Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
“See ya, Ruth. Oh, and don’t forget to tell Sarah if she brings me that report card with straight As she can have as many popcorn balls as her little hands can hold.”
“I’m definitely going to forget to tell her that,” Ruth calls out, and Molly laughs.
The sound does something funny to my insides, and I have to straighten my shoulders to get it to stop. It must be the altitude that’s making me feel this way.
“Sorry,” Molly says, turning her attention back to me. “What was it you wanted?”
“I was going to say that—”
Just then a young woman pops her head out of the bakery and grabs Molly’s attention. “We’re out of blondies.”
“Did you check the walk-in? I put a fresh tray in there this morning. I was letting them cool before I cut them.”
“Whoops.” The girl goes back inside, and Molly turns back to me.
“You’re busy,” I say, and I want to kick my own ass. Yeah, Noah keeps stating the obvious.
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” She says it with a real smile this time, and I wonder how she can mean that. But I guess anyone willing to live here year-round has to like it.
Cheerful is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but everyone being happy all the time is exhausting. It’s got to be some kind of conspiracy.
The young woman from before pops her head out again. “Molly, I checked the walk-in and didn’t see them. Are you sure those aren’t the ones you cut earlier?”
“Oh, sprinkles. Maybe I did. You know what, I’ll check.” She barely gives me a glance back as she goes to walk inside. “See ya.”
“Wait,” I call out, but she’s already shutting the door in my face. I let out a frustrated sound as I pull open the door and stomp inside. I’m here to apologize, and damn it, she’s going to hear it.
I’m immediately struck by the scent of something good. It’s a mix of coffee and cinnamon, but it’s more than that too. It’s cookies and cakes that line the shelves and fresh bread on trays behind the counter. It’s warm inside, and I pull at the scarf around my neck as I inhale all the delicious treats at once.
“Can I help you?” the person behind the counter asks, and I walk up to look at everything.
I wasn’t planning on eating, but now that I’m here, my stomach growls. “Two of those, please,” I say, pointing at the top shelf. “And one of those.” My eyes find something else, and I point to it. “And three of those.” The person behind the counter writes it all down on a notepad, patiently waiting for me to keep going. I guess this happens more often than not. “And a dozen of those,” I finally finish, and they nod.
“It will be a second, but I’ll get your order together and ring you up down at the other end.”
While I wait, Molly comes out from the back of the bakery holding a tray of what looks like vanilla brownies. I wish I could have ordered some of those too, but maybe I’ll come back and get them next time.
Next time? The sugar in this place must be making my brain scramble. I’m not coming back here.
“Molly,” I find myself saying as I step closer to the glass.
She jerks her head up with a bright smile, but once again when she sees it’s me, it falls.
“Did you forget something?” she asks, placing the tray of blondies in the glass counter between us.
“Cake,” I blurt out. Clearly my mouth isn’t working right because why did I say that?
“Yes, I still owe you a cake.” She sighs like she’s stressed and I’m another chore on her list. “I had to remake the one I brought to you last night, and the new one isn’t ready yet. But I promise I’ll drop it off this evening if that’s not too late.”
“That’s acceptable.”
For whatever reason, I’m going out of my way to be a jerk to her, and I don’t know why. Is it because my chest feels funny when she looks at me? Maybe she’s the reason it feels like I’m going to pass out, and this is my body’s way of protecting me.
Yeah, that has to be it. It’s definitely not because I like it when she looks at me.
Chapter Three
MOLLY
“What’s up with the Jolly Giant?” Mia asks.
“What?” I’m arms deep in the display case, refilling the trays because we keep getting cleared out. It’s getting harder and harder to keep items stocked. This should be exciting, but it’s getting exhausting.
“She’s talking about Mr. Cloud Kidnapper,” Lucy responds, making Mia laugh.
I close the display case, having no clue what they are talking about. But they're both highly amused with themselves.
“You mean Mount Everest," Mia fires back.