“What are you going to do if you stay? I mean, I like having you around, but I know you can’t work here forever.” She dumped flour into a bowl and opened the refrigerator to retrieve some eggs. “I pay you what I can, but that’s not enough to do much more than get by.”
“I haven’t put enough thought into that yet. Jobs are pretty scarce around here, and I’m afraid my degree is just going to collect dust at this point.” I shrugged and sighed.
“This might be a little crazy, but neither of my boys are going to want to run this place after I’m gone. Do you think you would want to buy it one day?” Jillian tapped an egg on the edge of the bowl and broke it open. “I could sell you a percentage now, or whenever you have some money saved. That would provide a little more income since you would be getting a percentage of the profits on top of an hourly wage.”
“I am going to have to get a lot better at baking before I try to run my own bakery.” I chuckled and shrugged. “I don’t know, though—maybe.”
“Well, then get a whisk and come on over here. I’ll show you how to make my mother’s world famous lemon squares.” She smiled and motioned towards me.
“World famous, huh?” I grabbed a whisk and walked over.
“Back when she ran this place, a wealthy man from New York stopped in here and fell in love with them after the first bite. He used to order a box of them every couple of weeks, and around the holidays, he would order them for his entire family.” She laughed and nodded. “It was a busy time, that’s for sure.”
“Is he not around anymore?” I tilted my head and looked at the handwritten recipe beside her.
“I’m not sure. I wasn’t very keen on running a bakery myself at the time, and we had to close it down once she got too old to handle things on her own. A lot of the business she built was lost before I finally decided to reopen it.” She shrugged and pushed the bowl over to me.
“What changed your mind?” I stirred the ingredients in the bowl and looked at Jillian.
“Nostalgia, mostly.” She chuckled under her breath. “I missed this place and all of the memories I had here with my mother. I was pregnant with my second child and hoping for a girl—don’t tell my youngest boy that if you ever meet him. I couldn’t imagine her growing up without those same memories.”
“Your secret is safe with me.” I grinned and looked down at the bowl. “I don’t think this is right, it isn’t fluffing.”
“Ah, it just needs a special touch. Let me work on it, I’ll show you how it’s done.” Jillian took the bowl and started to demonstrate how to stir the mixture without turning it into goo.
Jillian continued to teach me how to make the lemon squares, but I wasn’t sure baking was my forte. I would need a lot of practice before I could do something like that on my own. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to run my own business one day. If I was going to stay in Canyon City, I definitely would need to make some money. When I returned after college, I felt like my world was ending, but I couldn’t abandon my father—even if he was the source of my difficult youth. Hearing Jillian talk about her mother made me think about mine. I didn’t even know where she was anymore. I barely even remembered her face outside of the few photographs my father kept. My father might not have been perfect, but he didn’t abandon me. That was part of why I worked so hard
to help him when his darkest days came.
“We’ve got a customer.” I looked towards the counter when the chime sounded on the door. “I got this one.”
“Who is it?” Jillian peeked around the corner and giggled. “Oh, it’s your sexy firefighter.”
“Hey!” I walked up to the counter and picked up a box. “I guess you want your usual.”
“It’ll be hard for you to get it wrong now. I already have your phone number.” Micah tilted his head and smiled.
“Yeah, yeah.” I teased him and grabbed two bear claws from the case.
“Wait, what’s your favorite thing here?” He leaned against the counter and looked at the array of baked goods.
“I try to stay away from most of this stuff, but I’m a sucker for a red velvet cupcake.” I raised my eyebrows and grinned.
“I’ll take one of those too. You’ll probably work up an appetite before the night is over.” He reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet.
“Careful—my boss might hear you.” I gave him a half-hearted scowl and started ringing up his order.
“See you later, beautiful.” Micah winked at me and took the box along with his change.
Yeah, and I’m probably going to be too exhausted to eat a cupcake by the time you’re done with me.
Later that day
“Welcome back.” Brody met me at the door and gave me a quick hug.
“Thank you.” I dropped my purse on the table and tilted my head. “What’s that smell—did you make dinner?”
“Micah and I did.” Brody nodded and motioned to the dining room. “It’s already on the table if you’re hungry.”