His pronouncement rewound the scenes of her childhood until the early happy ones spun before her with the same tempo as the bloody accident and sterile years with her mother’s sister.
“How is your aunt?” her uncle asked about her other side of the family, no blood relation to him, as if paused at the same spot on the reel of her memory.
“She’s retired. She travels between Florida and a place she owns on one of the islands, I always forget which one.” Orchid sliced a bulgur stuffed pepper, sliding pale seeds to one side of her plate.
“And how about you? Zach says you’re not married?” Esty asked.
Orchid noted her un-ringed left hand gripping the tablecloth, not wanting to think about Phoenix in this place where she had a new chance to be accepted. “Nope, I’m single.”
“You’re still young. You know, we started dating when I was thirty-three and Zach was thirty-seven, so you never know when you’ll meet your guy.”
Air whistled between Orchid’s teeth.
Zach raised his fork. “You still down about that guy?”
“Yup, he’s engaged to his ex.”
Esty broke in. “You’re a beaut. That guy must be crazy.”
“Yup, or I am for holdin’ onto a pipedream.”
“There’re a lot of nice-looking men in California.”
“Three thousand miles is a bit far for dating,” she tossed out, experimenting with baring her teeth to the newly wakened little boy, extracting squeals from him with each face she made.
Esty looked at Zach. “Are we ready for Orchid’s surprise?”
Wassurprisea euphemism for something bad?
Zach stood with his Dad-like grin. He waved over the table. “Leave it,” he said to his wife. “Let’s go.”
They packedinto Esty’s Prius, Orchid squeezed next to a backwards-facing Quentin. They continued their non-verbal flirtation. Pink tongue. Squeal. Bottom teeth. Squeal.
“I refuse to ride in that gas-guzzling monster,” Esty explained, peeling past the Jaguar and taking local roads through Santa Monica.
They parked on a downtown street with brick sidewalks in front of a sage green awning. Zach popped out with swagger, swinging Orchid’s door wide while Esty scooped up Quentin. He nodded towards the café tables, surrounded by people inside and out.
“Let’s go in,” he said.
A bakery?Sure gets these guys excited.Her sweet tooth didn’t mind.
As they crossed the threshold, the smell of yeasted bliss mixed with roasted coffee beans and babble of conversation relaxed Orchid.Home. Then, the trio burst into celebrity.
“Zach!”
“Esty!”
“Quentin got so big!”
The name etched in the plate glass window suddenly penetrated her mind.Sweet Paige at a Time: Organic Bakerywas their shop.Of course.
They navigated customers and staff to guide Orchid to the back kitchen.
“Sit,” Esty said, pulling out a chair for each of them at the wooden table as Zach arrived with a plate of oatmeal cookies, whole wheat scones and mini apple tarts.
“What a great place,” Orchid complimented, taking in the gleaming ovens and crumb-free floor. She bent a cookie in half and slid it into her mouth. Crisp oats on the surface blended with the moist interior, both still warm.Yum.
“Everything here’s sweetened with agave or stevia,” Zach said proudly, swiping the remaining half of Orchid’s cookie.
