Page 24 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
“The stars are aligning!” Lavinia told him. “Operation Calahan is working!”
It was just as she had imagined; maybe she had manifested this. Actually—maybe she and Calahan were meant to be? Everything was working out—and on a quicker timeline than she had originally accounted for! That had to be a sign.
Theo grunted in response, and she furrowed her eyebrows at him. He was so quiet. She wondered if he had had a phone call with his parents. She knew that he had a difficult relationship with them—a horrible one. She didn’t hate many people, but she did hate his parents. They always made Theo so sad.
“Hel-lo,” she said, waving a hand in front of Theo’s face. “Earth to Theo.”
He blinked. “Hm?”
“No reaction?”
He ran a hand through his wavy locks. “Dinner?” he said, eyebrows furrowed. “Isn’t that, like, a lot? So soon?”
Now it was her turn to furrow her eyebrows at him. “No?”
He huffed. If she didn’t know any better, she would even say he seemed annoyed. But what did he have to be annoyed about?
“Did we have something planned for tonight that I forgot about?” she asked. He blinked, the irritation washing away from his face.
“No,” he replied. He scratched the back of his neck. “I was going to say we could go to the town movie together but . . .” He trailed off.
“Oh.” They had been to loads of town movie nights together. “Rain check?” she asked.
“Yeah, fine,” he mumbled.
“Oookay.”
He was being moody, that was all. She would ask him about it later; at the moment, he didn’t seem too keen to discuss anything.
“Anyway. You got off work early?” she asked. He nodded. “Did you want me to make you something?”
He shrugged. “I don’t really want anything anymore.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Let me get you some chai.”
Maybe he just needed a little cozy drink to soften his mood. She went to the kitchen and made him a cup, then brought it out in a mug, handing it to him. He sat down at the bar and took a sip. She got busy with other customers while he pensively drank his chai, and when he was about halfway done, the dark cloud over his head seemed to have vanished.
Now, he just looked tired. “Was work okay?” she asked.
“Yeah . . .” He trailed off, rubbing a hand over his face. “I don’t know.” He sighed.
“You’re still feeling like you don’t enjoy it anymore?” Lavinia asked. He had mentioned it to her last week, and then again on Sunday during dinner at her place. She could sense that he was still figuring out how he felt, so she didn’t want to push or pry,but she did want to be here for him if he wanted to talk to her about it.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” he replied. “I love baking. I love working for Suki. So why am I not happy?”
Lavinia thought about it. “Maybe you need a change of scenery?” she suggested. That only seemed to stress him out further.
“But I could never leave the Rolling Pin,” he said. “Not after Suki took a chance on me. Besides, I wouldn’t even know what to do if I did leave the bakery. I just . . .” He broke off, exasperated. Lavinia frowned. She hated seeing him like this.
“Do you want me to cancel with Calahan?” she asked. She would feel bad, but Theo was her priority. “We can do something together.”
Theo’s face brightened—then immediately darkened. “No, don’t,” he said, voice quiet. “I-I hope you have fun tonight.” He forced a smile.
She beamed. “Thanks.”
“Can I get a cookie?” he asked, and she got one out of the display case for him.
His phone was on the counter, so she tapped the screen to check the time. His background was a photo of both of them, and above that, she saw the time. The cafe would close in ten minutes, then Calahan would come to the front to help her with closing up.
