Falling Sweetly (Starling Falls #2)

by Aidan Willows

  I smiled at Laurie as she walked out of the kitchen with a tray of cookies. She smiled back but gave me an odd look as her eyes fell to my fidgety, tapping fingers.

  In addition to Mitch there were two other lovely ladies that worked at the bakery. Laurie was a student at the local college and worked part-time. She was striking with her slender figure, auburn hair and bright green eyes.

  She had told me baking was a hobby, but not something she intended to make a career of. She had been a great addition to the small team at Trudy’s and I would be sad when she eventually decided to leave to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer.

  Gloria was a Starling Falls local, and had been working in the bakery for decades. She was in her fifties, had short dark brown hair, kind hazel eyes, and had a warm, booming laugh that could fill an entire room.

  She had helped get me settled when I had first taken over running the bakery, and was feeling a little out of my depth. Gloria and Mitch had been the best support system I could have asked for, and their outrageous comments had kept me in stitches.

  She had been hired by Aunt Trudy because “she made all the annoying chit-chat with customers” that she herself “couldn’t be bothered to do” as she had “more interesting things to do in life, like watching paint dry.”

  I smiled sadly as I always did when thinking about Aunt Trudy and her acid tongue. There were days that I missed her so much, I swear I could hear her voice in my head telling me ‘to get over it already, and move on.’

  I checked my phone for the second or third (or twenty-fourth) time to see if he had sent a text cancelling going to see the empty premises and lunch today.

  “Nope, nothing. Okay. It’s okay. Just be cool,” I said aloud to myself. “Just keep yourself busy, don’t stand here like a lemon.”

  I looked around the kitchen, and my mind seemed to go completely blank, as if I hadn’t been working at bakeries since the age of eighteen.

  The door to the kitchen opened as I was walking around aimlessly, randomly opening and closing various cupboards, looking for something to do.

  I groaned as I knocked several whisks and spoons over, and they fell onto the floor as the door to the kitchen swung shut with a creak.

  Assuming that it was Mitch who had come into the kitchen, I didn’t bother to turn around. I bent over to pick up a spoon that had had fallen in an awkward, narrow gap between two cupboards.

  “Mitch, if you get some free time later could you check how much fresh vanilla beans we have left in stock and make a note if we need to order more.

  “Also, could you and Laurie taste the blackberry and cherry jams and see which you’d prefer on the Danishes. And don’t complain about all the butter going to your hips. There is nothing wrong with your hips.”

  A throat cleared. “Um, not Mitch. But I’d love to taste the jams, and I promise not to complain about my hips after,” a familiar voice said, sounding very amused.

  I gasped in shock and stood up far too quickly, forgetting all about the opened cupboard above my head.

  There was a horrible thud that sounded as my forehead made contact with the door of the cupboard, and it shut with a loud bang.

  Ouch. Well, that was completely mortifying.

  “Oh, shit. Niki, you okay?” Jake looked concerned, walking over to me quickly.

  “I’m fine, honestly,” I said flustered when his hand brushed my fringe aside to look at my forehead, which I was sure would be turning a bright red from the impact.

  Well, at least it’ll match the rest of your face now.

  Laughing lightly, I brushed his hand away. “I’m such a klutz. Honestly, I’m okay. I hit my head on things all the time.”

  I paused when I realised how odd that sentence sounded.

  “Not on purpose or anything!” I clarified quickly and then kept talking because making a fool out of myself in front of Jake seemed to be something I was becoming an expert at.

  “I’m just clumsy and tend to get off balance sometimes. I mean, there are genuine balance disorders, like vertigo or Meniere’s disease, where people feel unsteady and have blurred vision or feel disorientated; Liya and I saw a documentary on that once. But I haven’t got that. I think I must just have big head or something.”

  Kill me. Just kill me now.

  Jake just nodded while looking slightly bewildered as if not quite sure what to say after the impromptu mini medical lecture he had just received.

  After a moment of silence, he asked softly, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  I merely nodded, not wanting to chance my runaway mouth taking over again.

  He looked at me unconvinced, brushing my hair aside again to look at the throbbing spot on my forehead.

  “Maybe we should put an ice pack on it, so it doesn’t swell.”

  “Oh, no. Please don’t fuss. If Liya found out about this, she would never let me live it down. I promise I feel fine. Shouldn’t we be going? We’re going be late,” I told him as I walked over to the small office attached to the kitchen to get my bag.

  Jake didn’t look happy but nodded reluctantly. “I’m parked out front.”

  As we walked through the bakery, I waved to Mitch and Laurie, ignoring the exaggerated waggling of Mitch’s eyebrows and obscene thrusting of his hips that occurred as soon as Jake’s back was turned.

  I thanked Jake when he held the passenger side door open and waited for me to get in before closing the door for me.

  When he got in the car, I felt a layer of tension begin to build between us. Jake pulled away from the curb and made a U-turn in the middle of the road.

  I felt his eyes on me, and I met his gaze. I smiled at him awkwardly before staring resolutely out of the window.

  “So… thanks again. You know for agreeing to help with everything and come see the property,” Jake said with a small smile.

  “It’s not a problem.” I looked around at the area we were driving through. “Where are we headed?”

  “Some place on the edge of town that I think used to be a bar. The owner retired a long while ago, and none of his kids wanted to take over the running of the place. So it’s been empty for about ten years.”

  “A bar? Could that space work as a diner or restaurant?”

  Jake shrugged. “Not sure. All the listing agent said was that the price is within my budget, but it may need some work.”

  “Okay,” I said with a small smile before we both fell silent again.

  This is so painful.

  I was debating how to break the silence when Jake beat me to it.

  “How’s business at the bakery been?”

  “Oh, fine.”

  “I hope I’m not taking you away from anything important you need to get done there today.”

  I shook my head. “Nope, Mitch and Laurie have it covered.”

  Jake smiled fondly. “Mitch is good guy. You know, a while back, I thought that there was maybe something going on between the two of you.”

  A startled laugh left me at the notion of Mitch and me being anything more than friends.

  “Seriously? I’m pretty sure he’s saving himself for Michael Fassbender.”

  Jake chuckled. “Yeah, I know that now. He told me about it in great detail one morning when I came into the bakery. I also learnt about his strong feelings for James McAvoy, Ewan McGregor and Gerard Butler.

  “He has a thing for kilts and accents, and apparently I’m missing out by not watching something called Outlander. I heard about it all in great detail… more detail than I’d ever wanted to know about anything.

  “Did you know he once dated a Scottish man for a year? Apparently, it was the best relationship he’d ever had because he didn’t actually understand anything he was saying.

  “I also learnt that oversharing is not a word that exists in Mitchell’s world. I may have picked up some new vocabulary from him. Side note; if Mitch ever mentions any sexual terminology to you that you don’t understand, do not get curious and look up the meaning online
, and definitely do not click on images.”

  I laughed when he shuddered slightly.

  “Mitch and I have really had a chance to bond since he became the person serving me my coffee in the mornings.” He sent me a meaningful look.

  “Again. I’m sorry about that,” I said with a cringe.

  “I’ve missed our morning talks, Niki.”

  “Me too,” I replied truthfully.

  Jake had always managed to make me smile whenever he stopped by ridiculously early to get his “fuel for the day”. Of course this only intensified the ridiculous crush on my part, but I’d really missed spending time with him.

  “Maybe we can get back to doing that now?” he asked as he made a left turn down a road lined heavily by trees on either side.

  I nodded eagerly in agreement. “I would like that.”

  “Awesome,” he said happily, though his smile quickly faded as we pulled into a small parking lot, and the GPS informed us that we had reached our destination.

  A decent sized property stood alone in the clearing.

  “Is this the place?” Jake asked, sounding confused and appalled.

  The brick structure looked very dated, there were a few broken windows, and most of the paint had peeled off.

  There were overgrown plants surrounding the property and a large number of tiles were missing from the roof.

  The large lettering over the entrance, which I assumed should have said ‘The Saloon’ had lost its H, and the S - one of the O’s, and N were swinging precariously in the slight breeze.

  Despite all this, I thought that the bar seemed to be in a fairly decent condition.

  “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” I said unsurely, opening the car door.

  Jake grimaced as he got out and walked around the car. “Niki, it’s a dump.”

  “Maybe it’s not so bad on the inside?”

  “Is there anything you’re not optimistic about?” Jake asked with a small laugh as we walked towards the property.

  The door to the bar swung open and a familiar looking, small, blonde in her mid-thirties with piercing light blue eyes walked up to us. Her pressed navy blue blazer and matching pencil skirt were crease free, and her hair had been put up in a no nonsense bun.

  “Hello, Jacob. I see you managed to find the place without a problem. So, what do you think about this little gem? It’s quite a find, right?” she said in a tone that oozed confidence.

  Jake huffed, “A gem? I can think of lots of words to describe this place. A gem, is not one of them.”

  He noticed that the lady was looking at me curiously, and he made the introductions.

  “Annette Turner, this is Niki Abbott. She’s going to be helping me create the menu. Niki, this is Annette. She’s apparently going to try to convince us that this hovel can be turned into a place that people are actually going to want to come to eat.”

  Annette held out a perfectly manicured hand for me to shake.

  “Nice to meet you, Niki. I come to your bakery all the time. I simply love your raspberry and white chocolate muffins. And I think I’ve met your sister before. She works at hospital with my father, Dr Turner, right?”

  I nodded and was about to respond when she turned back to Jake and tutted loudly.

  “You’re not thinking big picture, Jacob. Just wait until you see the inside. This spot has mega-potential.”

  “Why? Is there flesh eating mould growing on the walls inside that counts as modern decoration? Or a nice family of rabid rats we can keep as pets? Maybe a poltergeist or two that could help with the renovations?”

  I hit Jake lightly on the shoulder. “Be nice,” I chastised quietly, which earned a grin from Jake as we followed Annette into the bar.

  A musty smell was the first thing that hit us upon entering the dark space. Annette walked around and began opening shutters to let in some light.

  “Holy shithole batman.” Jake sounded unimpressed as he took in the interior. “So, when you said a little work, you meant that it would take at least a decade?”

  He brushed aside a large cobweb that was hanging from the ceiling. “It looks like an entry for a haunted house competition!”

  “It honestly looks worse than it is. The building is structurally sound, it just needs a lick of paint or two,” Annette said soothingly.

  “Try a lick of paint or ten,” Jake said plainly. “Where’s the kitchen?”

  We followed Annette past a small curved wooden bar area, our steps leaving footprints in the thick coating of dust on the wooden floor.

  She pushed open and walked through rusted swinging metal doors into a large, tiled, greasy looking kitchen.

  Jake made a vaguely approving sound. “Well at least it’s a good size.”

  Annette seemed happier at the first compliment and drew a card out of her purse.

  “The owner wants a quick sell. He’s willing to go way below the listed retail price for the right person.” She handed Jake the card with a number written on it.

  His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Seriously? This is all he’s asking for it? What’s the catch?” he asked suspiciously.

  “There isn’t one. He’s tired of the property just sitting here gathering dust, but he wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate the old place. I told him about you, Jacob. The owner is keen to see the place restored to its’ former glory, he’s had generous offers from developers who only wanted the property for the land but he turned down every one of them.”

  She took a step closer to Jake. “I have some other locations lined up for you to view, but none of them comes close to the size or price. I don’t need to tell you what a good deal this is, even with the redecorating that you would need to do.”

  Jake nodded and touched my elbow gently. “You’re being very quiet. Do you hate it?”

  “I didn’t want to intrude,” I murmured, meeting Jake’s piercing stare.

  “Niki. I asked you to come with me because I want your opinion. Tell me what you think,” he said firmly, his hand still on my arm.

  “Well…I think this place really does have potential,” I said looking at Annette who smiled triumphantly.

  Starting to feel excited about the project, I took Jake by the wrist and dragged him back into the main space.

  I pointed to the booths lined along the wall.

  “Okay, so the booths are fine, they may need to be upholstered, but there are a lot of them. The tables are wooden and in a decent condition, so you’d just have to varnish them and they’d be as good as new!”

  I walked over to where three large, shabby pool tables were placed along the right side of the bar.

  “You could get rid of these pool tables and put more tables and chairs here instead, so you have a larger seating capacity.”

  Still speaking at a fast pace, I pulled him over to the bar.

  “Just look at how beautiful the wood on this bar is! After you restore it, it could be stunning! You could buy work from the local artists in the community and decorate the whole restaurant with them.”

  “And here.” I dragged him to an open space next to a jukebox. “You’re not a bar - you don’t need this dance floor space. You could put more tables here too. Though I would keep the jukebox because it looks amazing and vintage. Ooh! You could even put a small temporary stage here and have live performances from time to time. I’m sure people would love that.”

  I spun him around and made him look at the space again.

  “Okay, so it won’t look like a typical diner. But maybe that’s a good thing. You could be some sort of restaurant, diner, bar hybrid. That’s the whole point of this, right? You’re creating something that’s your own. There are no rules you have to go by, simply do whatever you want to do!”

  I walked around his large body, so I was face to face with Jake.

  “You may need to spend a good couple of months fixing this place up, but I think it would be worth it. It seems to be mainly cosmetic work that needs doing anyway. You could easi
ly keep restoration costs down by doing most of the work yourself and drag your brothers and friends in to help. You could do so much with this bar, Jake.”

  And the motor mouth returns.

  I took a deep breath and met Annette and Jake’s amused gazes.

  Annette was the first to speak. “Are you looking for a career in real estate? I could use someone like you on my team.”

  Jake laughed loudly. “She certainly sold me on the place.”

  He threw an arm around my shoulder as he looked around the bar once more. “A hybrid restaurant. That’s interesting.”

  Calm down heartbeat, calm down!

  Annette’s expression turned suggestive as she looked between Jake and me. “Hmm. You know, you two make a cute couple. You’re a lucky man, Jacob. This one’s a keeper.”

  “Oh no. We’re not… that’s not… we’re friends,” I stuttered quickly.

  Thanks for making things weird. And there was me thinking I liked you, lady.

  Jake’s arm left my shoulders, and I immediately missed the warmth his body had provided. I heard him muttering something about ‘being friends’ under his breath.

  “Oh. Sorry. I just assumed…” Annette trailed off, before she cleared her throat and swiftly changed the subject. “Well, what do you think?”

  Jake glanced at me and I nodded once. “I’ll take it.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Jacob

  “So, what do you feel like for lunch?” I asked Niki as I started the car.

  “You really don’t need to buy me lunch,” she protested quietly. “We can just go straight back to town. I have a ton of stuff to do at the bakery anyway”

  I sighed softly. Every time I seemed to think I was making progress, she would begin to withdraw from me again.

  “We’re getting lunch, Niki,” I told her firmly before repeating the question, “What do you feel like?”

  “Uhm. Italian?” she said unsurely. There was only one small family-run Italian restaurant in Starling Falls, and the food there was amazing.

  I smiled approvingly, “That sounds good to me. You ever tried the Chicken Parm at Ristorante D’Angelo?”