Chapter Ten

Almost two weeks later, Ianto was sipping on a well-earned cup of coffee as he studied the day's takings. Business, although not exactly brisk, had been steady, and they'd managed to sell almost everything they'd baked for the day. The website, together with the new flyer that Jack had designed and helped distribute, was having a positive effect. There was still a long way to go, and the bakery's viability still felt worryingly precarious, but he was trying his best to remain optimistic. He hadn't expected the bakery to be an overnight success and, as Jack continued to remind him, every new customer was one more person to help spread the word.

He hoped that the upcoming newspaper feature would also help. Jack's journalist friend, Martha Jones, had visited the day before to interview him and sample the bakery's products. He liked Martha. She was friendly and down-to-earth, knowledgeable about food, and had seemed genuinely impressed with what they were trying to achieve. She clearly thought highly of Jack and hadn't hesitated to extol his virtues, citing his generosity in agreeing to be the photographer for her wedding. He would have been lying if he'd said that he hadn't been interested in another perspective on the man who continued to confuse and intrigue him. While Martha hadn't really revealed anything about Jack that he didn't know or hadn't surmised for himself, he was glad to know that he hadn't misjudged the man. Jack wasn't without his faults – he was more than a bit narcissistic, too exuberant, and rather too full of himself – but there seemed little doubt that beyond the extroverted exterior was a good man with a kind and generous heart.

Rhys reappeared from the kitchen and sank down onto the chair across from him, taking a generous sip from his own cup of coffee. "Haven't seen Jack around the last couple of days."

Ianto held back a smirk. Rhys was almost as intrigued by Jack as he was, and he had to admit that they'd both gotten used to Jack's frequent visits. "He's in London. Got called up at the last minute for a photography job. Said he'll be back on Monday."

Jack had phoned the previous morning, explaining about the impromptu trip and apologising for cancelling their plans for what would have been their third Saturday night in a row of dinner and Bond.

He wasn't even sure how it had happened, but when Jack had suggested a second evening the week before, he'd found himself readily agreeing. Then after that, they'd made plans for a third. The second time had been at Jack's flat. Jack had served up spaghetti and meatballs along with a nice bottle of red wine, and Ianto had provided mini chocolate cheesecakes for dessert. Watching Bond on Jack's enormous flat-screen had been brilliant, and he'd made sure to drink enough coffee so there was no chance of nodding off again. Neither of them had been up for another three-film marathon, so they'd agreed on Goldfinger as a mutual choice and had both groaned when their wild-card selection turned out to be The World Is Not Enough.

Jack had sounded genuinely disappointed about cancelling, but Ianto had assured him that it wasn't a problem. After all, they could get together the following weekend instead. Still, he had to admit that he was a bit disappointed too. With almost every waking moment consumed by the bakery, he'd almost forgotten what it was like just to relax and have some fun. And the more time he spent with Jack, the more he found himself enjoying the other man's company. Nor did Jack's unfailing optimism and encouragement with regard to the bakery's success go unappreciated.

Of course, he had the support of Rhys and Rhiannon, and they knew what the bakery meant to him. Lisa, on the other hand, hadn't been in favour of pursuing his dream, which, in the end, had been one of the reasons why they'd broken up. A man who owned and operated a modest, inconsequential bakery hadn't fitted into Lisa's expectations of what she wanted from a boyfriend and potential husband. And he hadn't wanted to be with someone who thought of him as a disappointment and failure no matter how hard he worked. Just having someone else in his life who saw what he was doing as worthwhile, and who he could count on for encouragement and reassurance, meant a great deal to him. When he'd met Jack, he'd been struggling with the realities of running his own business, but he'd begun to feel a renewed sense of hope and determination. As strange as it seemed, he had Jack to thank for that.

Slowly, he'd come to realise that when he spent time with Jack he didn't have to try to be anything other than himself. Jack seemed to like him for who he was, and he didn't have anything to prove or any expectations to try to meet. He hadn't realised just how much he'd needed an escape from the day-to-day grind of pressure and responsibility. The simple truth was that he'd smiled and laughed more in these last few weeks than he had in the best part of two years.

Realising that Rhys was watching him, he shook himself from his meanderings. There was a glint of mischief in Rhy's gaze. "No Saturday night date, then?"

Ianto rolled his eyes, but he refused to rise to the bait even though it was in good-humour. "No, not this week."

"He really likes you, you know." Rhys's expression turned thoughtful. "He's a nice bloke, always friendly and easy-going, but he seems different when he's around you. It's pretty obvious that he wants to impress you."

"I think he just wants a friend." Ianto shrugged, not quite willing to admit that Rhys was probably right. "He seems a bit lonely."

That was something he could understand well enough. While he didn't imagine that Jack had any trouble with attracting people to warm his bed, having someone special in one's life – someone to love – was something entirely different, even for someone like Jack. For all his looks, charm and money, Jack probably wasn't any more immune to the affliction of loneliness than anyone else.

"Hard to believe with an outgoing bloke like Jack, but I think you might be right." Rhys took another sip of coffee, still looking contemplative. "He told me he wants to get married, so he's obviously planning to settle down." He paused, and that teasing glint returned to his eyes. "You know what? I reckon he's set his sights on you."

Ianto choked on his coffee.

###

Ianto returned to the kitchen and groaned aloud as he took in the chaos that was the result of running the bakery single-handed all morning. In hindsight, he'd been unrealistic about how far he could stretch himself. Even with a reduced product range, he couldn't keep production going in the kitchen while simultaneously serving up coffee and baked goods out front. Added to which, as Sod's law would have it, business had been busier than usual.

It was Thursday of the following week. Rhys had phoned shortly after five a.m., sounding like death warmed up as he'd explained that he'd been throwing up all night and wasn't in a fit state to come to work. Gwen had dragged him to some new Indian restaurant she'd heard about, and they'd both ended up with food poisoning. Rhiannon was busy with a fitting for her wedding dress, which left him on his own to run the bakery. As much as he prided himself on remaining calm and composed under pressure, he wasn't coping as well as he'd anticipated.

Only a couple of minutes after he'd gotten back to work, he cursed under his breath as he heard someone enter the front of the shop. He'd hoped for at least a brief reprieve to give him a chance to get things back under control, the irony of wishing for fewer customers not lost on him.

"Hello? Anybody home? Ianto?"

Jack's American drawl was unmistakeable, and Ianto wasn't sure whether to be irritated or relieved to hear the man's voice. On the plus side, Jack wouldn't mind waiting for a few minutes while he got the batch of cinnamon rolls he was finishing into the oven. "Back here, Jack."

He looked up as Jack's beaming face appeared in the doorway. "There you are. How's my favourite baker today?"

"I'm sorry, Jack. I don't have time for social pleasantries." He suppressed a sigh as he spared another glance at the untidy kitchen and the growing mountain of trays, bowls and utensils he hadn't had time to wash. "I'm on my own today. Rhys is sick with food poisoning. And Rhiannon is busy with wedding stuff."

Jack stepped forward into the kitchen, his happy demeanour replaced with a concerned frown. "Is Rhys all right?"

Ianto nodded distractedly as he returned to work on the cinnamon rolls. "He'll be fine. He ate some bad Indian food. He's been sick as a dog all night."

"Poor guy. I hope he feels better soon." Jack's tone was sympathetic. "Okay, well I'm here. And I don't have anything planned for today that can't wait. So put me to work. I'll be your slave for the day."

Distracted as he was, Ianto didn't miss the innuendo dripping from Jack's voice with that last sentence. He looked up to find Jack staring back at him with a positively gleeful look on his handsome face. He shook his head. "I can't ask you to do that."

"Sure you can. Anyway, I'm offering. Come on, put me to work. I'm a quick learner." Jack surveyed the kitchen. "You look like you could use an extra pair of hands."

Ianto couldn't deny the truth of that, much as it shamed him to admit. He studied Jack for a moment. He knew first hand that Jack was capable in the kitchen. In actual fact, he found it difficult to imagine a scenario where Jack couldn't hold his own. "Er... maybe you could start on some washing up while I get these finished?"

"No problem." Jack slipped off his jacket and began rolling up his shirt sleeves. "Hey, do I get to wear one of those cute aprons?"

Ianto rolled his eyes, but he got Jack an apron and put him to work.

###

"Um, Ianto. We've got a bit of a problem here."

Ianto looked up and was alarmed to find Jack ushering a tear-streaked Rhiannon into the kitchen, an arm wrapped around her shoulders. He'd been dealing with a delivery out the back and hadn't realised that his sister had arrived. He hurried over to them. "Rhi? What is it? What's happened?"

Rhiannon choked back a sob. "It's my wedding dress. The bloody shop made a mistake and sold it to somebody else. They said they tried to call me, but the daft idiots lost my phone number." She paused to dab at her eyes with the paper napkin clutched in her hand. "I loved that dress. It was such a relief when I finally found it. Now what am I going to do? They tried to talk me into another dress, but it was awful. Made me look like the bloody side of a house."

Ianto rubbed his sister's back, not sure what else to do. It didn't seem like quite the disaster she was making it out to be, but he knew that she was a bit highly strung about the wedding and understandably so. She wanted her special day to be perfect, and the fact that she and Johnny had a very limited budget made it even more of a challenge. In addition to making the wedding cake, his contribution was to pay for Rhiannon's dress and shoes – they'd agreed on a budget, but many of the dresses that Rhiannon had liked were beyond what they could afford. He wished that he could do more, but his finances were stretched thin and the cost of the wedding dress was coming out of what remained of his savings. Still, he supposed that he could dig a bit deeper if need be.

He continued rubbing her back. "I'm sorry, Rhi. But we'll find you another dress. They refunded your deposit, yeah?"

Rhiannon nodded. "But I've already been to every shop in town and it was the only dress I really liked that was in our budget. Maybe if I could lose some more weight..." She shook her head, sighing despondently.

Feeling helpless, Ianto glanced up at Jack, who looked back at him, appearing to be genuinely pained by Rhiannon's distress. "We'll work something out. How about a nice cup of tea?"

Rhiannon managed a weak smile and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Ianto."

"Why don't you try London?" Jack's question caused Ianto to halt his movement towards the kettle and turn back around. "Actually, I know someone who can help. She owns a bridal boutique. I've done photography work for her. We haven't spoken in a while, but I can give her a call. We could go up early next week and have a look."

Rhiannon gazed up at Jack with a hopeful expression. "Really, Jack?" She then gave Ianto a worried frown. "London, though. That could be expensive."

Ianto was thinking exactly the same thing, his heart sinking at the prospect of Rhiannon finding a beautiful new dress which they couldn't afford. They'd all agreed that they weren't going into debt to pay for the wedding.

Jack appeared unconcerned. "Toshiko will give us a good deal. Anyway, just tell me your budget and an idea of what you're looking for and I'll see what she says. Even better, if you've got a photo of the dress you wanted, I'll e-mail it to her so she's got something to work with."

As much as he wanted to fix this for Rhiannon, and as grateful as he was once again for Jack's willingness to step in and help, Ianto wasn't sure about becoming even more indebted to the man than he already was. "Jack, that's very generous, but we can't ask you to do that."

Jack waved away his objections as if they were of no consequence. "It's no problem. I want to help." He gave Rhiannon a sideways hug. "Don't worry, Rhiannon. We're going to find you a gorgeous wedding dress."

Stifling any further objections, Ianto gave his sister an encouraging smile and turned his attention to making a pot of tea.

###

The bakery was finally closed for the day, and Rhiannon had gone home at Ianto's insistence. Sitting across from Jack with a cup of coffee in hand, he watched as the man wolfed down a second cinnamon roll before reaching for the cup of coffee in front of him. He couldn't deny that Jack had been something of a godsend in Rhys's absence. He'd helped out in the kitchen, doing whatever Ianto asked of him without complaint, made coffees and served customers with charm and proficiency, plus he'd come to the rescue with Rhiannon's wedding dress debacle.

"Well, that was fun. Definitely an experience to add to my résumé." Jack grinned at him and winked. "Even better, I got to see how the magic happens behind the scenes."

Ianto raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Thinking of a change of careers now, are you?"

Jack laughed. "Probably not. I'm not sure if I've got the stamina for it. I don't know how you do it day after day."

Ianto shrugged and sipped his coffee. "You get used to it. And I love what I do. Well, most of the time. Anyway, it's what I'm good at."

"I can't imagine that you wouldn't be good at anything you set your mind to." The warmth from Jack's blue-eyed gaze seemed to wash over him. "You're amazing, Ianto."

Ianto's natural inclination was to scoff at Jack's flattery, but the sincerity in Jack's voice and that warm, admiring gaze left him feeling at a loss for words. Self-consciously, he cleared his throat. "Thanks, Jack. You were a brilliant help today."

"It was my pleasure." Jack smiled and continued to drink his coffee. He spoke again as he put down his empty cup. "On a different subject, Rhys was telling me the other day about the French Impressionist exhibition at the National Museum. He said you want to go and see it. I checked and it opens Friday next week."

Ianto made a mental note to have words with his best friend as soon as he recovered from his bout of food poisoning. "Um... yes, that's right. I was thinking of going along for a look."

"I was thinking we could go together? It sounds interesting, and maybe you'd like some company?" Jack was giving him a wide-eyed, hopeful look that he must have known was almost impossible to refuse. "You can swing by my place and then we can head out. If you like, we can grab a bite to eat somewhere afterwards."

Ianto wasn't entirely surprised to find himself nodding in agreement.