Page 330 of The Maxwell Brothers
"Why? What are you going to do?"
"A friend of mine owns a food blog. I'll snap a picture of the people standing in line, and I’ll have her post it with a note that it's first come, first served, and you only have enough for twenty people. We'll see what happens."
"Thanks.” I blinked in surprise. “I was not ready for so much action this evening."
"Neither was I," Declan said, looking at his brother with a funny expression. I was definitely going to question him about that.
When he finally reached the counter and I was preparing his box, I asked him, "What's with that look you gave your brother?"
"What look?"
"That mix of annoyance and awe."
"Awe because it's a great idea. And annoyance because I have plans for you and me. It started with the surprise that my family blew up, and now the horde of customers probably will."
"I'm not sure many people will show up. I’m not even open."
"Wait and see. I like to tease my brother, but he's a genius."
Turned out Declan was right. Within fifteen minutes, there was a huge line that kept growing. I didn’t want anyone to leave empty-handed, so I came up with an idea to make the portions smaller so I had enough.
"Liz, do you need help?" Gran asked.
"No, no. I'll deal with it," I said. "I realized that I'm probably the only one who's allowed back here, insurance-wise."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, for goodness’ sake, girl, if I slip and break my leg, I'm not going to sue you to cover my insurance."
“It’s fine, really.”
Travis’s idea was spurring another one. What if I made this a regular thing? After hours, I could bake an extra batch and give samples to everyone who came by, first come, first served. I was going to brainstorm about it with him later.
When the firstrealcustomer came to the counter, I put on a smile and said, "I'm going to give you a selection of everything I’ve baked today. I'm opening officially on Monday."
"And it's free?"
"Yes, it is."
"Okay, then, I'm game for anything you want to put in the box."
I smiled even wider, starting to fill it. I knew it was silly, but I couldn't help finding this a great omen. It wasn’t even my first day and I already had customers, and this lovely bunch of people named Maxwell had made it possible.
And Declan loved me.
My life is absolutely amazing!
CHAPTER 24
LIZ
It waspast midnight when we got home, and we were both tired. I closed the bakery at ten o’clock after I’d given everything away, but Tate surprised us with a few bottles of champagne, so we stayed a while longer.
"I could probably sleep for ten days," I said. Opening the front door, I blinked several times, stepping in and looking around the living room. It was full of flowers—water lilies, my favorites. "Declan, oh my God. These are for me?"
"Of course," he said softly, kissing my cheek and my temple.
"I can't believe it."
"Told you I'd planned a surprise."
