Page 64 of Baking it Merry

“I’d really like to talk to you,” he urged.

“And I have paying customers who’d really like to get their food and not be late for work.”

“Okay.Fine.”Turning to the person behind him, he asked, “What would you like to order?”

“Excuse me?”the woman asked.

“I’d like to buy you breakfast.What would you like?A muffin?I highly recommend the blueberry ones.Or maybe some coffee cake?”

She eyed him warily before saying, “A chocolate chip muffin, please.”

Smiling, he turned to Daphne, handing her his credit card.“One chocolate chip muffin please.But…hold the card.I’ll buy breakfast for the rest of the people in line.”

And he did.

All twenty-seven of them.

Greedy gawkers, he thought.Most of them had already purchased their food and were just making him pay for more.But he didn’t mind because if it meant they’d all leave and go to work, it was worth it.

By the time everyone finally left, almost an hour had gone by.“Okay, it looks like you are almost sold out of everything.Now, can we please talk?”

Daphne was silent—just a hard glare as she crossed her arms.

“Look, there seems to be a misunderstanding.I emailed the landlord once—which I told you about—at the beginning of last month.I havenotcontacted him since.Now…I’m sorry that I ever even did that, but you have to believe me, whatever’s being said, it’s not true!”

For a moment she didn’t say anything, but then she stepped forward and he braced himself.

“For a smart guy, you’re pretty stupid.There’s a paper trail, Tristan,” she hissed.“The landlord forwarded all your emails and his assistant said there were multiple voice messages too.Don’t stand here and insult my intelligence.You used me and now you’re finally getting what you want; you won’t have to look at my tacky little gingerbread house ever again!”

“No!That’s not…I didn’t send any other emails except the one and I’ve never called and left any messages about you!I’m telling you; it wasn’t me!”

“Oh, so someone else working for Knight Architects pretended to be you and complained about all the things you’ve publicly said about me?Pfft…just stop, okay?The damage is done.You won.Happy now?”

This was getting him nowhere.Both hands raked through his hair as he growled with frustration.“I’m going to prove that it wasn’t me,” he said confidently, although that was the very last thing he was feeling.“I’m going to talk to Darryl and get this all cleared up.I promise!”

He was about to say more, but the dozen poinsettias he had ordered for her showed up.

“Oh my goodness!Look at these!”she said happily to the delivery couple.“What a surprise!Is there a card?”And as she stepped out of the booth and began inspecting them, all he could think was…

Oh God…there is a card…

She found it.

She read it.

She glared at him.

Tristan swore she was going to send them back, but she didn’t.

“Thank you for bringing them in,” she said to the drivers.“Have a joyous holiday!”Once they were gone, she tore the card up and tossed it right in his face.

At least she was keeping the plants.

It was a minor victory, but there wasn’t time to savor it because apparently he had some calls to make.

Four calls and multiple emails later, Tristan felt utterly defeated.Somehow, someone sent the emails and even though he had his IT guys working on it, he wasn’t overly optimistic.On top of that, Darryl’s assistant said she would try to get him an accurate log of the calls they supposedly received from him.

“This is unbelievable,” he murmured.

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