“But if it’s my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with me saying so,right?”
She wasn’t about to shut him down. “Totally your prerogative.”
Cal stuck out his hand and they exchanged a fist bump. Which madeher feel like a dork, but she was okay with that.
“What’s all the laughing about?” Amanda’s voice came from thekitchen even though Quinn hadn’t heard her come in.
“Just guy stuff.” Cal’s reply came with a shrug and a knowingsmile.
Well, he wasn’t wrong. She got up and headed for the kitchen.“Anything I can do to help?”
Chapter Twenty-six
Within a few days, Cal was back to his old self. A reliefsince his orientation at Cornell started in less than two weeks. Not that heseemed to feel any sense of urgency on that front. Getting him to pack feltlike pulling teeth, so much so that Amanda started to worry he didn’t want togo.
When she finally asked him as gently and with as little judgmentas possible, he rolled his eyes. “Come on, Mom. You know I want to go.”
She tried to read his face, whatever it was he wasn’t saying.“It’s not like you to drag your feet on something so important.”
He shrugged. “I mean, the college part is. But I’m not going far.Not even as far as Rochester. You can bring me whatever I forget.”
If she weren’t so relieved, she’d lay into him for assuming she’dbe at his disposal. “Forty-five minutes or not, once the bakery opens, you knowbetter than to think I’m going to play chauffeur for you.”
He grinned. “But you’re going to be coming to Ithaca to seeQuinn, so you’ll already be close by.”
He had a point. And more importantly, he wasn’t getting cold feetabout college. “I’m still not doing an emergency run to campus because you runout of clean underwear.”
“Mom.”
“What?” She was mostly teasing him at this point, but still.
“I have to wear my underwear between now and then.”
She laughed, not only because he was right, but because hisdelivery was so matter-of-fact, it made her feel silly for worrying in thefirst place. “Fine.”
“Besides, I need to get in all the Fortnight I can because I obviously won’thave time for games when classes start.”
“Well played, Cal. Well played. Carry on.”
She’d just left him to his own devices when her phone rang.Quinn’s face appeared on the screen, making her smile. “Hi.”
“Hello, beautiful.”
It shouldn’t make her heart flip every time Quinn called herthat, but it did. “What are you up to today?”
“Calling you with good news.”
“Good news? Bakery good news? Is it done?” Amanda chuckled at thedisbelief in her own voice.
“It will be. Two more days. But that’s not an estimate. I’msaying it with confidence.”
She wiggled her shoulders and hips to a nonexistent beat. “It’s agood thing we’re on the phone because I’m doing a happy dance and it isn’tpretty.”
“I think I’d prefer to be the judge of that myself. I have afeeling it’s a pretty sexy thing to behold.”
“You’re sweet. Completely wrong, but sweet.”
“I could argue with you, but I’d rather celebrate. I also wantedto give you as much notice as possible since I know you’re itching to reopen.”
She had been. She’d also been going back and forth on whether todo a party or grand reopening or anything like that. This timing was betterthan she’d hoped for, especially after the flooring debacle. She didn’t havemajor wedding or other event cakes for another two weeks.
“What? Are you really that self-conscious about your dancing?”
She laughed. “Maybe I should be, but no. My mind was racingahead. Sorry.”
“You? Thinking twenty steps ahead? No way.”
“Okay, okay. There’s no need to poke fun.” Although, really, shedidn’t mind the way Quinn teased.
“You’d rather I make fun of your dancing?”
“At least I don’t have any illusions on that front.”
“Ah. Well, in that case, I’m totally going to give you a coupleof glasses of wine and try to get you to dance with me. But first, we have abakery to reveal.”
She closed her eyes for a second and let herself be nothing butexcited. “When can I see it?”
“Well, technically it’s your building. You have the keys and cango anytime.”
True. Unexpectedly deflating, but true.
“But I’d love to be there with you. How do you feel about stayingaway for the next couple of days and letting me pick you up for an officialreveal?”
Deflation gave way to a bubble of joy. “I’d love that.”
“Oh, good. I know I didn’t do the work myself, but I feel almostas attached as you do.”
The flutter her heart did had nothing to do with the prospect ofseeing the bakery, all done and put back together. “I’m really excited.”
“I hope I get an invite if there’s a party.”
Quinn couldn’t see her face, but she grinned nonetheless. “You’reat the top of the list.”
“Fantastic. I won’t keep you, but I’ll look forward to it.”
“Can’t wait.”
After ending the call, she grabbed a notebook. She didn’t startwith potential party guests, but she did have about a dozen other lists to getstarted. At the very top of all of them? Bringing Tanya up to speed and gettingher back on the clock as quickly as possible.
Not only did Tanya answer on the first ring, she was at Amanda’sdoorstep in under an hour. She offered a shrug and a laugh. “What can I say?I’ve missed the place.”
Amanda pulled her into a hug. “Same.”
“I’ve missed you more, for the record, but I’ve really missedbeing there.”
Over the years, Tanya had become as much a fixture of Bake My Dayas Amanda. Maybe more so to the average customer, since Amanda spent so much ofher time in the kitchen. “Again, same.”
“All right, enough of the mushy stuff. Let’s get to work.”
Amanda chuckled, but didn’t argue. She led the way into thekitchen and poured coffee. A minute later, they sat at the table with matchingnotebooks, pencils poised. “Okay. You first.”
“How grand are we talking?” Tanya asked.
“Not very. I mean, we’re throwing it together in a week.”
Tanya raised a brow. “We can throw a lot together in a week.”
Amanda grinned. “Good point.”
“So, grand?”
She did love the idea of something
