Cinnamon and Spice Conundrum (Cinnamon Rolls and Pumpkin Spice)

Chapter 22

Sadie

Jack insists on wearing his old fogey’s outfits and I simply don’t understand why. I’ve tried to gently hint that he should scrap those cardigans to no avail. When I outright told him they were ugly, he acted hurt, although I think he was only joking. To top it off, he dug out one of grandad’s horrible fishing hats and is wearing that today.

Maybe I need to enact an employee dress code.

Speaking of employees, Judith is starting today. I told her to arrive around ten so we can get through the early morning rush first. I don’t want her to have to handle the locals, especially Wilbur, for a couple days, until she’s got more experience under her belt. I learned that lesson from Jack’s trial by fire.

Jack has quickly become an expert on the coffee machine—operating it better than I do—and he knows the cash register like the back of his hand, including discounts. He’ll be the one to train Judith while I try to handle the customers by myself.

As expected, Judith and the two kids arrive a few minutes before ten. Since Pinecone Pines cancelled school in order for kids to participate in the festival, we get Michael and Ella situated in the break room with some coloring books I bought them.

“Look Mommy! This box has thirty-two colors!” Ella squeals when she sees the crayon box. She instantly looks through the colors, selecting a bright purple one. Michael seems less excited and chooses a black crayon.

Thank you , Judith mouths.

I nod, but it was actually Jack’s idea to purchase the larger box. “I used to envy the kids who had more than eight colors,” he said .

It warms my heart that Judith is wearing the outfit I gave her as a new employee gift. The black slacks and light pink button-down shirt fit her figure nicely. You’d never have known she is such an attractive woman with her slouchy shirts and baggy pants. Hopefully the black loafers are comfortable as she’ll be standing for hours.

“Shall we go out front so you can begin training?” I ask.

She nibbles nervously on her lower lip as she follows me. “I hope I can learn quickly. My ex used to tell me I was as dumb as a rock.”

I skid to a stop and squeeze her arm. No wonder she lacks confidence if her ex told her that. “Jack’s a great teacher, and you’re going to be a great student!” She trails behind me, but with a bit more mojo in her step than before.

“Here’s our new employee!” I say to Jack. He turns from refilling the coffee machine beans, encompassing both of us in his bright smile, making my heart flip.

“Welcome, Judith! I’m just loading new beans so I can show you how to grind and brew.” Excitement leaks from his voice, as if he’s going to show her his new puppy.

Judith’s face lights up and she laughs. “I’m ready!”

When a group of customers walk in the door, I go up to the counter and take their order. “Aren’t you the emcee at The Pinecone Toss?” a woman in the group asks.

“Yes, I was! Did you enjoy the competition?”

“It was great! Glad to see the all-woman team win,” another lady pipes up.

“You just wait. The Chuckers will be back next year,” one of the guys reply.

They debate the teams while I retrieve their pastries and Jack demonstrates to Judith how to prepare their beverages—an easy order of coffee straight from the carafe, without any fancy add-ins. The customers pay and stroll to an empty booth .

“Pinecone crafts!” the girl-power woman shouts. She and the other two women in the group grab their cups and rush over to look at the display. They sip as they peruse the shelves.

“Where is she going to put that stuff?” one of the men grouses.

Another man nods. “Just another thing to collect dust,” he comments.

The interest in the craft display reminds me that I need to visit Agnes and give her and Georgeanne an update on their sales.

As I suspected, Jack is a terrific teacher. He’s patient and kind, and when Judith overflowed a latte, he made a comment and they both laughed. Her confidence builds right before my eyes. In fact, a couple hours later, Judith handles two coffee orders herself. Jack called it “going solo.”

Right before his shift is over, Jack strolls over. “Judith is doing great! She really appreciates you taking a chance on her,” he says in a low voice.

“I’m happy to give her the opportunity. Sam is going to start demanding you return to Denver any day, I’m sure!” Although I meant it as a joke, after I say the words, my expression turns melancholy. My time with Jack is quickly coming to an end. Even though we act like boyfriend and girlfriend, I suspect when he goes back to Denver he’ll forget about me. There’s probably a cute librarian or a sweet elementary school teacher who would love to snap up Jack. He’s quite the catch, aside from the wardrobe. I’ll speak to Sam soon about giving Jack a raise.

A rush of festivalgoers arrives right at lunchtime, keeping me too busy to eat with Jack. He grabbed a sandwich and left, but not before he invited me to eat dinner with him at the cabin. Tonight is taco night, and I’m certainly not going to turn down one of my favorite foods. Afterwards, we’re going to visit Agnes at her apartment. Georgeanne called and told us Agnes has been released, so I’m taking her some pumpkin spice muffins. Georgeanne, of course, also requested I bring a full accounting of pinecone craft sales.

When the rush passes, Judith sidles up to me. “Jack is such a nice guy, and he’s cute in a nerdy Mr. Rogers kind of way,” she says with a laugh.

I blush. “He is, but I wish he’d get rid of those cardigans.” My mind conjures up the image of shirtless Jack in the canoe. Gulp!

“And what’s with the safari hat?” she says.

I shrug. “Who knows. He found it in Grandad’s cabin.” We both snort remembering Jack in that ratty old hat. “Shall we get some treats for the kids? Julio and Nancy can handle the front.”

After I load up a plate of muffins and cookies from the bakery case, Judith stops me by squeezing my arm. “Sadie, how can I ever thank you enough for all you’ve done for me and the kids?” She blinks back a couple tears and I do the same.

“It’s my pleasure to help you get back on your feet,” I croak over the lump clogging my throat. Judith is smart and has a great attitude. Why hasn’t someone hired her sooner? Clearing my throat, I say, “Now let’s go devour some of these pumpkin muffins!”

After we devour Jack’s delicious tacos, he and I visit Agnes. Georgeanne answers the door, ushering us into the tiny living room. Agnes is seated in a recliner, looking like herself again—the color is back in her cheeks and her hair is neatly fixed.

“You look wonderful, Agnes,” I say, hugging her, then handing her the pumpkin spice muffins.

“Thank you!” she says, passing the muffins to Georgeanne to take to the kitchen. “Please sit. ”

Jack and I sit together on a small loveseat whose paisley pattern matches the pattern in the drapes. It’s rather matchy-matchy but still looks nice.

“Are you getting around okay?” Jack asks, nodding towards the walker positioned beside her chair.

“As good as can be expected, but I hate using that thing!” Agnes replies.

“She sure is grumpy about it,” Georgeanne adds.

Agnes glares at her friend but doesn’t comment. Jack’s shoulders shake with suppressed laughter.

“Tell us how our sales are doing!” Georgeanne asks after we’ve exhausted the topics of the weather, the festival, and Strobilus Bistro’s new Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza offering, which according to Agnes is an abomination towards pizza lovers.

When I ran the numbers, Georgeanne’s crafts are selling like hotcakes while Agnes hasn’t sold a single one of her pinecone creations. Knowing that I can always give unique crafts as Christmas gifts, I bought five of Agnes’s napkin holders.

“Good news! Georgeanne, we’ve sold all but one of your pinecone pictures. If you have more, I can restock. And Agnes, you’ve sold five napkin holders. There’s been a lot of interest in them and we’re only a few days into the festival.”

Both ladies look pleased as punch.

“I knew those napkin holders would be hot sellers,” Agnes exclaims.

“I’ll get you some more pictures tomorrow morning,” Georgeanne replies.

Fifteen minutes later, when Agnes stifles a yawn, I know it’s time to leave. “I hope to see you soon at the café,” I tell Agnes on our way out.

During the ride back to the cabin, Jack says, “When did those napkin holders become hot sellers? ”

Squirming in my seat, I hedge. “Just today.”

He laughs. “Sadie, you’re as transparent as glass. You bought all five of them, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t want Agnes to feel bad.”

“Tell you what, if no more sell, I’ll buy some. Surely I can find someone to give them to as Christmas gifts.”

We both laugh.

After the visit, I finally have time to call my brother. We haven’t spoken in several days. I simply don’t see how he’s surviving without Jack.

“Hey sis!” Sam says after several rings.

“I thought you weren’t going to answer. Is this a bad time?”

“No, we can talk. I’m working late,” he replies with a sigh.

Feeling guilty that I’m probably the reason he’s burning the midnight oil, I say, “You’re missing Jack, aren’t you?”

Sam grunts. “He’s left a big hole, that’s for sure.”

My brother gives me the perfect opening, so I launch into my prepared speech. “This brings me to the topic I wanted to discuss. You need to give the poor man a raise! By the looks of his vehicle, you must be paying him peanuts.”

A long pause hangs on the line, and I wonder whether I just overstepped, so I rush on to say, “Sorry if this isn’t my business, but have you ever considered that Jack might leave you and go out on his own? He’s smart and knows so much about business; his spreadsheet about the café’s pricing is brilliant! Plus, the man also needs to upgrade his wardrobe. I thought a little extra in his paycheck would help.”

“Um . . . Well . . . I’ll take that under advisement.”

With that somewhat awkward, lukewarm response, I wonder what’s up between Sam and Jack. Has Jack been spending too much time helping me and ignoring what he needs to do for Sam? A pang of guilt hits .

“How’s the sales of your new software product going?” I ask, hoping this will put my brother in a better frame of mind.

“Just great! Ryan is so clever. He added that AI generator feature, and it’s the most popular software we’ve created so far. The product almost sells itself.”

Ryan? Is that the Turnbill guy’s first name? I thought his name started with ‘R.’

“You must laugh at the fact that there’s a Jack Ryan and a Ryan Turnbill working at the company,” I say dryly.

There’s such a long pause, I check to see if the call is still connected. It is.

“Did you hear what I just said? I was making a joke,” I say to my brother.

Nervous laughter floats across the line. “Sorry, the janitor just came and emptied my trash can and distracted me.”

“Please consider that raise for Jack,” I say, risking making Sam mad.

“Will do... Sorry, but I’ve got to get back to work. Tell Jack hello from me,” Sam says.

We hang up and I wonder why my usually generous brother hesitated over giving his assistant a raise.

Weird. Maybe I caught Sam at a bad time.