Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
“Wow. That’s cool that you know that. It’s cool that I know that now.”
She couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. “I was an English major in college. I liked etymology a lot.”
“And that is?” Boomer asked. “Sorry. You’re going to find I’m not the smartest dude in the world, but I do like to learn.”
“Oh, not many people know what that is,” she replied. “It’s the study of the origin of words and phrases. It will not get you a job in the real world, but it’s fun.”
“So you studied words but you ended up as a baker?”
She should go inside, but she found herself leaning back, mimicking Boomer’s stance but on her balcony. “I’ve always loved baking, but my mom pushed me to be a teacher. Both my parents thought it was a more stable field. They wouldn’t pay for culinary school, but they did pay for college, so I did what they wanted. Turns out teaching wasn’t for me. I was terrible at it. I taught at a junior high for a couple of years when Lou was very young, and then my husband changed jobs, and we decided I would come home and take care of Lou and the house.”
Boomer was quiet for a moment.
“You’re not going to ask?” She took another drink.
“I’m trying to figure out if it’s rude to ask what happened. I can be straightforward, and sometimes, I’ve been told, it comes off as rude.”
Oddly, it didn’t with him. There was an earnestness to Boomer Ward that made her think he wasn’t asking out of anything but genuine curiosity and that his curiosity came from a place of goodness. It was naïve, but she kind of wanted to believe it. After all, he hadn’t had to bring over dinner. She’d been rude to him, and he’d still thought about her and Lou. She wanted him to be a nice guy. “He died in a car accident seven years ago. I thought about going back to teaching, but I decided that life was too short, so I took the insurance money and put it into a home bakery. I did so well that I opened Daphne’s Delights.”
“That’s awesome.”
“What I mean by well is I made enough to take another huge gamble that might put me under.”
“So you went from baking cakes at home to having a store?”
“Yes. I leased a space in Uptown, and it’s been going okay. I’ve got some staffing issues. I had to fire this guy named Brandon, and he didn’t take it well. Then Becky quit without notice. But business is okay.” It was nice to talk to someone she didn’t have to be overly positive with. “But okay in my industry means you could still go careening over the edge with one or two mistakes. If someone refuses to pay me for a big job, I could miss my rent and then I’m done.”
“Why would someone refuse to pay you?”
“Mostly because they’re assholes. Oh, they have excuses. Like the cake wasn’t good. My cakes are good. They are excellent. And if you ordered peanut butter icing, you got peanut butter icing. I had that happen once. The guy said he wanted chocolate but only after he and his buddies ate the whole thing. Now I make them write down their preferences in their own handwriting if they’re at the store or they have to fill it out online.” It was the absolute worst part of the job. When she was baking, she felt in control, but the business side was something she’d had to get used to. “The bad part is that it’s not even like I don’t get paid. I lose money because I have to front the cost for everything first.”
Boomer frowned, an expression that did not make him less attractive. “So it’s like they’re stealing from you.”
She nodded. “Yeah. And half the time they’ve already taken a couple of bites, and I can’t even put it out at the store. I sometimes do that when a customer refuses the cake. I’ve made some creative icing roses to cover up Happy Birthday Cindy or whatever. Pies are easier. No one asks me to decorate a pie.”
“You tell me who stiffs you, and I’ll talk to them.” His voice had deepened, sending a shiver of awareness down her spine. He sounded dark and dangerous for a moment, and it did something for her.
As tempting as it was, she couldn’t exactly sic her neighbor on her enemies. She often thought of those assholes as the enemies of chocolate and frosting and all the good things of the world. “Thanks, but I get by. I’m afraid it’s all part of the business. So you’re with a security company?”
“Yeah. McKay-Taggart.” He was back to his sunny self, a smile on his face. “I’ve been there for over ten years now. It’s hard to imagine. It feels like I blinked and years have passed.”