The Baker's Man

by Jennifer Moorman

  Years of doing what was right, doing what everyone else wanted, and disregarding her own dreams finally unraveled inside Anna like a ball of yarn bouncing down the stairs. Simply mentioning Eli’s absence felt like lemon juice on a paper cut. She stood, her body vibrating with energy and frustration, her emotions threatening to explode. The Christmas china rattled on the table. “If you’re referring to Eli, then you’re wrong. This isn’t about him. This is about me, Mama. This is about me finally doing what I want to do. I can continue Grandma Bea’s legacy no matter where I am. She’ll always be a part of me,” Anna argued, pointing a finger into her chest. “I loved her, and she knew it. Leaving Mystic Water doesn’t mean I’ve stopped loving her. And I love you, but I’m not going to stay here in Mystic Water just because you think it’s what’s best for me. This is my decision and either you can support it or you can’t.” Anna shoved away from the table and stomped to her bedroom.

  She’d never smarted off to her mama, not in all her years growing up. Sure, she’d stuck out her tongue when Evelyn’s back was turned, and she’d rolled her eyes a few hundred times, but she’d never gone against her mama’s wishes. She’d never disobeyed. Now Anna felt sick to her stomach but also proud of herself. For once, she’d been honest with her mama and with herself. What she wanted was Wildehaven Beach. Anna bent down and grabbed the contract from beneath her bed.

  She sat on the floor and crossed her legs, placing the contract in her lap. It was ratty and wrinkled with burnt edges, but what it represented was a new start for Anna, doing what her heart wanted. A knock sounded on her bedroom door, and Evelyn walked in without waiting to be invited. She sat on the edge of Anna’s bed and motioned for Anna to join her. Anna pushed herself off the floor and eased onto the bed beside her mama. They sat in silence.

  “I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Anna finally said.

  “Honey, that’s not yelling,” Evelyn said with a small smile. “I yell. You simmer like a pressure cooker, and then you release your steam by yourself. That’s just the first time you’ve ever told me how you really feel.” Evelyn pushed Anna’s hair from her shoulder. “I’ve only wanted what’s best for you your whole life. I know you’re a grown woman now, but I still look at you and see the little girl who was afraid to get on the school bus because she thought people would steal her lunch. Honey, no one wanted wheat bread and carrots.”

  Anna chuckled. “Not when they had chocolate pudding and Fruit Roll-ups.”

  “I won’t pretend that I’m happy that you’re moving,” Evelyn said. “But I do want you to be happy, and if that means having sand in your pants twenty-four hours a day, then I’ll support you. I could help you find a cute little apartment with two bedrooms because you know your dad and I will have to visit all the time just to make sure you’re okay. And I could help you decorate it.”

  Anna smiled as unshed tears glistened in her eyes. “I’d like that.” Anna put her arms around Evelyn’s neck and hugged her. “Thanks, Mama.”

  Evelyn rubbed Anna’s back. “Now, go hug your dad. He’s about to burst with excitement for you. I could barely be in the same room with him. It was too contagious.”

  Evelyn sounded annoyed, but Anna could see the glint in her mama’s eyes. Anna smiled, hopped off the bed, and gave a loud whoop. She heard the sound of her mama’s quiet laughter as she rushed out of the room calling for her daddy. Merry Christmas, indeed.

  Epilogue

  Anna balanced a box full of bubble-wrapped cupcake holders on her hip before she shoved it sideways onto the countertop with a grunt. She unpacked each holder and found a place to shelve it. Then she returned to the front of the bakery and assessed which box she should grab next.

  Mint and sage greens ribboned the bakery’s walls in fat, vertical stripes. An oversize, whimsical mirror surrounded by a pale blue frame hung from one wall and reflected the ocean in the distance. Blue cake plates of various designs and sizes decorated the shelves. Anna’s eyes drifted past the “Help Wanted” sign tucked into the front window. Her gaze rested on the white sand and the dark blue waters rolling toward the shoreline. Her cell phone vibrated a happy tune in her back pocket. She smiled at the picture and name flashing on her screen. She pressed the button for speakerphone and placed her cell on the front counter.

  “Are you now officially a homeowner?” Anna asked.

  On the other end of the line, Anna could hear the sound of the wind blowing into a car driving down the road. Lily made an excited noise in her throat. “Yes,” she said. “We’re moved in. Looks like we’ve tried to make a fort out of boxes in every room, but I suspect that by the time I get home, Jakob will have everything unpacked. He’s so OCD about cleanliness.”

  Anna laughed and waded through the cardboard boxes and crinkled newspaper used as packing material. The mess spanned half the space in the bakery’s front room. “It could be worse. He could be a frantic dad-to-be who insists on reading pregnancy books out loud to you and asking you awkward questions. Oh, wait—he does that too. Jakob used to be so cool.”

  They both laughed. Anna lifted a box labeled baking utensils and hefted it onto her hip. She watched a young woman jog down the boardwalk toward the beach. Early April had arrived with unseasonably warm weather and a spring breeze that made people want to fly kites and laugh loudly. Gulls called to each other and played chase, diving into the waves and skittering across the wet sand.

  “We’re going to have you over to the Clarke House as soon as it’s all sorted,” Lily said.

  “It’s the Connelly House now,” Anna said, balancing the box on her hip and shuffling toward the backroom.

  “It’ll probably always be the Clarke House to me. I still can’t believe we’re actually living in it. Thanks to you.”

  Anna smiled and imagined Lily hosting parties in the kitchen with people spilling into the backyard all abloom with lavender and roses. “Thanks to life,” she said.

  “Listen, I left later than I thought I would. I’ll probably be there within forty-five minutes. Want me to bring lunch?” Lily asked.

  Anna’s eyes drifted to the spot on the wall where the clock would hang, but it was still empty. “Is it already lunchtime? No wonder I feel weak. That would be great. Mama and Daddy won’t be here until tomorrow, and my refrigerator is completely empty. You should bring us food unless you want to eat butter and heavy cream.”

  “Tempting, but no thanks. I’ll grab sandwiches or whatever I happen upon. See you soon,” Lily said.

  Anna disconnected and carried the box to the back island. She sliced through the tape and began unpacking the utensils. She continued this steady process of grabbing boxes and unpacking them for the next half hour. The tiled floor of the bakery was almost visible in its entirety as the boxes dwindled. There was a small, unassuming box labeled Postcards. Anna grabbed it and hopped onto the front counter as she opened it. Inside laid postcards from Eli. There weren’t many, but they were all different, displaying images of lighthouses, seashells, and the ocean. He’d also mailed outrageous ones that seemed to be plucked from dive bars or truck stops. Her favorite was an image of the Marshmallow Man made famous in The Ghostbusters movie. On the back, all he’d written was: It could be worse. I could be fat and gooey and have rolls instead of these rock-hard abs. Love, Dough Boy. Eli’s scrawled messages were short, and Anna had read them so many times, she’d memorized them like a cherished bedtime story.

  She slid off the counter and carried the postcards to the backroom, where she pinned them to a corkboard. If she couldn’t have Eli with her, at least she’d have something of his in the bakery to keep her company. The front door opened, jingling the newly hung bell. The breeze from the ocean rushed inside, and Anna smelled a mixture of briny air and chocolate. She smiled and bounded into the front room saying, “That didn’t take you forty-five minutes. Something smells like chocolate.”

  Anna’s feet skidded to a halt, and her mouth dropped open. Eli stood in the bakery grinning like he had a secret to share. His
blue shirt highlighted his tanned skin and bright eyes. He looked better than a perfectly iced chocolate cake. Anna self-consciously reached up a hand and tried to smooth down her hair. She’d been unpacking boxes all day and sweating in the spring heat. She wanted to say something, but she only managed to close her slack jaw and stare at him in surprise.

  “Damn, you look pretty,” Eli said, still grinning.

  Anna’s cheeks flushed, and she felt warm all over like she was lying on a towel in the sun. She pushed her hands down her tank top and fiddled with the hem of her shorts. “I look like a throwaway,” she said.

  “The best-looking throwaway I’ve ever seen. I missed seeing you.” He maneuvered through the boxes in the front room, looking at the cake plates on her shelves and the few items she’d hung on the walls. “Place looks great, like you. It feels like you in here. You were expecting someone?” he asked, leaning his hip casually against the front counter.

  The room smelled like sugar and home. Anna felt her heart fluttering wildly in her chest because she was so close to Eli again. Her eyes tracked him as he moved. He seemed so calm, so unaware of how his proximity unraveled her. “Lily,” she said and cleared her throat. “She’s bringing lunch and going to help me unpack.”

  Eli moved his hand over his belly. The sunlight shifted on the floor, stretching long beams toward their feet. “How’s she doing? Look pregnant yet?”

  Anna’s body relaxed. She exhaled slowly. Talking about someone else helped to take her mind off the fact that Eli was mere feet away from her, looking at her, smiling at her. “She does,” she answered. “But she’s not huge. She’ll be one of those lucky women who suddenly look super pregnant at nine months and leading up to that, she’ll just like she’s had a bit too much cheese.”

  “And Tessa?” he asked. His eyes wandered over the few unpacked boxes and then back to her.

  Anna looked for a spark in his eyes, for the curiosity that would drive her to think he had missed Tessa too. “She’s great,” Anna said. “Been dating a pediatrician who just moved to town. Richard is his name. We call him Ricardo for fun. He’s a nice man.”

  Eli’s expression didn’t alter when he said, “Good for her.”

  She wanted to ask what he was doing there or how long he was going to stay. But she was afraid of what he might say. Instead she asked, “How are the Outer Banks? Do you like working with James at the deli?”

  “It’s windy,” he said with a smile, “but the winter was short. The business took off. James had to hire more workers just to keep up with demand. But it’s not Mystic Water.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and pushed off from the counter. He kicked a stray piece of newspaper into the air. They watched it float and descend.

  Anna chuckled. “It’s better than Mystic Water, I’m sure.” She busied her hands by collecting the newspapers and smashing them into one large ball. She looked around for her box of trash bags. She held the ball in one hand and shook out the flat trash bag with her other hand. Then she shoved the paper into the bag.

  “Different, not better,” he said. “Definitely not better.” He gathered newspapers with her. “You weren’t there.”

  Eli’s words surprised her and tugged a shy smile from her lips. She held the trash bag open so he could drop in the papers. His fingers brushed against hers—a move he’d done on purpose—and Anna felt a new wave of heat shimmer over her. The air-conditioning unit clicked on.

  “How have you been?” he asked as he took the bag from her hands and placed it beside the counter.

  Lonely, getting by, starting over, excited, happy, missing you, passing time, thinking of you, trying to get over you. “Busy,” Anna said because it was the least complicated answer she felt comfortable admitting.

  He nodded his toward the backroom. “Show me around?”

  When he stepped closer to her, Anna’s breaths shortened. The temperature rose in the room. The edges of the crinkled newspapers wilted in the wash of heat. Anna pushed her hair behind her shoulders and fanned her face. Eli had already seen the kitchen when they’d visited Wildehaven Beach together months ago, but she stepped into the backroom anyway.

  “Here’s the kitchen,” she said. “I kept pretty much everything how it was before. The layout was already efficient. I added those shelves. I need a bit more storage,” she said and pointed. Something hanging on the wall caught Eli’s attention, and he walked to it. The corkboard. Anna groaned inwardly. Now he would likely think she was a stalker or obsessed with him. Was she obsessed with him? Did missing him every single day count as an obsession? Probably.

  “This is new,” he said, and a slow smile stretched across his face, deepening the dimple in his cheek.

  “I, uh, decided to hang postcards from friends up there,” she said, feeling the heat flush her cheeks. “Only no one else has written me. Yet.”

  Eli chuckled. “You missed me too,” he said without arrogance. He sounded relieved. He pushed one hand through his hair and then patted it down again.

  He turned to face her and close the distance between them. Anna’s head felt light. The pull between them intensified, and she felt her feet moving toward him. Then he stopped moving, and his eyes drifted over her head to the far counter.

  “What’s that here for?” he asked.

  The sugary haze faded from Anna’s brain. Eli was an arm’s length away, and her fingers tingled at the thought of touching him. But she turned to see what he was asking about. A deli meat slicer sat on the counter gleaming in the light. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment.

  “It’s for slicing meat,” she said, swallowing and feeling a slow burn start up the back of her neck. She tried to rub it away.

  “I know what it is. Why do you have it in a bakery?” he asked.

  Anna started to say that Timothy and Mel Cornfoot had left it for her because they’d found it in their stock room and it was polished and ready for the right hands, but that would have been a lie. The meat slicer had been an expensive impulse buy at a restaurant supply store.

  “I bought it,” she admitted, turning to look at his face. “Because I had hope.”

  Eli stepped toward her. His fingers found hers, and he twined them together. “Hope for what?”

  Embers flamed to life inside her. “That you might want to use it,” she said, staring at his chest and aching all over.

  Eli dropped her hand and walked out of the kitchen. Anna’s heart slammed against her chest and then shuddered, making her stomach clench. Had she said something wrong? Was he upset that she’d been stupid enough to want him to come back? She stood alone in the backroom for a few seconds before she followed him.

  Eli snatched the “Help Wanted” sign from the front window and spun around on his heel. He smiled at her and tossed the sign across the room like a Frisbee. It bounced against the remaining boxes, and he held his hands out to her.

  “What do you think about having a combination bakery and deli?” he asked, smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

  Anna’s mind burst with possibilities and hope for a future with Eli. Yes, yes, yes! She smiled in return and held her hands together in front of her, afraid that if she moved, she’d wake up and Eli would be gone. “You want to come here?”

  “If you’ll have me,” he said. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. You’re home to me.”

  Anna’s body shivered, and she smiled so wide a laugh slipped out. Then she ran toward Eli, and he opened his arms, catching her and lifting her feet off the ground with a hug. When Eli placed her down, he didn’t let go. He pulled her against him and kissed her. Anna felt the sunlight on her cheeks, the ocean breeze blowing through her hair. The air was heady with the scents of sugar and spice. She felt like candle wax melting in Eli’s flame. She burned from the inside and folded into him. She slid her hands up his back, pressing her fingers against him, clutching him. Eli put one hand on her neck, warming her skin, sending pulses of energy down her spine. Then he moved the hand into her hair. Anna’s heart pounded
an excited rhythm. Her entire body quivered like she had laughter trapped inside, and it couldn’t wait to burst out.

  The bell jingled when the front door opened. In her conscious mind, Anna knew she should stop kissing Eli, but her brain asked, How? Then it asked, Why? Whoever it was could see they were busy, could see she wasn’t yet open for business, and could come back later. Or never. Anna wasn’t concerned with anything other than the way her lips were tingling and how Eli felt warm and safe and perfect.

  “Should I come back in fifteen?” Lily asked.

  Anna tried to pull away, but Eli held her close. He kissed her cheeks and forehead. Then he kissed down her neck. “Maybe an hour,” he mumbled.

  Anna laughed and pushed on his chest. He held tight, and she giggled more until he released his grip and smiled down at her.

  “You back for good?” Lily asked.

  “Oh, I’m sticking around,” Eli said. “As long as Anna will have me.” He looked down at her and grinned.

  Anna’s face flushed. She couldn’t stop smiling even though her cheeks started to ache. She pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed him. Happiness swirled around them like a breeze.

  Lily held up two brown bags that were stamped with the logo from a local taco shop. “I didn’t know we’d have company. I only bought two meals. Now that you’re sticking around, we’ll be forced to share. I volunteer Anna’s half.” Lily smiled at them both.

  Anna rested her hand on Eli’s chest and leaned her head against his shoulder, feeling his warmth flush her skin and wrap her heart with heat and love. She thought of the morning she’d first met him and how he’d smiled at her then just as he was smiling now. She thought of the patrons of Bea’s Bakery, who had walked into the shop that October morning and seen him—Elijah Long—looking like a man who’d strode out of a Hollywood movie: broad-shouldered, sun-kissed, and blue-eyed. He had helped Anna behind the counter like he’d been born to be her partner. She wondered what they would say if they could see him now.