Shades Of Chocolate (The Bakery Romance Series Book 2) Page 3

  She smiled. “Hi, Jason.”

  He nodded. “Hi, Ms. Clara.”

  His father cleared his throat. “Jason, I’m so glad you seem to be taking this so well.”

  “What?” He blinked, trying to clear the confusion muddling his brain.

  “About me and Ms. Clara.”

  Jason blinked again. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. He spotted their joined hands, hoping he wouldn’t get sick.

  Curse words from his earlier days filled his mind. Lord, help me.

  His dad yelled. “Trina didn’t call and tell you? She should’ve told you yesterday.”

  He gritted his teeth, turned away from the screen.

  Ms. Clara sighed. “Larry, he doesn’t know.”

  “Clara and I are dating,” Dad announced.

  Jason couldn’t take this anymore. He ended the Facetime session, shoved his phone into his pocket. Lord, help me.

  His dad involved with Ms. Clara? The thought sickened him, made him want to puke. His mom just died and now…how long had this been going on? Had his father started dating Ms. Clara while his mom was still living? He pulled out his phone, called his sister Trina.

  “What do you want Jason?” She sounded irritated.

  “Why didn’t you tell me that Dad was dating Ms. Clara?”

  “I was supposed to call you about it yesterday, but I forgot.”

  “How could you forget something like that?”

  “Antoine got in trouble at school. I’ve been having problems with him lately.” Voices echoed in the background. “I have to go.” She ended the call.

  He balled his hands into fists. He needed to punch something, anything, work off this nauseous anger roiling inside of him. He pulled on his sweatpants and sweatshirt, slipped his wallet, keys and phone into his pocket. He stepped outside. The late spring air snapped with coldness. His breath raised in white puffs of air while he exercised. Taking deep breaths, he dashed down the streets of Blue Spring, his heart pounding.

  When he rounded a corner, thoughts of his father’s romantic relationship swirled through his mind. Although he’d never gotten along with his dad, he’d always been sure of one thing–Larry Matthews had always been faithful to their mother. Now it appeared that may not have been true. He sniffed, barely paying attention to his surroundings, his legs pumping. A sign at the edge of the road stated, WELCOME TO BLUE SPRING, MARYLAND, POPULATION 2,000. Teenagers darted into the street. One young girl stopped, blatantly staring at him.

  He rounded a corner, passing a woman pushing her baby in a stroller. Later, he passed a man sitting on a bench smoking a cigar. He passed one supermarket, and a lone worker locked the doors. He passed a thrift store, a beauty parlor, a drug store, and a clothing boutique. A brick one-story building served as the local high school. The town’s only coffee shop remained open, and people lingered inside. A small bookstore adjoined the coffee shop, but its doors were closed. He took inventory of the town, scoping the surroundings. He really needed to do something to get his mind off of his father’s relationship with Ms. Clara.

  Ms. Clara had always attended family events, birthdays, graduations. Had his dad been seeing her for decades? Had he always cheated on his mom with her best friend? He rounded the corner, spotting Shades of Chocolate. A small red brick building, it stood alone, separated from the other businesses on the street. He stopped running, paced. He’d circled the entire town, and right now he needed to rest. His heart pounded. He leaned against the lamppost.

  He forced himself to study Toni’s bakery. A profusion of rose bushes blossomed at the side of the building, bringing attention to the unique calligraphy sign painted on the window. A street lamp beamed down onto the patch of lawn. Yellow tulips sprouted around the sides of the building. He examined the second-story window. The lights were on, and a shadow passed the closed curtain.

  For the short time he’d been in Toni’s bakery, he’d forgotten all about his problems with his father. A middle-aged woman approached, a huge purse slung over her arm. Her tattered clothes and scuffed shoes made him pause. Her short brown hair was chopped off at an angle, and freckles sprinkled her white skin. She narrowed her eyes, coming right up to him. “What are you doing here?”

  “Excuse me?” He glanced at the strange woman, suddenly realizing she wasn’t in her right state of mind. She appeared harmless, so he figured it wouldn’t be right for him to be rude.

  “Shades of Chocolate is not open now. You’ll have to come back in the morning. Toni opens at six o’clock.” After she’d said those words, she shuffled down the street, humming.

  Weird. He needed to ask Toni about this lady tomorrow. A mother strolled by with her screaming child. The curtain in the upstairs room of the bakery parted. Jason ran away, not wanting to be caught staring.

  Chapter 6

  Toni rushed from table to table, filling coffee cups. She stopped, took a deep breath, before moving behind the counter to serve the line of patiently waiting customers. She eyed the huge sea of customers filling her establishment. She loved the extra business, but she really needed some help. She’d barely slept the night before, and now she just didn’t have the energy to serve this crowd.

  Apparently, Sheila’s church was the host congregation for an area-wide revival this week. Toni had not realized that a church revival would bring such an increase in customers.

  Noise resonated throughout the bakery. Well-dressed women and men occupied the small tables, drinking hot coffee and cups of fragrant tea. She’d served most of the chocolate cream donuts she’d made that morning. She eyed the display case, noting that her glazed donuts were almost gone. She’d also served several slices of her chocolate crumb coffee cake. If she didn’t put some more goods into the oven, she’d run out of food soon.

  She surveyed the crowd. How could her business spin so much out of control before nine a.m.?

  Her assistant, Cathy, had been early for work. Nothing out of the ordinary about that. She often showed up about four-thirty. But today she brought disturbing news. Her daughter and son-in-law had been involved in a serious car accident the night before. They were in the hospital. Already packed, Cathy had to leave town hoped to arrive at their home in Virginia before noon.

  “I’m sorry to do this to you, Toni,” she’d said. “And I can’t even tell how long I’ll be gone. I think you’d better plan on a couple of weeks at least. I’ll call you tomorrow night. I should know more by then.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine,” Toni had been quick to respond. But now she wasn’t so sure.

  When she rang up an order for a dozen éclairs, the bell on the door jingled again. Glancing up, she spotted Jason walking in. Her heart skipped when he gave her a small smile, granting her a peek of his perfect white teeth. His red-rimmed honey-colored eyes drooped with apparent fatigue. It seemed like he didn’t get a good night’s sleep at Ms. Dukes’s. She just didn’t have the energy to return his smile. She also had no time to wonder why it appeared as if he’d been up half the night. Her eyes swept around the shop. Most of the customers sitting at the tables needed coffee refills. No way could she get to them until the line at the counter had shortened.

  “Toni, did you need some help?” a deep voice asked from behind her. Startled, she turned to see Jason standing behind the counter with her. Since she’d been working in this bakery, even from her teenage years, she’d never had a customer to boldly come behind the counter and offer to help. Jason acted like he belonged here in the bakery with her.

  She shook the thought away, not having time to dwell on Jason’s take-charge attitude. She needed help, and she’d take what she could get. She’d be a fool to turn down Jason’s kind offer.

  “Yes, can you refill the coffee for the people at the tables? The regular is in the brown pot and the decaf is in the orange.” She pressed an apron into his large hands. “And make sure you wash your hands before you start.”

  She continued to ring up orders while Jason refilled coffee cup
s. When he finished, he returned to the counter. “What else did you need me to do?”

  She wanted to ask him to go into the back and whip up some more cream-filled donuts, but she doubted he knew how to do that. What she really needed was somebody to work the cash register and wait on the customers while she went into the back and made those donuts. She paused as the voices of the customers resonated in the background.

  She’d just met this man yesterday and didn’t know a thing about him. Would it really make sense for her to show him how to handle the cash register? What if he stole the money she’d already made that morning and left, and then she’d be out of this morning’s profits? What if he stole someone’s credit card information?

  He touched her arm and warmth skittered across her skin like melting butter. “What’s the matter?” His eyes were full of kindness, and suddenly Toni’s fatigue enveloped her. The need to cry and go to sleep consumed her. She blinked away the unwelcome tears, desperately trying to hold herself together. When would she learn to trust again? When would her breakup with Brian stop affecting her mood?

  The truth tumbled from her mouth. “I don’t know about asking you to work the register.” How stupid could she be, letting this kind man know that she wasn’t sure if she could trust him with her money? He probably thought she was crazy.

  He pulled his arm away, but he continued studying her with kind eyes. He finally scanned her nearly empty shelves. “You want to make more pastries.” He gestured toward the display cases.

  She nodded, overwhelmed by the sudden urge to have someone take charge. Having Jason there brought her a thread of comfort. “Go on back into the kitchen and make some more donuts. I’ll serve the crowd in here. I’ll tell them to wait for you to ring them up. I’ll keep track of what they ordered.” He glanced into the kitchen. “Your dough’s already proofed, right? All you have to do is roll it out and cut the donuts and bake them.”

  How in the world did he know about proofing dough? She didn’t have time to dwell on that now. She needed to go into the back and start another batch, and so she did. She made good use of her time and was just pulling the donuts out of the oven when Jason came into the kitchen. “The honey pot is empty. Somebody needed some honey for their tea.”

  “Oh! I forgot all about that!” She told him where to find the honey. While he removed it from the shelf, he glanced into her office. The flowers she’d received the previous evening were still sitting on her desk. The sunlight spilled into the room, highlighting the fragrant blossoms. He stared at the flowers for a few seconds before getting the honey from the shelf, pouring it into the pot. He finally returned to the front of the bakery. Toni followed, placing the freshly glazed donuts into the case. There were several orders for her to ring up, so she did that, concentrating on the task of collecting money, counting change, and running charge cards through.

  Jason waited on the customers, serving hot donuts, coffee and tea.

  Around ten o’clock the bakery was finally empty. Sheila had mentioned the revival would start late that morning, around ten thirty, so she imagined the visiting guests were going to the church right now. Peace and quiet surrounded her, and she stopped, closed her eyes.

  She finally opened them, poured huge cups of coffee, adding cream and sugar. She then piled a plate with chocolate cream donuts and brought them to a table. Jason sat beside her and selected a donut. Before she joined him, she went back into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She removed the large salad she’d made that morning and brought it to the table. She settled into a chair.

  “You can go ahead and start eating.” She gestured toward the donuts.

  “Okay.” He bowed his head, and she again noticed the cross hanging from his neck. After he prayed, he gobbled down four donuts before taking a sip of coffee, stretching his long legs in front of him. Toni crunched on her salad, determined to finish it before she ate some donuts. Jason eyed her salad, but he didn’t comment on her meal while he sipped his coffee. She wondered what he was thinking.

  Finished with her salad, she leaned back, relaxing against the chair, cradling the coffee cup in her hands. Jason seemed to be a world away as he stared out the window, his expression pensive. So many questions filled her mind that she thought her head would explode. She sighed, took a deep breath, tried to calm herself down. How intriguing that Jason had just popped up out of nowhere the previous day. Today he had helped, falling into her routine of running a bakery like he belonged. He turned toward her and raised his thick eyebrows.

  Just like yesterday, she’d been staring at him. She needed to stop ogling him, wondering about him. He kept popping into her mind the previous evening for no apparent reason. She had no idea why she found this man so intriguing. “Jason, why did you come by this morning?” She inwardly winced. She probably shouldn’t have asked him that. He probably thought she was being nosy. Why should she question his coming to her bakery? He’d probably returned to purchase breakfast.

  Jason grinned. “I came to pay for the coffee and cake you served me yesterday.” He stood and removed his apron, then reached into his back pocket and pulled out an expensive leather wallet. She recognized the Gucci logo. Brian had the same wallet.

  “I told you yesterday that the cake was on the house.” She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. “After all the help you gave me this morning, I owe you money! Why did you do it? And how did you know about proofing dough? Most people don’t even know what proofing is.”

  His smile faded. He studied the blooming rosebushes in front of her window. He replaced his wallet and slowly settled back into his seat. “My mother taught me how to bake.” He folded his arms in front of his chest, focused on her again. “I also wanted to come back because…well…”

  Why didn’t he want to tell her his reasons for returning? “What’s wrong?”

  “Your bakery. I like it a lot.”

  Whoa, this was a surprise. “Really? Thanks.”

  He nodded. “Shades of Chocolate reminds me of my mom’s first bakery.”

  “So her bakery was just like mine?”

  “Pretty much.” He gestured to the display cases, her signs, her tables and chairs. “Except for my mom’s bakery, I’ve never seen signs and display cases like this before. They’re a unique design. She even had white tables with black chairs just like yours. She sold her bakery and moved to a new location after being in business for a couple of years. I haven’t seen a setup like this since I was a kid.”

  “Does anything else here remind you of your mom’s first bakery?”

  He paused, bit his lip. “Honestly? Yes. You do.”

  “Me? I don’t understand.”

  “My mom had an assistant who resembled you. She helped my mom to teach me how to bake. When I came here yesterday, it felt like I was a kid again.” He glanced around the shop. “Being here this morning reminds me of my childhood.”

  Goodness, she couldn’t recall the last time someone had given her such a huge compliment. She touched his arm, feeling the muscled strength beneath his shirt. “It’s nice of you to tell me that.”

  He nodded again, then went silent

  “Does your mom still own a bakery?” They’d come this far, so the question didn’t seem too nosy.

  “No, she doesn’t.” His eyes swept the room, briefly focusing on her display cases. “You’d asked me why I stopped to help you this morning. I suppose I was thinking about my mom. She taught me to help people. When I see somebody in a tough spot, I stop and help if I can.”

  “You would help anybody?”

  “Usually, sure. The Lord wants us to help one another.” He finished another chocolate donut and helped himself to a second cup of coffee.

  She waited until he returned to the table before asking, “Where are you from?”

  “Chicago.” He squeezed a napkin between his large fingers and took a deep breath. “My mother died, and things have been rough lately.” His honey-colored eyes glistened with tears, but he blinked the
moisture away, again examining the rosebushes outside the window. He continued squeezing the napkin before looking at her. “I took a leave of absence from my regular job. I needed to get away.”

  She didn’t know what to say. His mother’s death explained the fatigued sadness in his eyes. Toni couldn’t help but wonder why God allowed his mother to die, but she couldn’t ask him about that. After all, nobody lived forever.

  “I’m sorry, Jason.” Again, she thought of how he’d helped her out that morning. His simple kindness had astounded her, and for some reason, his sadness settled into her gut like a thick glob of raw dough. Just like yesterday, she wanted to make him feel better, but she wasn’t sure how to do that. Impulsively, she touched his hand. “Is there anything that I can do to help you?”

  “Prayer is the only thing that can help me now.”

  She jerked her hand away. No way could she pray for Jason. She didn’t even pray for herself. If the Lord cared so much for this man, he wouldn’t be sitting in her bakery right now, trying to hold back his tears.

  She glanced at Jason, realized he was scrutinizing her.

  “You seem angry.”

  She frowned. “Angry?”

  He nodded. “Yes, when I mentioned prayer, you pulled your hand away as if you were mad.”

  “I’m not really mad, it’s just…”

  He leaned back into his seat, continuing to study her. For some reason, she felt that he really cared about what she had to say. Such a weird feeling to have about someone she’d just met the previous day.

  “When you talk like that, mentioning God, you sound like my mother.”

  “Your mother is a Christian?”

  Toni nodded. She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to calm herself down. Talking about religion opened a dark window into her life. Just thinking about her childhood made her upset. Her mother’s deep faith didn’t seem to make things easier in her life. The embarrassment of using food stamps to buy groceries and always wearing second-hand clothes were just a few of the terrible things she despised from her childhood.