Page 62 of Her Brother's Keeper

Silence on the other end of the line for several heartbeats, “Okay, you know what? Doesn’t matter, go in there and crush it, I’ll come pick you up and we’ll talk about it on the way.”

“Are they going to take him away from me for this?” I asked, heartbroken.

“I don’t know, but I can tell you one thing, we’re going to rain some fucking fire down on that school of his.”

“Yes, we are,” I said, some of that fire raining down onmefinally catching in the center of my soul.

“Go to it, Baby Girl. You don’t want to be late. Freshen up that makeup or whatever and I’ll be right there.”

“Okay.”

“I love you,” he said and my center melted just a little in a good way.

“I love you, too, Nox.”

We disconnected and I sucked in a deep breath. He was right, I could do this. I fixed my face in the rearview mirror and squared my shoulders. A few deep breaths and I got out of the car.

Everett straightened up behind the counter and Mandy backed out of the kitchen with a cake balanced on one of those round trays with a pedestal. She smiled at me and tried to blow a stray red curl off her forehead.

“Could you get the case, Evy?” she asked and Everett was already moving to slide it open. I went up to the opposite side and looked in from the front. Mandy set the cake down but it wasn’t showing right.

“Twist it a little that way,” I said pointing the direction and Mandy smiled up at me and gave the little tray a twist. “Perfect.”

I smiled and Everett and Mandy smiled back. I shifted a bit nervously and they both came around the counter.

“Right, glad you’re here and that you could make it. We know how tough things are with Sage right now.” Mandy was wiping her hands on her apron as she spoke.

Everett asked, “What will you have?”

I blinked and wondered if they knew for a second, but dismissed the idea pretty quickly answering, “Um, a caramel toffee mocha?”

“Coming right up,” she said and went to the coffee bar to do her thing. That left just me and Mandy.

“Question for you,” she said looking me over thoughtfully. I tried to smile despite my nervousness and nodded, waiting for her to ask. I mean, this was an interview after all. Finally, she leaned back in her seat, and asked: “Have you thought about what you want to do once you’re out of school?”

I blinked, and shook my head, “I honestly haven’t thought that far ahead, I mean, I will still have Sage and there’s no money for college. I’ll need to work full time, I suppose.” It rattled me that I hadn’t thought about any of this in any kind of depth and that my senior year was almost through.

Mandy smiled gently, “Any interest in cooking?” she asked.

“I love to cook, I mean – why?”

Everett came back and handed me a paper cup with lid, I smiled and said thank you, but was really confused by this turn of events and line of questioning. Mandy smiled at me and patted my knee reassuringly.

“What Mandy is trying to say is that we have had absolute shit luck with finding anyone to help her with the chocolatier side of the business. No one that’s come up has had any kind of discipline or wants to deal with the early or late hours. We feel like it might fit your schedule better, what with Sage. A few hours before school, a few hours after…”

“Wouldn’t I need to go to culinary school for this, I mean, after I graduate?”

“If you wanted to,” Mandy said with a shrug. “If you like it enough; I guess it could be an option, but I didn’t. I learned from my grandmother and I have a degree in business – not culinary arts. I figured I would teach you the same way I was taught,” she said with a charmed little smile. “With love and patience.”

I sat back and took a drink of my coffee, looking from one to the both of them, “You’re serious,” I said startled.

“I need the help with a toddler and a four-month-old at home,” Mandy said slightly embarrassed, although I don’t know why she would be.

“With the location here, and the location down in Florida, Mandy can’t keep up production on her own. She needs help, you need a flexible job. You could even do some of the work from your own kitchen at home when it comes to the chocolates. Wereallyneed the help. The way I see it, we’d be helping each other out.”

“Uh,yeah!” I said, looking over the challenge in front of me. I could do this. I certainly could give it my absolute best try.

“Is that a yeah as in you’ll do it?”

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