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you.”
    “That will be all, Abigail,” Stephen said.
    Cassie shot him a dirty look as the woman left the room.
    “Why did you dismiss her like that? That’s so rude.”
    “How should I dismiss her?”
    “Not at all. She could have sat with us, you know. There’s plenty of food.” Cassie took a bite of her scrambled eggs, which didn’t taste as good now that she had a sour taste in her mouth. She had to wash them down with a swig of coffee.
    Stephen pushed his paper aside and brushed a few crumbs from his shirt. “That isn’t how it’s done, Cassie. We don’t dine with the help, that’s not how it’s done.”
    Cassie didn’t think she liked how things were done in Stephen’s world. In her world, people didn’t have help. Or servants. Or housekeepers, even. If a neighborhood kid mowed your lawn, you offered him a glass of lemonade when he needed a break. And a twenty for his time.
    She imagined that Stephen had a team of people who kept his lawns and gardens manicured. None had probably ever been offered any lemonade.
    “She could have eaten with us,” she mumbled again.
    He looked bemused. “Should I call her back?”
    She narrowed her eyes. “No, I think you embarrassed her.”
    “If anyone embarrassed her, it was you. Abigail is paid to perform a service. You making a big deal out of it might make her feel as if she has to put on a show every morning. Now, how are you going to feel when she starts doubling or tripling her normal workload just to please you? That doesn’t seem fair.”
    Cassie had been chewing another bite of eggs, but now it wouldn’t go down. It felt like rubber in her mouth. She forcibly swallowed then said, “I didn’t mean anything.”
    “I slept fine, thank you.”
    Her cheeks warmed.
    “That was quite the stunt you pulled last night. I expected you in my bed and to hear that I had intimacy issues really, well, I underestimated you, Cassie.”
    It didn’t sound like a compliment. Lowering her voice so only Stephen could hear, she said, “I told you I won’t be sleeping with you.”
    “You did warn me.”
    She sat back in her seat, her appetite completely diminished. “I have to go to Just Desserts today. There are a few orders pending, I’ve got to plan winter’s menu, so I had better be...”
    “No.”
    “No?”
    He shook his head and stood. “As of yesterday, you don’t work. It would seem odd for my wife to have a job.”
    “Where do we live, the 1950’s?”
    He bent a smile. “No, but you don’t need to work. If you had a lucrative career, or something that fit within our status, it would be fine, but you’re a baker. That doesn’t fit the image of a Sands wife. So please take the day to come up with other arrangements, someone else to run the shop, I don’t care. I’m sure Graciella would manage fine without you.”
    Balling her fists, Cassie said, “That’s not going to happen. Bake? Is that all you think I do?”
    “It will happen, and you will do as I ask. We are supposed to be husband and wife. If you think I’m going to let you ruin this by acting as if we aren’t married, you are mistaken. I’ve had Abigail arrange to get you a bank card today. You do not need money, Cassie. For you to keep your little business, to act as if you still need money...that would raise a lot of eyebrows.”
    “Aren’t you afraid I’ll try to empty out your accounts?” she threw at him.
    He laughed. Then smiled. “Cassie, you could try. But it would take you several lifetimes. Besides, your card has a daily limit. I make more in interest than your daily limit, so please, spend away.”
    Good thing she’d changed her mind about bankrupting him.
    Wouldn’t happen.
    What about her business? He certainly didn’t seem to care how much her work meant to her, which made her ache. When they were seeing each other he’d always seemed to admire what she did. He spent all his free time, in fact, at her bakery. Still, appealing to his sentimentality didn’t seem