Page 83 of The Offer

“Like it’s the end of the world.”

She rolled her eyes and returned to piping. “That’s dramatic.”

“I’ve never seen him like this, Jess.”

She didn’t answer him at first as she finished off the line of frosting, then slid the ice cream cake in the box and sealed it up. She placed it back in the industrial freezer behind her. “He’s a grown man. He’ll get over it.”

“But do you want him to get over it?”

She huffed and placed her hands on her hips. “For someone who can be such a hard ass, you really are nosy when it comes to people’s personal lives.”

“Only the people I care about.”

Jess tapped her foot, looking down at her sneakers. They were the new pair, or at least new-ish, that she found at the thrift store last week. She didn’t plan on wearing them to work, but when Calvin asked her last-minute to help him catch up on cake orders, she agreed to pop in after closing the bakery for the night. She breezed past Kevin without a word when he locked up, only briefly glimpsing back before getting in her car to watch him slink around to his apartment and escape inside. He hadn’t said a single word to her since their fight. He didn’t even bother to look at her.

Desperate to change the subject, Jess cocked her head toward the freezer. “Are you always this behind on cakes?”

Calvin groaned. “Yes. Melanie does her best, but we’re not as speedy as you are.”

She tapped her finger to her lips. “What if we partnered up somehow? Maybe I could make cakes and a portion goes to Port Wheels?”

Calvin frowned. “Sorry, Jess. I can’t. The cakes bring in a significant amount of revenue.”

“Eh, well, I tried.” She shrugged. “Wish we had something like that to bring in steady business.”

“I heard you added focaccia to the menu.”

“For the afternoons, yeah.” She shifted side to side. “Do you think it’s helping?”

He sighed. He placed his elbows on the desk in front of him and steepled his hands at his chin before gazing up at her. “I think it’s time to consider finding another financial partner.”

Her heart sank down to her belly. She leaned against the back counter for support, squeezing her hands against the edge where the wood and the cool tile met. “Does he know?”

“We talked about it last night.”

She blew out a shaky breath. “I feel like I failed him.”

“Jess…”

Crossing her arms, she glanced away.

Calvin moved from his seat and slid next to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “You didn’t fail him. You kept that business going for longer than we expected.”

“But it wasn’t good enough.”

“But it was. We knew going in that opening a bakery would be challenging. Trying to compete with Grampy’s and Seabreeze that have steady, loyal customers wasn’t going to be easy. Yet you still brought in business each day. You should feel proud of that.”

She said nothing, not returning his gaze.

But he didn’t seem to mind as he continued. “Plus, we’re not giving up. We’re just going to consider some options.”

“Why are you so invested in this? What’s in it for you?”

“Seeing my friends happy is enough for me.” He squeezed her shoulder tight, dropping his voice to a murmur so Blake and Rory wouldn’t hear as they scooped cones at the front of the shop. “Will you let yourself be happy? With him?”

“I’m scared, Calvin,” she whispered, cracking open the depths of her heart and allowing him to see it for the briefest moment. “I can’t go back to the way things were. It was too hard.”

“Or maybe things would be different. Maybe being with him would be like nothing you expect.”