“You wouldn’t dare.” Arthur gasps, clutching his plate to his chest. He looks down at it forlornly. “Maybe I should take them home to eat later?”
“Probably wise.” Piper says with a laugh. “Have a good day, Arthur.”
Piper knocks my shoulder with hers. “You’ve been in a good mood today.”
I feel my cheeks twitch as a small smile hits my face. “I suppose I am.”
“Is it because you have a work day that isn’t filled with having to deal with my sister?”
I choke out a laugh. “What? No! Where is she by the way? I thought she was on the schedule this morning.”
“I texted her when I got here that she could stay home, figured you’d want a break from her honestly. She’s basically a walking storm cloud.”
“Oh,” I start. “Well, we’ve um. Reconciled.”Reconciled?!Who even says that.
Piper smirks, walking to the register as a customer walks through the front door. “Hm.” Is all she says before pointing at the espresso machine, signaling me back to work.
There’s no way she doesn’t know. Sage had to have told her. They’re sisters, and don’t sisters tell each other everything?
The rest of the morning moves smoothly. I’m able to slip away from the counter to do an inventory count for our kitchen order next week and decide while I’m in there that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to batch some cookie dough too. I start pulling out ingredients when Piper calls my name from the front.
“Got a line, Piper?” I ask, walking out onto the floor and stopping in my tracks when my eyes meet Sage’s. Her mouth tilts into a smirk as she looks me up and down.
“Flour looks good on you, Em.”
“What?”
She points to her cheek and I can feel mine burn as I swipe them quickly. “I was making cookies.” I say dumbly.
“Mm.” Her eyes rake over me again.
I clear my throat, trying to will some of this embarrassment away. “What are you up to today since Piper didn’t need you to help out this morning?”
She leans closer to me, her forearms pressed against the counter. All the colorful tattoos that decorate her tan skin glimmering like a dew speckled garden in the light above us. “I have two clients today, but then I’m free the rest of the day. What about you? Any wild plans when you’re done here?”
“Nope. Nothing wild. Probably just curling up with a book and watching home improvement shows with my mom.”Could you sound any more boring, Emma?!
“Mm.” That noise again. “I was thinking.” She says, her fingers tracing circles on the counter in between us. “You could come over later and I could take you up on that offer to teach me how to bake.” Her eyes lift to meet mine and I can feel them burning into me. The heat in them making my insides feel fuzzy.
“Okay.” I choke out. “Yeah, yup. I can do that.”
She stands up straight, knocking her knuckles against the counter. “Great. I’ll text you my address.” She winks. “See you later, Emma.” She starts walking backwards toward the door, grinning. “And you still have flour on your face!”
My hand grazes my cheek again, but this time the warmth there isn’t from embarrassment. I take a deep breath and try to get my brain back online when Piper comes up beside me.
“Have time for that menu conversation you wanted to have? We’re pretty slow so I figured we could do that now.”
“Oh! Sure.” I say quickly. “I just had a few thoughts the other day when I was making the croissants that I wanted to run by you.” I take her nod as a go ahead to keep talking. “I noticed that you don’t serve breakfast sandwiches, which I know isn’t your main focus for the cafe since you roast the beans and focus more on the coffee side of things, but I just feel like you’re really missing an opportunity for growth here. If you had a biggermenu, and carried over the sandwiches for lunch you’d bring in so much more money.”
“I agree.” She says with a sigh. “I had thought about it, but I just never could wrap my head around how I’d make it work with just me and Sage occasionally. Keeping it simple for food was easier.”
I nod. “I get that, for sure. But, you have me now.” I say and hope I don’t sound too pushy and conceited. “And I can help you with the business logistics too. The marketing and budget changes for the extra ingredients. I’m good for a little more than the kitchen stuff.” I laugh softly. “If you’d want.” I tack on.
“I wouldn’t want to add to your work load, Emma. You’re already here most days.” She says hesitantly, but I can see there’s a spark of something in her eyes. She likes this idea.
“I really don’t mind, Piper. How about I draw up the plan and we can go over it together, just to see if it’s something you’d want to try out.”
“Alright.” She says and grins. “I’m really glad I hired you, Emma.”
