Sugar & Spice

Chapter 27

A/N: Dedicated to StoryHuunter XOXO

Crissy dropped her coat by the door, kicked off her boots and headed straight for the kitchen without hesitating. She retrieved a bowl of bread dough from the oven she had left to rise while she was out and sighed as she sank her fingers into the warmth of it.

"God, I hate job hunting," she whispered.

An hour later, when Amy showed up carrying pizza, Crissy was still in the kitchen, dusted up to her elbows in flour.

"Hey, sugar," Amy called, pushing in the door and dropping her bag on the floor. "I brought pizza. I thought you must be starving after being out all day running interviews and dazzling everyone with your skills."

Crissy glanced up with a smile and nodded to the table. "Come on in," she said, though she didn't need to. Amy was already making herself at home, nudging cooling racks of brioche rolls aside on the table to make room for the pizza.

"How did it go?" Amy asked. "Any luck?"

She shrugged. "It's a small town. People have their loyalties to their friends, their boss's daughter, that one woman they met at church who they're secretly terrified of."

"So I take it that's a no."

"There are a few possibilities on the table, said they'd get back to me. I'm probably going to end up at the Gritty Spoon though."

"Because they're desperate to stay afloat. Their coffee is terrible."

"I wouldn't be a cook, I'd be on dish duty and work my way up." She sighed. "Again."

"There has to be other options out there. Keep looking, sugar, you'll find something."

Crissy cast her a grateful look and dropped the kneaded dough into a greased bowl, covering it with a towel and sliding it onto the counter to rise. She dropped into a chair across from Amy and picked up a slice of pizza.

"What about you?" she said. "How are you holdin' up? Any more morning sickness?"

Amy shook her head, her cheeks stuffed with pizza. "Doin' pretty good on that end. But I made a decision last night."

Crissy raised her eyebrows, waiting.

"I'm not going to Venezuela."

Crissy almost choked on her pizza. "What? Why not? Manu was crazy about it."

Amy sighed and set her pizza down. "I know. I haven't told him yet. He had to buzz out really fast this morning and I didn't have the guts to spring it on him when he was running out the door. Of course I'm not really looking forward to sitting down and having a long talk about it either but it's going to suck either way."

Crissy shook her head. "But...why?"

"You know why, sugar. I can't leave you now. The shop is gone. Your apartment is gone. You're job hunting. It's just not a good time."

"Oh please."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "My sarcasm senses are screaming. I always knew you had sass tucked away inside you but damn, girl, where did that come from?"

"I'll be fine. You deserve that vacation."

"But..."

"No," Crissy said. "You're not going to stay here and babysit me. I'm fine, really. Besides, I'll be at my sister's wedding, remember?"

"All the more reason I should stay behind and hold down the fort in case I need to kick some ass."

"I'm sure Quinn won't let anything happen to me. It'll be good for you to get away from everything for a while."