You Belong With Me (23 page)

              Layla laughed. “Knock it off you two. We’re not back together or anything. I just agreed to think about forgiving him for pushing me to the side.”

              Jane turned to her sister. “Is Stella right? Did Ashley take off again?”

              Layla frowned in worry. “What exactly did Stella say?”

              Kit answered for Jane. “She said,
mean mommy went back home
.”

              Layla winced and shut her eyes for a moment. “Wow, poor kid. But yeah, Michael told me she left right after he told her that it wasn’t going to work out between them. He told me she didn’t even say good bye to Stella. On top of that, Ashley’s father is furious with Michael.”

              All three sisters were quiet for a moment before Jane spoke. “So Ashley leaves, Michael rushes over here to talk to you, we come out on the porch and he’s smiling from ear to ear as if he’s just won every event in the Summer Olympics. That smile did not say,
the woman I love just agreed to think about forgiving me.
You’re not telling us something,” Jane said glaring at Layla.

              Layla blushed and looked away from her sister’s piercing eyes. Kit nudged her with her hip again. “Jane is so right. What did you do you wild woman?”

              Layla laughed and shook her head. “Yeah right. No, I promise you
I
didn’t do anything. It was him,” she said softly, thinking of their conversation.

              “Holy crap Kit! Look at her face. She’s freaking in love,” Jane whispered sounding almost horrified she was so in shock.

              Kit frowned as she studied her sister. “Layla, what the heck did Michael do to put that look on your face?” she demanded.

              Layla shrugged, embarrassed at having to pick apart a very intimate conversation. “Well, it all added up of course, but he quoted
The Princess Bride
to me. I basically told him I’d sort of think about forgiving him and he said,
As you wish
in the same tone as Wesley and everything. And when I accused him of trying to be Prince Charming, he corrected me and told me that no, he was the farm boy slash pirate,” she said, sighing closing her eyes as she relived the moment in her mind.

              Kit nodded her head and smiled. “That’s always been your favorite movie. I can see where that would have sent you over the top.”

              Jane laughed. “I cannot believe our big tough sister just got taken down by a movie quote.
Wow
how the mighty have fallen.”

              Layla smiled, not saying anything as she pushed away from the railing to go back into the bakery.

              “And fallen hard,” she heard Kit mutter.

Chapter 19 - Fallen

              The next morning, the three sisters woke up earlier than usual. Kit pulled her hair back into a bun and strapped on her apron. Layla and Jane exchanged serious looks as they helped Kit prepare everything for the bread.

              “Yesterday better not have been a fluke,” Kit muttered darkly and then shooed her sisters away so she could concentrate.

              Layla prepared her dough for cinnamon rolls while Jane began her cupcakes. She put on a play list of all their favorite music to ease the tension. As she danced around the kitchen to the
Lumineers
and
Imagine Dragons
, she felt a strange peace settle around her. Life wasn’t easy, disasters happened, hearts were broken
and mended
and stress never went away, but in the midst of everything, she was okay. If she and her sisters could be up at 5am in the morning, singing and dancing and baking, then life was pretty good.

              After getting the display cases stocked, Jane and Kit went to do the bread delivery. Layla stayed back to open the bakery on her own. She would only be on her by herself for about twenty minutes so it was no big deal. As she went to turn the sign to OPEN, she smiled as she saw a man standing in front of the door. She glanced at her watch but she was right on time. This must be one of the people from the parade who had promised to stop by first thing Monday morning.

              She opened the door and smiled as the man stepped forward out of the morning shadows. “Good morning. Please come in,” she said and then paused as she realized the man walking past her and into the store was the same man she had talked to on Saturday in the park. The man who had asked her why she hadn’t sold the bakery and taken the money.

              “It smells good in here. It reminds me of my mom,” the man said, walking toward the cases and leaning down to get a better look.

              Layla studied the man as she walked around the counter. His clothes were old and faded looking as if he didn’t care much what he wore. He was tall, with longish brown hair turning silver. He had a narrow hollowed out face and a jutting chin. His eyes were a pale washed out blue that held a hint of irritation. He must not have liked waiting.

              “What would you like this morning?” she asked politely, pulling out a wrapper.

              The man glanced at her quickly and then away. “I’ll just have a cream filled croissant with raspberries and a large hot chocolate please.

              “Is that to go?” she asked, reaching for a white bag.

              “Oh, I’ll just sit over there and read the paper while I eat if you don’t mind,” he said motioning toward the chairs they had set up around a few round tables by the windows.

              “Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll bring it out to you?” she said, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the way the man was staring at her.

              She made the hot chocolate quickly and added a squirt of whipping cream to the top before bringing it and the croissant over to the man who already had his paper open to the sports page.

              She forgot about the man though as a steady stream of people made it through the doors. By the time Jane and Kit returned, she’d been busy non-stop for an hour.

              “What happened to being back in twenty minutes?” she asked under her breath as her sisters slipped their aprons on and went to work.

              Kit looked over her shoulder at Layla as she moved to the till to ring up a customer. “Rob wanted to talk about the bread for a while. Then he called his mom in to try it and
She
.
Would
.
Not
.
Stop
.
Talking
,” she said quietly before smiling at the young mother in front of her while handing her a twenty.

              Layla had to smile. If their bread was a hit and Rob made sure he gave Belinda’s Bakery all the credit, it would be great for business.

              Jane slid the extra loaves of bread into the last display case and slid the door shut. “Rob was flat out impressed. He’s so pleased he’s planning on putting a sign up giving Belinda’s credit for the bread. We just got a homerun.”

              Layla grinned and leaned up against the back counter as she took a sip from her water bottle. She glanced toward the window and noticed the man was still there sitting at the table, reading his paper and nibbling on the last little crumb of his croissant.
So weird
. She watched him for a while as she wiped down counters and restocked the cases. Every few seconds it seemed like he would glance up and look at one of them. He’d look at Jane, then Kit and then back to her. She felt an anxious, cold feeling sweep over her.

              Layla walked over to Kit as soon as she had a break in sales. “Kit check out the guy sitting by himself over by the window. He’s been here for over an hour, ever since I opened up. He keeps staring at all of us as if he’s here to watch us and not eat that croissant he’s been picking at.”

              Kit raised her eyebrows and glanced at the man. She nodded her head with a frown. “I’ll keep an eye on him. Go tell Jane.”

              Layla called Jane back into the kitchen on an excuse and told her about the man. Jane looked surprised. “Well, then I’ll go talk to him and see what kind of reaction I get.”

              Layla followed her back into the store and began sweeping as Jane walked straight to the man and leaned on the table.

              “Do you need another hot chocolate to go with the rest of your paper?” she asked with a bright smile.

              The man looked shocked at first, but then blinked a few times before clearing his throat loudly. “Um, sure. Yes I’d like that. What is your name?” he asked as Jane was about to turn away.

              Jane turned back, still smiling. “Jane Kendall. Me and my sisters own this bakery now. And what’s yours?” she asked politely.

              The man looked down at his hands for a moment as if he were thinking how to answer.

              “My name is Landon. How long do you think you’ll be running this bakery? I mean, do you have any plans to sell? I heard a rumor somewhere that you were planning on selling to Alex Foster,” he said in a rush.

              Jane frowned and looked more closely at the man. “No, we don’t have any plans to sell. Not now, not ever. If we have our way, we’ll be passing this bakery down to our children someday. I’ll be right back with your hot chocolate,” she said and walked away.

              Layla and Kit exchanged glances but didn’t say anything as the man was watching them openly now. Jane walked back, holding the cup out to him with a new napkin. “Here you go Sir.”

              Landon nodded his head and pulled out his wallet to hand her his payment. “Keep the change. I’ll be leaving now,” he said and stood up, disappearing out the door within seconds.

              The bakery was empty for the moment, so Jane walked to the counter as Layla and Kit leaned over.

              “That was so strange,” Jane said, shaking her head.

              Layla nodded. “I’m positive he’s the same man who asked me about selling the bakery on Saturday and now he’s asking you the same thing. There is something up with that guy.”

              Kit walked around the counter and walked to the window to see if she could see Landon anywhere, but he was gone. “Yep, there’s a story there. I wonder if he’s working for Alex?”

              Layla frowned and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

              Jane took out her cell and went to her contacts. “I’m going to mention it to Tate. I wish I had asked him for his last name.”

              Jane walked in the back to talk on the phone and Layla and Kit took care of a few more customers. They’d been busy that morning, but not nearly as busy as they’d been on opening day. She was curious to see if they’d make a profit.

              Jane breezed back in and put her hands on her hips. “Tate’s going to look into it for me. He was very concerned.”

              Kit grinned. “I bet he was. Listen, Rob’s mom invited all of us to dinner tonight at the restaurant.”

              Jane clapped her hands. “Your sourdough bread is going to make us into millionaires!”

              Kit laughed. “We’ll see. But if we get contracts for other restaurants, we’ll have to hire more help and expand,” she said, looking dreamily out the window. She came out of her trance and turned to see her two sisters grinning at her and she blushed. “I mean, someday, maybe.”

              Jane giggled. “You’re starting to sound like a real businesswoman. Maybe you should have gone gotten a business degree like me.”

              Kit grinned, “Maybe so.”

              The sisters spent the rest of the day working and then closed up right at six so they could interview for the morning and afternoon help. Kit had a cake order for Friday and they would need the extra hands immediately.

              Layla watched all four interviews quietly, allowing Jane to take the lead as Kit popped in with questions. She really liked the single mom who had a daughter in kindergarten. She seemed serious, efficient and kind. The other woman who applied for the job was a woman in her fifties, who enjoyed traveling to see her grandkids in Colorado. Sweet, but she’d be gone a lot. The two teenage girls who applied for the afternoon position were both cute, sweet girls. She didn’t envy Jane having to pick between them.

              She waved good bye the last applicant and then locked up with a tired sigh. She frowned as she realized she hadn’t heard from or seen Michael or Stella all day. She had expected them to stop by to say hi or call at the very least.

              Kit decided to run to the store to grab a few extra ingredients they needed and Jane was busy going over receipts. She’d just be naughty and take a bubble bath. Fifteen minutes later with her hair pulled on top of her head and surrounded by bubbles she closed her eyes and zoned out.

              Life had changed so much in such little time. Just a few short weeks ago, she had been a worn out, wash-up, wasted social worker, so burned out she had been on the very edge of depression. Her boss had told her to take two weeks’ vacation and lay on a beach somewhere. But of course at the end of that vacation she’d have to go back. She couldn’t go back anymore. The only thing that comforted her was knowing that every year, more and more men and women were graduating with social work degrees and were able to hit the poverty, abuse, neglect and devastation with new, strong energy. The energy she’d started with had been sucked out of her day after day along with pieces of her heart. She’d been so good at what she’d done because she’d never been able to step back. An older social worker who had been working for the State for twenty years had talked to her about closing off her heart. She’d warned her of what would happen if she didn’t. But Layla couldn’t do it. She’d never figured out how to not care.

              She couldn’t help feeling disappointed in herself though. In her heart she knew she hadn’t been strong enough. If she had been, she could have kept working and serving and saving. But in the end, she’d broken down and now she had to fix herself. Being back with her sisters and working hard and dreaming big had definitely jump started her heart and spirit. Thank heavens for Grandma Belinda. If not for this bakery, Jane would be an accountant, Kit would be who knows where and she would now be in California working with adoptive families. Not bad, but not as wonderful as working with her sisters.