Mating Dance by Bianca D'Arc Page B

in.
    “I’ll have a danish if they’re ready,” he
replied, needing time to think.
    He asked her for a cup of coffee too and
decided to stay for a bit, using one of the tables scattered around
the front of the shop to eat and spend time getting his sanity
back.
    She moved away from the counter as he
scrambled for equilibrium. She bustled around in the back for a
bit, but it wasn’t long before she returned with a cheesy
confection on a plate that smelled really good. Tom’s stomach
grumbled as she placed the steaming cup of coffee next to the plate
on a small tray. He paid her for the snack and took his tray to the
closest table without another word.
     

Chapter Two

    Ashley Baker was intrigued by the tall man.
He’d seemed gruff and a little odd, but maybe he was just having a
bad morning or something. It was early, even for the early risers
of Grizzly Cove. The sun was just barely breaking over the mountain
to the east, painting the dark waters of the cove in cheery golden
ripples. It was her favorite time of day, and she seldom shared it
with anyone, for the simple reason that nobody ever really came
into the bakery this early.
    Normally, she would take a break as dawn
arrived, sipping her coffee while staring out at the waters of the
cove, the sun rising from behind her, giving her a stunning view of
the cove and the wildlife that inhabited it. She saw all kinds of
birds, even a few seals occasionally. And she had a pet seagull she
threw crumbs to every morning when he came up to the door of the
bakery.
    Sure enough, there he was now. Ashley
grabbed the little dish of bread crumbs she saved for the old bird
and headed for the door.
    “If you feed that thing, you’ll have the
whole flock here in no time,” the man said as she approached the
door.
    Ashley laughed. “Gus and I have an
understanding. You’ll see.”
    “Gus?” Tom got to his feet.
    He walked closer while Ashley opened the
door of the bakery and stepped out. She wasn’t surprised when Tom
followed, though she noticed he kept his distance when she went
right up to Gus and held out the dish of crumbs.
    Gus the seagull came right over, used to
their routine by now. After a few vigorous pecks, Ashley placed the
dish on the ground and stepped back, watching Gus demolish the bits
of bread she’d saved for him. Tom came up beside her, and she felt
oddly comfortable with him, though they’d only just met.
    She’d wondered what the town lawyer might be
like when she’d helped her older sister settle the paperwork for
their new business. Ashley was the one with the business
background, and she did most of the bookkeeping for their little
business. She’d liked the orderliness of the lawyer’s
correspondence and the clarity of his instructions. He’d laid out
everything in a sensible way, which was something she’d come to
learn wasn’t always the case with lawyers.
    She had looked forward to meeting him when
they moved in, but he hadn’t come by the bakery. Until now. She
wondered why he’d waited so long, and why he’d chosen this odd hour
and this particular day to drop by.
    He seemed nervous, so she didn’t press him.
She had sympathy for socially shy people, since she’d been one in
her younger days. It was only after she’d gotten involved in the
speech and debate club in high school and developed those skills in
moot court competitions in law school that she had really
blossomed. She’d lost her fear of talking in front of people and
was better able to handle social situations as she gained
confidence.
    But then all hell had broken loose soon
after she took her first job, and she’d come running back home to
her sisters. She was better off with them, doing something she
enjoyed even more than her former profession. Law was work, but
baking… That was fun.
    Baking had always been her outlet, even
before she had gotten serious about her education. Baking for her
was creating, and she came up with a lot of the unique recipes they
used