“Love you too.”
Claire’s chest ached a bit as she hung up the phone. The sooner her daughter returned from Europe, the better. As much as Claire knew she was having fun and experiencing something that most people never got to, she couldn’t help but worry. Although, ever since Claire had decided to have the cupcake sale, she’d been too busy with preparations to worry. She didn’t know whether or not that was a good thing.
Hailey wasn’t scheduled to come in until later, which meant Claire had extra work to do, so she tried to put it out of her mind as she prepared for the day. After she had the muffins baking in the oven and the croissant dough arranged on a cookie sheet, ready to go in next, she went to the front of the store. The sun had come up, beaming down out of a sky dotted with wispy clouds. As she went about the business of opening up, her eye was drawn to the bakery across the street. Rob must have gotten new blinds, and they were down across all the windows, so no one could see inside.
She wasn’t hoping to seehim, of course, but she was curious if he would rearrange things based on her advice. Perhaps he needed help setting up. If she was going to team up with him to cross-promote during the sale, she would need to bring over a few things anyway, including the cupcake samples. She needed to frost those first and make a space for his samples in her shop.
She pulled two tables together along the wall next to the sugar and milk station, removing the chairs. A table alone wasn’t enough of a draw. She needed to do something to make it look homier.
The timer on her phone beeped, and she hurried into the back to remove the muffins and get the croissants baking. Then she rooted around the kitchen, searching out everything she had that she was not already using. She found three wicker baskets and a crisp white tablecloth to arrange on the tables and set them aside. By the time she filled the display case with the baked goods she’d made that morning, still warm from the oven, it was time to open the store.
Bert and Harry waited outside her door with broad smiles and cheery waves. She answered them, her gaze slipping past to Bradford Breads. The bakery still showed no signs of life.
She opened the door and shooed the two old men inside. “Go ahead and sit at your table. I’ll bring you the usual.”
“You’re a doll,” Harry said with a fond smile.
Within minutes, she had set them up with steaming cups of coffee and warm blueberry muffins at their usual table.
“How goes the cupcake preparations?” asked Bert.
“Very well,” Claire responded, relieved not to have to lie on that front. After last night, she had baked the last of the cupcakes she would need to make. Tonight would come the colossal task of frosting them all.
“Are you going to give us a hint at the flavors you’ll be having? I need to prepare myself for how many I’ll be taking home.”
Claire laughed at Bert’s question. “The usual chocolate and vanilla, plus red velvet, chocolate mocha, lemon raspberry and the others I’ll leave as a surprise. If you come to the sale I’ll set aside some samples,” she said with a wink. “I promise you’ll be pleased.”
Another customer entered, someone Claire didn’t recognize—a tourist. She hurried over to serve them. Hailey would arrive any minute for her shift, but in the meantime, Claire was consumed with serving her customers. By the time her help came in, Claire was relieved. She handed over the front of the shop to Hailey and retreated into the back to fetch the baskets.
When she brought them to the table, she was satisfied to note that the tables inside and outside were cluttered with customers. More took their coffee to go in paper cups and carried out paper bags with their purchased baked goods. A thrill of gratification buzzed through her as she noticed early-morning tourists pausing to look at the sandwich board Hailey had set up outside announcing her sale. Everything was finally coming together.
Humming cheerfully under her breath, Claire arranged the baskets on the table invitingly. She left space for the flyers Rob had mentioned advertising his sale. With the free samples of his bread in the basket, and the bright red of his sale flyers she saw around town, customers would flock to that corner after purchasing their cupcakes at the counter. Thinking about the flyers reminded her that she still needed to give some of hers to Jane. Stacy had dropped them off, and they were in the kitchen. She could give them to Jane tonight when she came over to frost unless she got a chance to drop them off earlier today.
“What’s all that about?” Harry gestured to the display at the nearest table.
Bert lowered his newspaper with bald curiosity.
Claire smiled. “It’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait to find out.”
The old men chuckled. Harry said, “You sure are keeping the mystery about yourself today. You know how to string an old man along.”
Claire winked. “And hopefully the rest of the town too.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll get a fair few in here tomorrow. The only question is if we can get here early enough to claim our table!”
Claire wanted to promise to save it for them—after all, it was regulars like Bert and Harry who kept her afloat when the tourists left. However, at that moment, the bell over the door chimed, and Claire looked up.
Her stomach sank like a stone as first Sandee then Claire’s ex-husband stepped into the shop. Leave it to them to ruin a happy morning simply by showing up. Maybe they would just make their purchase quickly and leave. Too bad she couldn’t sneak out back and have Hailey wait on them. She would have to walk right past them to get to the kitchen.
Claire plastered a smile on her face. “Good morning.”
She didn’t see Peter often since the divorce, thankfully. Tammi had just graduated high school when it happened, so she was old enough to visit her father on her own. Claire’s stomach still tightened a little whenever she saw him, like she was waiting for the next nasty thing he would say. But that was simple self-preservation. She knew him well enough. He might have a new, younger wife, but Sandee hadn’t sweetened his disposition.
He grunted and jerked his chin at the store across the street. “The new bread place isn’t open yet? I was hoping to stop in there.”
Claire held her smile in place through will alone. If there was one silver lining, it was that the years hadn’t been kind to him since they’d parted. His hairline had receded almost to the crown of his head. His comb-over was doing a poor job of hiding that. The fact that she had ever loved him was a mystery to her. How had she not seen through his bullshit?
“He’s not opening until Saturday. Maybe you should come back then.”
