Page 29 of Steeped In Problems

Tanner found himself looking at Kristy when she wasn’t looking. Watching the way her energy never flagged, how she lifted everyone else’s game, even Emily’s. She’d changed the shop in ways he hadn’t thought possible. She’d changed him, too, and he was just starting to admit it.

When they finally called it for the night, Kristy left behind a wreck of markers and sticky notes, but also a list of what came next. “Tomorrow, we set up the bake sale and start spreading the word about everything else. We call in favors from everyone we know to help with donations for the action and share details about the firefighter car wash. I’ll take the school and the hospital. Tanner, you go to the mayor’s office, and Rhonda you cover the stores on Main Street.”

She hopped off the counter, stretching her arms over her head. “We’re actually going to pull this off,” she said, almost reverent.

Tanner glanced at the plan, then at her. “Yeah,” he said, voice gruff. “I think we are.”

He took one last look at the shop, the mess, the board, and the women who’d refused to let him sink. If tomorrow was the first step toward saving the Brave Badge, then he was going to be ready.

By the next day, the Brave Badge was ready for the bake sale. Long tables were crowned with a pyramid of sample pastries. The corkboard by the door was plastered with flyers for the car wash “Get hosed for a cause,” the bake sale “Bigger than your grandma’s, we promise,” and of course, the auction and the dance.

Tanner finished setting the last of the baked goods on the table, stepping back to survey the shop. It wasn’t perfect, but it would work, and it was more alive than it had ever been under his watch.

Kristy was putting up the final decorations. She wore a crisp Brave Badge T-shirt, and her curls were barely tamed by a sparkly hair tie. She was humming something off-key, probably an old pop song, and bouncing on her toes every time she reached for a higher pin.

Emily had made herself a command post at the bar, laptop open, phone cradled to her ear. She was talking to Joe Griffin and updating him on the plan.

“We’ve got buy-in from the school, the SAR team, and the hospital,” she rattled off, scrolling through a shared Google Sheet. “I’m sending you the projected numbers by midnight for the first event and buy-ins, but if the first weekend goes as planned, we’re on track to hit your target.”

There was a pause, and then Emily snorted. “No, I’m not giving them another discount. They already get free coffee if they show up in uniform.” Another pause, then a quick look at Tanner and Kristy. “No, I don’t think anyone’s going to burn the place down. But if they do, at least we’ll get the insurance.”

She hung up, cracked her neck, and went right back to work. The woman was a machine. Tanner had to respect it, even if she scared him a little.

Rhonda finished her maintenance on Daisy and joined him, brushing her hands against the front of her jeans. “It’s looking good, isn’t it?” she asked, gesturing at the bake sale preparation.

“Like a five-alarm bake-off,” Tanner smirked.

“I heard that,” Kristy playfully admonished as she practically skipped over to them. She grinned, then sobered. “You ready for tomorrow?”

He thought about it. About all the ways things could go wrong, about the humiliation of asking for help, about the risk of hoping for something better. He looked at Kristy, who waited, hands on her hips and chin lifted like she was daring him to say no.

“Yeah,” he said, surprised to find he meant it. “I’m ready.”

A few minutes later, Kristy was everywhere at once—greeting volunteers, arranging pastries that looked like they belonged in a gourmet magazine, and handing out free coffee samples to early birds.

The turnout was impressive. Half the town seemed to have shown up, eager to get their treats. They were selling the cupcakes and pastries faster than they could put them on the table. Everyone was excited and happy to be there, and Tanner thought this was a the perfect beginning to their two week run to turn things around for the coffee shop.

That was until Tanner spotted him—Mark, leaning against a street lamp across from the Brave Badge, sunglasses hiding his eyes but not the smirk on his lips. Tanner’s stomach tightened as he watched Mark push off from the post and stroll toward Kristy, who was laughing with a group of elderly ladies from the knitting club.

Tanner set his clipboard down and made his way over just in time to hear Mark say loudly enough for nearby heads to turn, “Kristy Howard. Never thought I’d see you slinging muffins in the streets.”

Kristy’s smile faltered ever so slightly as she turned to face him. “What are you doing here, Mark?”

Mark picked up a cupcake, inspecting it with exaggerated scrutiny. “Really went down in the world since you left the hospital, huh?”

“Shows how little you know,” Kristy retorted with a frown.

Mark took a bite of the cupcake then grimaced theatrically. “Could’ve fooled me. What’s this supposed to be? Tastes like sweetened sawdust.”

A few of the customers frowned, whispering among themselves as they glanced over at her and Mark.

Tanner stepped forward. “I think you’ve said enough,” he interjected firmly.

Mark looked him up and down. “This has nothing to do with you, mister.”

“Actually it does, since I’m the owner of this shop,” Tanner corrected coldly.

“Well, ‘owner,’” Mark sneered, tossing the cupcake back onto the table where it scattered crumbs across several flyers. “Tell Kristy she should stick to nursing—she’s terrible at baking.”

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