She pushed the door open. The man stood near the counter, his back to her. She stepped toward him, heart pounding.
She reached out for the man as he turned around.
The stranger gave her a quizzical look. “Do I know you?”
Robin’s throat swelled. “Oh. I’m sorry. I guess not.”
Up close, this man was several inches shorter than Sammy, and his hair was all wrong. It was just her wishful thinking painting Sammy back into her life.
A woman came from near the cash register with a paper bag in her hand, grease from the pastries inside dotting the paper. “C’mon, Steven. Let’s get to the castle before the line starts.”
The man wrapped his arm around the woman’s waist, and they walked off in the direction of one of Chantilly’s famous sites.
Robin watched them for a minute before walking up the stairs to her little apartment. She opened the top drawer of her dresser. Nesting in one of her T-shirts lay the love spoons Sammy had carved for her. She picked them up, studying the pictures again. A small bicycle. A tiny peacock. A fox chasing another along one edge.
She tucked the spoons into a pocket of her apron. The apron with the Bakery LaVigne logo scrolled across the top.
It was all wrong.
She reached back and untied the strings and lifted the apron over her head. She didn’t need the adoration of all of Paris or Chantilly. She only needed the adoration of one man.
It was time to make some new dreams.
* * *
Sammy satin the stands in the high-school gym, watching the baseball team work out on the floor. Despite being early April, Deep Haven had had seven inches of snow dumped on it last week, so practice was being held inside.
Ben had texted earlier in the day.
Ben
Got my history grade. I passed! Am eligible to try out for the team. Come cheer me on?
How could he say no to that? So Sammy was sandwiched between Seb Brewster on his right and Dan Matthews on his left. Other parents and fans sat scattered across the rest of the bleachers.
There was more to life than baseball, but on days like today it was hard to remember what they might be.
So many things had happened over the past few weeks since visiting Teddy in the hospital. He now called Teddy or his family regularly to talk through the difficulties the boy was experiencing in his recovery. Teddy would be fitted with his prosthesis soon.
He’d made two calls the day after visiting Teddy. One to Tucker to turn down the smoke jumping offer. And the other to Vivien to accept the full-time director’s position at the youth center. They had applied for a few grants while he’d quietly deposited some of his insurance money into the youth center account.
On the gym floor, Ben trotted toward the coach, who pointed him toward the pitching area. Ben hustled into position and threw a few fastballs to a kid in catcher’s gear. Then he changed his stance and pitched a knuckleball, then a changeup.
The whole group of teens ran through some infield and outfield throwing drills, and then the coach had them circle up center court.
“Looks like we’ll have a pretty good team this year,” Dan said.
“We’d better. We’re due a playoff run,” Seb shot back. On the court, the group of new baseball hopefuls broke rank.
“I’m going to go talk to Ben,” Sammy said. “See you guys at headquarters later?”
“You betcha,” Dan said. “See you there.”
Sammy made his way through the teens and parents littering the court until he found Ben. He clapped him on the shoulder. “You looked good out there.”
“Thanks, Mr. J.” The kid’s grin stretched wide. “Coach says I did well. The roster won’t be official until next week, but as long as I keep my grades up, I’m golden.”
“That’s great, Ben! Let me know if you need more study sessions.” He gave Ben a salute and walked out of the gym to his Ford Ranger. He’d promised his mom a loaf of walnut raisin bread on his way home.
