“Worth the occasional brownie?” Gage asked, raising an eyebrow.
“More than worth it,” Peter whispered, wiping his eyes.
“Can I have a cinnamon roll?” Meryn asked.
Peter sniffed and nodded. “Aye, you can. You young ladies can get whatever you want whenever you want it.”
“You’ll go out of business giving away treats,” Zoe chided softly.
“I’m pretty sure a brownie or cinnamon bun here and there won’t put me under.” He turned to Izzy. “What can I get you?”
“Got anything with raspberries?” she asked.
“I have a raspberry cheese danish,” he replied.
“Sold!” Izzy said enthusiastically.
Peter handed Meryn and Izzy their snack, then looked over to where Pip had kept quiet in the corner. “And for you, lad?”
Pip’s eyes grew wide. “But I didn’t do any planning.”
“But, I bet you help these two ladies all day, don’t you? That more than deserves a treat,” Peter explained in a gentle tone.
“He is in charge of cuddles, and he’s terrific at taking care of us,” Meryn said, pulling Pip closer to the case.
Pip blushed. “I…I like chocolate. Meryn introduced me to chocolate. It is my favorite.”
“How about a dark chocolate truffle brownie?”
“A what?” Zoe asked, along with Meryn and Izzy.
Peter chuckled. “One of my most addicting creations.” He wagged both eyebrows.
Meryn crammed the entire cinnamon roll in her mouth and chewed quickly. “Wanna try that too!” she said, with a mouth full of the half-eaten roll.
Laughing, Peter looked at Zoe, Gage, and Pierce. “Interested?”
Next to Meryn, Izzy downed her danish.
Zoe nodded, but the men shook their heads. Peter pulled out four brownies and handed them out.
Zoe holding her wax paper-wrapped treat, looked at Pip, then Meryn and Izzy. “On three?”
Meryn nodded. “One… two…”
They all took a bite at the same time. Moans filled the small bakery.
“Gods above,” Zoe said, this time actual tears fell from her eyes.
Meryn and Izzy moved to sit at one of the tables on shaky legs.
Zoe joined them as Pierce helped a shaking Pip to sit next to Meryn.
“This, this is life,” Zoe said reverently.
Izzy began to tremble. “Imagine this with a mocha.”
Meryn pulled out her phone and held it to her ear. “Hey babe, you know that thing you wanna try? The Brick Oven has dark chocolate truffle brownies. For every night I get a half dozen you get to try, you know what,” Meryn promised.