Page 42 of Emma and the Grumpy Baker

Setting to work, I wondered what I would say to Emma when she finally came back. If she would let me say anything. I worried that the videos only further upset her. What if she didn’t care for me talking about all of this on the internet? What if she just didn’t care to join our stores and preferred we stay separate?

I was aware that knocking out the wall between our stores and joining them was a huge jump. I knew that it could be a scary act, especially if Emma and I were going to date. The thought of us breaking up brought up new thoughts about how awkward and painful it would be to see each other every day in our joined businesses but not be together anymore. I wondered if that would make her hesitant to accept my business proposal.

I didn’t ever intend on us not being together. From now until the end of my life, I would spend it dedicated to making Emma happy. Whatever that meant. I would fight tooth and nail to keep her in my life as the woman I loved, and I hoped she would see my dedication to her in this proposal.

I placed four trays of cookies into the ovens and noted the time before walking away. While I was here, I might as well check on my employees and manager to make sure everything was going smoothly for now. They all knew about my plans and how I didn’t intend to fire any of them. I would just have to retrain them to be baristas or extra bakers for Emma. All of them were okay with it, and thrilled to be a part of it. Even after the last few months of my rarely being here, they supported the business change.

I walked to the front of the store to look over things and talk to the employees out there. As I was chatting with them about their lives, I heard the back door open.

“Where’s Liam?” The unmistakable tone of Emma’s voice had me freezing in place, but only for a second. I immediately moved to the back.

She stood in the doorway, looking around at my employees, one of whom was pointing at the doorway I was standing in. Her eyes landed on me, and I could see from here that there were tears in them.

I moved across the room to her, but stopped short of reaching her. I didn’t know what she was here for, and didn’t need to shove myself on her if she was here to turn me down. She watched my every movement just as I watched hers.

We stared at each other in silence for a few moments, and I wanted to let her speak first. But I was about to break the silence, the suspense nearly killing me.

“Was it true?” She whispered, looking up at me through her watery eyes.

“Was what true?” I responded, my heart stalling in my chest.

“Everything you said in your videos.” She bit her lip in a nervous manner, and I itched to pull it out from between her teeth.

A slow smile spread on my face as I felt the burn of tears threatening to build. I swallowed them down before responding. “I meant every single word, Emma. I will do anything to see you exceed, and more importantly, to be with you. I love you, Emma, and I want nothing more than another chance with you. Whatever I did to hurt you, I, I…” I stuttered, not sure how to continue.

“I thought you wanted to take me out. You said that you were going to eliminate the competition. You were talking to your dad,” she said through hiccups and tears. And I realized that she must have overheard the wrong part of the conversation that I’d had with my father the morning she was at my apartment.

A laugh escaped my tight throat. “I was telling him that there wouldn’t be competition because I have been planning on asking you to join our businesses.” I rubbed a hand over my face in relief that all of this was about a misunderstanding.

“I know. And I’m sorry I just ran away without talking to you about it.” She hiccuped again and I couldn’t take it anymore. I brought her to me and wrapped my arms around her, hoping her tears would end.

“It’s okay baby.” I just held her like that, allowing both of our emotions to settle out a little before I pulled away. “So what do you say? I’m ready to turn this place into a coffee shop and knock down some walls, but only if you are.”

She giggled, still sniffling. Suddenly, her joyful expression turned to confusion. “What’s burning?” She asked, looking behind me.

I sniffed the air before my eyes went huge. Turning, I looked at the clock and noticed that the cookies I was baking for Emma had been in for sixteen minutes.

“Shit,” I muttered, rushing to the oven and opening its doors. Grabbing mitts, I pulled out all of the trays and placed them on the prep table. The cookies were a mixture of dark golden brown and black edges, burnt.

“Are those…?” Emma asked, a tiny smile playing on her lips.

“I’m sorry, Em. I brought them over here so we could get more of the orders done.” I threw the mitts off, hoping that she wouldn’t be too upset.

“I’ll tell you what,” she started, approaching the trays of burnt cookies. Emma poked them with her finger, and the cookies didn’t give way to the pressure. Hers typically were squishy as soon as they came out of the oven. “As long as you promise not to overbake all of my cookies, I will be more than happy to join our stores.”

“Yeah?” I asked, hardly believing her words. I’d been so worried the past week that she would say no.

“You know how much I love coffee,” She said with a teasing lilt to her voice. I pulled her to me again, wanting to kiss her but still unsure.

“Then it’s perfect,” I responded, watching her for cues.

“I love you,” She whispered, and my heart pounded against my ribs.

Smirking, I said, “What was that? I didn’t quite hear you.” I obviously was lying, but I just wanted to hear it again.

“I love you, Liam. And I can’t believe that it was our bakeries that brought us back together, but I’m sohappy.” She leaned up on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I put my hands on either side of her face, leaning down into her.

“I love you, Emma.” And then I kissed her.

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