Standing By: A Knight's Tale #2 by Claudia Y. Burgoa Read Free Book Online

treats.”
    “Well, you might as well make yourself useful, let’s start with the two second tour,” he lets me inside. I look toward the top of the stairs where there’s a wooden door and side glance at him. “That’s Hayl’s home and straight ahead is the kitchen. Now you know the place.”
    I always wondered what was on the second floor of the bakery. Without saying a word, I continue straight ahead and cross the threshold to find the kitchen. The walls are painted exactly like the bakery, green and purple stripes with a white trim in the middle. The stainless steel counters are filled with ingredients, boards, utensils and then I spot a frowning Hayley standing in the middle of the kitchen with both hands on the side of her waist staring at the ceiling as if asking for a miracle.
    “Jesus, Hayley, I told you something and you’re already twisting my words and making an entire novel out of it.”
    “Well, you left me hanging,” her glance moves towards Parker. “Yes or no, is he?”
    “Of course not, take a breath before you die of asphyxiation.”
    Her shoulders loosen, and the crease on her forehead disappears but then those pale eyes move their direction toward me.
    “This isn’t noon.” She points at the cupcake shape clock on the wall. “When the little hand points at the five and the big hand is at the number twelve, it means five. Not twelve.”
    “Oh, that’s what those arrows are for, I always wondered.” As I laugh, she huffs and moves to the sink where she washes her hands and after she dries them, moves to the counter where there’s a cutting board, and she begins to slice strawberries. “How can I help, Muffin girl?”
    “Why are you here?” Hayley asks, the tone isn’t rude, more like curious—I think. “One person I can take, two before six is kind of hard. No offense to either one of you but my human interaction usually starts at six in the morning. Obviously since both of you are here, I can use the help. Mitchel, do you mind washing the dishes?”
    I look at the sink, and it’s empty but then she points to the opposite corner and there’s an industrial double stainless-steel sink with a pile of containers, baking trays and… why did I come so early? Surprisingly after yesterday’s dinner with the Welsh family, I wanted to learn more about this quiet little mouse. She spoke a few times while her father and oldest brother discussed a few of their cases, then listened to everything Parker told me about his farm. Dinner had been all about everyone at the table, except her. I even ended up talking for a couple of hours with Parker about the restaurant business and the plans to expand the sushi restaurant throughout the entire country. Expanding, the key word, and the next step for this bakery, something Ben Welsh tried to talk about but was repeatedly shut down by the patriarch.
    “You should sell bagels and artisan bread,” I casually say while waiting for the second sink to fill up with hot water. “The business will increase drastically if you have—”
    “I don’t make bread, never cared to learn that part of the business,” she interrupts without glancing at me. “I have a Ph.D. in sugar.”
    “She does,” Parker adds and when I look over at him, I spot him staring at her and smiling. “Really, Knight have her play with sweets and she’ll surprise you. The rest … well let’s say she should stay away from the stove. Remember when you burnt eggs because you couldn’t tell when they were done?”
    “I was seven.” Hayley sighs and continues chopping.
    “You were twenty when you served me that uncooked roasted chicken, let’s not forget the crispy spaghetti, or … you can’t cook worth a damn.”
    “True stories,” Hayley stops, turns my way and confirms, then adding, “I’m willing to try the bread thing, but I’ll have to find a class that’ll fit into my schedule—or pay a teacher to come here and teach me during my down times.”
    “I can teach