“I uh, just have to go check on those cookies. Can you get K9 a biscuit and see what Terry wants, I’ll be right back!”
Vic looked surprised. Erin turned tail and dashed into the kitchen, needing to get out of sight to compose herself. She ran cold water into a clean cloth and pressed it to her cheeks, trying to cool them off and remove the color. Terry would be wondering what she was so flushed about.
Not like he wouldn’t wonder why she had suddenly fled at his appearance. That wasn’t something she normally did.
Erin took an extra few seconds to gulp down a glass of water, then returned to the front before everyone could start to wonder what had happened to her. But that last swallow water went down wrong and she inhaled half of it into her windpipe, resulting in a fit of coughing just as she walked through the door. If she’d been trying for an unobtrusive re-entrance, she did not succeed.
Erin turned away, coughing into her elbow, and then turned back, her face just as hot as it had been when she’d left.
“Sorry. I’m not contagious. Just some water that went down the wrong way.”
“Are you okay?” Terry asked, looking concerned.
“I’m fine, really. Just some water.” Erin cleared her throat the best she could, trying to suppress any further coughs. “How are you today?”
“It’s a beautiful day out. Things have been pretty quiet. I’m hoping that the crime level in Bald Eagle Falls has gone back to normal.”
“You think that the trouble with the clans is done?”
“Considering the fact that we managed to confiscate several millions of dollars’ worth of drugs, hopefully they’ve decided that Bald Eagle Falls isn’t the best place for a storage and shipping depot, and we won’t be seeing any more of them.”
“I sure hope so,” Erin said fervently.
Terry nodded. “How has the first day back been?”
Erin breathed out. She blinked to clear her teary eyes and studied the officer. Taller than her, dark haired, perfect build, and that cute little dimple in his cheek when he smiled at her. “Actually, it’s been pretty nice. It felt good to get back into the routine again. When I wasn’t working, it just felt… disorderly. I didn’t feel like my life was going the way I wanted it to. Like things might just fall apart at any minute.”
“But coming back, everything has fallen back into the old patterns?”
Erin nodded. “It feels good.”
“It actually does,” Vic agreed. “Unlike Erin, I actually enjoyed my time off, but I was ready to come back. The structure and the routine are good, but even more than that… the paycheck… visiting with customers… eating at regular intervals instead of grazing all day.” Vic patted her flat belly. “I was starting to put on weight…”
“You were not,” Erin disagreed. “You haven’t put on an ounce since you moved here.”
“Well, that’s not exactly true. But considering I wasn’t getting enough to eat before I started working for you, those first few ounces were okay. It’s the ones since then that are the problem.”
Erin just shook her head.
“See you later, Officer Piper,” Melissa gave Terry a little wave before leaving. She did some office administration for the Police Department on a part-time basis, and quite enjoyed the prestige of her role, even if she wasn’t an officer herself.
Terry nodded to her and Mary Lou as they headed out the door. “Ladies.”
# # #
They were just coming up on the after-school rush when Charley finally showed her face. She rushed into the bakery through the front door, red-faced and flustered.
“I can’t believe how the day has gotten away from me!” she exclaimed. “I was just doing some administrative work from home, you know, making sure that all of the advertising is lined up and that the bank has made all of the appropriate arrangements and all that…” All work that Erin had already attended to herself. “And before I knew it, it’s afternoon and I still haven’t made it over to the bakery! How did it go? Do you need anything?”
They were, of course, long past the point that Charley could have helped with anything, unless she wanted to take over the register during the rush or help with the cleanup after closing. Erin just looked at her.
“I was working,” Charley insisted. “I was just doing it from home instead of here. It’s so hot in the kitchen and that little office…”
The office was bigger than the one Erin had used in the original Auntie Clem’s Bakery, which had been hardly more than a closet. With a desk fan on the heat was nearly tolerable.
“I didn’t say anything,” she asserted. “Things went pretty well. We had a good amount of business.”
“Good. I was a little worried after we decided not to do a big grand reopening. I mean, I didn’t want to do a big reopening, I just had some… last minute qualms. What if nobody came? What if not enough people knew that we were open for business again today…?”
“There’s nothing that says you have to make all of your money the first day,” Erin reassured her. “Even if opening day didn’t go well, there’s lots of time for word to get around that we’re open and to get people in. But, nothing to worry about, it went just fine.”
“Good.” Charley put a stuffed shoulder bag that doubled as her briefcase down on one of the little wrought iron tables at the front of the bakery. “I’m new to this whole ‘business owner’ thing. I don’t want to screw it up.”
“That’s why you’ve got us,” Vic offered, putting her arm around Erin’s shoulder to remind Charley that she was there too, part of a package deal. “We know how to run a bakery.”
Charley didn’t quite make a face, but her look at Vic didn’t convey that she was thankful to have Vic there helping to look after things. She and Vic had never quite clicked. Erin wasn’t sure whether it was a personality thing, or whether there was a certain amount of jealousy between her sister and her best friend, each of them wary of the other intruding on their relationship with Erin.
“I’m glad I’ve got you,” Charley agreed, but her words were aimed at Erin rather than at Vic. “Whenever I start to panic about not knowing everything there is to know about the business, I just remind myself that you’ve done all of this before. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you to start up Auntie Clem’s Bakery with no one to tell you how to do everything. How did you manage?”
Erin motioned Charley to move to the side so that she wasn’t blocking paying customers.
“I read lots. Talked to my lawyer and accountant. Wrote out my business plan and goals and milestones…”
“You’re so organized. You always know exactly what’s coming next, don’t you?”
Erin only wished that were true.
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Apple-achian Treasure, Auntie Clem’s Bakery Book 8 by P.D. Workman is coming soon.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For as long as P.D. Workman can remember, the blank page has held an incredible allure. After a number of false starts, she finally wrote her first complete novel at the age of twelve. It was full of fantastic ideas. It was the spring board for many stories over the next few years. Then, forty-some novels later, P.D. Workman finally decided to start publishing. Lots more are on the way!
P.D. Workman is a devout wife and a mother of one, born and raised in Alberta, Canada. She is a homeschooler and an Executive Assistant. She has a passion for art and nature, creative cooking for special diets, and running. She loves to read, to listen to audio books, and to share books out loud with her family. She is a technology geek with a love for all kinds of gadgets and tools to make her writing and work easier and more fun. In person, she is far less well-spoken than on the written page and tends to be shy and reserved with all but those closest to her.
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Please visit P.D. Workman at pdworkman.com to see what else she is working on, to join her mailing list, and to link to her social networks.
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