Sugar & Spice

Epilogue

"No peeking," Quinn said, the broad expanse of his palms covering Crissy's eyes.

"I'm not peeking," Crissy said. "But you better not make me trip."

"I know, I know. I'll be sleeping on the couch for a week and you won't let me touch anything you bake. Believe me, I have no interest in experiencing that kind of torture."

"Where are we going anyway? I have a strudel in the oven. I don't want it to burn."

"It won't burn. We're just stepping outside for a minute. Now would you stop wiggling?"

Crissy waved her outstretched arms in front of her. As Quinn pushed open the door with one foot without removing his hands from her eyes, a blast of ice cold hit her face and she recoiled. She ducked her nose into the collar of her coat and Quinn shuffled a little closer, his breath warm against the back of her neck.

"I smell food," she said.

"You always smell food. And we're literally two steps outside of the bakery. Of course you smell food."

A pause.

"Are we there yet?"

"No," Quinn said with a laugh.

"How about now?"

"I'll tell you when we get there. Just trust me."

She curled her fingers over his wrist. "I do trust you. But hurry up. I'm getting impatient."

"Pretty sure you're already there, sweetheart," he said as his hands slid away from her eyes.

Resting above the bakery was her brand new sign in big bold letters, proclaiming, "Sugar & Spice." It wasn't the title she had in mind for so many years but this wasn't just her dream anymore. It was Amy's dream and Quinn's dream just as much as it was hers. They had all worked to make this come true and it was only right that they agreed on a title together.

"The guys finally finished putting it up this morning while you were busy baking," he said.

"Is that what all that noise was and you wouldn't let me look?"

"It was a surprise! You can't look at surprises when they're in the process."

Crissy smiled up at Quinn, sliding her arms into his jacket. "It's perfect. Just in time for opening day too."

He ducked his head with a quick, chilled kiss before he pulled her arm through the crook of his elbow and tugged her towards the door again.

"All right, that's enough," he said. "You are freezing."

He pushed open the door to the pleasant hum of the bakery. After Quinn's stay at the hospital, Crissy had postponed opening day for a few months until December to make sure he could handle being on his feet all day while he worked. She still caught him coughing very once in a while or scratching at his neck where the livid red scars crept out of his shirt collar and snaked down his arm. Otherwise, he was moving, he was smiling...and he was laughing. That's all she ever wanted.

Despite the fact that the official opening day wasn't until tomorrow, a few customers from the fire department had already sifted through her doors somehow, huddled around tables with coffee and fresh pastries.

Quinn took her coat and hung it up as Crissy returned to the kitchen to fetch the trifle out of the oven and set it aside to cool. Amy bounced by, a bundle of blankets tucked in one arm, two coffee mugs balanced in her hand.

"Hey auntie, Cristina 2.0 has been fed and she's ready for a nap," she said. "If you could work your magic, sugar, that would be great."

Crissy accepted the sleeping baby, skimming the back of one finger over the baby's soft cheek. Within a minute, Cristina's eyes drifted closed and she fell asleep, lightly gripping Crissy's finger.