“You’re not open for dinner.”
“We are now, starting Sunday.”
“You said a month ago you can barely afford to pay the staff you have. How are you going to stay open even later?”
“I’ll work the evening shift.”
“And cook, too?”
“Not everything, no.”
“Lauren!”
“It’s going to be okay, Lisa. I’ve got it figured out.” Kind of, sort of, she silently added.
“And what if it isn’t?”
“Then we’ll go back to just breakfast and lunch.”
Lisa made a tsk-tsking sound. “I can’t believe Mimi signed off on something like this.”
“She doesn’t care, provided the café makes money.”
“But she’s paying for the extra staff, right? She’s paying for the new menus and extra overhead.”
“Um . . .” Lauren tugged on a strand of her long hair. “Not exactly.”
“Oh my God. Lauren!”
Lauren winced. “Mimi’s promised to reimburse me. If we turn a profit.”
“If.”
“I like the challenge.”
“It’s insane. You’re insane.”
“The café is in a good location, and the concept of a Southern, New Orleans café is cute, but it could be a lot more appealing. A lighter, brighter décor, better hours, better service, better food—”
“Hello! Hey, sis, remember? We already own a business, you and me. If you want to sink some money into a business, sink it into ours!”
Lauren blinked, taken aback, unable to think of a single response. Because Lisa was right. Lauren couldn’t argue with her.
“I just don’t get it,” Lisa said, her voice sharp with frustration. “We’ve got a great restaurant, one that’s written up in every travel guidebook on Napa, and yet you’ve abandoned it to go slave away at a decrepit little café in the East Bay!”
“I haven’t abandoned our place. I’m just . . . taking a break.”
Silence stretched, an uncomfortable, long silence that put a knot in Lauren’s stomach.
“I hope you mean that,” Lisa said quietly.
“I do.”
“Because Summer Bakery and Café is our business. You can’t be gone for good.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re sure? Because if you’re out, tell me now—”
“Lisa, I’m not. Okay? It’s a sabbatical. That’s it. I promise.”
“Okay.”
But when they hung up, Lauren buried her face in the crook of her arm, heartsick. She didn’t lie to Lisa. She’d always been honest with her sister. But she hadn’t been honest just now.
Lauren wasn’t sure she’d be back. She wanted to return to Napa. She hoped she could return one day. But she didn’t know when that would be. All she knew for sure was that it wouldn’t be soon.
Lauren slept badly that night, repeatedly waking up and then falling back asleep, with Lisa almost constantly on her mind.
Lisa was right.
Lisa was right.
But Lauren didn’t know what to do with the knowledge. What was she supposed to do?
Turning on the light, she went to the kitchen and poured herself a bowl of Lucky Charms, her secret weakness.
She ate the cereal at the small kitchen table and stared at the plain white refrigerator. Such an ugly old refrigerator. But then, her one-bedroom apartment was rather ugly and old, which is probably why it was so cheap.
But it’s close to work, she reminded herself. Convenient, she added, pouring a second bowl of cereal, this time for the marshmallows.
She loved marshmallows. Peeps, chocolate-covered marshmallows, stale marshmallows, marshmallow whip. All good and that’s because she wasn’t a gourmet. She’d never planned to be a baker or a cook. But after she’d graduated from high school and delayed the inevitable by putting in two years at the community college, it was time to get a job.
Her parents had already helped her with Blake for three years. She couldn’t sponge off them any longer. So she juggled part-time jobs and parenting and it was hellish, trying to work twelve hours a day and still find time to be Blake’s mommy. There were only two good things about those two hard years: Blake, and her parents, who’d insisted she continue to live at home so they could help care for Blake when she worked.
Her parents were awesome.
Her sister was awesome, too, but Lisa hadn’t come home after college, choosing to remain in L.A., working as an administrative assistant for a law firm specializing in the entertainment business. Lauren envied her sister’s glamorous life and the adventures that awaited her. It’d been hard becoming a mother at seventeen. Lauren knew she’d missed out on so many opportunities.