The next day the weather was slightly better though there was no doubt that summer was finally over. On his way to the café Aidan had had to run through a light drizzle and there was no hint of the sun behind the thick wall of gray clouds. The sea was rather stormy, too, and one could hear the waves clashing against the cliffs in the distance.
However he wasn't bothered by the weather in his warm and cozy kitchen and concentrated fully on decorating the cupcakes perfectly. With a spray bag he squirted butter cream on top of the little cakes and decorated the cream with planed chocolate until he was satisfied with the result. Another tray was already in the oven and April had shouted from the front that the Cherry Cheesecake Cupcakes were nearly sold out.
He finished his current task and carried the fresh cupcakes out into the shop where April had to deal with a mob of hungry people on their lunch break.
"Hi, what can I get you?" he asked the woman who was next in line friendly.
"I'd like to have on of those Bacon Cupcakes and one with spinach," she answered and he quickly went to work while she rummaged for her purse in her enormous handbag. He would never understand how women could deal with those monstrous bags which seemed to mercilessly swallow everything that was smaller than a pack of paper handkerchiefs - forever.
"Here you go." He placed the bag on the counter and took the money.
"Thank you," April groaned after the last customer had left the shop. "Sometimes I think they meet up around the corner so they can burst in all at once."
"Some secret cupcake-meeting," Aidan chuckled and arranged the pastries in the display while April gulped down half a bottle of water. A few strands of hair had slipped out of her bun and her cheeks were flushed from the hectic work.
"My bladder is ready to burst," she muttered before she disappeared in the direction of the restroom. Aidan rolled his eyes at her retreating back and stretched his arms above his head to relax his shoulders. Bending over a tray of pastries for as long as it took to finish them was seriously tiring and he felt his joints pop.
Surprisingly, his next customers was the grumpy man from yesterday's afternoon. So he hadn't left town yet?
"Hi," Aidan greeted him with his usual bright smile which was answered by a less enthusiastic smile.
"Any recommendations?" the guy asked and gestured to the offered pastries.
"The Black Bottom Cupcake is perfect for this weather; it's a soft dough with herb raw cocoa and a dollop of rich cream cheese and chocolate chips batter baked into the center. Totally food for the soul," he explained with a cheeky smile and beamed when the man chuckled.
"Then I'll take one Black Bottom Cupcake and a cup of coffee," he concluded and shifted the bag on his shoulder so he could reach back and retrieve his wallet.
"To go?" Aidan asked, ready to take a paper cup, though the man shook his head.
"Nah, I'll stay here today."
Aidan didn't question his habits and prepared the beverage and put the cupcake on a plate along with a fork.
"Choose a seat; I'll bring your order in a bit," he offered and the man nodded before he sat down at one of the tables near the window. Aidan waited till the coffee machine was finished and didn't make any gurgling noises anymore and then picked up the mug and the plate to carry them over to his hopefully new regular.
The man slipped out a laptop from his bag and powered it up with furrowed brows as if the act in itself was already revolting.
"I don't want to be noisy, but you're new here, aren't you?" he inquired unobtrusively after he had placed the food on the round table.
"Pretty obvious, isn't it?" the man retorted with a slight shake of his head and leaned back on his chair. "I'm Keith Turner, by the way."
Aidan was sure that he knew someone with this last name but couldn't quite place it, nevertheless he took Keith's hand and shook it.
"Aidan Campbell, nice to meet you."
"The last time I was here in Pine Grove this was a hardware shop," Keith told him and gestured around the bakery.
"A long time ago," Aidan commented, still trying to put a finger on the memory in the back of his mind. "It's The Sugar Stop for five years now and before it was a small clothes store."
Keith nodded and sipped on his coffee. "I wasn't here for about twelve years though I don't think a lot has changed."
Aidan guessed that Keith was somewhere around his thirties so he had probably left Pine Grove directly after High School. And then he finally remembered why the name Turner was so familiar.
"Are you Roger Turner's son?" he blurted out thoughtlessly and immediately felt the heat shoot into his cheeks. Luckily Keith didn't seem to be offended by it and merely chuckled.
"Yes, I am the famous traitor," he confirmed sarcastically and Aidan refrained from asking why the man was considered a traitor. He had heard rumors that Roger Turner once had had a son but because he hadn't gotten along at all with the old man he hadn't put a lot of thought into it. Just stories the people liked to gossip about.
"Well, welcome back," he commented and Keith grimaced.
"Trust me, I would have avoided this town like the plague if my father had taken care of his affairs properly before he died. Now I'm stuck with sorting through his shit."
Aidan cringed and fumbled around with the strings of his apron. He couldn't hold Keith's opinion against him because the old man hadn't been a friendly person at all. In fact, he had called Aidan Fairy since the day the whole town had found out about his uncommon hobby - thanks to Slade - and hadn't ever taken a step into The Sugar Stop as if it would make him look unmanly or something like that. For crying out loud, eating a cupcake wasn't something bad! Men could do that, too!
"Did you move here?" Keith inquired curiously and Aidan nodded.
"Yes, ten years back when I was fifteen," he answered truthfully and the other male made a sound that probably should express something along the lines of 'Ah, I see'.
"That's probably the only change that has happened in Pine Grove during those ten years," Keith said with a wry smile and Aidan agreed with a pained expression. Pine Grove wasn't the poster image of a economically or culturally thriving town and the people who were born here died here.
"You were the quarterback, weren't you?" Aidan wanted to know curiously and Keith nodded with a questioningly raised brow.
"I think I saw a picture of you in the glass cabinets with all the sports awards," he explained and Keith made a funny face that should probably express his utter mortification. However Aidan didn't think it was a photo he had to be mortified about. It was a typical High School photo with lanky teenagers on the football field, celebrating their victory with ecstatic faces. Nobody looked good in those photos.
"Is Coach Gonzales still a major asshole?"
"Yes, he once made me finish the laps although I had puked halfway through. It had about ninety-seven degree," Aidan told him with a shrug of his shoulders although he still felt sick to his stomach when he thought about that horrific day.
Keith chuckled and typed in his password and Aidan took it as his cue to leave. "Enjoy your cupcake."
"It looks delicious," Keith admitted and winked at him and Aidan was sure his face would melt off because it felt so hot. He hurried back into the kitchen where April was mixing the batter for the Cherry Cheesecake Cupcakes.
"I didn't want to interrupt your talk with Mister Handsome out there," she explained calmly and he choked on thin air.
"What?"
"You practically drooled, Aidan."
"I didn't!" he sputtered offended. "We did nothing more than talk!"
She gave him a pointed look and placed the bowl on the messy counter. "Do you want to hide back here?"
He bit his lip and contemplated refusing her offer just to piss her off but that would mean he had to go back to the front where Keith was sitting. Keith who had winked at him.
"Yes," he mumbled begrudgingly and she smiled triumphantly before she left him with the halfway finished batter.
Evil woman.
Even though she was evil and kept giving Aidan 'that' look, April was quite the lucky girl. Not only was she beautiful and talented at everything she did - except for baking - she had also a perfect boyfriend. Josh worshipped the ground she was walking on and he could cook. Like, really cook. Where Aidan threw some vegetables and noddles into a pot and deemed it a proper meal Josh made dishes that were so unbelievable yummy you wanted to bath in them.
Luckily Aidan was April's best friend and therefore was often invited to come for dinner. Between his Granny's delicious cooking and Josh's food orgies it was definitely hard not to get fat. Particularly because both chefs practically banned him from their kitchen so he could do nothing more than sit around and wait for the food.
"Guess who's back in town?" April currently asked her boyfriend who shrugged and added a little bit more salt to the sauce. "Keith Turner!"
"April!" Aidan whined and buried his head in his hands because he knew what was coming. April was by no means one of those gossiping High School girls but she had a weakness for other people's love lives and she considered Aidan making small talk with Keith as a full-fledged love life by now.
"He was at the café today and talked with Aidan for at least fifteen minutes," she proclaimed proudly and Josh looked over his shoulder at Aidan who was sprawled out on their sofa.
"Really?"
"What's so strange about that? People talk with each other, you know?" he exclaimed with a pout and Josh chuckled.
"Well, Keith was never one of those overly friendly people. One of our teachers made him sit next to me in the first row for two years; it was like sitting next to an ice cube," Josh told them and went back to his chicken fillet which was sizzling with oil and herbs in the pan.
"Today he even smiled," April tacked on and placed three plates along with cutlery on the table.
"Perhaps he grew up and isn't as childish as you two anymore?" Aidan interjected and she snorted as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever said.
"Boys never grow up," she retorted and gestured to her boyfriend who was wearing Minions sweat pants.
"Will he stay in Pine Grove?" Josh wanted to know curiously after he had put the finishing touches to the sauce.
"I don't know, he said he has to deal with his father's legacy," Aidan answered with a shrug and filled three glasses with water so he had at least done one thing.
April wrinkled her nose. "I never liked that man."
"Nobody did," Josh added and carried the hot pan to the dining table. Aidan nearly drooled at the delicious scent and quickly sat down, ready to stuff his face.
"He died because of a heart attack, didn't he?" April asked and Josh nodded.
"Yeah, a neighbor called the ambulance but he was already dead when they arrived."
"I hope his son is not as much of a douchebag. At least he's way more sexy," April observed with a smug smile and Aidan had to resist the urge to bang his head against the table.
"I should fire you," he muttered around a mouth full of food and she laughed heartily.
"You would never do that. You need me."
"You burn cupcakes all the time," he pointed out and she rolled her eyes at him. Sometimes he suspected her to do it just to get free food. Maybe she enjoyed cake that resembled coal.
"I hope he becomes a regular," she changed the topic and Aidan groaned.
"He was only two times at The Sugar Stop."
"Yes, two times! That's more than his father managed to do," she replied and waved her fork through the air. Although she nearly stabbed it into her boyfriend's eye Josh didn't even flinch and observed their banter with an amused smile while he ate the rice and chicken.
"His father was a homophobic douchebag," Aidan argued even though he knew that he could never win.
"And that proves that he's perfect boyfriend material," she reasoned satisfied and finally concentrated on her food instead of Aidan's love life.
He really didn't want to know what would happen if she found out that Keith had winked at him.