He laughed back, but his pulse was racing. “Hey, I’ll work for those wages any day,” he told her, and then he had to turn away. There was a longing welling up in him. He’d felt it before and he knew what it was.
He’d been yearning for Jill since the day he met her. His own background and emotional hiccups had worked against him letting her know over that first year, and by the time he actually knew what he wanted, Brad had taken over, and it was too late.
“What kind of glaze are we putting on these last cakes?” he asked her.
Jill didn’t answer right away. She’d seen the look that had come over his face, noticed his reaction to her friendly kiss. For some reason, her heart was beating in a crazy way she wasn’t used to.
“Those get a rum caramel with roasted chopped pecans sprinkled on top,” she said at last.
They worked on it together, but there was a new feeling between them, a sort of sense of connection, that hadn’t been there before. And she had to admit, she rather liked it.
He took out the last deliveries and stopped to pick up a pizza on his way home. She had the boys dried and put into their pajamas by then. They got their own special meals and then were put into the playroom to play quietly and get ready for bed. Jill set out the pizza on the kitchen table and she and Connor ate ravenously.
“Wow,” he said with a groan. “What a day. I’ve worked in a lot of places, but I’ve never been put through the wringer like I was today.”
“You did great,” she responded. “I couldn’t have met the deadlines without you.”
He sighed. “What’s the outlook for tomorrow?”
Tomorrow? She hadn’t allowed herself to think that far ahead. Was he going to leave tonight? She didn’t think so. He didn’t seem to be making any of the pertinent preparations. And if he stayed tonight, what about tomorrow? Would he stay then, too? Should she let him?
“Just a couple of orders,” she said. “And then, for the rest of the week, not a thing.”
“Oh.” He looked at her with a guilty grimace. “Uh, maybe you’d better take a look at some of the orders I took over the phone today. I wrote them down somewhere.”
That started a mad scramble to locate the paper he’d written them down on.
“I have to set up a system,” she muttered once they’d found it. “What if you’d gone and never told me about these?”
Gone? Where was he going?
Their gazes met and the question was there and neither of them wanted to answer it.
She looked at him, at his handsome face, his strong shoulders, and she felt a wave of affection. There was no one else she would have rather spent this day with. It had to be him.
She stopped in front of him and smiled, putting a hand flat on his chest. “Thank you,” she said solemnly. “I can never stop thanking you enough. You really did make the difference today.”
He didn’t smile, but there was a dark, cloudy look in his eyes and he put his own hand over hers. “I wish I could do more,” he said, and she could have sworn his voice cracked a little.
She shook her head, wishing she had the right to kiss him the way you would a lover. “You saved me from the nightmares,” she murmured.
He frowned. “What nightmares.”
She shrugged, wishing she hadn’t brought it up. “Sometimes I have this dream where I’m all alone on an island that’s being attacked by huge black birds. They look sort of like vultures. They peck away at me. I run and run and they swoop down. Every time I turn to fight one off, others attack from behind me.” She shuddered.
His hand tightened over hers. “Bummer.”
She tried to smile but her lips were trembling. “No kidding.”
“Hey.” He leaned forward and dropped a soft kiss on her mouth. “I had a dream about birds last night, too. Only my dream was about a beautiful huge white bird with lacy wings. I was desperately trying to catch her. And you know what? That bird was you.”
She smiled, enchanted, and he kissed her again. “Connor,” she whispered warningly, trying to draw back, and a shout from one of the boys gave her statement emphasis. He straightened and watched as she left him.
* * *
They both went up to put the boys to bed.
“They’re just going to climb out of these cribs again,” Connor whispered to her.
“Shh. Don’t remind them of the possibilities.”
They covered the boys and turned out the lights and left, hoping for the best.
“How about a glass of wine?” he asked her.
She hesitated, knowing it would put her right to sleep. “I’d better not,” she said. “But you go ahead.”
The phone rang. She sighed. She was completely exhausted and ready to go to bed early and try to recoup. Hopefully this wasn’t one of her friends asking about the date last night. She’d already ignored a couple of those calls on her cell. And if it was an order for a cake, she only hoped she would be able to get the facts straight.
“Hello?” she said, stifling a yawn. “Jill’s Cakes.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” said the lady on the other end of the line. “You’re there. Now please, please don’t tell me you’re closed for the night.”
Jill frowned. What the heck did that mean? Was it someone at the engagement party who thought some of their order was missing? Or something different? “Well, uh, we’re here and cleaning up but our workday is pretty much over. Was there something you needed?”
“Oh, Jill, this is Madeline Green,” she responded in a voice that could summon cows. “You know me from the church choir.”
“Of course.” She pulled the phone a bit away from her ear and glanced up at Connor who had come close and was listening. She gave him a shrug. “Nice to hear from you, Madeline.”
“Honey, listen. I’m here at the Elks lodge. We’ve had a disaster. Our caterer has failed us. We have one hundred and two people here for dinner and we have no dessert.”
“Oh.” No. Her brain was saying, “No!” Her body was saying, “No!” “I see. Uh....maybe you should go out and buy some ice cream.”
“Impossible. We have to have a special dessert. It’s traditional. People expect it. This is Old Timers’ Night. Some only come to this annual award dinner because of the fancy desserts we usually serve. It’s everyone’s favorite part.”
“But you had some ordered?”
“Oh, yes. They never showed up. The caterer disavows all knowledge of what the pastry chef was up to. He washes his hands of it entirely.”
“I see.” Her brain was still shrieking, “No!”
“Have you tried the Swedish bakery?”
“They’re closed. In fact, everyone is closed. You’re our only hope.”
Jill blinked. “So you called everyone else first?”
“Well...”
“Never mind.” She made a face, but the lady couldn’t see it. She took a deep breath. “Madeline, I’m afraid we just can’t...”
Suddenly she was aware that Connor had grabbed her upper arm and was shaking her gently.
“Say ‘yes,’” he hissed at her intensely.
“What?” she mouthed back, covering the receiver with her hand. “Why?”
“Say