Page 1 of Tasting Sin

Chapter 1

Nellie

“Earth to Nellie. Are you even listening to me?” When my best friend cleared her throat behind me, I snapped out of my nervous stupor. The timer on the oven beeped, and the scent of just-about-to-burn vanilla roused my senses. I gasped, half-folding and half-crumpling the paper in my hands before I stuffed it back into my pocket.

“My cupcakes!” I yanked the oven door open, and sweet heat warmed the room. I fanned it away from my face with my apron before I used the floral fabric to grab onto the edge of the pan. “Thank God they aren’t burnt!”

Ava laughed, leaning back against the prep counter and crossing her arms over her chest. “So does that mean you weren’t listening?”

“Sorry. I must’ve gotten… distracted.” I swallowed the anxiety swelling in my throat and thought about the roughly folded paper tucked in my apron. Judging by the way she cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips, I knew Ava was thinking about it too.

“This has something to do with the letter, doesn’t it?” Her voice was soft with sympathy, but when I took a deep breath, she held up her finger, as if ready to scold me. “Don’t lie to me. I already know it does. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

The image of the paper was seared in my mind when I closed my eyes. Eviction Notice. My stomach sank. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” I offered her my best everything-is-perfectly-fine smile, knowing that when she dropped her head back, she didn’t believe me for a second.

“You know I know you’re lying, right?” She reached around me and turned off the oven, giving me a long side-eyed glance that reminded me she’d been my best friend since we were thirteen. I rolled my eyes.

“And you know I’m not going to tell you what’s bothering me, so let’s just drop it and frost these cupcakes.” I shrugged my shoulders when Ava groaned.

“You’re impossible!” She didn’t continue to push me for information, though. She knew better. Instead, she offered me her usual comforting smile and grabbed the tubes of frosting from the cooler. “Buttercream, right?”

I nodded, taking a deep breath to encourage my hands to stop shaking. “Buttercream is great. Everything is great.” When Ava paused, we both knew I was trying harder to convince myself than her. Nothing is great.

Ava started to hum, but before I could join her, the bell above the front door rang, interrupting her mid-verse. Since the chain bakery had moved in down the street, it seemed the bell rang fewer times each day. I brushed my already-clean hands on the skirt of my apron, making my way to the front counter.

“Welcome in!” I said in a sing-song voice that stuck in my throat as soon as I saw my mousy-faced landlord. My mind flashed with another image of the eviction notice I’d gotten in the mail this morning. “What are you doing here, Mr. Connor?”

Stu Connor looked as unamused as always. His neatly trimmed gray hair sat perfectly glued in place, even though his much-too-large-for-his-face glasses slid down his nose. When he grinned, his rosy cheeks were rounder. He looked amused.

“Miss Giordano.” Stu took slow, even steps toward the counter, and the closer he got, the wider he smiled. “I take it you received my letter?”

I nodded. I’d hardly call it a letter. “I did,” I said, choosing to beg instead. “Please don’t do this. Give me just a couple more weeks. I have a couple of big orders. I promise I’ll get the last of the money.”

“You’ve been saying that for three months. I can’t keep putting this off.” The smile slipped from his face, and for a moment, he looked genuinely apologetic.

“Please, Stu. I’ll do anything!” I clasped my hands together in front of me in a desperate plea. When he didn’t look moved, my shoulders sagged. Failure was heavier with embarrassment.

He shook his head, and the last of my hope disappeared. “That isn’t good enough this time, Nellie. I’m sorry.”

My knees started to quiver, and I couldn’t find my voice around the lump that lodged itself in my throat. Ava turned the corner out of the prep kitchen, hovering in the doorway. I could feel her stare bouncing between Stu and me without looking over my shoulder.

“Please,” I whispered, tears starting to well against my bottom eyelid.

Stu looked at me with sympathy, but he pulled the yellow sign from the file in his hands anyways. He gave me another pitying look before he stuck it against the front window directly beneath the sign that showed our hours. For Lease.

A single tear painted its way down my cheek, and I thought about the day I opened Sugar & Spice. It had felt like a dream come true, turning on the open sign for the first time. For four years, every day smelled like sugar and vanilla. Now, it was over. It couldn’t be over.

Before he opened the door to leave, Stu looked back over his shoulder. “Look, you have 30 days. If you can get the money before then, I’ll do what I can to let you stay in the space, okay? But if you don’t, you have to be out of here by then. No exceptions.”

“Yes, sir.” My voice was drowned out by the ring of the bell when he opened the door.

Ava was by my side before it had latched behind him. “Nellie, what is going on?” Tears I had been able to blink back resurfaced, spilling over and tracing lines in my make-up. Her lip quivered. I knew she felt equally as defeated.

“I guess we haven’t been doing so well.” I choked on my words, sniffling and taking a deep breath before I continued. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I tried to look past the disappointment in her eyes when she leaned in to hug me, and I found comfort in her tight squeeze. “I would’ve helped you!”

I shrugged, letting her hold me longer than the usual hug. “There wasn’t much you could’ve done. I tried everything.” Sighing, I let go of my best friend and looked around the small bakery we had run together since day one. “I wish there was more we could do.”

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