Sugar and Spice

Chapter 3: Coffee and Cream

It was barely ten thirty in the morning when Jennie heard the shrill ring of her cell phone.

First she swore under her breath. She was in the middle of piping choux buns for the latest batch of religieuses, and, if she didn't get them in the oven soon, the pastry would be unusable and the customers would be complaining. Religieuses on a Friday were a Belle Epoque tradition.

Then, she considered ignoring it. It couldn't be shop business, since she had long ago decided to separate work and pleasure and keep two phones. It was her personal one that was demanding her attention and therefore, as far as Jennie was concerned, that meant the call was not particularly important. Hardly anyone had her private cell number anyway. Just her mother, in which case not answering would be the best policy, and...

Lisa.

Jennie dropped the piping bag and nozzle on the steel table, narrowly missing the perfect circle of doughy pastry that she had just created, and almost ran across the kitchen, stripping off her gloves as she went. She had left the phone on a shelf near the oven - it had become a habit to use it as a timer when she was cooking - and she grabbed it with shaking hands. The number on the caller display was not one that she recognized.

"Bonjour?"

"Hi."

Jennie almost laughed. She would recognize that voice anywhere now. "Hi."

"That's better."

There was a pause, before they both began speaking together.

"So how was the..."

"That violet thing was..."

Jennie stopped at the same time as Lisa, and she could hear Lisa's throaty chuckle. It was a sound that she quickly decided she wanted to hear more of.

"Sounds like you should start first."

Jennie smiled, even though there was no one else there to see it, and started her sentence again.