Upstairs.
In my bathroom.
It felt strange but oddly perfect. Sure, Brady’s apartment was across town, and it made more sense for him just to shower upstairs, but after our discussion last night, I wondered how long it would be before we took the next step in our relationship. How long do you wait to move in with each other? He’s been at my apartment every night for the last couple of weeks, but that’s just the newness of the relationship, right?
“Haylee, are you here?” Amber called as she walked into the bakery.
“How long are you supposed to date before you move in together?” I blurted out.
She paused in the doorway and looked left and then right. “Um, that depends?”
My shoulders slumped, and I shook my head. “Ignore me. I’m tired and have way too much on my mind.”
“That much was clear,” she said with a chuckle while she gave me one of her best friend hugs of encouragement. “Are you talking about you and Brady?”
“That obvious, eh?”
“Well, he does make googly eyes at you all day long, so pretty dang obvious, yeah.”
“He told me he loved me last night and asked me to be his girlfriend,” I whispered, looking around to make sure he hadn’t come in the back door.
Amber grasped my shoulders and shook me. “What?” she exclaimed with so much excitement it didn’t even sound like a question. “Seriously?” I nodded, my head on a string. “Oh, my heavenly cupcakes! What did you say?”
I laughed at her dramatics and gave her the palms out. “I told Brady that I’m bad at showing it, but I love him, too. I also agreed to be his girlfriend everywhere but here.”
“Here, you’re his boss,” she said on a laugh. “I’m so frigging happy right now I can’t even stand it.”
“Wait,” I said, sticking a pin in the conversation. “Why are you here?”
“I forgot the banner for the Berry Sinful cupcakes. I ran back to grab it before things get too busy over there. Taylor is handling the table until I get back.”
“Why didn’t you text me? I could have brought it with me.”
“You could have, but it’s slow over there right now, and I wanted to make sure you didn’t need any help. Besides, Taylor is running the table so I can be fluid today. I need to help you and Brady with the bake-off and then run back here and grab all the Berry Sinful cupcakes you made for after the competition.”
“They’re finished if you want to take them now,” I said, pointing at the cooler.
Her head swung side to side. “No way. I’m not risking Darla getting her hands on them and ruining our business. They’ll stay locked up here until you’re ready to reveal them.”
“True, I hadn’t thought of that. Darla would try it if she thought she could get away with it. Besides, it’s going to be hot today, and the frosting won’t hold up well if we don’t keep them cold.”
“She’d try anything to make herself look better since she knows you’re going to win the competition again.”
I shrugged and shifted uncomfortably. “Probably, and for that reason, I’ve decided this will be our last year in the bake-off.”
“Um, what now?” she asked, checking my forehead for a fever.
I jokingly pushed her away and leaned on the bench. “I haven’t said anything to Able Baker Brady yet, but I feel like it’s time. It was Darla who mentioned it, sarcastically, of course, but it got me thinking.”
“What did she mention?”
“She said it was getting a little tired that the professionals were always winning the bake-off. It was never meant to be a competition for professionals when it started, and when I first competed, I wasn’t. To be honest, winning isn’t even fun anymore.”
Amber’s eyes rolled in her head, and she scoffed. “Oh, heaven forbid you have that seal of approval in the window of your bakery every year. It’s bad for business.”
“The thing is, Amber, we don’t need it anymore. We’ve been at this a few weeks shy of eight years, and we have more business than we can handle as it is. While bragging rights are fun, I want others to have a chance at them.”
“Even if those others are Darla McFinkle?”
I brushed my hand at her in response. “Honestly, I doubt she will ever win, but if she does, more power to her. I think the only reason she competes is that she wants to beat me. Regardless, I have other plans. I need to talk to you about them, but after the fair is over when things aren’t so hectic. That’s another reason, actually. I want to enjoy the fair, and I can’t do that with the bake-off and the business.”
Her head tipped to the side. “What other plans?”
I sighed because I could see I wasn’t getting away without some mention of them. “Brady and I were in the 4-H barn, and we were more than a little impressed with some of the entries. He suggested maybe we aren’t utilizing talent in the community the way we could or should be. We’re talking about using apprentices, one with each of us. There’s a lot to explore there before we implement anything, but I like the idea. I think it’s worth investigating.”
She pointed at me with a nod. “I do, too. I was considering it for the front end with some of the Future Business Leaders of America kids. They work hard, and we could give them real-world experience to get them better prepared for college.”
After a smile, I hugged her for a moment. “I love how we still think the same even after all these years. Once the fair is over, I’m going to make brownies, and we’re all going to sit down together and hash these changes out. Our eighth year is going to be our best one yet!”
“I know that’s because you’re happy. Like really happy. All the time. That’s due to the man upstairs, and I don’t mean God. I mean Brady. As for the question you asked me when I walked in, I don’t know the answer to that. I’m not even in a relationship.”
“Which we have to fix,” I pointed out, and she scoffed.
“Maybe someday. Here’s what I do know. When you’re ready for it to happen, it will. When you’re both tired of maintaining two apartments when you’re always only at one, it will happen. When you both decide you can trust each other with your heart forever, it will happen. Don’t rush it or give it an unnecessary timeline, okay? That’s going to be a recipe for disaster. Look what happened with the whole I’m going to be dating someone seriously by my birthday fiasco.”
I held up my finger and lowered my brow toward my nose. “But, I am seriously dating someone.”
Amber chuckled and shook her head at me as she walked toward the front of the bakery for the banner. “You are, but you sure kissed a lot of frogs to get there. Imagine if you’d just seen what was right in front of your eyes.”
She disappeared into the front, but her words stayed with me while I packed and prepped for the competition. Imagine if I’d just seen what was right in front of my eyes.
I imagine I would have had to kiss a lot fewer frogs to find my prince.
THE WEATHER WAS LESS than ideal for topping cupcakes with buttercream icing. It was over eighty inside the building, even with the industrial fans running, and besides me being hot and sweaty, my frosting was going to be drooping and falling off if I didn’t figure something out fast. Brady had already filled the berries with cream cheese and dipped them in chocolate, leaving them in the small fridge to harden. I didn’t want to put the cupcakes in the refrigerator, though. That would make them cold and hard for the judges rather than fluffy and light as they were meant to be.