Page 50 of Rebel Heart
Before I could respond, he turned and walked away. And I was left wondering what those four words meant.
13
BEAU
“Just another tenor fifteen seconds, and it should be good.”
I watched as the paddle attachment on the mixer continued to move through the dough, waiting for the order to bring it to a halt.
“Okay. You can stop it now.”
My hand went to the power lever on the mixer and turned it off.
Over the last week, one thing had become abundantly clear to me. I hated baking. I had quickly discovered that I despised it. There were far too many steps requiring such precision in order not to screw it up. If I never baked another thing ever again, it would be too soon.
But since it was currently the only way I had thought of that allowed me to have any communication with Jules, any connection at all to her, I was going to suck itup. I’d bake until I consumed so much sugar I went into shock.
Because I’d missed her.
It had been slow, subtle torture going all those days without seeing her or hearing her voice. Especially when I recalled how hurt she’d been when she learned the truth about where I stood when it came to a romantic relationship. I still hadn’t changed my mind on that, but I was struggling with not having her in my life at all.
When I showed up at Westwood’s three days ago and saw her at The Mixing Bowl, it was like I’d had the heaviest weight lifted off my shoulders.
Jules had looked exhausted, like she hadn’t slept in weeks. But it didn’t matter to me. I still thought she was gorgeous. And to hear her voice again, to have her close enough to touch, was everything I could have wanted and more.
I thought Jules was spectacular right from the start, but now, I had no doubt about it. She’d been so sweet with me when I wasn’t even certain I deserved it from her. Not only had she taken the time to sit and talk with me that day, but she’d also offered this.
Her help.
So, I might have decided I hated baking, but there wasn’t anything that was going to stop me from doing it. Not when it meant I’d get this sliver of time with her as a result. Not when I had her on a video call with me, watching over my shoulder as I made these cookies.
Seeing her beautiful face, hearing that angelic voice,I’d bake for hours upon hours if she’d be on that screen the entire time.
With the mixer off, I looked at her on my screen and asked, “Are you sure this is enough? I still see some streaks of flour in there.”
“Yes, but don’t forget you have to add the chocolate chips now. And I would recommend mixing them in by hand with a spatula.”
“Okay. Let me get this bowl off the mixer, and I’ll do that.”
From the moment I’d called Jules and saw her face on the screen, she’d been focused solely on me and what she was teaching me. But for the last few minutes, I’d noticed she was a bit distracted. And right now, even though I didn’t continue to stare at her, I could see that her attention was divided between helping me and doing something else. It was hard to tell for certain, but it appeared she was in her bedroom closet.
It shouldn’t have bothered me, but for some reason, it did. It wasn’t that I didn’t think she was capable of multitasking. It was more about the fact that I wasn’t enough to have her undivided attention.
But maybe that’s precisely what I deserved for making her feel the way I had, for essentially telling her that she was nothing more than just a good time. I should have considered myself lucky that she was even willing to speak to me at all, let alone do what she was doing now.
“Alright, I think I’ve gotten them all mixed in,” I told her. “Does this look okay?”
I pointed the phone toward the bowl, so she could seeit. “That’s perfect, Beau. Now, you just need to scoop the dough into evenly sized balls.”
Placing the phone back on the counter in front of me, I reached for the cookie scoop and held it up with a smile on my face. “Look what I got.”
“Oh, that’s perfect. It’s going to make this so much easier for you. And you won’t have to worry about whether everything is going to brown evenly.”
“So, I just scoop them and put them on the tray?”
Jules nodded. “Yes. Well, if you can fit the tray in your refrigerator. Because once you scoop all the dough into balls, you need to chill them for about an hour in your fridge. It might be easier to put them on a plate and transfer them after they’ve chilled and are ready to go into the oven.”
“Right. I forgot that step.”
