The Cupcake Queen. Patricia Coughlin
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did, but everything I did wrong just led to something even worse.”
She paused, waiting for one of them to speak. Somewhere, way in the back of her head, she could hear her mother’s comforting voice saying to her the words she so often had, You tried, sweetheart, that’s what matters.
“Say something,” she urged.
“All right,” obliged Doc Allison. “You’re fired.”
Obviously the woman did not share her mother’s philosophy when it came to mistakes.
“I guess I deserve that.”
“You guess?”
“I meant I do deserve it.” She knotted her hands at her waist, dropped them back to her sides, finally folding them across her chest. “And I’m sorry. That might sound feeble or perfunctory, but I don’t know what else to say. I wish I could go back and undo everything that happened today, but I can’t. I can try to make it up to…”
“No,” the other woman blurted.
“I was going to say make it up to Danny. Maybe take care of his hospital bills…and Romeo’s, too, for that matter. I’d really like to take care of everything…and I mean everything.”
Rancourt finally spoke, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “You’re willing to pay the bills?”
“Yes. I am.”
“And just where does someone who’s lost two jobs in less than a week come up with that kind of money?”
“I’ll figure out something,” she assured him.
Actually she already had it all worked out in her head. More than likely the bills wouldn’t have to be paid for weeks. By that time she would have won the bet and she’d be back home, with full access to her checking account…and her credit cards and a car that didn’t refuse to start three times out of five and her own beautiful bathroom, with its plentiful hot water and soft, thick towels, which she’d never appreciated until she was forced to share a bath with strangers in a rooming house.
She stopped herself before she broke down and wept, and refocused in time to hear Rancourt’s response.
“That’s not good enough.”
Her jaw lifted and her brows arched before the words Who the hell does he think he is? had finished forming in her head. Somehow she managed not to give voice to the question.
“That’s unfortunate,” she replied. “I’ve apologized, lost my job and offered to handle whatever expenses are incurred. I really don’t know what more I can do to rectify the situation.”
“I do,” he said.
She didn’t trust the sudden gleam in his eyes and she didn’t have time to figure out exactly why. One downward sweep of those thick, dark lashes and his gaze was once again as unreadable as smoke. How did a man become so skilled at blanking out? And why?
“I’m listening,” she told him. “Tell me what more I can do.”
“It’s obvious. You need a job. I need someone to fill in for Dan until he’s out of the hospital. Doc says he shouldn’t be laid up too long, and she’s agreed to hold off firing you, provided you agree to our plan.”
“I don’t understand where you’re going with this,” she said, afraid she knew exactly where he was going, hoping she was wrong. “Are you suggesting I work for you?”
“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m stating facts. You’ve been fired from two jobs in a matter of days. In case you’re a hopeless optimist, let me assure you that folks around here won’t be lining up to hire you. Do it my way and you’ll give things time to settle down. And if you follow orders and don’t maim me or burn the place down, when Dan’s back on his feet, I’ll help you line up something else and put in a good word for you.”
“Why?”
“I guess I’ve got a thing for crazy ladies. Besides, I need someone right away. You’re a risk I ordinarily wouldn’t let within fifty yards of my place, but all things considered, I figure you’ve got more incentive than anyone to work hard and get it right.” One broad shoulder lifted carelessly. “Then there’s the little fact that you owe me. Double.”
Payback time…just as she suspected.
“Are you in?” he asked.
“Not so fast. If by owing you double you’re referring to the coffee incident, you deserved every last drop. We’re even on that score. As for today, I’ve admitted I’m responsible and…” She hesitated, desperately wishing she had an option that didn’t involve Owen Rancourt or wearing a turban until her hair grew back. She didn’t. And they both knew it.
She sighed. “When do I start?”
He almost smiled. “No time like the present.”
Chapter Four
W hen Rancourt explained that he expected her to live at his place as well as work there, Olivia’s response had been quick and succinct.
“In your dreams,” she told him.
She expected him to parry. Instead, in that irritatingly placid way he had, he informed her that he never dreamed, he wasn’t offering her a nine-to-five job, and she wasn’t the one giving the orders. His subtle emphasis on the last part ruffled her pride and she dug in her heels. It appeared they were at an impasse until Doc Allison intervened.
The vet attributed Olivia’s opposition to concern for her own safety. Belatedly it occurred to Olivia that it probably should be. Moving in with a man she barely knew, and who had reason to dislike her, qualified as one of the risks she had given her word not to take.
The other woman went on to say she understood her wariness and applauded it. She then offered her personal assurance, based on years of friendship, that Owen Rancourt was a man of honor and completely trustworthy.
Olivia wasn’t buying the honorable part. She also held that trusting a man enough to be his friend was one thing; trusting him enough to be alone with him, in an isolated camp located in the middle of the heavily wooded no-man’s-land between Danby and the rolling foothills several miles north, was quite another. None of which changed the fact that she needed the damn job. And now that she thought about it, free accommodations would be a bonus.
If he proved to be less honorable than Doc Allison claimed, well, she was able and willing to do whatever necessary to halt unwanted overtures…as Mr. Owen Rancourt well knew.
As she vacillated, the vet went on to explain that in addition to the main house, there were a number of cabins on the property, where handlers bunked when training camp was in session. The news that she wouldn’t actually be living under the same roof with Rancourt tipped the scales and Olivia grudgingly agreed to give the arrangement a shot.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be perfectly safe with Owen,” Doc Allison reassured her. “I wouldn’t lie to another woman about something like that.”
“Not even me?” she challenged, feeling as close to sheepish as she ever got. “The woman who threw this place into chaos in only two days?”
“Actually it was closer to one and a half,” the vet corrected. “And no, not even you. I like you, Olivia. You’re bright and funny. I just don’t think you were the right person for me.”
“And you think I am the right person for him?” Olivia gestured toward Rancourt.
Doc Allison’s forehead furrowed and she sputtered a bit before saying, “To be honest, Olivia, I’m not sure who you would be right for. But Owen is in a bind and he’s willing to take you on, so all I can say is…good luck to both of you.”
She urged them toward the door with an unmistakable air of relief. “I could have told you there was nothing to worry about,” Rancourt informed her when