“He’s really enjoyed having you close by. We all have.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
We’d all been pressuring Andrew to move back to Ashfield, but he was adamant about staying in Knoxville. Something about more single women.
The second day of the festival went off without a hitch. So many people I didn’t recognize stopped by and grabbed the free samples along with my business card. I had three different sample flavors available, and by far, Nate’s favorite—the pistachio and raspberry—was also the crowd favorite. I had large individual slices available for sale, and I sold out by lunchtime. An hour later, I was out of everything.
I was beaming when the last slice was sold to Mrs. Hensen. She’d come back around three times and claimed she was going to let everyone on her knitting blog know about my cakes. I hadn’t known Mrs. Hensen even knew how to knit or run a blog. I was learning new things every day.
Not sure what else to do, I started packing up my empty containers and folding up my custom table runners with my new logo created by Aspen.
“Should I just leave the business cards and a table runner with maybe a note that I sold out of everything?”
“I think that’s a good idea. That way they won’t think you were a no-show.”
Unfolding the runner, I wearily replaced it on the stand. I didn’t think anyone would steal it, but the chance was still there, since there were so many people from out of town in Ashfield today. It wasn’t a big deal, but I learned I was a penny-pincher when it came to business expenses.
“What do you want to do now?” Andrew asked me as he leaned against the bed of my truck. He’d allocated the day to help me.
“How are you with a paintbrush?”
Five hours later, Andrew and I hopped up on the counter in the main area of the shop and took hearty bites of the pizza I ordered. A company had come in and painted the walls a soft cream color. I hired a local artist to come paint a mural on the longest wall. It was a dessert smorgasbord.
I added some wainscotting along the other walls that would serve as a place for the small bistro tables, and I wanted them to pop and mirror the pastels the mural artist used. With Andrew’s help, we painted the boarded trim and the front of the counter. The spot where the display case would sit was currently vacant. I was in search of a new one, but I hadn’t found one that called out to me yet.
I wasn’t giving up though. The days I wasn’t working on recipes or updating the interior of the shop, I was off at the antique markets, trying to find what I was looking for. Molly, Eloise, and I all agreed on the same inspiration, and I was determined to find it.
“Think you can help me hang a few pictures while you’re here?”
“Sure. Let me get some sustenance first.” He grabbed another slice of the New York style pie.
As we ate, Andrew kept sneaking glances at me. It was something that all my family did whenever I was around. Like they were waiting for me to break down and fall apart.
When we finished the pizza, I cleaned up the counter and tossed the trash away. The coffee shop owners stopped by and chatted with us for a bit. They were so excited to have me moving into their building. Their customers had been enjoying the samples I left with them.
When they left, I darted back to what would be my office. Right now, it was filled with tons of boxes of baking and office supplies. I really needed to unpack them, but instead, I grabbed the stack of gold frames and carried them back into the main room.
“I was thinking we could scatter these around the room.”
Andrew lifted the first one off the top of the stack and smiled. It was one of the pictures Eloise colored. I didn’t even have to label them to know which pictures belonged to which twin. Molly’s colors were warm and bright. She filled the dessert images until I almost couldn’t make out what they were. Eloise was very precise in her coloring. At almost five, she was pretty good at staying within the lines, but she usually stuck with one or two colors.
“You miss them, don’t you?”
Without skipping a beat, I replied, “Yes. So much.”
“They’ll be back soon.”
I really hoped he was right.
Together, we worked to hang the twelve pictures around the shop. Andrew even made me use a level, which I thought was ridiculous, but he was obstinate. When we finished, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close.
“This looks really great, sis. I’m sorry I ever doubted you.” It was the first time he apologized for his outburst and the way he questioned my decision to open a cake shop. Andrew rarely apologized for anything, so I was going to let those words soak in.
“Thanks, Andrew. That means a lot. Here’s to hoping I can pull it off.”
“You will. We all believe in you. And there is a certain person in Cali who isn’t going to let you fail.”
***
