Page 33 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
Was she reaching? Or was that a possibility?
“What’s up, gudiya?” Beena asked. Lavinia shook her head, clearing her thoughts.
“What do you mean?” Lavinia asked, twisting to look back at her mother.
“You’ve been sighing all day,” Beena replied. Lavinia felt her face fall. She couldn’t hide anything from her mother, and she couldn’t talk about this with anyone, so maybe Beena was the right person to talk to.
“I thought I had feelings for Theo,” she said. Saying the words out loud made her feel humiliated by his rejection all over again. She swallowed hard. “But he wasn’t interested in me—at least, that’s what I thought. Now? I don’t know.” She threw her hands up. “I just don’t know. What to do, or what’s right, or what will happen.” If she knew how things would play out—how the story would end—she could act accordingly.
Beena was quiet, and Lavinia could feel her mother thinking. She got up off the floor and joined Beena on the couch, sitting with her legs up so she could face her. Beena played with the end of her braid, a pensive expression on her face.
“What you and Theo have is extraordinary,” Beena finally said. “It’s special and rare—you should protect that as much as you can.” She paused. “It seems like you’re a bit confused, and it’s best not to do anything you’re not certain about.”
“Right,” Lavinia said, disappointment spreading through her. “No, of course. Yes.”
She swallowed, and Beena released a long breath. “Aren’t you seeing someone right now? That boy from the cafe? Calahan, right? I thought that was going well.”
“No, it is.” She ignored the pit in her stomach. “It absolutely is.” She forced a smile, shaking her head. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
And she didn’t, truly. She wanted things to work out with Calahan—she needed them to, or there would be no hope at all—and for that to happen, she needed to stop being delusional and selfish, wanting things that couldn’t be.
She needed to be responsible.
Chapter 13
Lavinia was keeping her chin up. It was full steam ahead on Operation Calahan, and she was positive everything would continue to work out, so long as she did not sabotage herself.
They had a pottery date tonight but, before that, she was meeting Theo for coffee at the cafe after they both got off work. She felt as if she hadn’t seen him much lately and had texted him to meet her, which he had immediately agreed to. He seemed so busy recently, and whenever he was free, she was busy, and vice versa.
She missed him the way she would miss her morning coffee.
When she finished up at the Animal Hospital, she said goodbye to Dr. Quan. Theo was already waiting for her outside. His brown hair was messy from the wind, and he was wearing a forest green shirt-jacket.
“We match!” Lavinia said, pointing to the forest green overalls she was wearing over a long-sleeve ribbed crop top. She fell into line with him and they started walking.
“Copycat,” he said. She bumped his hip with hers, and he stumbled. She giggled, and they continued walking.
She loved living in a walkable small town with such a great Main Street, filled with places like the live theater, the stationery store, the pizza parlor, the florist, and more. Theo was a foot taller than her, but he knew to take shorter strides when they walked together, so she didn’t have to run to keep up. They walked at a leisurely pace, enjoying the crisp autumn air, the warm sun, and the sharp breeze.
She had gotten used to his height now, but at first, it was jarring. They used to be the same height, until the summer they were sixteen. Then, every day it seemed like he was growing taller and taller. He didn’t believe her when she told him that; he felt the same as always. She started measuring him every time she saw him, using marks on the back of her bedroom door to keep track, and those had proved her point.
Things changed even when you didn’t notice.
They walked over to the Baby Dragon, which smelled like coffee, heavenly. She caught the waft of warm brown sugar and cinnamon, autumnal scents. The cafe was mostly full, and baby dragons ate little snacks from their position on the floor by their owners’ feet, or they slept up on bed nooks. A few were even in their owners’ laps. She thought of Biter, missing the little draggo.
The cafe used to be a bit more chaotic during the early days, but now things were more harmonious as the patrons and their dragons adjusted to the cafe’s space and knew how to behave. Lavinia loved coming here, again and again.
They went to the front to order, and Lavinia spotted a new detail above the display shelves. She grabbed Theo’s arm. “Look!”
There was a new sign in the same font as the cafe’s logo,except it saidThe Baby Dragon Bakeryand had an illustration of a cupcake with wings. “Wait, I need a picture of you with this.” She grabbed his shoulders and, despite Theo’s protests, made him stand next to the sign and display cases. Lavinia pulled out her phone.
Theo gave her a toothy grin and two thumbs-up, and she snapped the picture. “Perfect.” She immediately sent it to her mom, who replied back with about fifty heart eyes. Lavinia snorted, showing Theo, and he smiled, pleased.
They both ordered karak chai, as well as the new fusion recipe that Theo had made. It was ras malai tiramisu, and there were only a few orders left. Lavinia was interested to try it out, so she ordered that, while Theo got a maple spiced butter cookie.
Having picked up their orders, they sat down on a table by the exposed stone wall, a candle flickering between them beside a vase of yellow sunflowers.
Lavinia took a pensive sip of her chai, then inspected her dessert. “You know, this really feels like a stretch to me,” Lavinia said. “Ras malai tiramisu?”
