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“I like the sound of that,” Rissa responded with a little laugh. “I’m sure Zan would buy a sample of everything from you. The hard part will be to get him to share with the customers instead of eating them all himself. I call dibs on the Napoleons if you make them!”

Mila grinned, she had her first customers! Of course she’d give them the sample box free, but Rissa and Zander seemed to know everyone. If they liked her goodies, that could only mean a lot more business!

“So that’s all you’ve been doing over there?” Rissa asked. “Taking care of Carter and baking?”

Oh, Rissa wanted to know if she was involved with the guys! Should she tell the other woman? Mila was conflicted. One part of her wanted to tell everyone because she was bursting with excitement, but the other half of her was scared. This relationship felt new and fragile.

“That’s a long silence for a simple question," Rissa said. “That tells me everything I need to know, including that you’re not entirely sure how you feel about it all. Don’t worry, I’m not goingto go around gossiping about you guys, but our community is pretty small.”

Community? Community of what? Business owners? Friends?

“I’m going to text you my schedule," Rissa continued as Mila’s thoughts were a traffic jam of questions and confused feelings. “You can come by and chat any time I’m at the bar or I could meet you somewhere. Being able to talk things out is important.”

“You can just leave work?” Mila asked. “Won’t your boss be upset?”

Rissa snorted. “I don’t have a boss and if Zan is ever upset, I give him a blow job, and he’s putty in my hands. Anatoly’s a little harder to distract, but I have my ways.”

Mila wasn’t used to such frank talk, but loved the way Rissa was so casual about her sexuality.

“It’ll be nice to have friends,” Mila said, only realizing how pathetic that sounded after the words left her mouth. “I mean, I have friends back in South Dakota. I’m not totally pitiful."

“Making friends can be hard,” Rissa said, her voice friendly and kind. “Especially when you move to an entirely new place.”

Her reassurance made it easier for Mila to talk. “That evening in the bar was the best time I’ve had since coming to San Diego.”

That included all the dates Brad took her on. Everyone eating and laughing reminded her of going to a local pub with some of her siblings and Bec.

“Then I guess you better come back to visit,” Rissa stated firmly. Then sucked in a breath as if something just occurred to her. “Oh, girls night is coming up. You’re not soul—uh, I mean I don’t know if you're officially in a relationship with Carter and Gio yet, but you should still come.”

Mila didn’t like the way Rissa cut herself off and picked different words. “What does being in a relationship have to do with this girls night?”

“We’re all in throuples or unconventional relationships,” Rissa explained. “We meet every few weeks at different bars in the county. The next one is at the Dapper Dog.”

Mila wasn’t sure. “Maybe you should check with everyone first.”

“It’s all good,” Rissa assured her. “You can show up or not. No judgement or expectation.”

Why did that feel so monumental? Her mind flashed back to her life in Tea. The rigid schedule. Her entire days and most of her nights were filled with work at the bakery, caring for nieces and nephews, and doing chores for her parents. She’d never even moved out of her old bedroom until she’d left for California!

Having someone tell her that she was welcome to attend an event but wouldn’t be judged if she didn’t go was freeing. But also a little scary.

“...the only thing is that I need you to promise me something.”

“What?” She’d been lost in thought again and missed some of what Rissa was saying.

“If something happens that is weird or freaks you out, let me talk to you first, okay?” Rissa asked. “Don’t go running back to South Dakota or anything.”

Mila laughed. “I can’t think of too many things that would make me do that.”

“You’d be surprised,” Rissa muttered. Before Mila could ask what she meant, the woman continued. “Anyway, I’ll text you the deets on girls night, but you can always talk to me alone.”

A deep, sleepy voice called Rissa’s name in the background. When she answered, her voice was muffled. “I’m coming right back, Zan. Stop being a grumpy cat.” Then she spoke into the phone. “And I still have all the stuff for Babette here. Actually, there’s more because some people brought more stuff by yesterday. This dog is going to be seriously spoiled!”

Mila looked to where Babette had dug down so deep only her little shimmying butt was visible.

“Too late,” she said with a laugh. “She’s found the joys of digging for treasure at the beach. I have a feeling daily walks on the beach are going to be a requirement from now on.”

Rissa chuckled, and they ended the call with Mila promising to visit soon and think about attending girls night.