“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry I wasn’t paying attention and—” It’s Cake Lady. Her blue eyes are wide with panic until she realizes it’s me, and then she stops talking.
“It’s okay. I kind of deserved that,” I tell her as I put my hand on my cheek and rub the spot that smacked into the glass.
The sympathy in her eyes fades away, and the smile she gives me is fake as hell. Why does it make me mad that she’s not giving me a real smile? I don’t deserve one after being an utter asshole to her yesterday. And it’s not like I want one from her anyway.
A group of people walk by singing carols, and my scowl deepens. Ugh. I hate this town.
“Can I help you with something?”
“I came to?—”
“Thanks, Molly, you’re the best.” A woman holding several boxes comes out of the bakery, and once she’s through, the cake lady, or I guess Molly, lets go of the open door.
“See ya, Ruth. Oh, and don’t forget to tell Sarah if she brings me that report card with straight As she can have as many popcorn balls as her little hands can hold.”
“I’m definitely going to forget to tell her that,” Ruth calls out, and Molly laughs.
The sound does something funny to my insides, and I have to straighten my shoulders to get it to stop. It must be the altitude that’s making me feel this way.
“Sorry,” Molly says, turning her attention back to me. “What was it you wanted?”
“I was going to say that?—”
Just then a young woman pops her head out of the bakery and grabs Molly’s attention. “We’re out of blondies.”
“Did you check the walk-in? I put a fresh tray in there this morning. I was letting them cool before I cut them.”
“Whoops.” The girl goes back inside, and Molly turns back to me.
“You’re busy,” I say, and I want to kick my own ass. Yeah, Noah keeps stating the obvious.
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” She says it with a real smile this time, and I wonder how she can mean that. But I guess anyone willing to live here year-round has to like it.
Cheerful is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but everyone being happy all the time is exhausting. It’s got to be some kind of conspiracy.
The young woman from before pops her head out again. “Molly, I checked the walk-in and didn’t see them. Are you sure those aren’t the ones you cut earlier?”
“Oh, sprinkles. Maybe I did. You know what, I’ll check.” She barely gives me a glance back as she goes to walk inside. “See ya.”
“Wait,” I call out, but she’s already shutting the door in my face. I let out a frustrated sound as I pull open the door and stomp inside. I’m here to apologize, and damn it, she’s going to hear it.
I’m immediately struck by the scent of something good. It’s a mix of coffee and cinnamon, but it’s more than that too. It’s cookies and cakes that line the shelves and fresh bread on trays behind the counter. It’s warm inside, and I pull at the scarf around my neck as I inhale all the delicious treats at once.
“Can I help you?” the person behind the counter asks, and I walk up to look at everything.
I wasn’t planning on eating, but now that I’m here, my stomach growls. “Two of those, please,” I say, pointing at the top shelf. “And one of those.” My eyes find something else, and I point to it. “And three of those.” The person behind the counter writes it all down on a notepad, patiently waiting for me to keep going. I guess this happens more often than not. “And a dozen of those,” I finally finish, and they nod.
“It will be a second, but I’ll get your order together and ring you up down at the other end.”
While I wait, Molly comes out from the back of the bakery holding a tray of what looks like vanilla brownies. I wish I could have ordered some of those too, but maybe I’ll come back and get them next time.
Next time? The sugar in this place must be making my brain scramble. I’m not coming back here.
“Molly,” I find myself saying as I step closer to the glass.
She jerks her head up with a bright smile, but once again when she sees it’s me, it falls.
“Did you forget something?” she asks, placing the tray of blondies in the glass counter between us.
