Fall for You (11 page)

* * * *

Sophie called her sister, Sarah, first.

Sarah answered with a frustrated “Hello?”

That didn't sound promising.

“
Hey, Sis. What's up?”

“
Mom's trying to drive me insane. She wanted the kitchen painted avocado green. I tried to talk her out of it, because honestly, it's a butt-ugly color. She insisted that it reminded her of Grandma's kitchen when she was a kid.”

“
So,
you painted the kitchen?”

“
Yes, the guilt was getting to me.”

Sophie knew the feeling. “How does it look?”

Her sister groaned. “Oh, it was so god awful! Mom didn't say a word about it until the next day. Told me that she might have remembered the color wrong and could we try something else?”

Sophie set cookies on the cooling rack as she talked. “What color did she decide on?”

“
The same color
it was before! Butter yellow! The same color it's always been.”

She tried not to laugh, but it bubbled up anyway.

“
I take it the kitchen is yellow again?”

Sarah huffed. “Damn straight and it's staying that way! I love her to pieces, but she tries my patience. Wait, that's putting it mildly, Sophie. I'm pretty sure I might go postal.”

That would make it a no go with her sister.

“
How bad of
a mood are you in?”

“
Oh, I'm not. Well, not really. Why?”

“
I'm sort of in a jam.”

“
What's wrong, honey? Are you okay?” Sarah was a worrier.

Before her sister could imagine a catastrophe, Sophie hurriedly told her what she needed.

“
I'm fine, Sis! I promise. I was only wondering if you could watch my counter for a few hours tomorrow?”

“
Oh, of course! But I need to be at the bar by three to
sign for a liquor delivery. Will that work? Where will you be?”

Sophie explained her problem with the possible all-nighter and Mrs. Sutton's insane order.

“
Reed is your new delivery boy? That should drive the woman bat shit crazy. Her precious boy bringing cookies from you.”

Sophie hadn't planned it to be vengeful. “I never thought of it like that. Reed offered since it was his mother who made
the order. Besides, he said he'd be in town anyway.”

“
Reed's being quite the helpful guy lately, huh?”

She ignored that. “Thanks, Sarah. Give my love to Mom!”

Sarah took the hint. “Okay then, see you tomorrow.”

Sophie got off the phone and back to work.

* * * *

The aroma coming from the kitchen was amazing. Reed could smell the cookies over the pine sawdust. He wanted to check on Sophie
but didn't want to mess up her work rhythm. He had his own work to do anyway. Then again, she might need a break.

“
Keep looking back there and you'll hurt your neck.”

Reed turned back to Ben. “My neck's fine.”

“
I'm good here. Go see her.”

At that moment, Sophie came out with a small tray of chocolate chip cookies and four single serve cartons of milk. “Hey guys. I thought you might want a
break. These just came straight from the oven.”

She was worried about them?

They stopped working and headed for the counter in record time. Ben smiled a thank you and snatched two cookies at once. He took a bite then closed his eyes in bliss. Between cookies he mumbled, “Good.”

Reed grabbed two as well, then one more, just in case Ben got greedy. His cookie was still warm so the chocolate melted
on his tongue. It was chewy and sweet with a hint of crispiness at the edges. “Mmmmm.”

Smiling, Sophie watched them as they ate. “I'm glad you like them.”

Reed took a drink of milk and said reverently, “Like them? I love them.”

Ben nodded in agreement.

Sophie gestured toward the cookies. “Thank you. Eat up and enjoy.” Reed put a hand on her arm before she headed back to the kitchen. “Stay.
You need a break too.”

Giving a slight shake of her head, Sophie declined. “I can't right now, but maybe later? I have another batch almost ready to come out of the oven.”

He slowly let go by sliding his hand away. “I'm going to make sure you sit down for at least ten minutes before we leave tonight.”

Sophie gave a cute little salute and went back to baking.

“
Guess our break's over, Ben. Back
to work.”

Ben grabbed the cookies. “Get the milk.”

* * * *

By the time Reed and Ben packed up for the night, Sophie had hit her stride. She felt tired but upbeat. By midnight, she started to wilt but perked up once she started chugging coffee. At three o'clock, she was feeling punchy but getting by. Four o'clock rolled around and Sophie was ready to push the cookies onto the floor and take
a nap right there on the table. By five o'clock, she was on caffeine overload and ready to crash.

Tracy walked in and Sophie was only half sure she wasn't a caffeine-induced hallucination. Looking wearily at her friend, she asked, “Are you really you?”

“
Who else would I be? Sophie, take a break, hon.” Tracy eyed her with concern.

Shaking her head and then getting a little wobbly from it, Sophie
held on to the table for balance. “I can't. If I stop moving, I won't be able to start up again.”

Turning Sophie toward her, Tracy put her hands on her shoulders. “You're already run down and this insane order just made it worse.” Her friend's eyes narrowed in anger. “That woman had to know what she was doing to you. Get the bail money because I'm going to Google how to hide a body.”

Sophie
wasn't sure if Tracy was kidding or not.

Tracy led her to the back door and opened it. “It's time to freshen up.” She gave Sophie a once over. “You look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy threw up on you. I picked up some clean clothes when I checked in on Max.” Before Sophie could ask, she told her, “He's fine, by the way. Go on upstairs and take a shower. You'll feel better.” Tracy nudged her out
the door. “Go on, little mama.”

Sophie took Tracy's advice and had to admit that washing off the coating of flour, sugar and baking whatnot felt wonderful. Scrubbed clean, she turned the water from hot to cold and tried not to yelp. Whether she liked it or not, she stood under the frigid water long enough to wake up. After her frosty shower, Sophie redid her hair and put on a little makeup to
conceal the violet smudges under her eyes.
No one wanted to buy cookies from the walking dead.

By the time she came back downstairs, she saw that Tracy had boxed up her cookies and organized the others on display trays.

Sophie was so touched and tired that tears welled up in her eyes.

“
There's my girl. How was your shower?”

Sophie hugged her best friend for her thoughtfulness. “Thank you.”

“
Not a problem. Let's get the rest of these cookies arranged, then finish up with the rest of the baking.”

* * * *

They were both running a brisk business today. Some customers picked up their completed bulk party orders. Others came in for a sweet treat to eat in or take home.

Then, there were the gossips who came in to see if a wall was really being built in the bakery. They loitered over
the partial construction, wanting confirmation that Darlene Donaldson was telling the truth.

Most only wanted to know if Reed Sutton was the one building it.

It must have been a slow day for the Madison Falls grapevine if a new wall was considered titillating. Elaine Newman bought one lemon chiffon cookie and nibbled on it slowly in the hopes of gleaning a clue about the status of Reed and Sophie's
relationship.

Sophie was tired and irritable and doing her best to answer questions about the construction and ignore anything too personal. It was getting a little ridiculous. She just wanted to sell cookies.
And sleep.

Reed showed up at eleven thirty to pick up his mom's order. Elaine must have done a superior job of gossiping about them because all eyes were on their interaction.
Did they
think they were going to tear each other’s clothes off and go for it on the hardwood floor?

If the biddies thought they were going to get an eyeful, they were sorely disappointed. Reed took the order boxes, nodded at the patrons, then said, “Thanks. See ya, Soph.” Disappointed that was the extent of their exchange, Elaine Newman shoved the rest of her cookie in her mouth and left with her entourage.

By that time, Sarah was there to relieve her. Sophie wearily made her way up to Tracy's apartment, thinking the whole way that she really did need to hire someone. Buying a thank you lunch for her sister was added to her mental to-do list. She'd invite Tracy too. Sophie would think of a way to thank Reed later.

By noon, she was blissfully horizontal and sound asleep on Tracy's couch.

“
What do you mean there's no meeting today?” Reed may have asked that in a voice a tad too loud for the denizens of the Madison Falls Town Hall, but he couldn't believe his ears. This had to be a mistake.

The flustered young receptionist with the tight auburn bun pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and checked her computer screen again. “I'm sorry, Mr. Sutton, but there isn't
another MFLIC meeting until Tuesday, the twenty-ninth.”

“
Tuesday, the twenty-ninth? That isn't a regular meeting time is it?” Knowing it was futile, Reed asked the next question anyway. “So, there is no one from the MFLIC here?”

“
No, sir.”

“
No one at all?”
This didn't make any sense.

“
No, sir.”

“
Are there any other meetings here today involving Dot Sutton?” His last ditch thought was that
his mom ordered the cookies for a different meeting.

She tapped a few more keys. “No, sir. I'm sorry. Maybe you could call her?”

The annoyed woman turned away and tried to look busy typing, effectively tuning out Reed and any more of his questions.

* * * *

Sophie was going to be seriously pissed off and Reed didn't blame her one bit. He had to fix what he could while she was still sleeping.
Before he did that, he had to get some answers from the only person who had them. Reed went to the source and called his mom.

Dot answered on the third ring. “Hello, Reed. How are you?”

“
Hey, Mom.” He got straight to the point. “I have a question. Did you order cookies from Sophie Brandon?”

“
Yes, I did, dear. Why?” She sounded surprised by the question.

“
Why? Because I'm sitting at the town
hall with fifteen dozen cookies and no one here to pay for them.”

There was a slight pause as if she were trying to gather her thoughts or God forbid, get her story straight. “Reed, why are you delivering cookies? Shouldn't you be at work?” Dot sounded mildly admonishing.

Reed gritted his teeth. “I'm here because you ordered them for today.”

“
But why do
you
have them?”

“
I was helping Sophie.”

Sounding a tad snide, she asked, “What kind of business is she running? Why can't she make her own deliveries?”

Reed rubbed at his temples to ease the tension building there. It didn't work.

“
No, Mom. Not when she's staying up all night baking a few hundred cookies that you ordered for today by noon. You're not the only one who ordered cookies. She's exhausted.” Reed took a deep breath and decided
to start over. “Look, Mom, you made a cookie order from Sophie, right?”

Dot replied, “First of all, I don't like your tone. To answer your question, yes, Reed, I did. But I'm telling you, I didn't order fifteen dozen for Thursday. That's absurd. Why would I order that many? I ordered five dozen for
Tuesday
after next. As a matter of fact, I remember distinctly ordering five dozen root beer float
cookies. I tried a sample and thought the ladies would like them.”

If it had been any other day, he might be convinced she was telling the truth.

“
Mom, Sophie had the order form. She said it was for today.”

“
Yes, I understand that but didn't you say that she was exhausted?” His mom was holding on to her story with both hands. “Maybe she wrote the order incorrectly, which is a shame because
I still need those cookies for the twenty-ninth. Tell Sophie that when you see her, please. If she can't do it, I'll take my business elsewhere.”

Her voice held not one drop of remorse or sympathy.

“
Fine, I'll tell her.” Reed gritted out. “What am I supposed to do with all of these cookies?”

Obviously, she didn't consider that her problem. “
You
don't have to do anything with them. It's her
mistake so take them back to her. She sells cookies for a living. I'm sure she'll figure it out.”

At that point, Reed said his goodbyes and got off the phone before he said something he knew he would regret later.

* * * *

Keith looked up in surprise when Reed walked in carrying a stack of cookie boxes.

“
Doesn't Dad normally do this on Friday? Reed, he only brings about half of that. Not that
I'm complaining, but what's going on?”

Reed set the cookies on a side table and put his hands on his hips. “I'm taking over for him this week. Grab what you want and take the rest over to the crew. Tell them they did a great job staying on track this week.”

Keith stared over at him. “Why do you look like you want to kick someone's ass?” He put his hands up in a show of innocence. “For the record,
whatever it is, it wasn't me. Well, it might have been me but I've been too busy to piss off anyone.” Then he added, “At least on purpose.”

Opening the box, Reed took a handful of cookies and headed out the door. “Remember, send these over to the crew as soon as you can.”