Fluffy & Fabulous E-Book

Mary E. Thompson

• Herausgeber: BluEyed Press
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

30 days. That was all I had left to find a new shop and a new place to live. Thankfully, the perfect place was available, and I was going to get it.

Or not.

Not only did I not get the store I wanted, a new bakery was moving in. Right across the street from me. I had nowhere to go, and this new place was primed to steal my hard-earned customers. And there was nothing I could do about it.

Frustrated didn’t even begin to describe it. The only thing going right for me was meeting Max. He was sweet and sexy and made me forget all about my problems for a little while. Until I find out who he really is, and where he goes when he disappears on me.

Leseprobe

FLUFFY & FABULOUS

A SMALL TOWN CURVY GIRL ROMANCE

BIG & BEAUTIFUL

BOOK EIGHT

MARY E THOMPSON

Fluffy & Fabulous

Big & Beautiful, book eight

Copyright © 2016 Mary E Thompson

Cover Copyright © 2019 Mary E Thompson

Cover Photo (woman) from DepositPhotos, Copyright © starast

Cover Photo (cupcake) from DepositPhotos, Copyright © Therealdarla

Published by BluEyed Press, All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, businesses, locations, and events are either products of the author’s creative imagination or are used in a fictitious sense. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-944090-07-4

Print ISBN: 978-1-944090-15-9

Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-953879-92-9

Created with Vellum

BIG & BEAUTIFUL

Be proud of yourself. Love yourself. Never doubt yourself. Go out there and kick ass in the world like the women of Big & Beautiful do. They struggle, but they know who they are and have men who remind them of their amazingness every day.

BIG & BEAUTIFUL

Chubby & Charming

Lush & Lovely

Shapely & Stunning

Bulky & Beauteous

Fat & Fine

Plump & Pretty

Husky & Hot

Fluffy & Fabulous

Puffy & Precious

Round & Ravishing

Curvaceous & Captivating

Stocky & Sumptuous

Amply & Alluring

Big & Beautiful Ever After (newsletter exclusive)

SUBSCRIBE NOW AT MARYETHOMPSON.COM

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Epilogue

About the Author

For Jackie, my constant inspiration, sounding board, and friend.

CHAPTER1

My alarm went off at 4 am, like it did every day. It didn’t really matter though because I was already awake. I’d had two months to figure out what to do with my future, and I finally had an answer.

I’d found the perfect site. It had taken me eight weeks, but I found the perfect location to move to. Well, perfect enough. My building, the building I both lived and worked in, was being sold out from under me. I was getting evicted and only had one more month to find a place to go. The day before I put in an offer on a storefront in a new strip mall that was opening across the street from my current location.

It was perfect. A small retail space, enough room for a huge counter, and plenty of seating. I’d been thinking of expanding Bite Me!, my bakery, anyway, but with the new site it would be a reality. Probably a necessity too in order to make up the difference in added rent. The new place didn’t have a studio apartment for me to live in so I also needed to find a new home, but that part didn’t worry me as much.

“Shit,” I said as the alarm beeped again, indicating I’d dozed another nine minutes. To the average person nine extra minutes was nothing, but for me it meant the difference between five batches of muffins and six. With a firm slap and a flip of the switch, I crawled out of bed and rushed into the shower. I tied my thick chocolate and peanut butter colored hair up to avoid washing it, hoping to make up those nine minutes.

Clean and dressed in my standard early morning outfit of sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt, complete with no bra because… well, because I hated bras and no one was there that early anyway, I headed to work. My 42C breasts bounced as I rushed down the stairs of my apartment into the kitchen of Bite Me! I flipped on the lights and smiled to myself. In the quiet of the kitchen, I could always feel my grandma. “Hi Grams,” I said, as I did every morning. Of course, silence answered me, but I felt better saying hello to her.

First order of business, start the coffee. Even though I never slept more than a few hours, I drank coffee as though my life depended on it. There was something about the sharp, bitter bite of a cup of black coffee and the sweet, smooth taste of a muffin or cupcake that always made me smile in the morning.

With the coffee brewing I washed my hands, tied an apron around my waist, and started up my mixers. My morning customers usually came in for muffins so I began each day with four big batches before moving on to cupcakes.

Flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder combined in the first mixer followed by vegetable oil, eggs, and milk. As the blueberry batter mixed together I moved onto the banana nut, working the two concoctions simultaneously with practiced efficiency. Once the blueberries were folded into the muffin mix I scooped them into pan liners and slid the first batch into the oven. The banana nut were right behind the blueberry and I started to breathe easier, thinking maybe I had made back my nine minutes.

The shelves in the back were sparsely stocked with the typically few leftovers from the day before. I baked fresh every day and it was one of the things that had kept my store packed with customers for the last two and a half years.

With the muffins in the oven I washed up the mixers and started over with new batches of chocolate chip muffins and my holiday specialty, candy cane muffins. With Thanksgiving behind us, and Christmas quickly breathing down our necks, my customers were craving winter flavors.

As for me… well, I could skip the season altogether. Not having any family made the holidays extra hard. I had seven best friends, but they were all paired off and they didn’t need me trailing along to their family events. Plus, I was a big girl, figuratively as well as literally, and at 31 years old I could handle a few nights alone.

Even if those lonely nights made me wants to consume an entire batch of my salted caramel cupcakes.

My oversized ass didn’t need that.

But baking filled a void inside me that I’d convinced myself was full as long as it held a cupcake, or a muffin, or a new recipe. It was only over the last few years as I watched my friends find love that I started to let myself believe I could have it, too. I dated a lot, frequently called a romantic by my friends, but I struggled to believe a man would ever want to settle down with me.

If he did I wasn’t sure I’d have the time anyway.

Growing up I’d always been overweight. My grandma called it ‘fluffy,’ probably because she was, too. She told me, “We’re fluffy, just like a perfect cupcake. Never be ashamed of that.” I believed her when I was little. I thought I was special because I didn’t look like the other girls, the skinny ones who had perfect hair and no shape. Once I hit middle school I started to realize being different wasn’t something to be cherished, it was something to be changed.

My grandmother’s kitchen was my favorite place in the world. After school we’d spend hours in there baking away my sorrows, crying into cupcake batter about the boys who didn’t like me or the girls who didn’t want to be my friends. I tried to not care, to just be my fluffy self, but the other students wouldn’t have it. I endured near endless ridicule until I graduated high school a year early and enrolled in college classes as a commuter student.

College was a little different. I focused on my classes and I wasn’t on campus to be involved with other students. It meant I had very few friends, but it also meant I was free of harassment. I loved my college years because I studied business. It was never a question if I would open a bakery one day, but I was excited to learn everything I could about running a business since I already knew how to bake.

I was in heaven. Until my whole world fell apart.

None of that mattered anymore though. My life was Bite Me! and I was willing to do anything to save it. Finding a man was the furthest thing from my mind as I fought to save my baby, my heart. Bite Me! was the only thing I had, the thing that reminded me most of my grams, and I wasn’t going to sit by and let it crumble around me like a dry cupcake.

I didn’t make dry cupcakes.

By six the kitchen smelled amazing and I was on to baking cupcakes for my afternoon customers. Cupcakes were my big seller, and what I’d started the business on. I’d given in and added muffins a year earlier when customers started asking if I had any. I never had any desire to branch out to cakes or brownies or breads, but muffins were an easy stretch. And I’d always loved muffins. Almost as much as I loved cupcakes.

With the muffins cooled, I headed out to the front with a loaded tray to stock the case. I flipped on all the lights as the snowplow passed by my window to clear the nearly two feet of accumulated snow. I smiled as I slid the first tray into place and went back to the kitchen for the next tray.

I loved snow. Winter was my favorite season. Not only did I have a ‘winter figure’ instead of a summer one, but I loved being able to curl up in front of a fire with a cup of coffee and a sweet cupcake.

Sometimes I fantasized about having a man there too, but even a romantic like me couldn’t conjure one up at will. Once I got Bite Me! settled into my new location I could worry about finding a man again.

Or start collecting cats to keep me warm by my imaginary fireplace.

With the display cases full I wiped down all the tables in front, flipped the lights off, and checked on the cupcakes. I poured myself a fresh, extra-large steaming cup of coffee and slowly unwrapped the chocolate chip muffin I saved for myself.

It was still warm in the middle when I broke it apart. I inhaled the sweet chocolate scent and closed my eyes, thinking back to the first time I’d made those muffins.

It had been a particularly bad day at school. The cute boy I liked had smiled at me in the hallway and I finally worked up the courage to talk to him. In the cafeteria I walked over to his lunch table and bravely asked if I could join him. He looked up at me like he’d never seen me before and asked, “Why?”

I wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t seem like he was being cruel, but he couldn’t imagine why I’d want to sit with him.

“Um, you smiled at me today and I thought maybe you liked me.”

I was an awkward kid. It came with the territory when you were raised by a grandmother who made you believe everyone was kind and wonderful. She also taught me to always speak my mind and tell the truth.

I learned a painful lesson when the boy, whose name I couldn’t remember years later, said, “I didn’t smile at you. I was looking at the girl behind you. The hot one.”

My face fell and I felt so stupid that I didn’t even answer. I simply turned and walked out of school. When I got home, hours earlier than I should have been home, I still had tears running down my cheeks. Grams wasn’t mad, she just wrapped her arms around me, her vanilla scent enveloping me, and said it was time to make something special.

Whenever we’d baked we always made cupcakes so when we added chocolate chips to the batter I was confused. Grams explained that sometimes we needed something we could dunk.

By the time we’d pulled the muffins out of the oven I’d forgotten all about the stupid boy and decided to push through high school so I could get out early. Grams was in my corner, like usual, and I knew I was making the right choice.

The muffins were perfect and we dunked them in fresh coffee that Grams brewed that afternoon. It was the first time I’d had coffee and the first time I’d made muffins. Grams turned what started as my worst day of high school into a great memory and something that sparked an expansion of my business.

Lost in my memory I jumped when the front door rattled. It was still dark outside although daylight was threatening to break through. The rattle was followed by a knocking. I set my coffee down and glanced around, wondering if I had anything I could use as a weapon.

Deciding I had nothing that would help, I peeked through the window in the door between the back and front of my store. The snowplow was parked out front and a tall figure was shielding his eyes, peeking into my store.

He didn’t seem like a threat so I pushed out to the front and walked over to the door. He held up a hand in a wave and I waved back. “Can I help you?”

“I saw your light on a few minutes ago. Do you happen to have any coffee?”

I considered his request. The nice person within me wanted to just open the door and give him a cup of coffee. The businesswoman in me wanted to tell him to come back in an hour when I opened. The woman in me wanted to get closer to the rugged looking guy standing outside my door in the freezing cold.

The businesswoman lost as I unlocked the door and pulled it open so he could come inside. He was tall, about six inches taller than my own 5’10”. His smile was the first thing I noticed about him besides his height. He was grinning like the happiest person on earth. He raised a gloved hand to his head and pulled off his black fleece hat to reveal coffee colored hair. His twinkling eyes matched the rich coffee color of his hair as he smiled at me.

Jeans hung low on his hips and his ski jacket draped open to show a fitted t-shirt, showing me just how built he was beneath. I hadn’t seen a man that attractive in a long time. Well, except the hotties all my friends had married. This guy though, he stirred something in me the others never had. Something I wasn’t prepared for. Something I didn’t have time for.

“I really appreciate you letting me in.”

“Do you drive the snowplow?” I asked, immediately feeling stupid. Of course he did, why else would it be parked out front of Bite Me!

“Yeah, I got the contract this year. I didn’t check the weather last night so I rushed to get out here this morning to clear the lot. My coffee never got made and I’m already dragging.”

I chewed on my lip and looked him over again, trying to decide if I trusted him. His snowplow certainly looked legit and the parking lot was clear so I figured the least I could do was give him a cup of coffee.

“Give me a minute. I don’t open for an hour so the only coffee I have is the pot I keep in back.”

He nodded and I vanished into the kitchen. I pulled down a to-go cup and filled it with the last of the coffee from my pot. My coffee and muffin called out to me as I passed them by but I forced myself to ignore them and deliver the coffee to the snowplow guy.

His nose was practically pressed to the display case when I came back out. I cleared my throat and he straightened up, grinning at me sheepishly. Geez, could he be any cuter?

“This place smells delicious. Did you bake all those this morning?”

I nodded as I took in the case. I was proud of my work and loved my shop. Getting to that point had been a challenge but I knew I was good. It helped that I also loved it.

“I baked most of the muffins this morning and am getting started on the cupcakes. Most of my customers come in for the cupcakes but I’ve got a loyal breakfast crowd that loves my muffins.”

“I can certainly see why,” he murmured, his eyes raking over me.

My body felt all tingly and I started to sweat. Of course that was when I remembered what I was wearing. Yep, still in my sweatpants and t-shirt. Without a bra.

I wanted to believe my apron covered enough, but there was no covering the girls.

Or the fact that they’d taken a liking to my guest.

I crossed my arms over my chest and forced myself to look him in the eye. “Do you take anything in your coffee?”

He glanced down at the pink cup in his hand with Bite Me! on the side and chuckled. “Cute. I like it. And no, I drink my coffee black. But if you’re willing, I’d love one of those chocolate chip muffins. They’re my weakness.”

I found myself unable to resist his smile. I slid two muffins into a pink bag, again with Bite Me! on the front, and I handed it to him.

“Thanks. Really. How much do I owe you?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I can’t do that. You have a business to run.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, but if you drive through my storefront because you fall asleep at the wheel it’ll cost me a whole lot more than a couple muffins and a cup of coffee.”

He laughed, a deep, rumbling sound that tugged a smile to my lips. “Very true,” he quipped. “In that case, I’ll get out of your way. I greatly appreciate the coffee and muffins. And the pleasure of your company for a few minutes. By the way, I’m Max Sullivan.”

He extended his hand and I slid mine into it, tingles spreading up my arm, making my nipples stand up. “Nice to meet you Max. I’m Charlotte Black.”

“Charlotte,” he said, almost to himself. “Beautiful name for a beautiful woman.” Max pulled his hat back on his head and picked up his coffee and muffins. “Have a good day, Charlotte Black.”

Then he was gone.

CHAPTER2

I relocked the front door and went to the back to finish my breakfast. My coffee and muffin were both cold so I nuked them, then settled back into my chair. I tried to push Max out of my head but found him hanging around. Daydreaming was dangerous in my job so I told myself what I already knew, that I didn’t have time for a man.

No matter how delicious he was.

With my breakfast safely tucked into my belly I ran upstairs and changed into my clothes for the day. I buttoned my jeans and grabbed a Bite Me! t-shirt from my closet then tied the apron back on, with the girls tucked into a bra this time.

Downstairs I started a pot of coffee out front and set up the cream and sugar on a table near the end of the counter. I kept a variety of flavored creamers and multiple kinds of sugar, although I couldn’t understand how people could use those unhealthy alternatives.

Who was I kidding? I mainlined coffee and didn’t bother putting anything in it and ate cupcakes or muffins for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I had no room to talk about being healthy.

My newest batch of cupcakes came out of the oven and I set them to the side to cool with the other three batches already waiting for icing. I knew I wouldn’t have time to frost them before I opened up for the day, but I did have a few minutes to look through my emails. My realtor, Elizabeth, was supposed to be in touch about the property as soon as she heard something. Not that I thought she’d email me so early, but I could dream.

I tucked away my iPad after I cleared my inbox and unlocked the front door for the second time that day and smiled when the bell above it tinkled as soon as I stepped behind the counter.

“Good morning,” I said brightly to my first customers of the day. “Welcome to Bite Me! Let me know when you’re ready.”

* * *

The next few hours passed by quickly for me. I always had a couple of busy hours right after I opened and I loved it. My customers were great. Everyone remarked on the snow, with a few grumbling, but being in Winterville, New York… well, snow was pretty much a requirement.

Once my early rush died down I headed back to the kitchen an got started on icing the waiting cupcakes. It was Tuesday and my friends were coming out for our weekly girls’ night. Over the years our group had changed. I wasn’t a part of the original group of Mandy, Sam, Addi, and Claire. The four of them had gone to college together and met every week for years after college. Mandy met Xander and when they were fighting one week she needed a new place for their weekly gatherings and they showed up at Bite Me! And never left.

I liked the four of them immediately, but it was a few months before I became part of the group. My best friend, Lexi, and I started hanging out with them around the time Claire got married. About a year later Sam met Riley and with Riley came Carrie.

Those seven women had become a family to me. Lexi and I got close when we were in grad school together, and she helped convince me to start Bite Me! and over one too many bottles of wine we came up with the name. Expanding our little twosome to eight brought a fullness to my life I hadn’t ever known.

I always made sure I had my friends’ favorite cupcakes fresh and ready for our Tuesday night gatherings. It was a struggle to have them pay me but they all insisted. Sometimes I wondered if my business was primarily maintained by my friends.

Almost.

My display cases were half filled by the time lunch rolled around. I brushed my hands on my apron and blew out a breath with a grin. It had been a good morning. Once I got through the lunch rush I would be able to take a break. Some days my lunch involved a few cupcakes. It wasn’t the healthiest option but definitely delicious.

Even though my afternoon would be slow until people were off work, I didn’t like to leave the shop unattended. Since I woke up late that morning I didn’t have lunch ready to go, but eating cupcakes was definitely not a hardship.

As the lunch rush started to die down I couldn’t deny how hungry I was. There was only one blueberry muffin left and it was calling my name.

The bell above the door jingled and a tall, skinny man wearing a Soup’s On sweatshirt walked in. My stomach grumbled immediately, wishing I had a warm bowl of soup for lunch but knowing I couldn’t leave Bite Me! I smiled at the man and asked, “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, I’m looking for Charlotte.”

Confused, I looked him over. Cautiously I replied, “I’m Charlotte.”

No one calls me Charlotte. People who know me call me Charlie, or Charles. I felt my spine stiffen and fear lodged in my throat. The last time I got an unexpected visit by someone who called me Charlotte was when my grandma died.

“This is for you then. Enjoy,” he said as he handed me a large white bag with Soup’s On written on the front.

“Wait, what is this?” I called as he headed to the door.

“Lunch. There’s a note in the bag.”

He grinned at me before stepping out the door and rushing across the parking lot to his car. I watched him like it was all some kind of joke and wondered what in the world was going on.

Then I realized how good it smelled.

I carried the bag back to the kitchen and opened it up. A sheet of paper was inside, like the guy said. When I unfolded it I saw handwriting I didn’t recognize.

Charlotte,

Thank you again for the coffee and muffins this morning. Since you wouldn’t let me pay you, I figured I could at least send you lunch. Without knowing what you liked, I’ve included their four most popular soups, and my favorite. Hopefully you like at least one of them.

It was a pleasure meeting you this morning.

Max

I couldn’t stop the smile that crossed my face. I didn’t have time to get involved with anyone, but he was sweet. And I was hungry.

The bag held French onion, broccoli cheese, chili, baked potato, and minestrone soups. It smelled so good my mouth actually watered. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to eat so I opened them all and alternated bites between each bowl, snacking on the sourdough mini-loaves of bread, too. Each bite was more delicious than the last.

Somehow I managed to pull myself away when the bell above the door rang. I smiled when I saw Lexi walking through the door, fully dressed in her head-to-toe blue uniform from work. “Hey, Lex, what are you doing here?”

I’d always been a little jealous of Lexi. When we met in our business class we were paired together during a class assignment. During the semester we realized how much we had in common and started getting together outside of class too. Lexi was one of those women that was unassuming. She looked perfectly ordinary, but underneath the overweight shell was a take-no-prisoners woman who’d risen to Building Manager at EAAC Pigments in her early thirties.

Her shoulder length blonde hair and bright blue eyes were deceiving. She looked demure and sweet until she opened her mouth and put you in your place. Lexi was a shit-kicker at work and that confidence attracted her wonderful husband, Mike.

She was also the only person who would have had the confidence to challenge me to go for my dreams.

“I had some supplies to pick up for our event at the end of the week. I’ve got another kaizen in my building and I’m trying to help the Lean manager. I was also hoping I could talk you into opening up early for me to get some coffee and muffins to start the meeting.”

I waved my hand dismissively. “You know I’ll always open for you. If I’ll open for the snowplow guy, I’ll open for my best friend.”

As soon as the words were out I knew I would regret admitting it. Lexi had become like a shark since she and Mike got married, constantly wanting to hook me up. I kept telling her I wasn’t interested in a relationship, but she thought it was just something I said because I hadn’t found the right guy.

It was partly true, but I also hated being set up. I was perfectly capable of finding my own dates.

“What snowplow guy?” Lexi asked with a wag of her eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes at her… because she deserved it. “The guy who plows the lot stopped by this morning when he was done. He said he forgot his coffee. He saw the lights on, and I took pity on him.”

“Is he cute?”

I shrugged and turned away, busying myself with lining up the perfectly ordered cupcakes and muffins. Heat crept up my neck and I knew Lexi would catch it. She didn’t miss anything.

“Ooh, he is cute. You so like him!”

“No, I don’t. He’s cute. He was nice. That doesn’t mean I like him.”

Lexi took her time appraising me, and I could tell she was trying to figure something out. Knowing Lexi she would end up being right, but I didn’t want to hear it. Whatever was going to come out of her mouth next, I wasn’t ready for it.

“Lex, don’t give it another thought. I’ve got too much going on with moving my whole life. I don’t have time for a man. Next subject. What muffins do you want and how many?”

Lexi pursed her lips and I could tell she wanted to say something else. Thankfully she dropped the subject. “There will be 17 in the group. I was thinking three dozen muffins and however much coffee. Could I pick it up around six?”

I nodded as I wrote everything down. “No problem. Flavors?”

Lexi shrugged. “Whatever you think. I’d say a variety of stuff. You’d know better what people will like. You know I’ll want blueberry.”

“Yep, I’ll send blueberry, banana nut, chocolate chip, and a few bacon and egg. Mostly men?”

Lexi nodded and pointed to a chocolate mousse cupcake. I handed it over. “Yeah, 14 men, three women.”

“That works. I’ll work on that first thing. Are you coming tonight?”

Lexi took a bite of her cupcake and moaned. “So good,” she mumbled. “Yeah, I’ll be here later. I gotta run back to work. Love ya, babe.”

“Love ya,” I answered with a wave. Lexi was out the door with half her cupcake already gone. I went back to my lunch and smiled, glad I kept my mouth shut about my special delivery. She would never have let up if I’d let that slip.

* * *

My phone rang late in the afternoon. It was the real estate agent I’d been working with, Elizabeth. I wiped my frosting covered hands on my apron and answered the call before it went to voicemail.

“Hi, Elizabeth. How are you?”

“Hello, Charlie. I have some news for you, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

My stomach dropped. She didn’t have to say anything else. “Do you know who got the site?”

“No, I don’t. They wouldn’t tell me anything. The listing agent called me this morning. She said they got our paperwork, but the building owner had already signed a lease with someone else. We barely missed getting in. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Elizabeth. But I need to find something else. That place was perfect. Well, almost perfect.”

“I know. I’ve got a few other listings we can look at. None that have an apartment attached, but they could still work for you. Can we get together tomorrow to look at them?”

“Yes, definitely. I have an anniversary party the second weekend in January and I have to have a kitchen to work in to fulfill the order. Besides that, I need a place to live.”

“I know, Charlie. We’ll find something. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

I thanked Elizabeth and hung up. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I wasn’t going to give up. Something would happen that would make the whole thing work out. It had to.

* * *

Thankfully, the rest of my afternoon was quiet, although filled with cupcakes and frosting. Kendall, the high school student who worked part time for me, showed up around four and handled the customers out front while I baked and frosted everything I could get my hands on.

Just before six I ran upstairs to take a shower and eat more soup for dinner. It was so good I couldn’t resist it again. I was excited for our girls’ night. Over the years our group had grown and changed. With everyone else married, many weeks one or more of the men tagged along. Being Mandy’s last week before she went on maternity leave all the men were staying home.

In clean jeans and a green sweater, I dried my peanut butter cup hair and dotted on lipgloss. I knew Addi would be downstairs already so I rushed to sit with her for a while. Addi was the one I’d gotten to know first. She was sweet and a little dirty, but that likely came from teaching high school kids. It never failed that I was laughing at something Addi said by the time the others arrived.

Addi was in what had become ‘our table’ in the back corner when I pushed out from the kitchen. In front of her sat a plate with a cupcake and a half and a cup that I knew held a mocha. When I originally set the place up I had two and four person tables scattered around the small area out front. The bar at the end of the display case had stools for people who wanted to sit there, many who liked to talk like I was a bartender. Overall I could seat about twenty people inside. When the weather was nice I added a few tables outside for sidewalk seating too.

When Addi, Sam, Mandy, and Claire started coming to Bite Me!, they always sat at the same table. It wasn’t long before they were pulling over extra chairs or pushing tables together. When Lexi and I started joining them on a regular basis we were already up to eight people if Xander and Aidan tagged along. I made sure to push two tables together in the back of the dining area so we could all sit together without creating a problem with other customers.

By the time our group reached 17 we would take up the entire inside seating section, leaving only a couple bar stools. I started to consider moving to a new location with more space before I got my eviction notice. Most of the time customers picked up their cupcakes and left, but occasionally I would catch some eyeing tables and looking disappointed when they couldn’t find an empty one on a Tuesday night.

I dropped into a seat next to Addi and gave her a quick hug. “How was work?”