Close to You

himself in check, he stuck his
hands in his pocket and walked out of the café.
    Rick followed him, falling into step
with him outside the coffee shop. “Come on. There’s a shot of
Jameson with your name on it.”
    “ You’re on,” Treat said
grimly. Now he just had to wait and see if his gamble paid
off.
     

Chapter Twenty-eight
     
    Margaret rearranged the flowers next
to the hostess station inside Crumpet one last time. She stood back
and looked at them dispassionately. Perfectly displayed. Warm
colors. Vibrant and inviting.
    She could care less—about the flowers
or that Daniela Rossi was due to arrive in fifteen
minutes.
    The only thing she cared about was
redemption—her own.
    She hadn’t been able to sleep last
night, thinking about the way she’d acted with Treat, Eve, and
Grant. What had come over her? Even in the dark, she hadn’t been
able to face herself. She’d turned into something ugly.
    Margaret touched her necklace,
remembering the look in her son’s eyes when Eve had accused him of
lying to her. That was all her fault. She winced, thinking of the
lost look on his face. She’d seen that look in the mirror, after
Harry had died.
    Losing Harry had made her so afraid.
She tugged on the pearls, feeling like they were strangling her,
and looked around Crumpet, seeing it through fresh eyes. This
wasn’t what she wanted. The irony? In trying to protect it, she’d
lost everything that she really did want.
    Like a relationship with Treat. And
Grant.
    Her heart sped up with anticipation
and fear, but she was done letting those emotions rule
her.
    Today was a new day.
    Before she could make up with Treat
and Grant, she had to set herself right. Meaning she needed to get
her finances in order and fix things with Eve.
    But Margaret had a plan—on both
fronts.
    The front door opened, and a small
group of women walked in. A brunette in New York black and towering
heels led the charge, followed by a mousy woman juggling a
notebook, pen, and cell phone. At the back was a thin woman with
softly curling brown hair and the face of a Raphaelite
angel—Daniela Rossi. Margaret recognized her from the pictures of
her on the Food Network website.
    Pasting a smile on her face, she went
forward to greet them. “Welcome to Crumpet. I’m Margaret Byrnes,
the proprietor.”
    “ Carmen McKnight,” the
woman in the lead said brusquely, sticking her hand out. “Daniela
Rossi and her assistant Marley.”
    The mousy woman gave her a shy smile.
Daniela nodded but continued looking around the store. “Can I see
the kitchen?”
    “ You don’t need to look at
the kitchen, Daniela.” Carmen’s jaw went steely, and she sounded
like she’d said it a hundred times before. “You’re talking, not
cooking.”
    Daniela’s only response was a slight
firming of her lips. Crossing her arms, she ambled through the
front room, occasionally touching the china or rearranging a
napkin.
    Carmen rolled her eyes and sighed
dramatically. Adjusting the large Coach tote on her arm, she said,
“We’ve looked at quite a number of spaces today,” as though trying
to explain the pastry chef’s behavior.
    “ Have you looked at Grounds
for Thought, down the street?” she asked.
    “ Yes.” Carmen’s nose
wrinkled. “It had promise.”
    “ It’s a beautiful space.
The owner’s done well there.” Margaret thought about the excited
look in Eve’s eyes and the passion with which she operated her
business. “She’s quite the baker. Did you try her
croissants?”
    “ It was delicious,” Daniela
said enthusiastically, gravitating back over. “Her biscotti too.
Just like my Nana used to make.”
    “ Eve bakes with passion.”
Margaret reached behind her neck and unclasped the necklace.
“Grounds for Thought is the perfect place for what you
want.”
    Carmen frowned. “Excuse
me?”
    She set the pearls on the host’s
podium. It felt right, taking them off. Harry would approve. He
would have been the first one to tell her she needed to snap out of
the self-pity. Why had it taken her so long to see?
    Standing firm, invigorated for the
first time in ages, Margaret nodded. “Eve is an accomplished baker,
and she sells books in her store. Not to mention that she’ll be
able to pull in a good crowd.”
    “ I liked Grounds for
Thought,” Daniela said, arms crossed defensively, as if she was
ready to taken on her publicist.
    “ Daniela,” Carmen started
as if talking to a five year old, “I thought we agreed that