She spent the entire night tossing and turning, wondering what it was that had Amy so spooked and whether or not it had anything to do with the broad-shouldered man who’d tried to break into the Maguire cottage.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Come in.”
After straightening her back, Sophia pushed the door open and stepped into Nora’s small but comfy office, with its shelves of books on either side, a plush carpet in the center of the room, and a window that overlooked the park on the other side of the street. Nora herself sat behind her desk, face half-hidden by the laptop and wisps of silver-brown hair framing her face.
When she glanced up at Sophia, she took off her glasses and began to polish them. “Please, sit.”
Sophia perched on the edge of the chair and folded her hands in her lap. “Is everything okay? I was told you wanted to see me.”
Nora finished polishing her glasses and placed them back on her nose. “Have you given any more thought to what we talked about? It’s been a few weeks, and I’d like to know if you’re in the running or not.”
Sophia cleared her throat. “It’s a very generous offer. I’m honored that you’re even considering me since Valerie has been here longer, and she does have…a way with words.”
Nora snorted. “Valerie knows how to kiss up to people. I’m not saying it won’t help in life, but it won’t get her as far asshe thinks. You, on the other hand, are relentless. When you’re passionate about something, I’ve seen you dedicate your whole heart and soul to it.”
Sophia’s fingers moved to her apron, and she pretended to smooth it. “I…I had no idea you were observing me so intently.”
Nora leaned back in her chair, and her lips lifted into a smile. “When you get a pastry chef who used to work for one of the biggest bakeries in the world, you pay attention. I’ve always wondered what made you walk away.”
“It wasn’t a good fit. It was a little too fast-paced for me.”
Nora nodded. “Some people function better when the stakes aren’t as high, but I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’m going to announce that you’re going to be the one taking over, not Valerie.”
“Nora, I—”
“You’ll have to turn me down officially if you don’t want the job.” Nora rose and stepped out from behind the desk, her skirt swishing with every movement. She paused to tuck her button-down blouse into the folds of her skirt. “Something tells me you’re not going to try and stop me.”
Sophia jumped to her feet, and her mouth went dry.
In a daze, she followed Nora into the kitchen, where the smell of flour and sugar lingered, and the sound of pots and pans filled the air. Several pairs of eyes turned to Nora when she came in, and she waited till everyone went silent. When everyone in the kitchen was looking at them, including a stormy-faced Valerie, Sophia stood up straighter.
Applause followed Nora’s announcement, and Sophia was met with a chorus of well wishes. She gave them all small smiles in return, but her eyes found Valerie in the crowd, looking like she wanted to drag Sophia out by her hair and claw at her face. A part of her understood Valerie’s anger, which was rolling offof her in waves, but the other part of Sophia knew her nemesis would survive.
People like Valeria didn’t give up, and they didn’t stay down, no matter the setback.
It was why Sophia had a begrudging amount of respect for the woman despite their mutual dislike and mistrust. Over the next few hours, people kept coming up to Sophia to congratulate her. Halfway through the day, she found herself outside Nora’s office again, tight knots in the center of her stomach.
Nora eyed her over rimmed spectacles. “Are you here to turn me down officially?”
Sophia let the door click shut behind her. “No, but I do have a different proposition. I don’t want to take over Nora’s. I want to rent it out.”
Nora removed her glasses, bright eyes settling on Sophia’s face intently. “Go on.”
“I want to rent Nora’s from you until I figure out what to do next. My cousin has already talked about merging bakeries, so it’s one option, but I’m not sure I want to do that.”
“What do you want to do?”
Sophia clasped her hands behind her back. “I want to change a few things in the layout, maybe give it a more modern look, and I was thinking of adding a bakery truck on the beach. It’ll be like a smaller branch or something. I don’t want to change what made Nora’s so special to a lot of people…just tweak a few things here and there.”
Sophia wasn’t sure if any of her ideas appealed to Nora, but she did know that it was all coming together in her head in a way she hadn’t imagined. Suddenly, she was filled with excitement and impatience for the project, the kind that made her want to dive in headfirst and not emerge until she’d conquered everything.
It had been two years since she’d felt this passionate about anything.
And she wasn’t ready to give up on it, despite her fear and uncertainty.
All she hoped was that Nora could see how much it all meant to her.
