Home is Where the Heart is(59)

Still carrying Jake, Jordan carefully placed him down onto a kitchen stool so that he was facing his mom, still wearing a smile on his face.

“So I’ve written down the address to Caleb’s house for you.” Cassie pointed at the notepad sitting on the counter. “You don’t need to stay there the entire time. Sierra knows you’re busy today. She’s cool with you dropping him Jake and then leaving.”

Cassie checked the time on the silver watch she was wearing on her wrist. “Shoot! I’ve got to go. I don’t want to be late meeting my new boss.”

She blew Jake a kiss in which he returned, and then she was out the door as Jordan called out to her, “Break a leg.”

But Jordan had a feeling her new boss wouldn’t be nearly as bad as Cassie was anticipating.



The morning had half passed and much to the dismay of Cassie and the other workers, the new owner hadn’t stopped by for a visit yet, leaving Cassie feeling very antsy about their drop in. His or her absence was doing nothing to calm her jittery nerves, wishing they would waltz through the door already just so she could stop feeling like her whole career was hanging on the line.

From where she was standing behind the front counter of the shop, Cassie couldn’t help but peer over at the door, watching the bells jingle when a customer came in, expecting it to be the new owner.

Cassie soon gave up wondering where they were, realizing it wasn’t getting her anywhere. She had a job to do, and it probably looked better if she was actually doing it when the person appeared so they could see how committed she was—although with the way she looked right now, with flour smeared across her apron and little bits of dough plastered in her hair, it was fairly obvious she had been busily working.

Soon, Cassie was getting lost in her baking as she hummed along to the words of a Lady Antebellum song playing in the background on the store’s sound system. She didn’t hear her coworker Ashley trying to get her attention until she was tapped her on the shoulder, shaking her out of her daydreams.

“He’s here.”

“Who’s here? Is it the new owner? Are you sure it’s him?” Cassie’s sky blue eyes were wide with anticipation as she brushed her hands on her apron, specks of flour floating to the floor as she rushed out the door heading for the front counter, but she didn’t quite make it that far.

Ashley followed behind her in a hustle, needing to get Cassie’s attention before she went any further. She grabbed her arm, pulling her back before she went through the pink swinging door. “No, he’s not here,” she said in a rush.

Jordan popped through the door leading to the back of the bakery.

“Jordan is,” Ashley mumbled.

“Jordan! What are you doing here?” Cassie was surprised by his appearance, and alarming questions popped into her head. Was something wrong? “Is Jake okay?”

She felt as though her heart was going to erupt out of her chest.

“Jake is fine. He’s playing with Caleb.”

“Oh, good.” Cassie’s nerves calmed down, her breathing returning to normal. “Wait, why are you here then?”

Jordan pushed his hands deep into the front pockets of his jeans, and he could almost feel the perspiration forming on his forehead.

He knew he needed to spill the beans; he just didn’t know how, whether or not she was going to like it, or how she would react to his news.

It was now or never. “The new owner—you’re looking at him.”

Cassie was speechless, which prompted Jordan to say something else.

“I bought Patty-Cake Bakery.”

Cassie couldn’t quite get her head around the fact that Jordan was telling her he owned the bakery she worked at. Did that make him her boss now?

“Oh, wow! Wait until I tell the other girls.”

Cassie forgot Ashley was standing right behind her. The enthusiasm in her voice sounded like she could break out in song at any moment. She brushed past Cassie and Jordan, heading toward the front part of the bakery.

“So, you’re the boss?” Cassie got straight to the point, folding her arms over her apron. She couldn’t move whether she wanted to or not; Jordan was standing in her way, obstructing her path to freedom, not that she wanted to.

“I wouldn’t say that. I want you to run it, and I would be like a silent partner.”

“You want me to run it?” Cassie couldn’t believe his words.

“I do. That’s why I bought the place. I did it for you. I knew you wouldn’t take my money, so this way I thought you couldn’t say no.”

“And what will you do?” Cassie probed.

“Nothing. It’s like I said—I’m the silent partner. I have my own career. This is your business.”