s been broken once too often, a beard, and don’t forget the ponytail. Where in the world did he come from?”

  Julie shrugged. “Who knows? He just wandered in for a cup of coffee. One innocent remark led to another and the next thing I knew he was in the kitchen.” She grabbed Lynn’s hand. “I really like him, Lynn. He’s the opposite of the way he looks.”

  “Explain.”

  “He’s good with Mia. Patient. Makes her laugh. He’s polite and a gentleman. I don’t know—he’s just a nice guy.”

  “Give me a name.”

  “You’re not going to check him out, are you?”

  “What are friends for?”

  Though Lynn said it with a smile, Julie knew she was serious. Ever since James was killed in Afghanistan, she’d become protective of both Julie and Mia.

  Most of the time, Julie was grateful. Not so sure now. She needed Gabe here in the worst way.

  For the shop or for yourself?

  “Tell me how you’re doing? Are you two still in the honeymoon period? How does Jake like working out of the Bangor office? How are Jackie and your mom adjusting to their new digs?”

  “Whoa. You’re full of questions this morning, but we’re doing great. I think Mom had the hardest time after Jake sweet-talked her into moving in with us. The house is so big we could get lost in it. She’s finally adjusting. And the honeymoon will never be over. We’ve been separated too long. Trust me, we’re making up for lost time.”