One Funeral (No Weddings Book 2) by Kat Bastion, Stone Bastion Page A

think I got this.”
    He opened the door and smiled, looking at me, then glancing back at Chloe. “Good morning, ladies. How can I help you?”
    She leaned forward and glanced at his name tag. “Good morning, Richard. I’m Chloe, and this is my boss, Hannah. We’re from the cupcake bakery down the street.”
    He nodded. “Sweet Dreams.”
    “That’s the one.” She smiled. “Are you the manager, Richard?”
    “Yes. The day manager.”
    “We were wondering, if you don’t have a dessert menu, might you consider having us supply cupcakes that compliment your fare? Or if you already make desserts, what about adding a cupcake that might round out your current offerings?”
    I blinked, impressed with how thought-out her pitch was.
    Richard looked at the box. “We offer chocolate cake and cheesecake, supplied by a downtown bakery, and vanilla ice cream. What kind of cupcakes do you make?”
    Chloe grinned, taking the box from me and opening it as she stepped closer. She briefly glanced inside at our samples. “We’ll make any kind you’d like. But today, we brought carrot cake, red velvet, and…” She held the box higher, trying to get a look at the side of the third kind.
    I jumped in. “And cream cheese frosted chocolate bacon.”
    Richard licked his lips, and it wasn’t about Chloe. I think he tasted the chocolate bacon from pure imagination.
    When Chloe didn’t jump right on the opportunity to close the deal, I took over. “Can we come in for a moment, Richard? You could grab a plate, and we’ll give you one of each. Then you can take your time taste testing them throughout the day and let us know what you think.”
    He opened the door wider and ushered us inside, quickly grabbing a plate.
    Inside of five minutes, we stepped out the door three cupcakes and two business cards lighter, one for him and one for the night manager/owner. “Just let us know what you want and how frequently you’d like deliveries. I can fax over or bring by pricing and a schedule.”
    “Will do. I’m certain we’ll order something. Great meeting you, Hannah.” His gaze lingered on Chloe as his voice lowered. “Chloe.”
    We didn’t take more than a few steps down the sidewalk before she handed me the cupcake box. “Wow!” She stretched her arms out and stared up at the sky as we walked down the sidewalk. “That was amazing. We have to do this more often.”
    “Snagging a customer does have a power-trip high to it, doesn’t it?” Her exhilaration was contagious and tempered my worries about this outing. So what if employees needed to be managed? They also had to be encouraged to grow. And Chloe had a knack for sales. “You’re a natural at this. Maybe we can work something like this into the schedule at least once a month.”
    My suggestion got me an unexpected hug that made me stumble a few steps to the left, and the box of cupcakes almost teetered out of my hands. We both lunged to support the box and keep it upright.
    “I got it!” she shouted as she pulled it from my hands.
    “Thank God.” I exhaled a held breath. “Smashed cupcakes would make a sucky first impression.”
    Our next stop was a Starbucks, which fell flat because the company has their own bakery. But the owners of the artsy coffeehouse Zen Bean and Sage Leaf took one of each cupcake and asked us to send pricing materials.
    By the time we stepped out of the tiny mom-and-pop Italian restaurant Bella Portofino Ristorante with an agreement to create both tiramisu and cannoli cupcakes for a trial run on their menu, my stomach rumbled. We had three cupcakes left, one of each type.
    The last stop on our way back to Sweet Dreams was Lila’s.
    Lila’s was a new café that had opened a few months back and a place I’d been meaning to try. A garden led from the sidewalk and parking lot to the front door, and we wound along a cobblestone path with mulched borders that had new tulip sprouts breaking through.
    A curvy woman with ruddy cheeks and snow-white