Closing the door with more force than necessary, I growled in frustration. Saul might have been helpful, but apparently, he was also an elitist ass. An elitist ass who drove a beat-up old truck and worked at a condominium complex. Did his ridiculously good looks get him accepted by the trust fund brats down the street? Did I even care how he fit into their world? No. None of it mattered. He nor his friends were a part of my life and I did not have some hope that they would be. If he thought I was sitting around waiting on Drake to show up and flirt with me again he was sorely mistaken. It annoyed me more than it should that he thought I needed to be told not to take his friend’s flirting seriously. Those two had taken up the last of my time. I would be sure to stay clear of them. Both of them.
I had what I believed I was going to call a dark chocolate roll in the oven that I needed to get out and let cool then add the icing. I wasn’t going to dwell on Saul or Drake. They were not part of my plan this summer. After today, it was very unlikely I would see either of them again, unless it was them driving by to go party down the street.
The smell of books was not what wafted up to meet me when Hillya opened the back door to the café. The kitchen smelled of cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, and coffee. I held two paper bags in my hands that were filled with all I needed to make the items I had worked to create yesterday. I had one of the banana loaves with me as well as a plate with one of each of the other items I had made for Hillya to try. I had awakened at three unable to sleep any longer and made a fresh batch of the dark chocolate granola, deciding to try some goji berries this time, and I had been happy with the way they turned out.
“Good morning,” Hillya said, closing the door behind me, “I see you came prepared.”
“Yes, I hope it’s okay, but I wanted to try a few things yesterday and went to buy supplies. I brought some samples for you, if you’d like to taste them and see what you think.” I was still not sure of my baking abilities, at least not at this level. If she tried my samples and sent me packing, I would understand. I would possibly cry and eat my weight in oat milk ice cream, but I would still understand.
“You don’t do anything halfway. A go-getter. I shouldn’t be surprised,” Hillya said with a smile. “Let’s see what you got.”
We spent the next half hour on stools as Hillya enjoyed some of all my baked goods while she drank a cup of coffee. When we stood back up, I had my work schedule, and she had a list of the things I would need for her to order. This morning, I was to make all I could with the supplies I bought then put them out front to sell.
It was almost ten when the last of my banana bread sold. It had been what I had the most of so it had lasted the longest. The granola had been gone by nine and the dark chocolate rolls had been gone in the first hour. I was amazed. If only Gran could have seen this.
The bell chimed on the door, and I stood up from taking the empty tray that had been holding the banana bread out of the display case to greet the customer. Hillya was in the back working on lunch items and Jill had left after the morning crowd. She was a cashier that worked mornings, but I heard her say this was her last week so I wouldn’t be getting to know her.
Drake’s face lit up in a grin when his eyes met mine. He had his arm thrown around the shoulders of a petite brunette with dark brown eyes in a hot pink bikini top with a pair of tiny white shorts. “Good morning,” I said, returning Drake’s smile. The brunette didn’t smile or acknowledge my greeting. She was looking up at the chalkboard menu behind me with a bored expression.
“Henley,” Drake drawled out my name. “Are you gonna be making my morning cup of joe?” he asked.
“I’ll just get a water. I can’t get a cappuccino here. This place doesn’t have low-fat oat milk. I don’t do soy,” the girl said, glancing up at Drake obviously annoyed.
“I have low-fat oat milk,” I replied and went to put her order into the computer. The only reason we had low-fat oat milk was because I had brought some with me today. It was not something Hillya typically had. I wasn’t sure how to ring it up, so I just put it under special.