Page 6 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
“Theo, if you’re finished, can you man the front?” she asked.
“Of course.” He nodded, drying his hands.
“Thanks.” She walked up to the sink to wash her handsand, as she did, she looked at his face closely. “Everything okay? You look a little stressed.”
“Yeah, just a little tired,” he said, trying to give her a smile. “It was Saphira’s engagement party last night, so we got back late.”
“Oh, yes, you told me about that!” Suki looked excited. “Do you have any pictures? I want to see how handsome you look.”
Some of the tension left Theo’s shoulders, and he pulled out his phone from his back pocket. Suki was his boss, but he was fond of her in the way literature lovers were fond of their English teachers: with respect and reverence. Not only was she an exceptional baker, but she was an exceptional person.
Two years ago, she had given him a chance when she had no reason to. He hadn’t trained at culinary school; he had a business degree and had only done a few culinary courses. And not only that, but she had allowed him to bake his own fusion desserts for the Baby Dragon Cafe, trusting him not to sully her good name as everyone knew the Baby Dragon sourced their baked items from the Rolling Pin.
“Oh, you look wonderful!” Suki exclaimed, zooming in on the photos. She zoomed out; it was a picture of him and Lavinia, and the sight of her in that satin dress made heat flush through him once more. “Lavinia looks gorgeous, as well.”
“Thanks, Suki,” he said. She handed him back his phone, and he stuck it in his front pocket. She gave him a fond smile as he headed out of the kitchen toward the front of the bakery.
The day was almost over, but soon there would be a rush of people picking up things for the evening. Theo’s eyes strayed to the shelves and shelves of croissants, buns, loaves of bread, pastries, donuts, and more sweets—the sight of whichused to make him so excited, but lately made him feel so . . . uninterested.
He still came to work every day, but it wasn’t with the same enthusiasm he used to. The only thing he really looked forward to was baking the desi-fusion desserts he made biweekly for Saphira’s Baby Dragon Cafe, which stood a few shops down on Main Street. A needle of guilt pricked him then, and he glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the kitchen, to Suki.
Theo rolled his shoulders, pushing away his thoughts. He was probably just in a funk; that’s what Lavinia had said when he’d spoken to her about it a few days ago.
He was sure he would feel passionate about the Rolling Pin again. He had to. He couldn’t disappoint Suki.
Since it was quiet out front, Theo reached into his front pocket to check his phone for the time. As he did, he felt something else. Theo pulled out the soft fabric and recognized it immediately: Lavinia’s scrunchie.
She was always leaving her stuff at his place or in his car or in his sweatshirts, and he was long used to it. Yesterday had been no different. She had left the scrunchie in his car, and he’d put it in his pocket this morning to give to her whenever he saw her.
He would pop over to the Baby Dragon once he was finished at the Rolling Pin; she was working there today.
Theo held the scrunchie in his hand; as he did, he caught the faint scent of her shampoo, which smelled like coffee. She always smelled like coffee and caramel, from either working in the cafe or from drinking too much of it, strong and sweet. It was a familiar, comforting scent for him, like the scent of dough.
The front door dinged, and Theo’s gaze snapped up as he quickly pocketed the scrunchie. And good thing, too, for the person who had entered the bakery was always so perceptive.
“Hiya, Saph,” Theo said, smiling at Saphira. She was wearing a dress with singe marks on the hem, and he knew the damage must surely have been caused by the mischievous baby dragons at her cafe.
“Hey, Theo, how’s it going?” Saphira asked, coming up to the counter. She was practically floating.
“Same old,” Theo replied with a shrug. “What’s it like being officially engaged?”
Saphira smiled. “Well, Aiden did propose a few months ago, and the party was mostly just a formality for his family, butofficiallyofficially—it is as fun as it was yesterday, and every day before.” She giggled. She was so giddy it made Theo’s heart warm.
“What can I get you?” he asked. “And where’s Spark?”
She was hardly ever without Sparky, her baby dragon. Sparky was a basalta dragon. He had originally belonged to Aiden, who was hopeless with dragons, so Aiden had hired Saphira to train Sparky. The two had promptly fallen in love and now shared custody.
Saphira pouted. “My golu-molu is waiting outside,” she said. “He’s getting big, so I’m trying to train him not to come into the little shops with me anymore.”
The bakery was more of a grab-and-go place than somewhere to sit and linger—unlike the Baby Dragon Cafe—and as such was pretty small; not big enough for any pets larger than newborns under four months.
“Big?” Theo repeated, shocked. “I remember when he wastiny enough to fit in your lap!” Sparky had been a mischievous baby, but he was so cute, he could get away with anything.
“He’s turningtwoin October!”
“That is wild. Time flies.” It was the sort of thing adults said, and he’d never understood it as a kid, but more and more, he was realizing how true it was. He’d been at the Rolling Pin for over two years now, but it didn’t feel as if he had accomplished much. Twenty-four used to seem like such a grown age, but now that he was here, he felt the same as he always had, which scared him.
“I know!Anyway. I am here for some focaccia,” Saphira said, looking at the bread selection. “The one with the most vegetables, please. I’m supposed to be making dinner tonight. I’m going to pretend I made this, and Aiden is going to be so impressed with me he’ll fall in love all over again.”
