Three’s a Crowd (46 page)

She did, so Lexie made them both a cup and led her mother-in-law to one of the booths at the back of the café. She placed a small plate of cupcakes down on the table between them.

‘These look just like those beautiful little cakes you make, Lexie,' said Jenny, picking up one. ‘You should think about selling yours here.'

She grinned. ‘They are mine.'

‘Really?'

‘I had a freezer full of them when Scott got sick, so I thought I'd see how they went,' she explained. ‘We've had a special going all week, a dollar extra with coffee. They've been selling like . . .'

‘Cupcakes!' Jenny quipped. ‘Well, good for you. You seem to have really taken to this.'

‘You know, I have, I really have,' said Lexie. ‘I mean, I feel torn, I miss the kids so much, I could never do it full-time. But now that we've proved we can hold the fort without Scott, I'm going to try and get him to share the load, and take some regular time off.'

Jenny smiled, shaking her head. ‘Good luck with that.'

Lexie looked at her. ‘What is it with him? You know how I adore him, Jenny, but God, he can be stubborn.'

‘Always has been,' she agreed. She took a sip of her coffee. ‘Oh, he was a bugger of a kid, so independent and headstrong, he wouldn't accept help, couldn't be told. I always put it down to him being the youngest of four. He had to prove he was just as capable as his big brothers.'

‘How did you handle it back then?'

‘Two ways, depending. If you can get him to think something's
his idea, that works best, but it's not always possible. The other way is just not to give him a choice.'

Lexie was nodding faintly. ‘That's what I had to do this week, when I rang you about coming over. I didn't discuss it with him first, I just told him what was happening, and that he could argue with you if he didn't like it.'

Jenny was smiling. ‘And he knows better than to try that.'

‘I don't know how you did it with four of them.'

‘Five of them altogether, if you include their father,' she reminded Lexie. ‘You know it's a funny thing the way men work, really. They're happy to have you run their lives, they couldn't remember what day it is without you. But step foot on their territory and they get so antsy.'

‘That's exactly what happened with Scott,' Lexie agreed. ‘As soon as I wanted to help out at the café, he got all defensive.'

Jenny nodded. ‘Same with John when I took over the books for the business, years back. Truth is, he was making quite a shemozzle of things, it was just as well I stepped in when I did, we might have lost the house.'

Lexie's eyes grew wide.

‘Don't you ever say a word,' said Jenny. ‘He still doesn't know to this day. I had to negotiate with the bank, keep all our creditors at bay and put the hard word on all the laggards who owed us money. John was such a softie, he let people take advantage of his good nature all the time.'

Lexie was shaking her head in disbelief. ‘That's just what Scott's like. He had the staff walking all over him.'

‘The secret is to work on them gradually,' said Jenny. ‘I've learned a lot living with all these men. You have to reassure them their whatsits are not going to drop off if you take the reins occasionally.'

Lexie had to laugh at that, but underneath she felt a little uncomfortable about the idea of having to handle Scott with kid gloves. It was all right for Jenny, she came from a different era, but Lexie wanted her and Scott to be true partners, to be equals. She didn't want to play games, or manipulate him, even though she knew she'd been guilty of that in the past, on occasions. From here on in she wanted to be completely honest and upfront about everything.

As she headed home later, Lexie was relieved that Scott was all better, for his sake and hers. She was tired right through to her bones, and she was so looking forward to a day off tomorrow. Not that you could call it a day off as such; she would have Mia, and a lot of housework to catch up on, as well as shopping and preparations for the barbecue. But it was the kind of work she was used to. She didn't know how Scott did it, six days a week, on his feet for most of the day.

From now on he wouldn't have to. There were so many options available to them. Lexie could work one whole day, or a couple of half-days. Or she could take over in the afternoon a few days a week so Scott could knock off early, pick up Riley from school, have more time with the kids.

As she pulled into the driveway she felt the tension lifting up and floating away out to sea. She understood why Scott appreciated that feeling so much, coming home, and she would never begrudge it again. But from now on they were going to share everything, be partners in every sense of the word. Lexie was feeling positive about the direction they were taking. Scott getting sick had actually been a good thing, in a way, speeding up the process.

But as she unlocked the front door and stepped inside, Lexie wasn't met with the sounds of children playing, the smell of dinner cooking, she was met with utter silence. ‘Hello?' she called, walking down the hall. ‘Anyone home?'

The place was empty. She realised the other car wasn't in the driveway when she pulled up; she'd assumed without really thinking about it that it was in the garage. Lexie's heart started to race as she searched for her phone in her bag. He's just gone up the road to get milk or bread or something, she told herself. Though why wouldn't he have called her to pick up whatever they needed while she was out? Maybe he just wanted to get out of the house. His mother had said he was fine, back to normal. She dialled his mobile and he picked up after a couple of rings.

‘Hi hun,' he said. ‘What's up?'

‘Where are you? I just got home.'

‘I brought the kids down to McDonald's for tea.'

‘Oh,' Lexie was thrown. ‘Why?'

‘I didn't feel like cooking.'

‘I would have cooked.'

‘Ah, you've done more than your share of cooking this week. And I wanted to give the kids a treat.'

‘Are you down at Coogee?' Why wouldn't he have called her? She was up the road from there.

‘No, we're at Bondi,' he said.

‘Well, why didn't you wait for me?'

‘You don't like McDonald's,' said Scott.

No, and she didn't like the children eating it either. She could have brought them something a little more wholesome from the café if he wanted to give them a treat, then at least they could have eaten together. She couldn't help feeling left out.

‘How much longer are you going to be, do you think?' she asked.

‘Oh, maybe another half an hour or so, we're still eating,' said Scott. ‘You should relax for a while, hun, have a shower, put your feet up.'

‘Hmm.'

‘Do you want us to bring you anything?'

‘No thanks, I'll see you when you get here.'

Lexie hung up the phone and looked around the room. It was a little untidy; at least he could have straightened up before he left. She picked up a couple of mugs off the coffee table and walked over to the dishwasher, but when she opened it she saw that it hadn't been emptied. She sighed. She felt tired and grimy and she did not feel like unstacking the dishwasher right now. She put the mugs in the sink. Scott was right, she should relax, not make such a fuss; it was okay to leave a few things lying around the house, just like it was okay for the kids to have the occasional treat. But as she walked up the stairs to get ready for her shower, Lexie was glad things would be back to normal tomorrow.

‘Oh no, I'm not going back to work tomorrow,' Scott announced when she mentioned it later. They had got the kids bathed and into bed, and Lexie was outlining her plans for the next couple of days.

‘I'm sorry?' she blinked. ‘What do you mean you're not going to work?'

He was sitting on the sofa with his feet on the coffee table. ‘I think I could use another day off, make sure I'm really over this.'

‘Okay,' she said carefully. ‘But like I was just saying, I was going to shop for the barbecue.'

‘I can take care of that.'

‘Then it's not really a day off, is it?'

‘It'll still be easier than going in to the café,' he said, picking up the remote control and switching on the TV.

Lexie felt cornered. If she said it was just as hard, then he could argue what was the difference? And if she insisted that he go to work and let her handle the household stuff, as though she couldn't trust him with it, she'd never get him to agree to taking regular time off. She had to go with the flow for now; this transition phase was likely to be a bit tricky, but it would be worth it to get some balance into their lives.

But right now Lexie felt quite unbalanced, watching him search the channels before settling down to a Gordon Ramsay repeat. Well then, fine, if she was going to be working again tomorrow, she needed to make up some more batches of her cupcakes. She hadn't planned to tell Scott yet, she'd intended to introduce the idea next week, when he was back at the helm, and when she would have the time to bake up a full week's supply. But seeing as he was prepared to leave the running of things to her, she obviously didn't need to consult with him; she'd make her own decisions about what she served at the café when she was in charge.

Having Gordon Ramsay throwing tantrums in the background didn't do much to salve Lexie's mood, and pretty soon she was banging cake tins and slamming cupboard doors.

Scott got up off the sofa and came over to the kitchen. ‘What are you doing, Lex?'

‘Making cupcakes,' she said bluntly, without looking at him.

‘Why?' he asked. ‘You should be relaxing, you've been on your feet all day. We can live without cupcakes for a few days.'

‘I'm not making them for us, I'm making them for the café.'

‘What are you talking about?' Scott frowned.

Hmm, now she was getting his attention. ‘We've had a special going all week, coffee and a cupcake for a dollar extra. It was a huge hit.'

‘And this is cupcakes you've been making at home?'

‘Yeah. What's wrong with that?'

‘Well, for one thing, this is not a commercial kitchen, Lexie. Someone gets sick, they find out that food sold at the café was prepared in a kitchen that has never been inspected, and is not subject to the same standards and ordinances, then we're screwed.'

‘No one's going to get sick from my cupcakes, Scott.'

‘They don't have to get sick from a cupcake, but if they get sick at all, and report it, we get a visit from a food inspector. Do you realise the risk you're taking?'

‘Fine,' she said. ‘I'll make them at the café in future.'

‘We're not set up for it, there's not enough bench space. We're not running a bakery, Lexie.'

‘Then I'll make them after we close,' she said. ‘A couple of nights a week, maybe. They're selling really well, it's worth it.'

‘They're selling well because you're undercharging.'

‘No I'm not, I worked out what the ingredients cost.'

‘Did you include your labour, electricity, water . . .'

She just stared at him.

‘It's not a school cake stall, for Chrissakes, Lexie! You don't know what you're doing.'

She put her hands on her hips. ‘And you couldn't be happier, could you?'

‘What are you talking about?'

‘Ever since I've got involved in the business, you just can't stand it. You can't bring yourself to admit that maybe I'm actually making a difference. You'd rather work seven days a week, till all hours, than admit that things were getting out of hand and you needed help.'

‘What are you implying, Lexie – that I don't know how to run the business?'

‘Oh you can run it, just not all that well.'

He glared at her. ‘Oh, is that right?' he said. ‘So you come in, change suppliers, make a few cupcakes, and you think you've got the whole thing whipped, eh?'

‘I'm not saying that,' said Lexie. ‘I just don't understand why you're so precious about everything. You wouldn't even show me the books till I virtually begged you, but this is my life too, Scott. It affects me, it affects our children, it affects our future. But you have to have total control, even when it's getting beyond you. What are you so worried about? That your balls are going to drop off if you share the load?'

He was shaking his head, obviously angry. ‘You know what, you think I'm doing such a bad job, then go ahead, it's all yours.' He raised his arms in surrender.

‘Don't be ridiculous, Scott,' she said.

‘No, I mean it,' he said, walking away. ‘Do whatever you want. I don't give a shit.'

Catherine stepped out of the lift and walked down the corridor to her office. As she rounded the corner to Brooke's desk, she came to a dead stop.