Page 177 of A Taste of Vanilla

But it’s been a long time since I’ve felt wanted. Not like this.

And now we’re building a menu together. Romance is dead.

I set the syrup down harder than necessary, and Warren exhales through his nose.

I walk over and look over his shoulder. The notebook is divided into columns. One side says “concept,” and the other says “execution.”

My side of the prep table is covered in pink sticky notes, a highlighter, three pastry sketches a half-eaten banana, a coconutmilk carton, and a ribbon I may use for packaging if Warren stops calling ribbon “nonessential material waste.”

He points to the page. “We need three items.”

“I want five.”

“Absolutely not.”

“You say no far too often.”

“And you suggest five far too often.” He looks down again. “Three items.”

“Four.”

“Three and a drink.”

“A drink is an item.”

“It’s a beverage.”

“It still requires you to prep something.”

“Barely.”

“You’re making coconut syrup from scratch.”

“Why would someone come here and buy something when they could just order the syrups online and make twenty lattes at home for the price of two?”

“You have a million other things to do for those three food items, Hal. You need to stick with three.”

“Like what?” I shift my weight, my hip hitting the table.

“Like the banana pastry cream. And the pink and blue packaging.”

“I have dreams to uphold.”

Warren looks at the ceiling for a second, as if asking a higher power for strength, and then returns to his notebook. “Three food items and one drink.”

I gasp. “Did you just compromise?”

He sighs. “I’m making an adjustment.”

The thing about fighting with Warren is that it should be miserable. It can be terrible, sure. The other night was awful and left me standing in my kitchen after midnight with swollen lips and a bruised heart, wondering how a man can want me so badly and still make me feel like I’m a problem he has to solve.

But most of the time, it’s like striking a match against stone.

I pick up my sketch and slide it across the table. “This one.”

Warren looks down.

The sketch isn’t good, exactly. It’s cute, though. A rectangular laminated pastry with rounded edges and banana cream in the center. Toasted sugar on top and a tiny drizzle of blue vanilla glaze with a pink sugar bow.