Page 86 of Home Sweet Home

When the three of them walked into Joe’s, Kayla was already sitting at the counter with Joe standing next to her, cradling a cup of coffee. The diner was empty. It was what she’d hoped and why she’d suggested six, even though the sun had only just peeked through the sky.

Evie slid onto a stool. “Thanks for coming.”

“This is all very cloak and dagger,” Kayla said. “Are you about to ask us to do a hit for you?”

“No,” Evie said. “But are you saying that’s an option in the future?”

“You know I’d do anything for you,” Kayla said with a grin, before throwing a pointed look West’s way. “And that meansyoubetter be on your best behavior. No funny business. I fucking mean it.”

West wrapped his arm around Evie and hugged her close to him. “Roger that, Martinez.”

All of them looked at Evie, awaiting an explanation for why she’d brought them together.

The idea had come to her the night before. Despite West’s body less than a foot from hers, and despite the more than two hours they’d spent tangled up in her sheets making up for lost time, Evie hadn’t been able to sleep, her mind drifting to the pile of bills. She’d saved her house, but only through incredible luck she was pretty sure would never be repeated. The next time a few accidents set her back, she wanted a buffer. To have a cushion to handle anything life threw at her. To enroll Josh in the class he wanted. To be able to make tacos without counting the pennies in her bank account. To be able to open a bakery.

That last thought had sent flutters of anticipation through her, and she’d spent another hour dreaming up what it would look like and what she would serve before she’d finally been so tired she drifted off to dreamland.

Get-rich-quick schemes didn’t work. She wasn’t her dad. She could see that. But she saw an opportunity. It wasn’t quick, and she wasn’t going to make a million dollars, but it might help relieve some of the pressure on her life.

“As you all know,” Evie said. “I almost lost my house. And I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again. The rematch against Bend is later today. With the article coming out, there’s gonna be a lot of people there. I was thinking we could do a bake sale.”

Evie scanned their faces, looking for any sign that her idea was a stupid one, that no one would spend money to buy something she’d baked.

Joe clapped his hands on the counter. “I think it’s great. Your pies always sell out. People can’t get enough of them.”

“You know how I feel about your baking,” Kayla said. “I have a shortlist of crimes I would commit for a slice of lemon pie. But how many cupcakes are we talking about?”

“One thousand. I think.” This was the part she’d been worried about. She’d worked it out in her head, and the math didn’t add up. The game was at six. She had twelve hours. Evie alone could not mix, bake, and frost one thousand cupcakes in a day. “Which is where you all come in.”

Four pairs of eyes fixed on her, waiting for her to go on.

“My oven is too small,” Evie said. “Joe, I was wondering if we could use the ovens at the diner for the day?”

Evie knew it was a big ask. The diner needed them to operate, but Joe’s had four huge ovens.

Joe walked to the diner door, flipped the “We’re Open” sign so it read “We’re Closed,” and locked the door. “The kitchen is yours.”

Evie’s eyes watered, but she pinched her thigh to stop it. “We need to mix the batter. Bake them. Get them cooled. Make buttercream. Frost them.”

“Teach us,” Kayla said. “We’ll help.”

West raised his hand. “I call frosting. I’ll need to taste test, of course. For scientific baking purposes.”

The generosity was overwhelming, and it left Evie close to bursting.

“Well then…” Evie swallowed the lump in her throat, trying desperately to blink back the tears that stung at the corners of her eyes. “We can get started. I just need thirty minutes to run to the IGA—”

Joe shook his head. “We’ve got all the butter, flour, and eggs you could need here, Evie.”

Evie shook her head. “I couldn’t—”

“Best part of running a restaurant? Wholesale prices,” Joe said with a wink. “You and your mom have kept my business humming like a new engine for almost twenty years. Let me help.”

And, having learned her lesson, Evie did.

* * *

“Holy shit,”Kayla said. “It’s a bunch of sixteen-year-olds, not the fucking Beatles.”

---