Page 63 of Perfect Pairing
Both of them stared at me expectantly, clearly anticipating my rejection. Ezra had curled his shoulders inward, as thoughprotecting himself from the blow he thought I’d deal.
But that wasn’t my style. The only one of us who handed out rejections was him.
Unfortunately, Delia knew me better than that, knew I’d never turn down someone in need—even if they were my ex…whateverwho had broken my heart.
“No, no,” I said at last, waving my hand. “It’s fine. You’re more than welcome to use the bakery.”
Ezra’s eyes widened, a smile halfway unfurling before he bit down on it, offering me a closed-lipped one instead.
“Thank you, Brie. I’ll…text you to sort out the details.”
I blinked in surprise, shocked he hadn’t immediately deleted my number in the aftermath of our ill-fated fling. I wondered if he’d held onto our text thread as well. I had, and in my weakest moments—usually several glasses of wine deep—I’d scroll through them. Torturing myself with how happy I’d been during those months.
Before I could say anything else, my sister was saying goodbye and rising out of her chair, power walking into the winery and down the hall toward the parking lot.
She had another thing coming if she thought I was letting her get away that easily.
After a quick apology to Ezra for running off, I raced behind her.
“Delia!”
She stopped quickly and turned to me, her arms folded over her chest, feigning innocence.
“Yes, baby sister?” she asked, tone saccharine.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Delia stepped back, eyes widening in shock. Irarelyswore, and the fact that I did now showed how upset I was.
Quickly regaining her composure, Delia said, “Do you want the short answer or…”
I huffed out a laugh, equal parts amused and irritated. “What were you playing at back there?”
“Remember last Memorial Day when I forced Amara and Cal into making out in front of all of us with that dare?”
“Yes…”
She shrugged. “This is your dare.”
Dumbstruck, I watched in silence as she pushed outside. Fuming, I returned to the patio to gather my things, grateful Ezra had already disappeared.
If Delia thought her meddling would accomplish the same for me as it had for Amara and Cal, she was delusional.
I stewed the whole way back into town, though my mood lightened significantly when I stepped foot inside my bakery and wrapped myself in the soothing scents of pastries.
“Hey, Bee!” Celia said brightly as I walked through the door, instantly putting a smile on my face.
Celia was one of three Brie’s Bakery employees in addition to myself. The operation wasn’t that big, so during the slower months, I tended to either run the shop alone or have one other helper. Celia was a student at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, and she’d been working for me since she began there three years before. I honestly wasn’t sure what I’d do in the spring when she graduated and inevitably left me, but that was a problem for Future Brie.
“Hey, Cee!” I parroted back, and we devolved into a fit ofgiggles like we normally did. “How has the morning been?”
“Steady,” she said, gesturing to the empty shelves behind the counter. “But you’re going to have to make more take-and-bake mixes, because, as you can see, we sold out.”
Internally, I lit up like the Fourth of July, but outwardly, I only gave Celia a broad smile.
The take-and-bake mixes had been one of my more ingenious ideas, aided by Delia and some social media strategies we were working on one night in the early days of the bakery. The first two months had been nothing short of madness as the summer traffic to the area kept me so busy, I barely had time to leave the building. But once fall rolled around and things cooled off—both figuratively and literally—I began thinking of ways I could keep the lights on in the cold winter months. As the marketing whiz kid in the family, Delia had been helping me with my Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest accounts. When she pointed out that people frequently commented about their desires to live closer so they could try my treats—particularly my scones—I pitched the idea of creating premade dry mixes customers could purchase and make at home.
A month later, and with the help of Amara this time, I had an online store up and running. As soon as I announced it on my socials, the orders began pouring in, and I quickly realized I didn’t have enough product on hand to satisfy them all. My sisters, Mom, and I spent an entire weekend filling as many orders as we could.
