Chapter 5

GEORGE

I locked the door behind Hannah and walked to the kitchen. At the back of the kitchen, behind a nondescript door, were the stairs to my apartment. Maximus thundered down the hallway to greet me, jumping on me with gusto as I reached the top of the staircase.

“Hello, gorgeous.” I rubbed his warm, golden head. “Let’s get your leash and stretch our legs.” After a long day of standing, all I wanted to do was collapse on the couch. But Max needed a walk, and Blake, my closest friend, was coming over in an hour with takeout, so we had to get going. I put on my headphones and called Mom back while I was getting Max ready.

“Hello?” Mom asked, her familiar voice sending a burst of warmth through me.

“Hey, it’s me. Sorry I missed your call earlier. Work was hectic. What’s up?” I clipped Max’s leash on and started heading toward the door to my apartment.

“Sorry, I should have known better than to call you during the day. I just wanted to let you know that I booked my flights!” Mom’s excitement was clear from her voice.

“Oh great! Do you mind emailing me the details? Max and I are heading out for a walk.” Max was so eager for his walk he was practically dragging me down the stairs and toward the front door of Novel Gossip.

“Yes, of course.”

I opened the front door and we stepped onto the sidewalk. I inhaled a lungful of fresh, late-afternoon air. It was another gorgeous, sunny day. It was only the first day of June, but summer had come early to Sapphire Springs this year.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to say. Did you hear Alexis is dating Sophia Landers?” Mom asked.

“Good for her.” I hadn’t heard that, but it wasn’t terribly surprising that my attractive, famous, politician ex had found a movie star girlfriend who was also attractive and famous.

“It’ll be very interesting to see if they last. I don’t see how they are going to make it work with the amount of travelling Alexis does and Sophia away filming all the time.”

I rolled my eyes, smiling. Alexis and I had broken up more than three years ago now, and I was well and truly over her. While I wished my ex all the best, I wasn’t really interested in speculating with Mom over whether her latest relationship would last. But Mom loved a good gossip.

“Maybe they’ll find a way to make it work,” I said diplomatically.

“Hmmm. Maybe.” Mom sounded unconvinced. “While I’ll continue to vote for her, I still haven’t forgiven her for the way she treated you.”

I sighed. “Mom, we’ve been through this before. We just weren’t compatible.”

I was thrilled when Alexis Merritts ran for the House of Reps for Tampa Bay. She was young, queer, and passionate? which isn’t common in Florida politics. I volunteered on her campaign, putting my tech skills to good use, and we ended up getting together.

But once she won, I’d quickly discovered I wasn’t cut out to be a politician’s plus one. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my career to follow my partner around the country, or alternatively stay in Tampa and hardly ever see her. Not that I’d seen her much when we lived in D.C. anyway.

Mom harrumphed. “You moved for her, quit your job for her, and she didn’t compromise anything.” I gritted my teeth. While I’d moved on from Alexis, it was clear Mom hadn’t.

“Well, it’s thanks to her that your mortgage is paid off and I was able to set up Novel Gossip.” I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth. Trying to defend Alexis was only likely to infuriate Mom.

Mom spluttered. “You were the one who developed the app, not her. You did all the hard work, it’s only fair you got paid for it.”

“I know. But Alexis didn’t need to sign the paperwork so I could sell it. And she did, even after I broke up with her.”

I rubbed my forehead. After a long day of work, this was the last thing I felt like talking about. While I was over the break-up, I didn’t want to dwell on one of the most stressful times of my life.

Mom muttered something under her breath.

Thankfully, a dog walking by began to bark loudly at Max.

“Sorry Mom, I’ve got to go. Love you!”

“Okay. Bye, sweetheart.”

I hung up the phone and dragged Max away from the barking dog.

We walked down Main Street, Max stopping to sniff at every cast iron lamp post and tree trunk while I smiled and nodded at locals on autopilot. Without Mom on the phone, talking about Alexis, my mind turned to Hannah. Thank god for Hannah. Today would’ve been an absolute disaster if she hadn’t walked through the door, ready to start immediately.

I’d observed her all day, trying not to be too obvious. She seemed shy but attentive and on the ball, noticing customers needed a refilled water jug, running with paper towels when a customer dropped an iced latte down their t-shirt, proactively clearing tables and taking out food without me needing to ask. She was a quick learner. And judging by the way she’d emphatically said that she loved reading, she was passionate about books. I grinned. She was everything I could want.

An image of Hannah smiling at me, her eyes crinkling at the edges and white teeth framed by upturned full, pink lips, appeared in my mind. My grin widened. Even the memory of her smile was infectious. I shook myself.

Everything you could want in an EMPLOYEE, George.

The last thing I needed was a crush on Hannah. Ben had mentioned she’d moved here with a husband, so she wasn’t available. And even if she was available, there was no way I’d date an employee. It was an unquestionably terrible idea.

Lost in thought, it was only when we’d almost reached the end of Main Street that I remembered to check the time.

“Crap.” I looked down from my watch to Max. “No more sniffs, Max. We’d better get back, or Blake’ll be waiting for us.”

I tugged Max away from an apparently exquisite-smelling lamp post, and we set off up Main Street at pace. It was still warm, and the evening sun had surprising strength. As we reached the café, I spotted a familiar figure leaning against the door, two pizza boxes and a brown paper bag by her feet.

I smiled. Blake.

When I’d moved to town a few years ago, I hadn’t known a soul. Initially, I’d been so focused on turning my vision of a cozy café-bookstore into a reality—pouring my heart, soul, and money into creating Novel Gossip—that I’d had no time to make friends outside of the regulars I spoke to every day at work. A few months later, I fell off a ladder while shelving books, and Ben insisted I see the new doctor who’d just opened her practice in Sapphire Springs. Blake and I had had an immediate, but completely platonic, connection. Not only were we the only two openly queer women in Sapphire Springs of our age that we knew of, and on the more gender non-conforming side of the spectrum, but we shared a similar sense of humor and a love of hiking and good coffee. Last year Blake had started dating her childhood crush, Jenny, who had just returned to Sapphire Springs. When Jenny worked late, Blake would often come over for dinner.

“Hi. Sorry. I hope you haven’t been waiting long,” I said to Blake as Max and I reached her.

“Not your fault. I’m early. I grabbed pizza and salad from Michael’s, and they prepared it in record time,” she replied, picking up the brown paper bag before Max got to it. The smell of garlic and cheese sent my stomach rumbling.

I chuckled. Michael’s was notorious for mouth-watering, traditional pizzas made excruciatingly slowly. “Maybe they’ve finally installed another wood-fired oven to meet the demands of pizza-obsessed Sapphire Springs.”

Blake laughed. “We can only hope.”

I opened the door, and we made our way up to the apartment.

“Make yourself at home,” I said as I shut the door behind Blake and headed to the kitchen.

I grabbed plates, cutlery, and two pale ales from the fridge. “Are you okay to eat on the couch?” I asked Blake, walking into the living room to find she was already on it, Max curled up next to her, the pizza boxes and salad on the coffee table in front of her.

“Have I ever not been?” Blake grinned.

“Point taken.” I handed Blake a beer and placed the plates and cutlery on the table. “Help yourself.”

After Blake had loaded her plate, I grabbed a few slices and started making quick work of them. I’d had no time for a proper lunch break today, only devouring half a BLT bagel in the kitchen before the lunch rush began, so I was starving.

“How was your day?” Blake asked, opening the beer and taking a swig.

I filled her in on the unexpected delivery of books, Ben’s illness, Romina’s bad mood, Hannah’s fortuitous appearance and then my call with Mom.

Blake shook her head when I’d finished. “Damn, that sounds hectic. I’m surprised you haven’t already passed out from exhaustion. So, do you think you’ll keep the new woman on?”

“Hannah? Yes, definitely. She’s great. Assuming all her paperwork and references are fine.” They better be, or I’m screwed. And the thought of not seeing her again was not appealing.

Blake furrowed her brow as she swallowed her mouthful of pizza. “I don’t think I’ve come across her before.” Blake, as the only doctor in town, took pride in knowing everyone who lived here.

“She just moved here from…” I frowned, realizing I knew very little about her. Ben hadn’t mentioned where she was from, and I’d been so busy today I hadn’t had a chance to ask. “Somewhere. At least, that’s what Ben said. She moved here recently with her husband.”

Blake’s expression turned thoughtful. “If you wanted, you could invite her to come with us tomorrow night. Since Ben’s sick, we have a spare ticket. If she just moved here, she might appreciate some company.”

I paused. Inviting Hannah to the outdoor movie night would be a friendly gesture. I was pretty lonely when I first moved to Sapphire Springs. But, at the same time, she was an employee. Would inviting her on a social outing put her in a difficult position if she didn’t want to go? I’d asked Ben without a second thought, but we’d worked together for years and I knew him well enough to know he’d say no if he didn’t want to come. On first impression, Hannah struck me as the sort of person who’d agree to something she didn’t want to do just to avoid hurting the other person’s feelings. And I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.

“Yeah, I’m not sure. Let me think about it.”

I groaned softly, remembering that, while my legs still ached, I had to make the cake-of-the-day tonight, or my regulars would be disappointed. If I didn’t get started, I’d have to stay up late to take it out of the oven and leave it to cool.

“If you’ve finished eating, would you mind if I got started on baking tomorrow’s cake? I was thinking of doing a miniature one for us for dessert, if you’re okay staying for a while. It’ll be a dark chocolate, date, and almond meringue cake with cream and berries.”

Blake jumped up, a grin on her face. “I’m supportive of anything that involves me getting to eat cake. What can I do to help?”

Blake had many talents, but cooking wasn’t one of them, so I set her to work clearing up dinner and then chopping the dates. There was no way I was letting her anywhere near my meringue.

We chatted while I whipped the meringue, folded it in with the nut, chocolate, and date mixture, and then put it in the oven. Once that was done, we fell back on the couch with a glass of red wine each.

“That’s officially my new favorite cake,” Blake groaned as she scraped her plate an hour and a half later. “I’d better move along before I fall asleep in a food coma on your couch.”

I chuckled, savoring the last mouthful. The chocolate had still been slightly gooey from the oven, and the cream and berries had offset the richness of the chocolate and dates. It was pretty damn good.

Stifling a yawn as I walked back from seeing Blake out, I spotted the boxes of books piled high at the back of the store, and my heart sank. Shit. I forgot to call the distributor about The Realm of Furies delivery. I’d do it first thing tomorrow. The boxes were probably a safety hazard. Should I lug them up to my apartment so they were out of the way? That was the last thing I felt like doing after the long day, a glass of red wine, and too much cake. Desperate to change into my pajamas and fall into bed, I decided to make that tomorrow’s problem.

At least tomorrow I’d see Hannah again.