Sugar & Spice

Chapter 4

Valentine's Day marched steadily closer and Crissy almost didn't mind that she had no plans, that she would spend the holiday alone. Quinn came in on a semi-regular basis, every other day, and she continued to surprise him with a pastry of some kind. She found herself looking for some of her favorite recipes she didn't pull out very often. The general public had specific tastes that didn't vary all that much, but she was tempted to try slipping in a few different options. It was risky, considering she could lose time and money on it, and yet a small part of her didn't really care. She wanted to take the risk, she wanted to give it a shot. And secretly, though she hardly admitted it to herself, she wanted to surprise Quinn.

In the back of her mind, Crissy knew she should have been bothered by that. Quinn was practically a stranger but she still wanted to surprise him, change her cooking schedule with him in mind. It wasn't necessarily for him though, was it? He simply...noticed. No one really noticed her work before. They had a tendency to inhale it and move on.

On the Tuesday before Valentine's Day, when Quinn was scheduled to come in, Crissy kept an ear open listening for his deep, smooth voice to greet Amy. When Amy called her to the register, she hurried out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, a smile already on her face to greet Quinn.

But it wasn't Quinn. It was a different firefighter this time, short, stocky, with a ski cap pulled low over his eyes. His face lit up when she came closer and he smiled, a flash of white teeth amid the dark shadow of his beard.

"Hey, you must be Crissy," he said.

"And you are...?"

"Pete," he said. "Quinn sent me. He's sorry he couldn't be here. One of his nieces got sick the other night, she's having a rough time of it and he's taking some time off to help out where he can."

A worm of guilt gnawed its way through Crissy's stomach. She shouldn't have felt disappointed that Quinn didn't come when he was looking out for his sick niece. Of course he had better things to do than chit-chat with her all morning.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope she feels better soon," Crissy said.

"Probably the flu bug that's been going around," Pete said. "Those little ones catch all sorts of viruses like that this time of year." He hesitated and reached into the worn pocket of his Carhartt jacket. "Look, uhm..." He pulled out a folded piece of paper and smoothed it on the counter, sliding it over to her.

"We're having a little gig at the firehouse later this week," he said. "Quinn was wondering if you could maybe whip up a bunch of stuff? He knows it's short notice and he wanted to make sure to let you know it's not a problem if it can't be done."

Crissy took the paper and gave it a quick once-over, calculating as she went. Several dozen caramel cinnamon rolls, peach scones with vanilla icing, and apple turnovers. Nearly everything she had surprised him with so far. She bit her lip to hold down the smile bubbling up in her chest.

"Yeah, I can do this," she said. "I'd be happy to."

Pete grinned. "Great, thanks. And...uhm...do you happen to have any of those apple turnovers? Quinn won't shut up about them and he won't share either."

A pleased blush crept up Crissy's face. "As it happens, I just pulled a batch out of the oven."

"Hot and fresh. Quinn is going to be so jealous."

She fetched the turnovers and packed an extra to-go bag with half a dozen bagels.

"For Quinn's niece," she said. "I always preferred a warm bagel over chicken soup when I was sick."

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Quinn didn't come in to the coffee shop for the rest of the week, but she saw the fire on the news. A suburb on the west side of town caught fire and nearly took out the entire neighborhood. When Pete came by again two days later, Crissy forced herself to stay in the kitchen and focus on the mountain of food she still had to cook for the firehouse's Valentine's Day party. She ached to run out and question Pete, but instead, she buried her hands in bread dough and had to be content with Amy peppering him with questions.

"We heard about the fire," she said.

"Yeah, neighborhood fires scare the shit out of me," he sighed. "One wrong turn of the wind and it can all go to hell just like that."

"How did it start?" Amy asked. "There's two feet of snow out there. Wouldn't everything be too damp to get a good fire going?"

"Space heaters. It's freezing, people have to find some way to stay warm. So they crank up their little heaters, which get overworked. Next thing you know, an electrical fire starts in the wall and takes off before you even realize what's happening."

"Well, guess I'll be switching out my space heater for a crap ton of blankets then."

"Smart move, ma'am, but stay warm all the same. I'd best get back to the station. They'll be looking forward to something sweet after working around the clock. Oh, and would you mind letting Crissy know the bagels did the trick? Quinn's niece is back to racing around the house."

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Crissy woke to the sound of tapping two days later. She pushed herself up on her elbows, refusing to open her eyes just yet. Another light tap at her window. She wrapped herself up in a blanket against the frigid air that kissed her sleep-warmed skin, and padded over to the window, tugging the curtain aside.

In the pale gray-blue light of early morning, Quinn stood in the middle of the empty road and waved at her. Crissy darted back behind the curtain, smoothing her hair down, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She must look a mess.

Quickly, she washed her face and threw on an oversized pink sweater and cupcake leggings. She didn't have any time to do anything with her hair so she pulled a beanie on and hurried downstairs to the coffee shop. Quinn waited at the door, stamping his feet to stay warm.

"Hey, come on in," she said, huddling behind the open door as the icy air surged into the warm coffee shop.

Quinn shook his head. "Can't stay. But I just...I wanted to ask you something in person."

"All right. Fire away."

"Pete told you about the party on Friday?"

Crissy nodded. "I still have about two dozen cinnamon rolls to make for it. I'll have everything ready, I promise."

"That's not what I was going to ask about. I was wondering if you'd like to come, as my guest. It's a casual thing, just some folks from the station and their families. I haven't been here long enough to really get to know anyone outside of work so I thought..." He shrugged. "I don't know. If you don't want to..."

She hesitated. Amy was the one who liked parties, Crissy was never very good at them. She would much rather stay in and spend quality time with her recipes and her scrapbook. But Quinn looked so hopeful, waiting for her answer, that she felt the words slipping out before she could think up a better excuse. She had no plans to stop her from going anyway, right? Maybe this would keep her mind off of Rob over the holiday weekend too.

"I'd love to go," she said.

Quinn brightened and a broad smile stretched across his face. "It starts at five, but you're welcome to come around any time before then."

"I'll be there," she said.

When Quinn left, Crissy closed the door, and the full realization of what she had just committed to finally settled in. She climbed the stairs back to her apartment, and crawled under the covers, taking her phone with her. She dialed Amy's number and pulled the blankets over her head.

"What's up, buttercup?" Amy chirped. "I know I'm running a little late, but Manu has been very attentive this morning."

"I'm going to a party," Crissy whispered.

Amy paused. Crissy could hear muffled voices on the other end of the phone for a moment and the sound of a car door closing.

"Details, Cris, I need details," Amy said at last.

"With Quinn."

Amy squealed with triumph so loudly that Crissy had to hold the phone away from her ear.

"Where? When? How did this happen? I'm on my way right now and you have to tell me everything."