Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 141532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141532 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
“Your usual?” Ashe, the barista, asked, turning to smile at her.
Ania nodded. There was Ashe, as sweet as Evangeline, but she moved as if she could handle herself. She saw the world differently than Evangeline. The owner of the bakery, Evangeline clearly looked at everyone as a potential friend. She was interested in them and cared about their lives. Ashe was a bit warier. She was friendly enough, but watchful. She’d noticed Ania’s slight Russian accent. The accent was there on just a few words, but she’d noticed and was a bit leery at first, where Evangeline was simply open to friendship.
“Would love it, thanks, Ashe,” she said. “The renovations are going to be awesome.” The wall between the bakery and the shop next door had come down. It was blocked off during the hours the bakery was open so that customers couldn’t go into the construction area, but clearly they planned on making the space larger, and they needed it. Customers packed in looking for Evangeline’s baked goods and Ashe’s coffee. The two women had a gold mine here.
Deliberately, Ania had chosen to come after the rush rather than during it. Aside from hoping she might run into Mitya again, she liked both women. They didn’t know who she was and they didn’t want anything from her. They treated her as if she might actually become a friend, and she was hungry for that. Over the last few weeks they’d accepted her more and more into their circle.
Evangeline beamed at her. “I think it’s so exciting to see something you dream about come to life. I’ve always wanted a larger space. Sometimes the customers have standing room only. No one complains, but still, I want everyone to be comfortable.”
There it was. Evangeline’s true nature coming out. She really did care about her customers. Ania took a look around the shop while she paid for her latte and the pumpkin spice cake. Already she was eyeing the lemon-raspberry tart as well. She was going to get that to take home to her father. He loved baked goods, and she was usually too tired to get into the kitchen by the time she got home.
There were few people in the shop. Only a couple of men she would peg as bodyguards. They were spread out, at opposite ends of the room, but they couldn’t hide what they were, not even when they were idly looking at their phones. She took her latte and the fancy little plate with her cake and sat at one of the tables away from the window.
She wanted to savor every bite. If she was going to be adding all the extra calories by coming in so often, she definitely wasn’t going to hurry eating. The latte was perfection and she glanced up, smiling to tell Ashe thank you, only to catch the woman watching her. Ashe immediately flashed a smile and came out from around the counter.
“Do you mind if I sit with you on my break? It’s okay to say no. You never look at your phone while you’re here, so I thought I might not be disturbing you.”
“Of course.” Ania waved her toward a chair. “I make it a practice to enjoy every bite, and I don’t want to be looking at work while I do.”
“Do you work close by?” She seated herself in the chair to Ania’s right.
Ania nodded. “I have offices in the Bannaconni building. It’s just down the block from here. I don’t know why it took me so long to discover you. Once I was told about you, I began hearing the name of the bakery over and over. You have a good reputation.”
“That’s good to know. Who recommended us?” Ashe leaned closer, her chin on the heel of her hand, her eyes telling Ania she was interested.
Still, Ania wasn’t certain if it was a casual question or not. She shrugged. “I got a flat tire on my way home from a date. The date, by the way, was a disaster. And the tire thing worried me. I don’t, as a rule, ever get a flat tire because I check them. It’s a thing I do. In any case, it was raining, and a gentleman stopped to help me. I was in a white skirt and jacket, a favorite outfit, and he drove up like a knight in shining armor. He was the one who mentioned your shop.”
Ashe frowned. “What was wrong with your tire?”
Ania took another sip of the hot latte. The rain continued outside, making her grateful for the warmth of the bakery and the drink she wrapped her hands around. “It was punctured.” That much was the truth. It had been punctured. Ania wasn’t so certain it was accidental.
“I’m new to San Antonio,” Ashe admitted. “Have you lived here long?”