Baby on Board

'Hello' Bonus Chapter

Arnaud Bertrand, my maître pâtissier, was pacing in agitation at the front door to La Petite Pâtisserie  as we both waited for the arrival of my sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law. Sophie and Daniel had asked for my business to provide their wedding cake for their New Year's Eve nuptials but with only six weeks to go before the big day, they still weren't any closer to telling us what they wanted.

It was a little strange considering Sophie had told me that Daniel had planned the cake. Arnaud and I had been waiting at least a week for word to come through which cake we'd be creating but as of yet, we were still in limbo. I'm sure that whatever flavours Daniel has chosen sounds lovely, although the taste is what really counts. 

Since we closed the shop yesterday, Arnaud and I had been tirelessly creating tens of different cakes for Sophie and Daniel to taste. Usually, I would let Arnaud get on with the baking solo, but work has been stressing me out for the past few weeks and I needed a way to relax. Ever since I was young and I spent almost every summer in France with my grandparents, I've developed a love for pâtisserie. While my sisters both followed my mother into the fashion world, I went in the opposite direction. 

"Arnaud, stop," I begged him. He listened, although his French muttering told me that he wasn't happy with being kept waiting. Especially on a Sunday. Today was the only day of the week that Arnaud had off. That was by choice considering I'd offered him a couple of days a week away from La Petite Pâtisserie but Arnaud was a perfectionist and wouldn't dream of leaving Nate in charge. I looked at the Chanel watch that adorned my wrist and sighed. "They won't be much longer."

Taking a seat at one of the tables, I drop my head into my hands and sigh. I had too many things going on in my mind this week and the stress was being compounded by the fact that Sophie was almost an hour late to our scheduled appointment. Knowing how bogged down I'd become, Arnaud came over and rested his hands on my shoulder, his thumbs kneading into the knots behind my neck.

My business had been approached by a French company looking to take over Le Petite Pâtisserie and I'd been battling with the son of the owner, insisting that LPP was not for sale. I'd spent too long building it up into the business that it is and I certainly wasn't going to offload it after putting a lot of blood, sweat and tears into every inch of this place. Still, the man- Yvann Thibideau- had made his presence known, showing up every day offering more money as an incentive for me to sign the contract that would see me lose LPP. 

"Ça sera bien, ma chouette," Arnaud said in his most supportive voice. 

Arnaud wasn't a man of many words and while he could be dour on a day to day basis, when it was just the two of us around, Arnaud was a totally different man. There's been a time when I thought his protectiveness was a romantic gesture but as time went on, I came to realise that Arnaud was caring of those around him. As much as Arnaud would grunt and growl at the antics of Lauren, Aimee and Joanne- and to a certain extent, Nate- he would take a bullet for every one of them. 

"Je sais," I mumble, nodding my head despite not believing my words. I could tell from the way Arnaud's hands stilled that he was about to call me out on my lie, tell me something motivational, get me to see that there was light at the end of the tunnel, but before he could speak up, there was a knock at the door. Peering up at the glass front of LPP, I saw my sister beaming at me. "Sophie's here."

Sophie, however, was not alone. Surrounding my sister was her fiancé, Daniel, and a few other faces I was semi-familiar with. One was Jasmine Gough, my sister's assistant-turned-business partner. Then there was Daniel's sister, Evie, his best girl friend, Jenna, and Jenna's husband, Elias. And then there was Isaac Fletcher, the man known around here as Oz. He was fast becoming a regular customer of ours but he also had a habit of turning up in the most random of places.