Page 12 of Baking it Merry

“A building here in downtown Raleigh.You want to design one that will be part of the skyline here.”

“Exactly.And the city isn’t going to look at any proposals until after the new year.That puts everything behind.Again.There’s no guarantee they’ll approve it or that the client won’t opt to build somewhere else.Again.And I just feel like…like it’s never going to happen.”

He hated to admit any of this.Hearing the words out loud just…they hit harder and made him realize just how much pressure he’d been putting on himself.

And how long he’d been working toward a goal that may never be achieved.

“Doesn’t it feel better to get that out instead of keeping it all bottled up?Maybe you’re being a little hard on these vendors because you’re angry with yourself?”

“Faye, please don’t psychoanalyze me.”Pinching the bridge of his nose, Tristan closed his eyes and silently counted to ten before looking at her again.“I’m allowed to think the booths are eyesores.I’m allowed to think they shouldn’t be in the building.And I’m allowed to not be friends with the vendors.”

“Fair enough.But youneedone of them,” she said slowly.“Daphne, quite literally, is your only hope.I can almost guarantee that she’ll be available to cater these parties.”She paused.“As long as you apologize.”

“That’s never going to happen.”

With a dramatic sigh, she turned and walked out of the office.“Suit yourself.I hope your mother understands.”

As soon as the door shut, he knew he was screwed.

He also knew he was going to have to figure out how to make things right with Daphne, no matter how much he disliked her.

Unfortunately, he had a feeling the only way to get her to help him was to…

Grovel.

“Well, this sucks…”

Three

“Ican’t believe I didn’t come over sooner,” Ann said with a small pout.“All day long I was dreaming about that caramel apple bar, and you’re all sold out.”

“I’m so sorry.I promise to make more later this week and put some aside for you!”It was a little after three and Daphne was packing up for the day.She had just sold the last of today’s inventory with the afternoon coffee break rush, and it was nice to know how much everyone was enjoying her baking.

“Uh-oh…here comes that grump guy,” Ann murmured.“Want me to stay here with you?He looks pissed off and seems to be heading this way.”

“That’s not even possible.You go and do your thing.I’m going to get packed up and head home.”And with a laugh, she waved to Ann and turned to go back into her booth.It was Tuesday, so she had done the bulk of her baking and prepping for the week over the weekend, but there was always more to be done.The schedule was overwhelming at times, but she had a goal, and this was the only way she was going to achieve it.Stacking up her muffin pans, Daphne turned and found Tristan standing at her counter.

For a moment, they simply stared at each other, and it was hard to say who was more surprised, but instead of getting snarky with him—which she totally wanted to do—her curiosity got the better of her.

“May I help you?”she asked sweetly.

Tristan cleared his throat and gave her a curt nod.“Yes, um…good afternoon.I was wondering if I might speak with you about, um…some catering.”

Daphne knew her eyes went wide, but she was sure she misheard him.“Catering?”

Another nod.“Yes.Catering.”

Slowly, she put down the pans.“For you?”

“Yes.”

“And just to be clear, you want me to bake something for you that you plan on eating and not throwing away?”

He grinned before nodding again.“Yes.”

She was about to ask another question when he held up a hand to stop her.

“Perhaps you can come upstairs when you’re done for the day so we can talk about it?It’s not as simple as a box or two of muffins.”

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