“Yeah, but I have a few minutes. Mrs. Pease doesn’t expect me back until four thirty.” Mrs. Pease was the babysitter to Hailey’s eleven-year-old, Jennifer. Hailey had actually planned to pick up some groceries with the extra time, but she and Claire had become close after working together in the bakery despite their fifteen-year age difference, and she sensed that Claire needed to talk.
Claire was a good boss and a nice person, and she paid fantasticwages, which Hailey was very grateful for. Being a single mother wasn’t easy financially, and Hailey knew that most bakery assistants didn’t get paid nearly as much as she did. Hailey needed her job, so if Claire was worried, that meantshewas worried. Besides, she had something important to discuss with Claire, but maybe it wasn’t the time.
Hailey cut to the chase. “So, what’s going on with the ceiling?”
Claire made a face. “Pipes need replacing.”
“Oh. That sounds expensive.” Probably not the time to ask for more responsibility and a raise. Never mind that her car was on its last leg and she needed it to take Jennifer to her soccer games and get to work or that she was getting behind on payments toward all the debt her ex-husband had saddled her with. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful, and her troubles were not Claire’s problem. They weren’t anyone’s problem except hers, and she would figure out how to solve them.
“It is. But I have some money saved.” Claire sipped her coffee, her eyes drifting to the new store across the street. Her face darkened.
Hailey had noticed the store too. She had no idea what was going in there, but apparently it had Claire worried. “Do you know what the new store will be?”
“Bradford Breads.”
“Breads? Huh, seems odd to move in across from a bakery.”
“That’s exactly what I thought.” Claire turned her attention back to Hailey. “Oh, but it’s nothing to worry about, I’m sure.”
Hailey frowned. She got the sense that Claire really was worried and was just telling Hailey that because she didn’t want her to worry. “Yeah, sure. I mean we don’t even carry bread here, really.”
“Right. No competition.”
Hailey glanced over at the store. Maybe it sold breads now, but what if this Bradford Breads place decided to expand into pastries later on? Then it would be competition. No wonder Claire was so worried, and on top of that, there was this looming problem with the pipes. She would have to get that fixed, as she couldn’t afford a big plumbing catastrophe with a bread store moving in. Plumbers cost a lot of money. Hailey knew that from experience. Definitely not the time to ask for a raise. They would just have to eat more ramen noodles for a while. Good thing Jennifer loved them.
“How’s Jennifer?” Claire’s question brought a smile to Hailey’s face.
“Great. She got an award for summer soccer, and now she wants to play on the Lobster Bay school team in the fall.” Hailey’s smile faded just a bit. “She’s growing up so fast.”
“I know how that goes. Seems like Tammi was Jennifer’s age just yesterday. Just try to enjoy every minute. Speaking of which—” Claire nodded toward the clock. “You should probably get going.”
“Yeah, I suppose. Is there anything I can do to help with the pipes?” Hailey shot a glance over at the new store again.
“Oh, no. Don’t you worry about those. Now scoot! I’ll go see if Harry and Bert want a refill. It’s always slow on Mondays, so I might close early anyway.”
Hailey stood, taking her mug with her. She would wash it in the sink on her way out. “Okay, well if you’re sure.”
“Of course. Nothing for you to worry about. See you tomorrow!”
Claire watched Hailey leave. The last thing she wanted was to worry her assistant. The girl had enough on her plate raising an eleven-year-old all on her own. Hailey had picked up on the fact that something was bothering Claire, so she would have to be careful from now on. But the fact that Hailey depended on her job there was just another worry for Claire. If Bradford Breads stole business, would she still be able to pay Hailey?
Grabbing the coffee pot, she headed over to the corner table where Harry and Bert, her favorite regulars, were chatting away, huddled over a newspaper. The two men were in their late seventies and spent a good deal of time sitting right at that table, reading the paper. From their vantage point, they could see who was coming and going and greet any of their friends entering the coffee shop. They were good customers.
“What’s so interesting?” Claire tilted her head to look at the paper.
“That place across the street is finally opening. Gonna have a two-for-one sale on Saturday and a grand opening.” Harry pointed to an ad that took up a whole page. A smiling loaf of bread announced the opening of Bradford Breads. Claire resisted the urge to grab a marker and doodle a villain’s mustache on the smiling bread face.
“Looks like a big deal,” Bert added. “I hope they have rye. You hardly ever find that anywhere.”
Claire glanced back at the tiny bread section of her bakery case. She didn’t have rye.
“Do you think they’ll have some of those fancy breads like oatmeal molasses or honey olive?” Harry was practically salivating.
Claire glared at the new store, picturing all her customers rushing over for fancy breads. “Hard to tell what they’ll have.”
Her voice came out a little weak, and Harry glanced up at her, his gray brows furrowing in concern. “I’m sure they won’t have anything as good as you have here.” He glanced back at the case with the lame selection of breads, and Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Yeah, whatever this Bradford guy has can’t be as good as what you got.” Bert squinted down at the ad. “Looks like just bread. Man cannot exist on bread alone. We need pastries, and this is the best place for that.”
