I’ve shed enough tears today.
Or maybe it isn’t the breakups that make my vision blur. Maybe it’s Talia accusing me ofsabotagingthose relationships. Maybe it’s my best friendbetrayingme—right after finding out about Farmor’s duplicity as well—that makes it feel like someone has my heart in their fist, crushing it a little more with every minute.
Calm down. Take a breath.
I curl my fingers over the counter, gripping the cool, hard surface.
One, two, three, four, I count silently as I inhale, then repeat it again as I hold my breath and as I exhale. Slowly, the tightness in my chest and the urge to cry fade away and are replaced by the comforting smell of baking bread ... and only a lingering shadow of sorrow.
My phone begins to vibrate, but when I glance at it, I see Talia’s name and push End on her call, as I have five times previously today.
“Wow, it smells amazing in here!”
I didn’t hear the door open, so Hunter’s deep voice startles me.
“Liv made bread!” Lou’s exclamation comes on the heels of his, and then they burst into the kitchen, both looking like the epitome of corporate America in their fancy shoes, skirt and slacks, and mirrored exhausted expressions. Neither of them came in to Konditori today, a rare occurrence, and usually a sign that something bad went down at the loan office.
“Blessallthe things because Ineedbread today. An entire loafto myself.Please tell me I get to eat it and you’re not taking it all to the hospital or something.” There is a chunk of hair sticking out of Lou’s otherwise slicked-back ponytail that I can’t stop staring at. It’s like a mini, misplaced Mohawk. She must have stuck a pen in her hair and accidentally yanked some of it out of its place and never noticed.
“What happened to you guys today?” I ask, my gaze moving on to Hunter and noticing he also hasI’ve shoved things, including my hands, into my hair way too many times todayhair.
“What happened toyou?” Lou shoots back. “Youbaked bread.” She says this with arched brows and a tone that says, “Which means you are on the verge of a breakdown.” Which, yes, she knows me well enough to know that fresh-baked-bread days mean I’m not doing great, but still ... “Also, Talia has texted and called me like four thousand times, but once I confirmed that you weren’t back in the hospital and that your farmor is still okay, I told her I couldn’t talk to her because we were too busy. Clearly, something is up though.”
“You would have known I wasn’t in the hospital if you’d come into the bakery like usual.”
“Aw, did you miss me?” Hunter grabs an apple from the fruit bowl and takes a large, loud bite.
Lou’s eyes widen.
“I didn’t say anything about missing anyone.” I’m blushing but hope Lou doesn’t notice. “Iliveby both of you. You have tonotsee someone to miss them. I was merely commenting on the fact that no one from the office came to get their daily treats today. So ... what terrible thing happened this time?”
“Not terrible,” Hunter says and then takes another loud bite of his, apparently, very crisp apple. “Really good, actually. But an all-hands-on deck kind of situation.”
“I’m glad it wasn’t something bad.” I smile at them, but evenIcan tell it’s strained, my lips pulling back from my teeth but holding very little actual joy.
“Okay, Liv, spill it. What’s going on?IsFarmor okay?” Lou slips her heels off and plunks herself down on one of the stools we keep by the kitchen island for when we’re too tired or too lazy to go eat at the actual dining table.
“No change with her. It’s nothing. I felt like baking bread. It doesn’t always mean something’s wrong, you know.”
Lou scoffs. “Yes, actually, it does. At least the entire three years I’ve known you. Which I think gives me a pretty good frame of reference. Not as long as Talia, of course, but I bet if I asked her she’d confirm—”
“No!” I exclaim, slapping her phone out of her hand.
Lou’s jaw drops. “What theheck, Liv! You better not have broken my screen—”
“Whoa, bringing out the big swears, cuz,” Hunter needles her.
Lou glares at him. “Well, that’s where Liv is going to go if she broke my one-month-old, grossly overpriced phone!”
“It’s fine.” I huff, grabbing it and flipping it over, hiding a sigh of relief when it actually proves to be intact, not a crack to be seen.
“Good thing.” Lou crosses her arms over her chest.
The timer on the oven beeps, and I gratefully turn away to pull on an oven mitt.
“So, I take it something happened with Talia?” Hunter asks mildly.
I open the oven and pull the first loaf out. Golden perfection.
