Susan Mallery - Sweet Trouble

When Gabe ran off to look out the big window, she turned to Matt.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Fine.”

He looked comfortable enough, stretched out on his side on the rug, his head propped on his hand.

“Is he less scary or are you faking it better?” she asked.

“I’ve been doing some reading online. On his age group. What they like, where they are developmentally.”

Did that mean he was starting to see Gabe as a person and his son? Was it too soon for that? Before she could figure out a way to ask, Gabe returned to her side and threw himself on her.

“I love you, Mommy,” he said as he landed on her stomach.

She rolled, taking him with her, landing with him on his back. All the easier to tickle him. “I love you, too,” she said as she wiggled her fingers against his side.

He shrieked with laughter and rolled closer. She laughed, too, then pulled him against her. They hugged and she breathed in the little-boy scent of him.

Her heart kept growing and growing, she thought. It had to be getting bigger, otherwise it couldn’t possibly hold all the love she felt for her son.

She turned and saw Matt had sat up. He was a little apart from them, looking slightly tense and out of place. There was something in his eyes, an emotion she couldn’t read. Guilt? Concern? Then he blinked and it was gone.

Without warning, Gabe lunged for Matt’s foot. He grabbed it and tickled. Matt pulled back so fast, he nearly tumbled over. Gabe’s mouth fell open.

“Mommy, he’s ticklish!”

Apparently, the news was nearly as exciting as the inside rain had been. A grown man who was ticklish? Was it possible?

Gabe lunged for him. Matt held out his arm, even as he continued to move back. “Wait a second. This isn’t a good idea, Gabe. Tickling someone can be dangerous business.”

Gabe wasn’t listening and Jesse couldn’t decide if she should intervene or not. She kind of liked the idea of Matt less than in charge and maybe on the run. When her son grabbed at Matt’s toes, Matt scrambled to his feet.

“Who wants brownies?” he asked. “I stopped by the bakery and picked up some.”

Jesse stood and pulled Gabe into her arms. They all went into the kitchen.

“I got both kinds,” Matt was saying as he opened a familiar Keyes Bakery box. “Gabe, would you like milk with yours?”

“Yes, please.”

“Jesse?”

He was acting so casual, she thought, feeling a little wicked. As if nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t scrambled away like a little girl. She made a clucking sound.

He looked at her. “Are you all right?”

She clucked again. “Chick, chick, chicken.”

His gaze narrowed. “I’m not a chicken. I have strong reflexes. I didn’t want to risk hurting Gabe by accidentally kicking him.”

“Uh-huh. You’re ticklish and you didn’t want him touching your feet.”

“It’s about reflexes.”

She clucked again.

Without warning, he grabbed her arm, hauled her against him and stared into her face. His mouth was inches from hers. Heat burned everywhere they touched and wanting exploded.

“Say that again,” he instructed, his voice low and very much in control.

“Are you daring me?” she asked, a little breathless.

“Absolutely.”

“Can I have my brownie now?” Gabe asked, tugging on her shirt.

Reality crashed into her. She pulled back from Matt, who seemed to let her go just as quickly.

“Sure, honey,” she said, picking him up and putting him on one of the tall seats by the high counter. “Without walnuts, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You want milk with that, right?”

They worked in the kitchen, getting Gabe settled. Jesse asked Matt where the napkins were. He moved Gabe’s chair closer to the counter. They acted as if nothing had happened, although she was desperately aware of every move he made.

Her body ached with need. She wanted-

Her cell phone rang.

She grabbed her purse and pulled it out. The number was local, but unfamiliar.

“Hello?”

“Jesse? It’s Claire. You have to get down here right away.” Claire sounded frantic.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“It’s the bakery. Oh, God, I can’t believe it.”

There were noises in the background. Loud noises and screams.

“What do you mean? What happened?”

“There’s a fire. It’s all on fire.”

JESSE STOOD WITH HER sisters in front of the still-smoldering ruins of what had once been the Keyes Bakery. Most of the flames had been put out but the smell of smoke lingered in the air.

Over the past few hours, the building had been reduced to a pile of rubble. Nothing had been saved. When Jesse had arrived, flames had climbed toward the sky, like some frightening form of entertainment. The heat had kept them back. Now there was nothing but embers and ashes.

“I can’t believe it’s gone,” Nicole whispered, sounding as stunned as Jesse felt. “Just like that.”

Claire stood between them, her arms linked with theirs. “No one was hurt. That’s the most important thing. The rest is just stuff and can be replaced.”

Jesse didn’t bother fighting the tears that flowed down her face. “Good Morning America isn’t going to be coming out now,” she said. “There’s not much of a story.”

Small business destroyed by fire. Who cared about that?

“It’s not the end of the world,” Nicole said. “We can fix this. We have insurance. We’ll rebuild. It will just take some time.”

Jesse didn’t say anything. What was the point? She’d come back to Seattle to prove something. She’d given herself six months to make her point-that she could be a viable part of the business, that she could make a difference. But with the bakery shut down, that was impossible.

“What are you going to do until then?” Claire asked.

“I don’t know,” Nicole admitted. “Oversee the building.”

It was the death of her dream, Jesse thought sadly. She would have to go back to Spokane and pick up her quiet life working in a bar. She would never get the chance to show that she had good ideas and could make a difference. She was-

“We can rent a kitchen,” she said without thinking. “We’d have to cut down on some of the items, but not all of them. We can get the word out about the location. And we can use this time to go live on the Internet. The CDs with all the programming and information is at Paula’s house. I could find a server in the morning. It wouldn’t take long. Then we would still have most of the business during the reconstruction.”

Nicole shook her head. “It would never work. Jesse, I know you keep pushing this, but it’s not possible. This isn’t the right time. You can’t ship baked goods across the country. They won’t pack well and even if you’ve solved that problem, they’ll be stale when they arrive.”

“Not if we use overnight shipping.”

“No one’s going to pay for that.”

“How do you know?”

Nicole pulled free of Claire and turned on Jesse. “Maybe in your pretend world at community college they will. But not out here. No one is going to spend all that money to get brownies or a cake to Cleveland.”

“You don’t know that,” Jesse said, frustrated by Nicole’s constant refusal to admit her plan could work. “I did a lot of research and it wasn’t in the pretend world. I checked out how other companies with delicate products did it. Yes, having to pay overnight will cut into sales, but it won’t eliminate all of them. The start-up costs are so minimal, it’s crazy not to try.”

“I have spent years in this business,” Nicole snapped. “I know my customers.”

“You know the people who come into your store. You don’t know the rest of the country and I don’t know why you won’t consider the possibility. There is more to life than just what you see.”

“I’m aware of that,” Nicole said through obviously clenched teeth. “But what you want is impossible.”

“Because you say it is. You won’t even try.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Claire said as she released both of them. She stepped in front, then turned to face them. “No more fighting. Not tonight. We’ve been through enough as it is.” She looked at Nicole. “It’s going to take a while to get everything figured out. The cause of the fire, designs for a new place, construction. We’re talking months, maybe a couple of years. I don’t know. In the meantime, you have employees. Are you going to let them go?”

Nicole shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s all too much right now.”

“I agree,” Claire said. “But Jesse’s right. A rented kitchen is a fast way to get going and there isn’t much in the way of start-up costs. The same with the Internet sales. If she has a Web site ready to go, we only have to deal with hosting. That won’t cost much. So what if the sales aren’t spectacular? There will be some and at the very least, you can keep a few employees on.”

Nicole sighed. “You’re right.”

“I know. As to the rest of the business, what about selling to restaurants locally? Have you ever looked at that market? Between the cake and the brownies, you should be able to generate some interest.”

Jesse glanced at Claire. “Restaurants? I never thought of that.”

“Me, either,” Nicole admitted.

“I am so much more than a pretty face,” Claire told them. “You need to remember that.”

That made Jesse smile.

Nicole laughed. “Fair enough. We’ll start by finding a kitchen to rent and get the Internet site up and running. I need to call everyone and let them know what’s happened. What time is it?”

Jesse glanced at her watch. “Nearly three.”

“Sid will be getting here soon.” Nicole sighed. “This is going to be hard for all of us.”

Jesse didn’t say anything. While she was pleased that Nicole had finally come around, she resented that her sister would consider the idea of a rented kitchen when Claire mentioned it, but not when she, Jesse, did.