Page 13 of Crushes and Confections

“Corey took over,” Bailey said. “And we’re out of scones too. All of them.”

“Holy hell,” I muttered. We usually did our mid-day bakes so I was already on it for our afternoon resupply but this was madness. “Thanks.”

Bailey practically ran out the door as I turned to wash the flour off of my hands and get started on an extra batch of dough. It seemed as if this was going to be a never-ending day.

The moment I turned the water on, a loud groan echoed from the faucet in front of me.

“No, no, no,” I growled at it. “Don’t you dare act up today.” It was the fastest I had ever washed my hands but the moment I touched it to turn it off, the entire faucet burst into the air. The water shot out in all directions, showering down on me as I let out a strangled scream.

This would only happen to me. What the hell was today?!

“Claire?!” Corey’s voice echoed through the thundering of water as I fought to get down under the cabinet. There was about three seconds of panicked fumbling before the pipe here burst as well, spraying me right in the chest and face. It was impossible to see through the waterfall but a long arm reached in next to me, shutting it off before I could struggle any further.

“That’s not good,” Vance mumbled. “Are you alright?”

I blinked over at the alpha as water dripped down every inch of my skin. A startled laugh escaped before it turned into pure panic.

“I’m fine, thank you,” I managed before turning to Corey. “We can’t use the water back here. Check the sink at the coffee bar please?”

“On it,” he said as he rushed back out front.

“Is there anything I can do?” Vance asked. For the first time he seemed uncertain but I just smiled softly.

“No, thank you. You can’t do much back here, you’re a customer and not covered under my insurance. I’ll get this cleaned up and us back on track.”

I could see the conflict in his face, his instincts probably warring with him to help take control of the situation.

“At least let me get you a towel,” he said reluctantly, grabbing one from the shelf and passing it to me. He hesitated in the doorway, clearly not wanting to leave.

“It’s fine, Vance,” I assured him. “I’ll let you know if there's anything you can do okay?”

He nodded, heading back out the front and I quickly grabbed the phone.

It rang three times before Ralph answered. “Hello?”

“Ralph, it’s Claire. I have a water situation here. It looks like a busted pipe and faucet. Tell me you can help me out here?”

“Oh, no,” Ralph said in his gravelly tone. “I’m at the school getting their bathroom fixed right now. I can’t make it until tomorrow morning at the earliest.”

“No,” I whispered in horror. We’d have to shut down for the afternoon. “I mean, yes. Thank you Ralph. Give me a call and I’ll meet you here.”

Tears burned at my eyes as I hung up. If I missed an entire afternoon, especially after already agreeing to donate so much of our product to the town, I’d be cutting into profits. But more than that, I had to meet my quotas for production and there was still the auction to consider. Shutting down wasn’t exactly an option.

“Think, Claire,” I told myself, looking like a psycho as Corey poked his head back in, looking concerned.

“We’re good out here still,” he reassured me. “Can I help?”

“No, we need you out front,” I said quickly. “I’ll figure it out.”

Thankfully we had floor drains that were easily cleaning up the flood. But it had successfully ruined all of the dough I’d just worked on and everything would need to be thrown out, surfaces sanitized, then product remade. But if I couldn’t use the water, I couldn’t accomplish any of that.

What I needed was a commercial kitchen and a damn miracle.

The diner would be too busy, that would never work. There was only one other shop around that had the kind of equipment I needed and that was Adrien’s.

Could I really ask that stoic alpha for help? Would he laugh me out of Holiday Hollow for trying?

Swallowing down my pride I picked up the phone and dialed Adrien’s shop, using the business card I had tacked to our bulletin board.

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