Chapter Three – Things That Don’t Go on the Menu
1002 Words
The bakery smelled like cinnamon, warm butter, and possibility.
Lianna stood by the prep counter at 5:32 a.m., apron tied, sleeves rolled, eyes still a little heavy from lack of sleep. She’d been up late sketching recipe notes in the margins of her journal—ideas that had been sitting in her mind for years but never made it to the oven.
But this morning? They were ready.
She measured carefully—honey, dark roast coffee, ground cloves, a pinch of nutmeg. Her fingers moved from memory, her brain already halfway into the oven. The recipe was untested, a mash-up of a family tart and her own curiosity. She’d always talked herself out of making it.
Not anymore.
“Spiced honey and coffee tart,” she muttered under her breath. “It either wins hearts or burns bridges.”
The crust was in. The filling, poured. She slid it into the oven like she was loading a secret message into a time capsule.
And then the bell over the back door jingled.
She turned, expecting Rosie or maybe Theo—
But it was Adrian.
In jeans.
Lianna blinked. “Are you… early? Or lost?”
Adrian shut the door behind him, hair slightly mussed from the wind, a paper coffee cup in one hand. “Technically, both.”
She raised a brow.
He walked in further, surveying the warm kitchen. “I couldn’t sleep. Figured I’d stop by. Place smells better than my hotel room.”
“That’s because we don’t perfume the air with generic regrets,” she said, grabbing a towel.
Adrian smiled faintly and held out the coffee. “Peace offering.”
She hesitated. Took it. Sipped.
“…Okay. You’re forgiven. Barely.”
They stood there in a rare, gentle silence. The oven ticked. The early light spilled in through the frosted windows, painting the flour-dusted floor gold.
“I’ve never seen anyone so focused at five-thirty in the morning,” he said.
Lianna glanced at the oven. “It’s a test run. New tart idea.”
“What’s in it?”
“Honey, espresso, cloves, a secret wish.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“Just wondering if you always sound like a poem when you bake.”
Lianna turned quickly, busying herself with wiping the counter.
This man had no business being charming.
“Why baking?” he asked.
She stopped.
“No one ever asked me that.”
He waited.
Lianna leaned against the sink, watching the sun catch the steam curling off the cup in her hand.
“I like the way baking makes people stop,” she said quietly. “Just for a second. A bite of something warm, and the world slows down. Everything feels like it’ll be okay again.”
Adrian nodded. “I can understand that.”
She glanced at him.
“And you? Why branding?”
He exhaled. “I like finding the heartbeat behind the surface. Seeing what makes people tick—what stories they don’t even know they’re telling.”
For a second, something passed between them. Familiarity. A thread pulled tight and delicate.
And then—
The front bell rang again.
Theo.
He walked in holding a bouquet of yellow tulips, wrapped in paper and slightly tilted from the breeze.
“Morning, sunshine,” he grinned, walking straight toward her.
Lianna’s heart tripped. “Theo, you didn’t have to—”
“They reminded me of you,” he said, setting them down beside her. “Bright. Kind. Slightly unpredictable.”
She flushed.
Then Theo looked over her shoulder and spotted Adrian, still holding his coffee, still standing far too close.
The smile faltered. “Didn’t realize it was a group gathering.”
Adrian straightened. “I came early. Couldn’t resist the aroma of ambition.”
Lianna pressed her lips together. This was going to get awkward, fast.
“Have you tried the banana muffins?” Theo asked, with a little too much edge in his voice.
“Loved them,” Adrian said, casually. “But I hear the tarts are the real test.”
Theo’s eyes narrowed, just a flicker.
Lianna cleared her throat. “Anyway—Gracie said she had something important to announce today. She should be here soon.”
As if on cue, the front door opened, and Miss Gracie bustled in with a tray of drinks and a glittering smile.
“Well, well, look at all of you here before sunrise!” she beamed. “I should open the bakery at midnight next!”
She set the drinks down and clapped her hands. “Now! I have news.”
Everyone turned.
“Honeywell Bakes,” she declared proudly, “has been invited to compete in this year’s City Baker’s Showcase.”
Gasps. Whispers. Even Rosie poked her head in from the back room.
“We’ve never done it before,” Gracie continued. “But it’s time. We’ve got the talent. We’ve got the flavor. And we’ve got Lianna, who will be leading our entry.”
Lianna froze. “Wait, what?”
“You’re ready, sweetie,” Gracie said, squeezing her shoulder. “And don’t worry—you won’t do it alone. Adrian will co-lead.”
Boom. Just like that, the oven wasn’t the only thing heating up.
Lianna felt her stomach flip. Adrian? Co-lead? In her kitchen?
Theo’s jaw clenched.
“This will be great,” Adrian said, voice smooth. “We’ll work together to bring the brand and the bake to life.”
“Fantastic!” Gracie chirped. “Start brainstorming tomorrow.”
She exited as fast as she’d entered, leaving the air charged and full of unsaid things.
Theo turned to Lianna. “You okay with this?”
“I—yeah. I think so. I mean… I’ll survive.”
Theo nodded, but his eyes said something else.
And Adrian?
He just watched her.
Not like a business analyst.
Not like a rival.
Like someone trying to figure out how a honey-and-coffee tart could break a heart open.
- Writer
