Missy was super excited as they ended the first day. Goldie was amazing!

Within a few hours, she had a strategy in place that made things run smoother and more efficient. She spent her lunch hour looking over the financial sheets and found with a few tweaks that Missy could afford to hire some part-time help.

Goldie convinced her this would be a good idea, as Goldie and the help hired could run the shop allowing her more time to work on her recipes. She couldn't believe in just a few short hours that most of her problems were resolved.

She hugged Goldie good-bye and closed up shop. She closed late in the afternoon as the muffin crowd tended to thin out after lunch.

"I really can't thank you enough," Missy said. "You wandered into my shop and in a few short hours fix everything. You're amazing."

Goldie blushed at the praise. "Thanks." It felt good, she was determined to do better than a good job and it was nice to know that it showed. "What time should I come in tomorrow?"

"Well we open early for the breakfast crowd, is 8 am good?" Missy asked.

"Perfect!" Goldie said, it was an hour before she had to be in at the diner but it was no 6 am like at Granny's Cakes.

"Looking forward to another great day! Thanks again!" Missy said waving to her before heading off to home.

"Until tomorrow," Goldie waved feeling quite satisfied with her progress so far. She pulled out her phone and sent Red a text.

Got a new job. Manager. Tell you all about it soon. Hugs. Goldie

She immediately got a text back and had to laugh at the quick response.

Want to hear all about it A.S.A.P. You had me worried, as you didn't answer your phone for the last couple of hours. Stop by the diner... dinner is on me. Hugs Red.

Goldie looked and seen the missed messages. She had turned her phone off. She should have thought ahead that Red would have been worried about her and called her at lunch but then she wouldn't have found a way to hire part-time help if she had done that so...may be it was meant to be. Her stomach growled and the thought of dinner at the diner was a great way to celebrate.

Missy had entered her apartment and stopped short when she had seen Bear, with a beer in his hand and two others empty sitting on the kitchen table. She picked up the empty bottles and placed them in the recycling.

"Since when did you start getting trashed in the middle of the afternoon?" she asked from the kitchen. He hadn't said two words to her since she came in.

"It's been beyond a bad day," Bear said just staring at that wood table.

"Really, mine was awesome thanks for asking," she said, when he didn't banter back she was concerned and sat beside him, "What's going on?"

"She's trying to take Lulu from me, Missy. I can't let her do it. She didn't believe me when I told her if she moved here I would follow her. That she's not going to get away with it. Here I am, back in Chicago, and here is the latest ruling from the judge about custody."

He slid the paperwork across the table to his sister. With a quick scan, of the contents it all became clear. "Oh, Baby Bear, I'm so sorry."

"My own daughter and I only get to see her every other weekend. It would have been supervised visits if Amy got her way. She tried to twist the fact that I'm willing to move here, to be close to my daughter, into Lulu was in danger of me kidnapping her. Can you believe that? I guess I should be grateful the judge didn't buy that."

"How did you get this?" Missy asked holding up the letter, knowing his mail was being held until he found a place to stay. He was only living with her temporarily.

"The lawyer texted me after I left your shop. I had to make it to the local stationary store to get it faxed over to me. I missed my meeting with the Boar brothers. I caught up with them at the restaurant but then the waitress spills food all over my clothes." Bear stood up so she could see the stains and Missy cringed.

"You really did have a bad day."

"Yeah, the worst part of it is... I lost it. Totally cracked. I growled and grumbled and tried getting the waitress fired... turns out she's well connected and now the Boar brothers don't want to do business with me and I'm pretty sure I'm boycotted from the RedWood."

Missy's eyes lit in surprise. "RedWood did you say?"

"Yeah, turns out the owners were really close to her. They didn't say I couldn't come back but I know I'm no longer welcome there. On the upside, the diner looks awesome, with the reclaimed wood floors and details. The brothers really took my notes to heart. Only now I won't really get to appreciate the work I put in or get to do more projects with them in the future. I totally blew it."

Missy felt the happiness she had bubbling inside fizzle out as her brother spoke. He said waitress... but Goldie showed up at her place. She managed the RedWood but...

"So, what happened to the waitress?"

Bear sighed. "You know some days I really hate myself. You know that blonde that I argued with over my coffee this morning?"

"Yeah," Missy said and the feeling she had landed like lead in the bottom of her belly.

"Turns out she isn't just a waitress, she was a manager there. She quit, and I have to say she was pretty brave about the whole situation. You were right of course. She is totally out of my league. I really do know how to scare them away, not that she was ever interested."

Missy pushed her dilemma aside at this new information he divulged, quite unknowingly. "You like her!"

"Well...like you pointed out earlier I'd have to be living in some sort of cave not to notice she's attractive. Her personality....well she drives me a bit crazy, but why am I talking about this? I have zero chance with her especially now. First woman to smile at me in years and I'm fantasizing kissing her while she's taking my order." Bear's head hits the table, "Can I be any more pathetic?"

Missy ruffled his hair. "I have hope for you yet," and that's when she came up with a plan. Okay, it was a crazy plan but if there was one thing she was good at it was knowing when two things go good together just like food chemistry you either got it or you didn't and she'd seen them in her shop this morning and Goldie and her baby brother have definite chemistry.

-------

Goldie sat across from Red and Hunter and told them about her new job at Missy's.

"I figure from what I know of managing this place and working in the bakery with you and Granny, Missy's is a perfect fit," she said, taking a bite of her bacon cheeseburger.

"I've got a ton of great ideas to help her improve things and make things easier. I've got a really good feeling about this." Goldie frowned, as she wasn't getting the enthusiasm she was hoping for from the dynamic duo.

Hunter looked concerned but for Red, not her, and Red well she looked downright miserable.

"What is it?"

Hunter gave Red's hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry. I'm a horrible friend. I am happy for you, really I am but I'm just going to miss you working here. It was one of the things that made me excited about this place. That we all got to stay together."

Goldie reached out and grabbed Red's hand too. "I would have loved that too, but like you, I think I'm meant to go my own way."

"I guess you're right. I'll miss you though," Red said.

"We both will," Hunter added.

"You'll be happy to know that, that loser was asked to leave by Clay and his brother's after you left. They refused to do business with him, and I'm pretty certain he knows he's not welcome here either although I didn't say it, it was pretty much implied."

Goldie frowned.

"What is it?" Hunter asked.

"I don't know. I know he was a jerk but I don't know him well enough to have made up my mind about him yet. Anyone can have a bad day. I would hate for him to be boycotted on my behalf if it wasn't truly justified."

Red laughed, "You like him!"

"What? No!"

"You've got a soft spot for the bad boys, Goldie?" Red reminded her.

"This from the girl who dated Elias," Goldie threw back at her. Red laughed but Hunter frowned, which made Red and Goldie laugh harder.

"Ancient history," Red said giving him a kiss.

"Not ancient enough," Hunter grumbled but let it go, knowing she wears his ring made him feel slightly better.

"Look all I'm saying is that I'm far from perfect," Goldie acknowledged. "In fact, I'm known for my mistakes so who am I to judge someone else. Besides it's not likely we'll ever see one another again, so I say, let bygones be bygones. I for one am looking forward to the future."

"You're right!" Red said and they picked up their milkshakes and toasted, "To the future!"