The Baker, Part 2: Sous Chef

Chapter 29

"Why did we have to leave?" Cassie whined as her and Ben pulled up to the driveway of their house. Ben chuckled, "Because we have an infant son we need to get home to and Comic Con is over." She pouted, making him laugh. "Come on, let's go see our boy."

Thet got out of the car and ignored the luggage for now. They had less since Julie drove to San Diego to pick up Kelly. She was going to stay in California until she had everything packed up and ready to move out here. They suspected that would be within the next couple of months. 

The moment they stepped through the door, Ben called, "Alright, where's my boy?" A few seconds later, Wanda and Tim came around the corner with Liam in Tim's arms. Cassie didn't realize how much she missed her baby until she saw him and pushed Ben out of the way to go get him. 

"Hi, sweetie," she cooed as she took Liam from Tim. Liam got excited to see his mother and started waving his arms and laughing. "Ma! Ma!" Cassie held him close and said, "I know! We're home! Thank you, Wanda and Tim for taking care of him."

Suddenly, Hunter sprinted from around the corner and practically tackled Ben. Ben got down his knees and scratched his head while saying, "Well, hello, there! Did you miss us? Did you? We missed you, too, buddy." He hugged the dog, then watched as he ran up to Cassie.

Ben came up from the floor and took Liam from Cassie as he said, "We really do appreciate it. Don't we, pal? Can you thank your grandparents?" Wanda and Tim both waved them off and said, "It was no problem. He was quite the little angel. Certainly doesn't get that from his father."

Cassie laughed as Ben scoffed. After Wanda and Tim left, Ben put Liam in his cot and went to go unpack the car. "It's good to be home," Ben sighed. "I love Comic Con and traveling and meeting fans, but nothing beats being at home with family."

He pulled Cassie down on the bed with him once everything was unpacked. "I really should go check on the restaurant," she sleepily mumbled. Ben held her tight against him and said, "No. Stay with me." She smiled as she said, "I've been with you all weekend. Aren't you tired of me yet?"

Quirking an eyebrow, he asked, "How can I ever be tired of you?" He pecked a kiss on her lips, but unfortunately, she did decide to go check on the restaurant. "What do you want for dinner?" Ben called from the bed as she gathered up her purse. "We can just do pizza," she called back. "I don't feel like cooking."

With that, she left and drove down to visit her second child. "Hey, everyone," she happily greeted as she walked in. "How have things been? Good?" Her assistant manager Angela huffed and said, "Could have been better with you in the kitchen. Lots of muck ups back there." 

Cassie frowned, then asked for some more details. Apparently, half of the kitchen staff have no idea how to make the signature dishes because she usually does. "Okay, so we'll plan on closing early on Sunday and we'll train them. They should know how to make it already, but we'll review."

She then went into her office to look over some inventory sheets, when she noticed something was off. It was Jess. Not only was she not here, but her desk was cleared. Cassie quickly went out and asked Angela where she was. "Oh," she said with a tone of surprise, "she said she told you. She quit. She was sad that things didn't work out with a guy named Tom and said she needed to get home. I assume that's California."

That was the last straw. Cassie was fuming and couldn't believe Jess would just quit without telling her! "Okay," she said, "well...I guess I'm doing this on my own. Thank you, Angela." Angela nodded, then Cassie went back into her office. 

"You bitch," she muttered. 

**

Liam gasped at his daddy when he heard the front door shut. Ben gasped back at him and asked, "Is that mummy?" Liam's smile lit up and he started clapping. "Ma! Ma!" Cassie came into the kitchen a few seconds later and gave her son a small smile. "Hey, baby," she said, giving him a kiss on the head. 

With Liam in one hand, Ben put a slice of pizza on Cassie's plate and handed it to her. "Did the place burn down without you?" He jokingly asked. She sighed, "Almost. The cooks don't know how to make the signature dishes, so I'm training them on Sunday. Jess quit and went back to California."

Ben nearly dropped his plate. "What?" He asked. "Are you serious?" She nodded and grabbed herself a beer. "I'm done with her," she told him. "Good," he said. "You should have been done with her long ago, but at least you are now. Christ, Cass, I'm sorry." She shook her head, then said, "I guess I'm doing this on my own now."

After setting Liam in his high chair, he sat down next to his wife. "You can hire someone else, can't you?" He asked. "I'm sure Angela would happily accept the job." Cassie shook her head. "No," she told him, "it's not that simple. Jess signed the contract, which made her co-owner. I can't just sign that off to anyone because then they could basically do whatever they wanted with the place."

Ben thought to himself for a few minutes. "What if you make me the new co-owner?" She gave him a double take. "Come again?" He chuckled, "Make me the co-owner. Perhaps after I come back from Boston? I'll be home for quite a while once Black Mass is done and I'll be there everyday with you, helping with whatever it is you need me to do."

With a small smile, she told him, "That's sweet, Ben, but being a co-owner is much more than it sounds. Jess was there more than half of the time so I could be here with Liam. Now, I'm going to be gone all day and all night. One of us would have to do that when you come back and I would feel bad doing that to you."

Ben took her hand and said, "I have no problem doing that. Will it be a challenge? Yes. When I'm gone for three months, I know it'll be harder, but you can hire a manager at least, can't you? Or a few?" She mulled this over for a second. "I mean...yeah, I suppose I could. You really want to do this?"

Smiling, he told her, "I really want to do this. Besides, this could be fun! Owning a restaurant together, working together. I don't see a problem with it." Cassie leaned in and gave him a sweet kiss. "Neither do I."