Page 16 of Sweets and Sycamores

BE FRIENDLY ON YOUR OWN TIME

Watching Dominic and Ekko get acquainted must have been one of the most endearing moments Allie had ever witnessed.

Dominic stood still, arms crossed at his chest, feet apart, while Ekko flew tentative, curious circles around him, getting closer and closer with each lap.

When the dragon was within arm’s reach of the unpredictable, broody man, he flew away and hopped on Allie’s shoulder.

“See? He’s harmless,” she said, scratching his soft belly. Her boss huffed and turned around, heading for the kitchen.

“Keep him in your room,” he shouted across the hall.

Allie snickered and ran back to her studio room, setting Ekko down on the sofa.

“Be good, okay?” He nodded and plopped down on his butt. The other day Allie hadn’t found anything wrecked or misplaced, so she trusted Ekko to continue to behave himself, especially now after meeting Dominic. “I’ll bring you something to munch on later,” she said, and left the creature alone.

Allie and Dominic fell into a comfortable rhythm after that. She felt relieved now that her boss knew the truth about her power, and her dragon, and seemed to accept both. He made it clear he wasn’t happy about it, but he had accepted them, and it was more than Allie could have asked for.

So for the next couple of days, she woke up and turned on the ovens, made coffee for herself and Dominic, cleaned the bakery, and helped him whenever he asked.

Ekko was a delight when he wasn’t crowding her pillow at night, and he kept her room intact, with the exception of a potted plant he’d knocked over on the desk.

Allie had conflicting feelings about the weekend when it finally rolled around, which came after what felt more like a month than just a working week.

The bakery closed after lunch, and she was excited to explore the town during the day, but she dreaded going to the Institute to ask about Ekko.

She’d heard both good and bad things about Mystical Creatures Institutes and she would have loved to postpone this visit for as long as possible.

But she’d promised Dominic.

And Allie quickly found out that she wasn’t willing to threaten the trust she was beginning to build with him. Even if she was only here for a short time, she would be eternally grateful to him.

“Morning.” A thick voice halted Allie’s train of thought.

She looked up to find Brandon, who she hadn’t seen ever since the night he had saved her from sleeping under the stars.

He leaned over the counter in a worn, brown leather jacket, his short black hair tousled from the wind, the same kindness she remembered from almost a week ago lining his dark eyes.

“Brandon, hi!” She gave him a wide smile. “I didn’t get a chance to say thank you for helping me. I truly appreciate it,” she babbled.

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” He waved her off, looking around the bakery. “Are you sure you’re thankful?” He laughed.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Have you met Dom?” he teased her. Allie couldn’t help but laugh.

“I have—”

“Are you getting anything or just distracting my staff?” Dominic’s gruff voice came from behind her. Allie shifted to the left to make room for her boss in front of the register, and in front of his friend.

“Morning, D. Cheerful as always, I see.” Brandon smirked. Her boss managed to raise his eyebrows without disturbing his scowl. “I’m just chatting with my friend,” Brandon said defensively. “We’re friends now, right, Allie?”

She was taken aback by the statement, mainly because she didn’t have many friends.

Or any friends, outside of her coven, at least, but only Freya had been remotely friendly to her.

She made friends when she had been with Sam, but had abandoned that life together with him.

Allie hadn’t held many friendships, but someone going out of their way to help a stranger was definitely friend material.

“Of course we are.” She grinned. Brandon grinned right back.

And Dominic… Well, nothing changed on his face. He turned around and muttered, “Be friendly on your own time.”

If not for Brandon’s snicker and head shake, Allie might have thought she’d done something wrong.

“Don’t mind him. I’m here for my bread order.” His dark brown eyes moved to the display case. “And maybe a couple of the lemon macarons. And a slice of pumpkin pie.”

“Coming right up,” Allie said. She packaged the pie and macarons, then slid a copper in the register and added two extra macarons to the bag. “For helping me. I still can’t bake,” she admitted.

Brandon took the bags from her with a smile. It seemed like he was always smiling. Or it was just easier for her to notice because she’d been dealing with her ever-scowling, never-smiling boss.

“Thanks, Allie.”

She turned to go retrieve the bread order and hit her shoulder against a sharp corner. The box in question was not floating but was in Dominic’s arms, who balanced it in time to keep all the bread from falling to the floor.

“Sorry, Mr. Ranford.” Allie took a few steps away, making more room than necessary around the counter.

“Here.” The man practically shoved the box into the customer’s arms. They were good friends; they must be.

“Always a pleasure, D. I’ll call you later,” Brandon said.

The store’s bell rang and another familiar face walked in.

Mia, the Archivist, entered the bakery and stopped abruptly at the door when she noticed Brandon.

Her sweet smile melted, Brandon’s steps slowed as they came face to face and stood there for a silent moment.

They exchanged some mutters and glances potent with unnatural awkwardness, yet likely full of meaning.

Because Mia’s face was flushed as she came up to the counter.

“Allie!” She tucked her hair the color of wet roots behind her ears. Today she was wearing jeans, a green sweater, and brown leather boots up to her knees.

“Hi Mia!”

“So you did meet,” her boss grumbled. The Archivist threw him a bored and unimpressed look.

“Were you hoping we didn’t?” she provoked him, but didn’t let him answer. “I’m here for one of your weekend specials.” Mia eyed the display case with big, hopeful eyes. Her face fell when she noticed the empty space behind the “Weekend Special” label.

Allie had learned that morning there was a different dessert every week that Dom made only during the weekend. This week it was chocolate brownies filled with raspberry cream, and they were divine. No surprises there.

“I saved you some in the back,” her boss said and waved Mia in behind the counter.

Oh.

Oh.

Allie busied herself around the front despite the lack of customers, straining to not listen to the voices coming from the kitchen.

She didn’t want to intrude and suddenly felt like she should sweep the bakery’s entryway.

Fortunately, she’d left the broom out earlier instead of taking it back to the storage room, so she went outside and closed the door behind her.

It wasn’t long before Mia and her boss came out, Dominic…not scowling for a change.

Huh.

In the very long week she’d been here, Allie had never seen her boss act so comfortably around anyone. Not even around Brandon, and they were supposed to be friends. He was polite—most of the time—to the customers, and to her, but he was generally snappy and almost always glaring.

“Didn’t you sweep earlier this morning?” Dominic asked, that familiar frown taking its rightful place. Allie made a noise in the back of her throat.

“I did, yes,” she blurted, “but it looked as if it was dusty again.” She glanced between him and Mia, feeling her cheeks heat. Mia must have noticed and put her out of her misery.

“I’m going to sign up for the Harvest Festival. Do you want me to sign the bakery too?” Mia asked Dominic, hand on his arm. He nodded reluctantly and patted her hand once. “Allie, would you like to come with me? I can show you around town,” she offered.

Allie checked the time and saw there was one hour left before the bakery closed.

“Sorry, I can’t right now.”

“Dom, you can spare Allie for one hour today, right?” she asked in a sweet voice, batting her eyelashes at him. Dominic held her gaze for a moment before speaking.

“Fine,” he huffed.

Allie had the feeling there was possibly nothing Dominic would deny Mia.

“Are you sure, Mr. Ranford?” Allie asked, and Mia scoffed and rolled her eyes, a smirk across her face. “I can stay and finish—”

“Go,” he said in that tone that didn’t leave room for conversation.

“All right. One second,” she told Mia. She ran inside to take her apron off and put on her jacket. She also threw a bunch of pumpkin seeds in a bowl and left it with Ekko while she grabbed the document that came with him.

Allie rushed down the hallway while pulling at her hair band to let her hair loose.

“Ready,” she said when she was back outside. Dominic watched her closely, his deep green eyes fluttering to her curls. His jaw clenched, and Allie messed with her hair and instinctively asked him, “Do I have flour in my hair again?”

“You’re good,” Mia answered instead, her eyes moving between her and Dominic before she took Allie’s arm and dragged her through the small yard onto the sidewalk.

Allie turned and waved at her boss, who stood rooted in the same spot, following them with that burning gaze.

“What’s that?” Mia looked at the paper in her hand.

“I need to stop by the Mystical Creatures Institute. Did Mr. Ranford tell you about Ekko?” Mia shook her head, so Allie told her in a few words how she’d ended up with a pet dragon for the past couple of days.

“And Dom agreed?” she asked with raised eyebrows. “To keep the dragon?”

“Only until I had time to go by the Institute and check with them about the misunderstanding,” Allie assured her. “And I promised Mr. Ranford that—”

“Okay, hold on.” Mia interrupted her with a laugh. “What is it with you and Mr. Ranford?” At Allie’s confused look, Mia added, “Why don’t you call him Dominic?”