With a determined set to her jaw, Evie marched back into the kitchen. The flour disaster awaited her, a reminder of how quickly things could spiral out of control, but she was nothing if not resilient. She'd weathered worse storms than this.
Grabbing the cordless vacuum cleaner, Evie attacked the mess with vigor. As she sucked up all the debris, her mind raced through the tasks ahead. She needed to finish the gingerbread men, start a fresh batch of breakfast muffins for the morning rush, and somehow find time to brainstorm a show-stopping centerpiece for Frosted Sugar’s festival booth.
The bell jingled again, and Evie suppressed a groan. She wasn't ready for more customers, not with the kitchen in thisstate. But then a familiar voice called out, "Mom? Mom, where are you?"
Ollie. Her heart swelled at the sound of her son's voice. And that meant her best friend, Ollie’s teacher, Posy, would be here too, since she brought him over from the after-school club to the bakery when she finished work.
Evie quickly set aside the vacuum and hurried to the front, her heart lifting despite the chaos of the day.
Ollie burst through the swinging door, his cheeks flushed from the cold and his eyes bright with excitement. "Mom! You won't believe what happened at school today!"
Evie crouched down, meeting her son's eager gaze, and grinning at Posy over his shoulder. The sight of his gap-toothed grin pushed away the lingering worries about Adrian and the upcoming trip. "What happened, sweetie?"
As Ollie launched into a breathless tale about how his friend Mikey left the hutch unlocked so the class’s pet rabbit escaped, Evie drank in every detail of his animated face. His freckles stood out against his wind-reddened cheeks, and his honey-blonde hair - so like her own - was sticking out in unruly tufts from under his winter hat.
She laughed at all the right moments, marveling at how Ollie's enthusiasm could make even the most mundane school day sound like a grand adventure. It was moments like these that made everything worthwhile - the long hours, the stress of running the bakery, the heartache of her failed marriage, the chagrin of having to move back in with her parents at the age of almost thirty. None of it mattered when she held her son close, drinking in his enthusiasm and love.
"And then Miss Posy caught Flopsy with a carrot!" Ollie finished, his eyes wide. "But not before she pooped on the carpet. Did you know rabbit poop looks like the raisins you put in the oat cookies?"
Evie couldn’t hold back a genuine laugh and glanced up at Posy, who was leaning against the counter with an amused smile. "Well, that sounds like quite the adventure, but maybe we better not mention the rabbit poop and the raisins here in the bakery," Evie said, ruffling Ollie's hair. "Now, did you thank Miss Posy for bringing you over?"
Ollie's eyes widened. "Oh! Thanks, Miss Posy!" he chirped, spinning around to beam at his teacher.
"You're very welcome, Ollie," Posy replied warmly, seconds before her godson ran off to play in the back room.
Her gaze shifted to Evie, a hint of concern creeping into her expression. "Everything okay, Evie? You look a bit... floury."
Evie felt heat creep up her neck. She'd cleaned up the mess in the kitchen but had completely forgotten about herself. "Oh, just a little mishap with a bag of flour. Nothing I can't handle."
Posy raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. "Uh-huh. Need a hand cleaning up?"
Evie shrugged. “It’s all done now, but I could do with a coffee while I get things ready for the morning.”
“You should really open up as a cafe as well, you know. The town is crying out for something like that.”
Evie chuckled. “Stop it. Shepherd Lawson is grumpy enough without me setting up in competition right next door.”
“Pfft! It’s not competition. He sells ‘to go’ just like you do. But if you’re worried, perhaps what you need is to pair up and merge your businesses into a joint cafe. Your properties are already side by side.”
Evie gave Posy the side eye as she added ingredients to her industrial mixer and set the timers on her ovens so her first batches would be cooked by the time she arrived in the morning. “I can just imagine that,” she muttered. “Frosty by name and frosty by nature.”
“Ha! Well, what Shepherd lacks in conviviality, you more than make up for, but you can’t deny he’s easy on the eyes. That alone will keep the customers rolling in.”
“Well, the women, anyway,” Evie retorted with a roll of her eyes.
“Who knows. Maybe some of your joie de vivre would rub off on him.”
“Yeah, well, not right now it wouldn’t. My ‘joy of living’ is in short supply.” She kneaded the dough she was working on with far more force than necessary, but the physical exertion helped channel some of her frustration. She glanced at Posy, who was watching her with that knowing look she sometimes got.
"Let me guess… Adrian?" Posy asked softly. “What’s he done now?”
Evie sighed, her shoulders slumping. "He's taking Ollie to the Bahamas for Christmas. Can you believe it?”
“The Bahamas?” Posy echoed. “But Ollie loves Christmas here in Frostvale. What's he going to do on some beach? Does that man know his son at all?"
Evie slammed the dough onto the floured surface, sending up another small cloud. “I’m sure he’ll love the beach too. It’s not like he gets to go that often.”
“Right, because asshole Adrian always said you had to save every penny to buy a house.”
