I laughed at her exuberance. “You sure you don’t want to try one first? Meringue isn’t for everybody, you know.”
She waved a dismissive hand at me and smiled. “I love meringue, so load’em up honey. And I’d like to try a slice of that grapefruit caramel thing that my son raved about the other day. Sounds atrocious, but he said it was one of your best desserts.”
Casey had said that? “Wow. Okay. Anything else?”
“A large coffee. I’m going to sit for a bit so feel free to swing by, once you’ve fed the animals.” She thumbed at the long line that formed behind her and smiled.
“All right. Let me know what you think of Essie’s Surprise.” Nausea rolled through me again and I gripped the edge of the counter and slammed my eyes shut to stop the room from spinning.
“Are you okay?” I didn’t need to open my eyes to hear the concern in Jen’s voice.
“Yeah, I think so. Just feeling a little queasy. I should probably eat something.” A moment later, the nausea passed and I turned a smile towards Jen. “Large coffee coming right up.”
The rest of the morning passed in a blur of small talk and baked goodies, and the increasingly warm kitchen. The queasiness cropped up every once in a while, but a bite of bread and some sparkling water seemed to do the trick each time, and since there were no headaches like the doctor said there might be, I ignored them and moved on with my day.
“Megan, these are absolutely divine! I’ll take another dozen for me, oh no, make that half a dozen and I’ll try out the pineapple ones too. Six of each.” Jen sighed and shook her head, smile wide. “And I think I’ll order some for the Town Planning Committee meeting next week. How should I place the order?”
I handed her a pamphlet. “Just go online and place the order, the system will take care of the rest.”
“Really? How exciting!” She took a step back and waved. “See you later, honey.”
I looked at the clock just after noon, the time Cody was supposed to show up to take over the midday shift, but he hadn’t showed up, yet. I was more than ready for the day to be over. The nausea wouldn’t go away and every unfamiliar scent whether it was perfume, bacon or tobacco, sent my stomach into Olympics level gymnastics. Not to mention I felt exhausted from a lack of sleep, but that thought made me giggle.
Casey.
At one o’clock it was clear that Cody didn’t plan on showing up for his shift, so I took advantage of the quiet to whip up a quick sandwich using the focaccia ingredients. While I did that, I made a note to find a reliable part-time worker, check online orders and update the menu for the rest of the week.
“Just a few more hours,” I told myself because I hoped that hearing the words out loud would help me get through the rest of the day.
Casey
A knock sounded at my door and before I could tell the intruder to go away because I was busy with client files, the door opened and Suzie’s smiling face appeared. “Casey. How are things?”
“Fine,” I answered with a hint of skepticism as Suzie looked around my office as if she hadn’t been in here hundreds of times. “Why do you ask?”
“Because it’s past six and you’re still here. How is Megan?”
I smiled at the question because things with my wife were looking up. She’d called out a quick ‘love you, bye,’ this morning the way she always had. I still couldn’t be sure if she said it on purpose or if it was just that deeply embedded in her memory, but those three words put a smile on my face that I hadn’t been able to get rid of all day.
“Megan’s doing better every day.”
“That’s excellent to hear!”
It was more than that. “It is.” I didn’t just get my wife back, she also got back pieces of her personality that she had, somehow, lost along the way. “I’m grateful to you, Suzie, for allowing me to work around taking care of Megan.”
Her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. “Happy to help.” Suzie looked around the room again and sighed. “Anyway, I’m glad to hear things are looking up, Casey.”
I frowned at her odd behavior. “Did you need something else?”
“No. I just wanted to check on you. And Megan. Now, back to your client charts so you can get home.” She clapped her hands together quickly and slowly backed out of the office.
“I’ll be gone soon. I promise.”
“I know,” she grinned. “Because I’ll be back in thirty to make sure that you are.”
It was getting late and I tried to hurry through the charts, eager to get home to Megan. To hear her sweet voice and see her beautiful face, smiling up at me like I was the only man on the planet. My hand couldn’t move fast enough as thoughts and visions of my wife filled my mind.