Page 61 of Grounding the Baker
“What? He hasn’t said anything to me,” said Michael, looking dumbfounded.
Oops!Had Liam told him not to say anything about that? Austin knew that wasn’t the case, or he wouldn’t have said anything.
“We’ll have a bloody riot if Sylvie’s Slice isn’t here. I better speak to him,” he said, before marching off towards Liam’s stall.
Fuck!Austin went to chase after him, then remembered he had his daughter with him, who had clearly found thewhole interaction amusing. Needing to move faster than Maisie’s small legs would carry her, he picked her up and dashed after Michael. The stall looked busy, which is why he hadn’t been over yet.
“Liam, what’s this I hear about you not having a stall at the festivals anymore?”
That wasn’t what Austin had said, but Michael could be a drama queen. There was a chorus of gasps from the crowd, and then a mumble of disgruntled voices talking about tradition. Liam looked bewildered at all the voices shouting at him, and Michael had his hands on his hips, glaring. It would be amusing if Liam didn’t look completely freaked out.
“Sorry, Liam. Michael is being overdramatic about something I might have accidentally said.”
Liam frowned at him, then saw Maisie in his arms, and his eyes softened. He reached out his arms.
“I need a shield from this lot.”
He chuckled and passed Maisie over to him, which she was delighted about.
“You’re my new favourite uncle,” she said. “If you marry my dad, what will I call you then?”
Liam went bright red. Oh, how he loved his daughter, but she’d put her foot right in it. Austin hoped that one day they could get there, but Liam looked freaked out.
“Liam, I’m waiting for an answer?” said Michael. “Sylvie would never have stopped doing the festivals.”
“Michael,” Austin shouted. “You’re bang out of line. You don’t guilt someone like that. Now is not the time to discuss this. Everyone needs to shut up, or we’ll close up shop.”
He saw a flicker of a smile on Liam’s face, so he knew he hadn’t overstepped.
“I haven’t made any decisions yet,” said Liam. “But I can’t run the bakery and the stall on the same day, and they make about the same amount of money, but this is a lot more work. And if I do stop, it won’t be all of them. We’ll discuss it when renewal comes around, Michael. I won’t be pushed into a decision now.”
“Okay, sorry. It was just a shock,” said Michael. “I couldn’t imagine a Heartwood festival without you here.”
Liam smiled at him and nodded. There was a commotion and suddenly dozens of people were crowded around the stall. This couldn’t be good.
“I let everyone know they needed to buy something,” said Giselle. “Or you’d make no chocolate orange muffins again.”
“Er... Austin, you better get your arse behind this counter and help. That’s if you want me to finish on time.”
Not what he had planned for today, but he didn’t hesitate to jump in. It wasn’t because of the potential derailment of their evening plans– although that was a factor– it was that he never wanted to see Liam stressed out. If he could do anything to take that away from him, he’d do it.
It wasmid-afternoon when they took a break. Giselle and Henrietta had agreed to watch Maisie so Austin and Liam could step away from the stall. The others had it covered, and they wouldn’t walk far. It was just to clear their heads after the crazy rush. They’d practically sold out, and the festival was open for another three hours.
“Are you going to bake anything else?” asked Austin.
“No time. I already baked more than I did for the last festival, but someone went all butch and protective and caused a stampede.”
“You need to blame Giselle for that one.”
“And who blabbed to Michael?”
“You didn’t tell me not to say anything. Where are we going, anyway?”
“Somewhere private.”
“For what?” he asked, chuckling.
“So you can apologise to me.”
