Page 34 of Right Where You Left Me
My chest swells with pride. I know I’m good at my job. I don’t really like to brag about it, but I have had a successful career, and I’ve been baking for so long now, that I do know what I’m doing. I get a lot of personal satisfaction knowing that people enjoy the food I make, and that I get to have a job that I love doing. But, knowing that Piper is happy with my work— that I’m helping her to improve her business— that feels even better.
“Me too.” I say. And I really, really am.
I double check the bags in my passenger seat to make sure I have everything we’ll need for tonight. I’m sure Sage has some of these ingredients in her pantry, but I got everything on the off chance she doesn’t. She did say she doesn’t bake, so it isn’t a wild leap that she doesn’t have baking powder or vanilla extract. Or a… cupcake tin. Okay, maybe I did go a little overboard. Oh well…
I gather up the bags and when I get to her door I knock twice in quick succession, my stomach fluttering with nerves as I wait for her to answer. I texted her that I was on my way, but it isn’t her gorgeous face that greets me when the door opens.
“Well, hello Emma.” River says with a cheeky smirk.
“Um.” I try to look behind him, but his body is blocking the doorway.
“Move your giant ass, and let her in!” I hear Sage shout from inside the apartment.
River chuckles and grabs the bags from my arms. “Come on in, the kitchen is back this way.” He says as he leads me inside.The apartment is, in a word, eclectic. The walls are painted a creamy beige, with the wall holding the TV a bright orange. The furniture is a hodgepodge of different eras and lounging on their equally bright orange couch is a cream colored cat. Its giant pale green eyes follow me as I walk deeper into the apartment.
“I didn’t know you had a cat, Sage.” I say, looking over to where she’s perched on the island in their open concept kitchen.
“I don’t.” She says nodding her head at River. “He came with the cat.”
“Excuse me, you love Pistachio just as much as I do!” River says scooping up the purring pile of fur and nuzzling into it. He’s babbling a string of French at the cat that I don’t understand, but it’s incredibly endearing.
“I don’t think anyone loves that cat as much as you do. You have her tattooed on your neck.” Sage says with a warm chuckle. She moves over to where I’m just standing in the middle of the living room. “If you couldn’t put it together, River is my roommate.”
“Ah.” I say. “Makes sense.” I look deeper into the apartment, absorbing every detail, and notice that there’s three bedrooms down the hallway. “You guys have a lot of space.”
River sets Pistachio down gently on the couch and nods. “My sisters moved here with us.” He says a little stiffly. “They’re a lot younger than me, and they were finishing up high school when we left Chicago. I had guardianship of them, so we got a three bedroom so they had a room to share.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry?—”
He waves me off with a dismissive smile. “Don’t be sorry. My maman—” He shakes his head. “She is a free spirit… it was better for everyone that they were with me.”
Sage clears her throat, sensing the tension building around us and I’m grateful for it. I feel like I stuck my foot in my mouth, even if River seems okay talking about his past. “So, whatgoodies did you bring for us?” She asks peeking into one of the bags River set down next to the couch.
“I thought we’d make cupcakes.” I say, and Sage’s face lights up at that.
“I love cupcakes.”
“I remember.” I mumble and grab the bags, setting them down on the kitchen island. “Do you have a big bowl we can mix the batter in?”
Sage looks around, a wrinkle in between her brows. “Um…”
“Yes.” River says with a huff. He reaches up in one of the upper cabinets and pulls a few down. He pulls open a drawer and grabs the measuring cups and spoons, dropping them next to the bowls. “You’ll have to forgive her, Emma. I do literally all the cooking in this house. Sage burns toast.”
“You mother fucking?—”
“And I volunteer to eat these cupcakes.” He continues, ignoring Sage. “Wouldn’t want you to get food poisoning.”
“Get out of here!” Sage screeches as she shoves him hard and he just laughs, letting himself get pushed out of the kitchen.
I fight the laugh building as Sage huffs about the kitchen. “Don’t worry, I’m a good teacher. No one will be getting food poisoning tonight.”
“I can cooksomethings.” She says with a pout that is too adorable to be taken seriously. “I’m not a totally lost cause just because I’m not a fucking Keebler elf like you are.”
“I know you aren’t.” I say and flick a stray piece of her hair back behind her ear. My cheeks burn at the boldness of that movement, but before I can second guess it she’s grabbing my hand and kissing my knuckles, her smile lighting me up inside.
“Tell me how to get started, Em.” She says softly against my hand.
My skin is tingling and it feels like my face is on fire. It takes all my willpower to take my hand back and sift through thethings I brought with me. I clear my throat and hope my words sound normal as I say, “We’re making vanilla cupcakes with a simple vanilla buttercream frosting. I thought we would start easy, and if you want to try more we can look up some recipes together later.” I wince at the assumption that she’d want to do this again, but it’s quickly smoothed over when she hums and kisses my knuckles again.
