Wade repaired the back door with far too much skill for a simple fisherman.
Gabe positioned himself near the front, reinforcing vulnerable points while keeping his eyes on every exit and entrance.
Cara grabbed a dustpan and tried to make herself useful.
This is what family looks like.
The thought caught her off guard.
"Oh, hey." Piper's voice cut through the noise. She was crouched under the espresso machine, scrubbing at something sticky. "I forgot to mention. I saw two guys behind the bakery Thursday night."
Everyone stopped.
Gabe's entire posture changed. Sharpened. "What guys?"
"I don't know. Dark jackets. They were just standingthere." Piper shrugged, still scrubbing. "I figured they were lost tourists or something. They didn't look at me."
"What were they doing?"
"Nothing? Just standing there, looking at the building." She finally glanced up, registering the tension in the room.
Reagan's face had gone pale. "Piper, honey, why didn't you say something?"
"Because nobody listens to teenagers." Piper's tone carried zero self-pity. Just fact. "I figured I was being paranoid."
Gabe pulled out his phone. "Can you describe them? Height? Build? Any distinguishing features?"
Piper scrunched up her face. “Just, you know, like normal man-figures, I guess. Not short. Not fat. Just…average?”
The bells jingled as the front door opened. Pastor Ben stepped inside, his face creased with concern. He took in the destruction with quiet gravity, then found Cara's eyes across the room. "Heard about the break in." His voice carried the same gentle warmth as always. "Thought you might need some company."
He didn't ask questions. Didn't pry. Just crossed to where she stood and offered his presence like a gift.
"Mind if I pray with you all? Before you get back to work?"
Reagan nodded. Tom bowed his head. Piper set down her scrub brush. Even Wade went still, though his expression suggested he wasn't entirely comfortable.
Gabe hesitated. Then lowered his chin.
Pastor Ben's voice filled the broken space, asking for safety and strength and new beginnings to rise from the ashes of old fears.
Something shifted in Cara's chest. Something warm she hadn't let herself feel in a long time.
Maybe You sent me here for more than hiding.The prayer was barely a whisper in her own mind. But it felt like the most honest thing she'd thought in months.
Pastor Ben finished, the silence held for a moment. Sacred. Unbroken.
Then Piper sneezed, loudly, and the spell shattered into quiet laughter.
She caught Gabe’s gaze. The worry behind his eyes had shifted into something personal.
That scared her more than anything else.
She couldn’t let her new friends get hurt because of her.
The thought settled heavy in her chest.
By noon, the bakery looked almost functional. Not perfect. Not restored. But salvageable.
