Page 17 of The Baby Dragon Bakery (The Baby Dragon #2)

L avinia was keeping her chin up. It was full steam ahead on Operation Calahan, and she was positive everything would continue to work out, so long as she did not sabotage herself.

They had a pottery date tonight but, before that, she was meeting Theo for coffee at the cafe after they both got off work.

She felt as if she hadn’t seen him much lately and had texted him to meet her, which he had immediately agreed to.

He seemed so busy recently, and whenever he was free, she was busy, and vice versa.

She missed him the way she would miss her morning coffee.

When she finished up at the Animal Hospital, she said goodbye to Dr. Quan. Theo was already waiting for her outside. His brown hair was messy from the wind, and he was wearing a forest green shirt-jacket.

“We match!” Lavinia said, pointing to the forest green overalls she was wearing over a long-sleeve ribbed crop top. She fell into line with him and they started walking.

“Copycat,” he said. She bumped his hip with hers, and he stumbled. She giggled, and they continued walking.

She loved living in a walkable small town with such a great Main Street, filled with places like the live theater, the stationery store, the pizza parlor, the florist, and more.

Theo was a foot taller than her, but he knew to take shorter strides when they walked together, so she didn’t have to run to keep up.

They walked at a leisurely pace, enjoying the crisp autumn air, the warm sun, and the sharp breeze.

She had gotten used to his height now, but at first, it was jarring.

They used to be the same height, until the summer they were sixteen.

Then, every day it seemed like he was growing taller and taller.

He didn’t believe her when she told him that; he felt the same as always.

She started measuring him every time she saw him, using marks on the back of her bedroom door to keep track, and those had proved her point.

Things changed even when you didn’t notice.

They walked over to the Baby Dragon, which smelled like coffee, heavenly.

She caught the waft of warm brown sugar and cinnamon, autumnal scents.

The cafe was mostly full, and baby dragons ate little snacks from their position on the floor by their owners’ feet, or they slept up on bed nooks.

A few were even in their owners’ laps. She thought of Biter, missing the little draggo.

The cafe used to be a bit more chaotic during the early days, but now things were more harmonious as the patrons and their dragons adjusted to the cafe’s space and knew how to behave. Lavinia loved coming here, again and again.

They went to the front to order, and Lavinia spotted a new detail above the display shelves. She grabbed Theo’s arm. “Look!”

There was a new sign in the same font as the cafe’s logo, except it said The Baby Dragon Bakery and had an illustration of a cupcake with wings.

“Wait, I need a picture of you with this.” She grabbed his shoulders and, despite Theo’s protests, made him stand next to the sign and display cases. Lavinia pulled out her phone.

Theo gave her a toothy grin and two thumbs-up, and she snapped the picture. “Perfect.” She immediately sent it to her mom, who replied back with about fifty heart eyes. Lavinia snorted, showing Theo, and he smiled, pleased.

They both ordered karak chai, as well as the new fusion recipe that Theo had made. It was ras malai tiramisu, and there were only a few orders left. Lavinia was interested to try it out, so she ordered that, while Theo got a maple spiced butter cookie.

Having picked up their orders, they sat down on a table by the exposed stone wall, a candle flickering between them beside a vase of yellow sunflowers.

Lavinia took a pensive sip of her chai, then inspected her dessert. “You know, this really feels like a stretch to me,” Lavinia said. “Ras malai tiramisu?”

“I think it came out good, but I’m interested to see what you think,” Theo said, taking a bite out of his cookie. Crumbs fell onto his jacket, and he brushed them away.

“I’m sure I’ll love it, I love everything you make,” she said. “I’m very easy to please like that.”

“Still,” he replied, waiting anxiously. “Your opinion matters to me.”

“So if I said it was awful, you would throw it out and never make it again?” she joked.

“Yes,” he replied, completely serious.

“What? Why!” She shook her head. “You’re so silly! I don’t even know what I’m saying half the time. My opinion doesn’t matter that much.”

He looked at her like she was being absurd. “Your opinion is the only thing that matters.”

A current ran through her spine at the intensity with which he said those words, how earnest his brown eyes were.

She was touched. She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. It was warm from holding his mug of chai, and he held onto her fingers. She felt all gooey inside.

Then, she broke the moment by kicking him under the table.

“Well, if you told me I sucked at my job, I certainly wouldn’t quit.”

The tension broke as he laughed. “Come on, try it already.”

She did, knowing that it would be delicious. She planned to act as if it was terrible, just to annoy him, but once she took a bite, she couldn’t.

“Oh my god,” she said, mouth full. “I’m in love.”

Ras malai was made of disks of chenna, which was a type of cheese like cottage cheese, then soaked in sweet milk flavored with cardamom, but in this version, the disks of chenna replaced the lady fingers of the traditional tiramisu in the middle layer, and the cardamom sweet milk was mixed with the coffee soak for the lady fingers. The combination was divine.

She was thoroughly impressed. “How do you even come up with stuff like this?” she asked, awed. She took another bite. He was pleased and sat back in his seat, relaxed. After having another bite, she passed the ras malai tiramisu his way, while he slid her half of the cookie.

He ate a spoonful of the tiramisu. “It really is good,” he said.

They shared both desserts until they finished, then drank their chai, talking and people-watching, pointing out all the cute baby dragons.

Then, Lavinia told him stories about Biter, and Theo told her the latest gossip between his coworkers at the Rolling Pin.

After some time had passed, Lavinia checked her phone to make sure she wasn’t running late for her pottery date. That was when she noticed she had a text from Calahan, from about an hour ago.

“Oh,” she said out loud, disappointed after reading his message.

Theo straightened. “What is it?”

“Calahan got roped into some last-minute tutoring session, so he can’t come tonight,” Lavinia said, frowning. “He’s really sorry.”

“Oh,” Theo said, though he didn’t look particularly crushed from the news. “Maybe you can go another time?” he said. His tone was bright. He was trying to be positive, which she appreciated.

“I might go anyway,” Lavinia said, nibbling on her lower lip. “He booked it in advance, so it’s already paid for, and I’ve wanted to go for so long. My parents went last month and loved it. They made the cutest little bowl!”

“I could go with you,” Theo said, and was she imagining it, or was there eagerness in his voice?

“Oh.” She hadn’t been expecting that. Nerves ran through her, though she didn’t know why. He was her best friend; they had done loads of activities together over the years. This would be no different.

She shouldn’t overthink it. “Okay, great!” She smiled.

Theo stood. “Shall we?” He offered her his arm, and she hooked her elbow with his. They left the Baby Dragon and walked over to the ceramics store, which was on Main Street and a short walk away. As they entered the store, Lavinia became excited all over again.

The front of the store had various clay products to purchase, such as dinnerware or vases and the like, and they went to the back, where a studio was set up for pottery classes.

There were six stations, and most of them were already filled.

There was one free in the middle, and Theo and Lavinia made their way over to the empty station.

All the attendees were couples: one old couple, two her parents’ age, and the rest in their twenties and thirties. While it was a class for couples, Lavinia was sure it wouldn’t be anything too intimate. Theo didn’t seem bothered, so there was no reason for her to get weird.

Lavinia and Theo sat down on the little stools. “Move your legs,” Lavinia said, bumping his knees with hers. His legs were so long, and he was practically smushed against her on their tiny seats.

“Move yours,” he replied, knocking his knees back. She laughed. There wasn’t much room for anyone to go.

The instructor was a white-bearded older man with a kind face, wearing a smock covered with dried clay streaks. He waited for the last couple to arrive, and for everyone to put on their smocks and settle down, then he stood at the front and the room quieted.

“Good evening, everyone, my name is Gabriel, and I’ll be leading the workshop,” he said, smiling. He continued to tell them a bit about himself and his history with clay making, and then they got started.

“First, we will throw the clay onto the wheel,” Gabriel said. “You want it to be as close to the center as possible and firmly set.”

Gabriel had already cut blocks of clay and set them on each workstation, and Lavinia grabbed one. She threw it onto the wheel—and totally missed.

Theo snorted. “Nice one.”

“Shut up,” she replied, though she was biting back a laugh, too. The clay was only about six inches off. She pried it off the wheel, handing it to Theo. “How about you try?”

“You know what, I will.” He threw the clay, and it landed pretty perfectly in the center.

Her mouth fell open in shock. “No fair!”

“Once you’ve got your clay thrown, you want to center it,” Gabriel instructed. He explained how to dip their hands in water and spin the wheel, moving the clay until it was perfectly centered.