Page 97 of Rebel Heart
I flipped the switch to turn it on, and it took Cooper almost no time at all to hear the racket the machine was making and diagnose the problem. With his focus on the mixer, he said, “I’ve got to replace the drive belt for you. It shouldn’t take too long.”
“Do we have an extra belt?”
Cooper lifted his gaze to meet mine. “It’s a wear item, and I didn’t want you to have to be down without a mixer ever, so I ordered replacements a long time ago.”
I didn’t want him to see how that affected me, but the ache at the center of my chest was so uncomfortable, my hand went there and rubbed in hopes of easing it.
He must have realized I was struggling and wanted to have some mercy on me, because he said, “I put it on one of the shelves in that supply closet. I can take care of it now, and you should be good to go in hopefully no more than two hours.”
I nodded. “That sounds good. Thank you.”
“Anytime, Jules.”
The response seemed casual enough, but his toneindicated it was anything but for him. I lingered there for a moment, unsure of what to say, and the tension mounted. Unable to stand it any longer, I pointed over my shoulder and said, “I’m just going to get back out there and continue training.”
“Training?”
“I had to hire two new employees in preparation for when I’ll need time off for…” I rested my hand lightly on my belly.
Cooper dropped his gaze to the ground.
“So, I’ll let you do this while I do that.”
“Sure.”
Feeling like my heart was in my throat, I turned and walked away. I had to stop just before I went through the doors and returned to the front of the bakery. I was on the verge of tears, and the last thing I wanted was to break down, which would not only alert my employees to what was wrong, but I didn’t want to give Cooper the satisfaction of knowing how much it hurt not to be able to stay and chat with him about anything and everything like I normally would have.
When I’d pulled myself together, I strode through the doors and joined Birdie and Danica. For the next two hours, Birdie did an excellent job holding down the fort while I walked Danica through more training. I hadn’t expected to get so lucky with a new hire, but she was such a fast learner, and she was eager to work. Evidently, she’d been a stay-at-home mom for years, but now that her youngest child was starting school in a few weeks, she was looking for something to do to keep her busy duringthe day. With her being able to cover the daytime hours, and my other hire needing to come in later after her full-time job, because she’d just graduated from college and was looking to clear her student loan debt as quickly as possible, it had been the perfect scenario.
The time passed in a flash, and before I knew it, Cooper had emerged from the back. When I caught his eye, he said, “I just want to show you what I did, when you have a second.”
I dipped my chin. “I’ll be right there.”
After finishing what I was doing, I left the girls alone again and walked back to meet Cooper.
“It’s fixed?” I asked.
“Yeah, I don’t really need to show you anything I did, unless you want me to explain it.” He turned on the mixer, demonstrated that it was fully functional again, and turned it off. “I just wanted a minute to talk to you.”
My heart pounded. “Okay. About what?”
I knew that was a stupid question, but I couldn’t help it. I was so nervous, which was a strange feeling to have around someone I’d never been anything but comfortable with my whole life.
His eyes searched my face, the torment plain as day. “Rosie’s birthday is coming up.”
“Yes, I know.” I’d been agonizing about it for a while now, worried about how the state of things within the family would affect my ability to see her on her big day.
“We’re having a party for her at Mom and Dad’s in two weeks,” he shared. “Skye put me in charge of getting the details to everyone.”
So, he just wanted to share the information Skye had given him. He’d do anything for her, to make her happy, even talk to his sister he couldn’t bear to look at now.
“We want you there, Jules,” he said, breaking into my thoughts. “Iwant you there.”
I hated that it happened, but tears welled in my eyes. “I hope you know how much I love Rosie. I want nothing more than to be there for her day. But I need to ask. What about Beau?”
It seemed to take Cooper immense effort to will his features into neutral, but I’d known him my whole life. He wasn’t happy about what he had to say next. “He can come.”
“Are you sure?” I countered. “Because Mom called me a couple weeks ago, wanting me to come over, but she said Dad didn’t want him there. So, I didn’t go to see them. If the party is at their house, I’m not sure how that’s going to work.”
