Chapter 13

Chapter 13

They had a busy morning. Working with the kitchen staff to tag team the ovens and fit in the pastry shells whenever there was a chance, was a task in itself. They came out perfect despite that. He’d had no doubt they would.

Angel enjoyed watching Heaven at work. She was nervous at first, but once she got into the swing of things, the anxiety seemed to drop away. Her mouth curved up in a half smile as she rolled out the dough, and she hummed softly under her breath.

He thought it was a hymn, but he wasn’t sure. She worked with dough the way he worked with chocolate. Her hands were quick and flexible, knowing exactly how much to press into each pan.

There were only so many pure chocolate desserts he could make. Grand centerpieces, like he was creating for Halloween, weren’t something he could concentrate on for daily life, not on the Ranch. There just wasn’t call for that kind of art every day.

People wanted a variety of desserts they could enjoy, and he had long ago learned to branch out and fill those needs. They all had some elements of chocolate, of course. That was his passion after all, but sometimes it was only a garnish, and the real dessert was something entirely different.

So he’d built up other skills that complemented the chocolate, but he was slower and clumsy with them. Pastry was always a struggle. Heaven though, she had a gift.

On top of that, she was a joy to watch, because she seemed to put a bit of showmanship into the act. It wasn’t incredibly obvious, but he was paying close attention. There were little flourishes here and there, like she was performing for an invisible audience—and he didn’t think it was for his benefit, because she seemed to have tuned him out entirely.

“It’s like watching a cooking show,” he commented.

She jumped and tore the shell she had been fitting so carefully into the mini tart pan. “What?”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” He laughed. “I think you forgot I was here.”

She grinned and shrugged. “I do that when I bake. Sorry. What were you saying?”

“Oh, just that you have a flair for this. It’s like watching one of those fancy cooking shows.”

There was an odd expression on her face, but she blanked it before he could examine it for meaning. “Really? Well, I did spend a lot of time on stage when I was a kid.”

He sensed a half-truth there. She’d stated a fact, he was sure of that, but the fact seemed… unconnected. “You think it came from that?”

Her eyebrows went up. “Where else could it come from?”

Angel was used to Littles, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to fib. There were often tells, like the way Heaven was misdirecting his comments and questions—and the way her hands had gotten fidgety as she played with the dough.

He was pretty sure she was hiding something, but it wasn’t his business to know. Not yet. Just from the small amount he knew of her past, he could understand why she wasn’t used to being fully candid. Still he wanted to encourage her to talk. “Hmm. You tell me, Heaven. I mean… that could be it, but it feels like there might be more.”

Her mouth opened and then closed. Her eyes shifted to the left and then dropped down to the dough as it crumbled from being overworked. “Well…”

“Well?”

She shot a look around, as if making sure no one was near enough to listen. “Well, I might have done a baking show for a while. For my cakes.”

Angel’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Um, yeah. It had a few seasons. We used to make a realistic cake, and then we’d have guests guess which was the cake and which was the real item.” She grinned a little. “Baking is kind of boring to watch, even when you cut to the good parts, so I always tried to make it more exciting.”

It hit him. He knew the exact show she was talking about. Now that he’d made the connection, he wondered why he hadn’t recognized her, except that the vivacious, sometimes loud, pastry chef on the show seemed to share little in common with Heaven. At least as far as personality went.

He pointed at her. “You’re Chef Cleary!”

She rolled her eyes. “I never wanted them to call me chef. Honestly, I’m just a baker, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to use my name, in case my family ever saw me. Cleary was Barbara’s last name,” she explained.

There was a hint of sadness in her voice, but she shook it off and continued, “Even though she never legally adopted me, I took it when I got emancipated. I did it because well, I loved her, but it turned out to be a good thing because the name took off after we started doing the show. Master Derek allowed me to use my birthname at the Ranch because… well, I didn’t want anyone to recognize me, though I guess there’s really no reason for them to.”

Angel just shook his head, astounded. “Are you kidding? I saw a couple episodes of that show! There was one where you made a fruit basket, but each fruit was a little cake.”

“That was one of my favorite pieces. It took almost fifteen hours to do them all and they cut it down to half an hour for the show.”

“Cleary’s Cakes and Cookies… that was the bakery. Wait, there’s a national brand out from that company now.”

“Cleary’s Cookies and Cakes actually,” she corrected him as she rolled out a fresh circle of dough. “And yes, there is, but they dropped ‘cookies’ from the name on the store brand since it really only focuses on the cakes.”

It really was the oddest thing to realize the Little he was interested in was a celebrity. Of course, it wasn’t like she was a pop star or something. But a celebrity baker… that was still a cool thing. He had to know though. “How are you able to handle the company while you’re here? It seems like it would be impossible to do.”

“By the time Barbara died, we were kind of redundant in the managing department. There’s a board who oversees the national brand. I’m on it and I have a controlling vote with her share, but I really didn’t want…” She took a deep breath and blew it out. “It was too much to deal with. They kind of shuffled me off and I didn’t really argue.”

“Ouch.” He couldn’t imagine going famous for his creations and then getting shoved out of the way.

She looked up and smiled. “It’s fine. Honestly, I need to make some permanent decisions, but I’ve been putting it off. I like it here and I don’t want to go back, but… I just don’t know.”

Go back?

He definitely didn’t want her to do that. It was her choice, but the idea of her leaving hurt more than he would have expected for two people who hadn’t known each other for long. Angel wanted to say “Don’t go back. Stay here,” but if he was going to be a Daddy, he needed to give advice based on what was best for her.

“If they’re holding things together, then there’s probably no rush,” he said carefully.

“No, you’re probably right. It just feels like I’m straddling two worlds and I need to step into one or the other forever.” She fitted the last shell into the pan. “There. Those are done.”

He glanced down at the pan, nodding, and then his eyes swept back up to meet hers. “If you need some encouragement to choose this world… I might be able to help with that.”

A flush rose to her cheeks and she laughed. “You’ve already been helping with that.”

“Good. Let me get these into the oven.” He paused, holding the pan. “Remembering that show and the work you did… makes me want to see you do a cake even more. We really need to make that happen.”

“Well, I might have an idea about that…”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, so I was thinking. The main problem is space and people getting in the way, but after dinner when they clean up and shut down, the kitchen is basically empty. So if you could write me a pass to come down and use it then, I could whip up a surprise.”

Angel wasn’t entirely sure it was the best idea. Leaving a Little alone in the main Ranch kitchen was not something he’d ever have done with anyone else. But it was Heaven, and she was a professional, even if she did have a Little side. “I don’t know, chiquita… Chef is particular about how the kitchen is left.”

“Oh, no worries. I promise everything will be clean and back where it belongs. I’ll have to work on it a little at a time since I’ll still have to be back in the dorm by curfew. But I could put in a couple hours a night easily.”

“Hmm. What if I come help? Then we could spend the time together.” He liked the idea of having extra time with Heaven every night. “You could show me your tricks.”

She was shaking her head before he even finished. “So… we could do that sometime, and I love working with you, but I really want it to be a surprise this time.”

“I don’t know…”

“Please, Angel?” Her blue eyes seemed to beg him for the chance.

He sighed. What could it hurt? She wasn’t one of those Littles who was in trouble all the time after all. She knew to treat the kitchen equipment with respect so it should be safe enough. “Well, I guess—”

Before he could even finish, Heaven squealed and threw her arms around him, very nearly knocking the pan out of his hands. He fumbled and recovered it at the last second. “Careful, chica. We don’t want to have to start over.” He patted her back with his free hand.

Her happiness made the agreement worthwhile. And he really was insanely curious about what she’d come up with. Whatever it was, he had a feeling it would be amazing.