GINA

 

There’s nothing more satisfying than the smile of a young child. Kids aren’t like adults. You don’t have to try and figure them out. No, kids wear their emotions right on their sleeves. If a child is smiling, there’s no question he’s in a good mood.

When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them I put smiles on kids’ faces. I don’t tell about the long hours I work or how those same long hours are spent kneading dough and baking cookies. No, I do it for the younger people in Ivory who always smile when they see me.

“Two donuts!”

“Two donuts. Right away—”

“And a cup of coffee! Make it quick!”

Unfortunately for me, not all my customers were young children.

The cranky old woman crossed her arms and tapped her foot as I prepared her order as quickly as I could. It didn’t take much time to bag a few donuts and pour a cup of coffee but the woman made it seem like I was making her wait for hours.

I put her order down on the counter and she slammed her money down on the table.

“Thank you—”

Before I could finish, she swiped her food up and started walking away. I gritted my teeth and smiled the best I could for the next customer in line.

There was always another customer in line. Amy’s Bakery was a small spot on a random street in Ivory you wouldn’t notice if you drove by. But Amy’s had been around for so long that it was an institution. You couldn’t come to Amy’s without trying some of the pastries. You couldn’t get them anywhere else in the world.

I suppose I was fortunate to be in charge of a special place. At the moment, my only focus was on trying to burn through the line of customers trying to get their fix of sugar.

I poured coffee. I bagged donuts, cookies, and all sorts of pastries. I tended to customers while minding the ovens in the back of the bakery. It was a lot of work but thankfully, I’d been doing it for so long that I was used to it.

The afternoon rush slowly died down and the customers disappeared. I was left alone in the bakery with just a single customer sitting at the side of the restaurant, minding his own business as he picked at a donut.

I sighed a deep breath and wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand.

When there weren’t any customers in the bakery, it meant I had to get ready for another set of customers on their way here.

I headed to the back and to check on the ovens. As soon as I did, the bell on the door handle rang. There were always customers at the least convenient time.

“Just a second!”

I shouted out and walked back to the front of the bakery.

“It’s all right, Gina,” the woman said. “It’s just me.”

Lydia was in charge of Amy’s Bakery. It had been several months since she first took over.

She sort of waddled toward me, her belly swollen with a child just ready to burst out of her stomach.

“What are you doing here?” I said to her.

“I just thought I would check in on you.”

“Check in?”

“How are things? You have everything under control?”

I raised an eyebrow at her and snickered softly to myself. Lydia and I were close enough that I could laugh at her, even though she was my boss.

“Yes, I have everything under control,” I said. “You don’t have to worry about me. You can go home.”

“I figure I’d stop by and give you a hand.”

“Lydia,” I said as I put my hands up. “Are you kidding me? Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

“What?” she said with a shrug.

“You look like you’re about to explode. You don’t want to be in the bakery when your water breaks, do you?”

Lydia put her hands on her hips. I shifted my gaze away from her. Apparently, there were limits to our friendship.

“Okay, okay,” I said. “Do whatever you want, boss lady.”

I headed to the back of the bakery to check on the ovens. Lydia examined everything closely, turning her attention to one of the stoves.

“Did you make sure to—”

“Keep the pilot on and turn off the gas,” I said. “Yeah, I got it. How many months have I been doing this?”

“You can never be too sure.”

I moved over to some of the dough I was mixing. It didn’t take me more than a second to notice that Lydia was standing right behind me, looking over my shoulder.

“Listen,” I sighed. “I know I can’t tell you to leave. But do you have to stand so close to me?”

“I just wanted to watch.”

There was a weird look on her face. I raised my eyebrows at her.

“What’s wrong?” I said. “Tell me.”

“Well…” she sighed. “It’s just… Sean is out of town. You know, he’s dealing with some of the distributors in the big city, so he won’t have to travel as much for the ingredients we need.”

“And you’re bored. Yeah, I get it… I suppose it won’t hurt if you help me with some of this.”

“Thank you.”

Lydia got to work right next to me. She made her way around the kitchen as well as anybody I’d ever seen. She moved to Ivory less than a year ago but she’d already carved a comfortable spot out for herself.

“You got any plans tonight?” she asked.

“I…”

As I stared at the mixer in front of me, I blinked my eyes in confusion.

“…I’m not doing anything,” I said. “I’m just gonna go home and relax like I always do.”

“Maybe you should go out.”

I thought I’d misheard her.

“W-what?” I stuttered.

“Maybe you should go out tonight,” she repeated.

I still couldn’t believe what she said to me.

“Am I hearing you right?” I said. “It sounded like you just told me to go out.”

“Gina…”

She slowly walked up to me. The mild look of concern on her face made me more confused than I already was.

“You’ve been working hard,” she said. “With me being pregnant and not being around as much, you’ve been in charge.”

“I know. And I’m grateful for the opportunity. It means a lot to me that you trust me.”

“I trust you and I care about you. That’s why I don’t want you working any harder than you have to.”

“I’m not working much harder,” I said with a shrug. “Some of the new employees you hired have made it easier.”

“But you’re still working more hours than normal because I’m not around.”

“So, what are you saying?” I said, shaking my head. “Are you gonna cut my hours?”

“I’m not cutting your hours,” she said as she giggled softly. “I’m saying you should think about going out tonight. Maybe have a little fun. It’s been a long time. Longer than it should have been.”

“Yeah…”

I looked away from her.

Ivory was a small town and I’d been here all my life. I knew everywhere to go if you wanted to have a good time. But I couldn’t remember the last time I was in the mood to go out.

“You don’t have to do anything crazy,” Lydia said. “Just go out and have a few drinks. Relax. Forget about the bakery for one day.”

“I don’t know,” I said, turning my attention to the mixer in front of me. “It’s not the same when I’m not going out with you.”

“Well, I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. But I really think you should get out. You’re still young. You should still be having fun.”

“I guess…”

I tried not to think too much about what Lydia told me.

She was right. I was still young. Twenty-three years old and in my prime. Most women like me in Ivory spent their late nights getting plastered while they tried to find a hookup. I’d experienced all of that myself.

“…I don’t know,” I said, my attention focused on my work. “After what happened that night… When that guy took advantage of me… I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same.”

“I know,” Lydia sighed. “I can’t imagine what that was like for you. But it might help to get over it if you head out. The sooner you go out, the sooner you’ll be able to have fun like you used to.”

My intimate conversation with Lydia was interrupted when the bell on the front door rang.

“I’ll get it,” I said.

Lydia ignored me and followed right behind me as I headed back to the front of the bakery. A man in uniform walked up to the counter with a friendly smile on his face.

“Sheriff Sutton!” I said. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing just fine, Gina.”

“Sutton Special?”

“Is there anything else I get?”

Lydia helped to grab a cup of coffee and donut for him.

If Amy’s Bakery was an institution in Ivory, Sheriff Sutton was the man who knew all about it.

Sutton had been around for as long as I could remember and you could see it on his face. His head was bald and blemished. The skin on his face sagged with wrinkles. I couldn’t imagine all the things he’d seen in his life. But he moved around with a remarkable amount of pep. With everything going on in this town, I suppose you had to have some energy when you were in charge of the police.

“How are you doing?” Lydia asked him. “Anything going on?”

“Nothing special,” he said.

“Catch any bad guys?” I added.

“Not yet. But they’re out there. And with the feds in town, it’s only a matter of time. We’ve got this Special Agent. Lieberman. You should see her. She’s a frightening woman. If anybody thinks about trying anything funny, they’re in trouble.”

“That’s good to hear,” Lydia said.

“It is good. In fact, it’s giving me a chance to relax. I’m heading out to a celebration tonight.”

“Celebration?” I said.

Sutton pulled out the newspaper he had folded underneath his arm. He laid it down in front of me and pointed down at it.

“There was a fire,” he said. “Firefighters came and saved the day. They’re holding a celebration for this guy down at The Grindhouse.”

He pointed at the front page of the newspaper. I narrowed my eyes at the photo of the man on the front.

He looks familiar…

As soon as I read the caption, I realized why he looked so familiar.

Dorian Sullivan.

“Wait a second,” Lydia said. “They’re holding a celebration for a firefighter at an MC clubhouse?”

“Turns out the firefighter who saved the man in the building is a patch, too. And they invited me.”

“They invited you?” Lydia said. “The sheriff? That just makes it even stranger.”

“Hey, with the feds in town, my workload isn’t as heavy as it used to be. I figure I might as well have some fun.”

Sutton scooped up the paper along with his order. As he shuffled out of the bakery, I turned to Lydia.

“I know that guy,” I said.

“Who? Sheriff Sutton?”

“No, the guy in the paper. The firefighter. Dorian Sullivan.”

“How do you know him?”

“I went to high school with him.”

“Oh, okay,” she said with a nod. “He was your friend.”

“Yeah, right,” I scoffed. “Dorian was the most popular guy at school. I’d be surprised if he even recognized me.”

“Well, maybe now he does.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sutton said they’re having a celebration for him at The Grindhouse. You’ve been there before.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t see why that matters.”

Lydia put her hands on my shoulders and looked me right in the eye.

“Maybe you should go out tonight,” she said. “You know the guy. And Sheriff Sutton is going to be there. You shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

I bit my bottom lip and looked away from Lydia. It made a lot of sense but I was still hesitant.

“It’s been a long time since I had a drink,” I sighed.

“You’ve worked too hard, Gina. Go out. Have a drink and have a good time. I insist.”

She gritted her teeth when she said it. We stared at one another, and after a few seconds, we both burst into laughter.

“All right,” I said as I shook my head. “Maybe I’ll head out for a drink tonight.”

“The bakery will still be here. I promise I won’t fire you.”

“Thanks, boss.”

Lydia put her arm around me as we headed to the back of the bakery. It was nice knowing that there was someone in town who would always be there for me. Heading out and enjoying myself at her insistence was the least I could do for her.