Page 129 of Frosting and Flames

“Um…” Rachel looks at the menu, even flipping it over to study the back side, though I know she’s going to end up getting the turkey club with a side salad. Still, I indulge her.

“Something else look good?” I ask.

She bites at her bottom lip, still scanning. “I guess the turkey club with—”

“A side salad,” Marge finishes for her, taking her menu. “Be right out with it.”

“Oh, Marge, have you thought any more about the pies?”

“Another time, honey. I’m swamped.”

There’s only one other booth occupied in the place at eleven-fifteen—too late for breakfast and too early for lunch for most people. Since Rachel starts her workday at the crack of dawn, this is when she likes to eat, and I’m happy to spend any time with her I can. I like this routine we’ve created of meeting here for lunch on days we’re both working. The diner’s right in between the fire station and the bakery.

Rachel holds her forefinger and thumb barely apart as Marge hurries away. “I’m this close to convincing her to let the bakery sell pies here. They’re so much better than that.” She gestures to the pie display case at the end of the counter, with an anemic-looking cherry pie inside. “I mean, look at it. Uneven lattice work, pale crust. And they use pie filling straight from the can.” She shudders.

I hide my smile behind a sip of water. I don’t dare tell her I’ve tried the pie here and thought it was fine. Obviously, that was before I ate at Aurora Bakery, though. I won’t eat desserts from anywhere else out of solidarity with Rachel now.

“So, anything exciting at the station today?” she asks.

“You’ll never guess who got stuck again.”

Her brows knit together. “Oh, no. Poor Dolly. Where was it this time?”

I sigh. “Behind Mrs. Montour’s fridge.”

She shakes her head. “Is the fire department even responsible for that?”

“Eh… Technically, no. But do you think I was going to tell her that?”

“Of course not,” she agrees.

“What about you? Anything new at the bakery?”

“We debuted our cappuccino eclairs this morning. Hailey said we sold a whopping three before I left for lunch, and that was with her pushing them.”

“Maybe it’ll take time to catch on. Not everyone has your mother’s refined European tastes.”

She rolls her eyes. “At least I got her to back down from the Sicilian sheep’s milk ricotta cannolis. That would have been a nightmare.”

A very expensive nightmare. She’d shown me the breakdown of what it would cost to import the cheese.

“Oh, guess what? We finally got an applicant for the bakery position.”

I reach across the table to squeeze her hands. “That’s amazing.” I know she’ll be glad to cut back on her hours.

“Sydney and I will interview her this week. Oh, and you remember the thing with the SBA?”

The president of the town’s small business association chapter had approached Rachel after their last meeting, gushing about how good the chili cookoff was. She wanted to know if she’d take part in a new cross-promotional initiative they’ve created for local businesses. The idea is to pair up two businesses who will then work together to figure out ways theycan each promote the other business, expanding each other’s customer reach and bring in new clients.

“Yeah.”

“The bakery’s partnering with the renovated bar. Isn’t that a great match?”

“Definitely.” Better than somewhere like the hardware store, that has limited crossover appeal.

“I set up a meeting with the owner to discuss it. I’ll find out if maybe they have a signature craft beer or something, then work with Sydney to come up with some way we can incorporate it into a dessert. She’s great at flavor combinations.”

“Why not have Sydney do the meeting? You said she wanted to take on more responsibility.”

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