Page 5 of Their Sweet Haven
“Some jerk named Fred Young. And then my local rival baker shows up right along with him. Suspiciously.”
“Evergreen Valley is big enough to have bakery rivalries?”
“He moved in recently. And I think he’s taking that stance. You know, that this town isn’t big enough for the two of us.”
I rub my temples. I’m somewhat relieved I didn’t get some conspiracy tirade, and this is hardly the first time I’ve heard of some shady practices of people trying to weaponize what we do here.
I didn’t know who this Fred Young was, though. I assumed he probably worked in the department, but there are like a hundred-some-odd employees who I’m technically the boss of.
“My bakery is a cornerstone of my small town. And has been since my grandmother’s time,” she continues. “We’ve never had any serious issues with this before. It feels extreme to automatically go to a full shutdown after decades of perfect marks.”
I nod. “Alright. Sure. I’ll look into it.”
Of course, no one with a bad report admits they deserve it. Something about her, though, suggests that she’s not the same as every other complaint who wanders in. Or, who knows, maybe I’m just a fool for seeing a pretty face.
I glance at the clock on the wall. “Or I would look into it if it weren’t five o’clock.”
She grunts. “Of course, you don’t want to work beyond your early closing time.”
“Evergreen Valley is a few hours drive. Even if I wanted to push the limits, this is a problem for tomorrow, Miss...” I stroke my chin. “May I have your name?”
“Hannah. Hannah Lee,” she chimes in, smiling back at me. She’s forgetting to be angry more and more often.
“Well, then. First thing tomorrow, I’ll head out to Evergreen Valley and see what the complaints are. I’ll also be able to check the system to see if anything has been uploaded, but we’ll see if this was just or not soon enough.” I stand from the desk and stretch myself out, done with being so cooped up as I was. The thing I want to address is what are you doing tonight, Hannah?”
She raises an eyebrow. “Uhm, I guess I was going back home to be angry about all of this? I didn’t really have any other plans.”
“I don’t think stewing in anger sounds very much fun. Why don’t you come to dinner with me instead?”
She socks an eyebrow. “Are... are you asking me out on a date?”
“If you want to call it that, sure. If you want to call it just getting to know one another more, we can call it that too. Whatever makes you say yes.”
She laughs, but not in a way that it’s at me for daring to ask. “You got a lot of balls just to ask some angry citizen out when they come to you.”
“I don’t do it often.” I stroke my chin in thought. “Or ever. I assure you, you’re the first person I’ve asked out when they’ve come to me to lodge a complaint.”
More chuckling. “I gotta say I wasn’t expecting someone like you when I came to file a complaint. I expected some old fossil with coke bottle-level frames.”
“I don’t look my position, yes. Because I don’t want to be my position, if that makes any sense.”
She tilts her head, bouncing the thought in her head. “A bit, I guess.”
“Anyway, I got a reservation for Francocetti’s and I don’t want to go alone. Would you care to join me, or not?”
She raises an eyebrow. “Francocettis? The Italian place I keep seeing mentioned online? You actually got a reservation there?”
I nod. “My previous engagement was canceled. People wait months for a table and it’d be a waste to let the opportunity go.”
Hannah’s eyes widen. It’s all a bit sudden. I suppose you don’t get invited to a five-star restaurant every day, especially in a situation like the one we’re in. “Um... sure, I guess. Not like I have other plans.”
I walk over to the other side of my desk with a smile. “That’s the spirit. I’m sure we’re going to have a wonderful time together.”
She looks down at herself. “Um, uh, on second thought, I’m not remotely dressed for such a fine dining experience.”
“You look magnificent,” I say, no lies in my words. “Beautiful. Come as you are, Hannah.”
She giggles at my compliments, but seems unconvinced. “Don’t they have a dress code?”
