Page 20 of The Alpha and the Baker
“What? Oh, right. I’ll make sure to do that.” Cas strode off in an awful hurry, leaving me with the older folks once again. Not that I minded. Even though it turned out the whole reason Gammy had hijacked me was a misunderstanding, I had enjoyed my time with her. It really was quite funny how that whole thing had worked out.
Turning my attention back to the people who had demanded I stick around, I grinned dopily. “So, who has any embarrassing stories to tell about Castiel?”
“And that’s my cue to go on a run,” one of the middle-aged people across from me said, pushing away from the table to stand.
“Pardon?” I asked, sure I had misheard. They’d just eaten, after all.
“Yeah,” another said, joining the first person. Had someone introduced them to me? I couldn’t remember. I felt like I’d heard so many Irish-adjacent names in such a short time that they were all mashed together in my brain.
God, I hoped I sobered up soon. I was having fun, but it would be nice to think clearly again rather than having everything be all fuzzy and blending together.
“Anyone else want to go burn off some of this food so we can eat more?”
A few more people stood up, but I mostcertainlywas not about that life. I needed at least another half hour minimum before I was capable of movement, let alone going on a run. Still, I had to admire their health-consciousness.
“You know, I wish I’d thrown more events like this when I was alpha of my own pack,” Gammy said after everyone had left. “It really makes a woman feel young again.”
“A what now?”
“She means she was the matriarch of her own little community back in the day,” Claudia said quickly, giving me a wink. “Gotta love that old-fashioned slang.”
But I thought alpha talk was a new thing? Was Gammy on TikTok?
“Yup, I sure was,” Gammy said with a nod. “But I retired and had my daughter fill that position sometime back in my forties.”
“Why did you do that?” I asked, more than eager for some Gammy McCallister lore.
“You see, my husband had passed about four years earlier, and there was so much of him just hovering around my old pa?—”
“Family,” Claudia corrected.
“Right. But then I met Declan and decided to marry into the McCallister p?—”
“Family.”
“That’s what I’m saying!” Gammy McCallister gave me alook.I chuckled and nodded along. I got that Claudia wanted to participate in the conversation, but it would be nice if she stopped interrupting. “Anyway, married here and been here ever since. Just no one expected me to stick around this long.”
“It’s a pleasant surprise, I’m sure,” I said, reaching for my juice. It was empty. Bummer.
“Depends on who you ask. But I’d like to think I’m one of the biggest influences to encourage Cas’s pappy to challenge the previous al?—”
“Patriarch.”
“Yes, thank you, Claudia. Anyway, helped challenge that old man so he’d stop gambling off so much of our land. Lost nearly half of it to the fairies! Greedy buggers.”
I had been vibing so hard and really enjoying myself, that it took a couple of beats for her words to sink in. I knew Gammy was older, that much was obvious, but I hadn’t quite expected that terminology from her.
“Uhhh, I don’t think gay people as a whole are responsible for buying up your land,” I said cautiously, trying to go through her story mentally in my head to see if I’d missed some context.
“Oh, that’s more of that old-fashioned slang for lawyers,” Claudia corrected. She sounded exasperated. “We don’t have anything against gay folks, promise.”
“Huh? Why would I?” Gammy said, her voice raising even louder. “We’ve got plenty of gay people of our own! Declan’s brother and his partner grow the best lavender in our community.” Her cloudy eyes went wide for a moment. “Don’t tell Rebecca I said that. She’ll get awful jealous. She does love her lavender.”
“She does,” Claudia agreed before giving me a rueful of smile. Why did it feel like everything they said had a different meaning? It was draining my social battery despite all the fun I was having. “Just remember, Gammy, our friend Feliciaisn’t from around here.”
Wait, was she trying to subtly remind Gammy that I was Asian and possibly an immigrant? No, no, no. Everyone had been so nice. Not a single person had asked “where are youreallyfrom?” since I’d arrived, so the least I could do was give them the benefit of the doubt. Normally, I would ask at least a couple of questions to clarify and perhaps open up an opportunity for dialogue, but eh. It wasn’t like I’d ever see these lovely people again.
I hadn’t expected the wave of sadness to hit me at the thought. Huh. How utterly bizarre. Yeah, the people were lovely, and the food was great, but they were my client’s family. Unless any of them came to my bakery, we wouldn’t interact again.
