Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
No Callie.
Padding down the hall, naked as the day I was born, I entered the living space.
No Callie.
With a huff of anger and hurt, I turned around and headed back to the bedroom to pull on pajama bottoms, only to return to the living space in search of a note.
There was none.
None in the bedroom either.
Her clothes and purse were gone.
Callie was gone.
Without a word.
Like a one-night stand desperate to be rid of me.
For a moment, I wanted to dwell on the fact that she’d treated me that way. However, if I let my hurt and anger win, then we’d be right back where we started. And I didn’t want that. I wanted to get past this.
Hands shaking, I found my phone in the kitchen. There were a couple of texts from friends and one from Eilidh this morning.
Callie already on her way back to Ardnoch. What did you do?
Irritation made my skin hot, but I didn’t reply to my sister. Instead, I scrolled through my contacts and hit the call button.
After a few rings, he picked up. “Morning, son. You all right?”
The sound of my dad’s voice eased the franticness that threatened to consume me. “No. I need to know something.”
“Okay?” he replied slowly, his concern evident in his voice.
“Does your offer for me to come work with you still stand?”
There was a moment of hesitation, then, “Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
“Then, aye.” Dad’s delight was obvious. “Of course. The job is yours as soon as you’re ready.”
“I’ll need to find a place to stay.”
“Stay with us.” He was so eager, I felt guilty for staying away for so long. “Until you find a place. You can have the annex.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Your mum is going to be so happy, Lew.”
“Good. I’m looking forward to being home.” I only had to hope that Callie Ironside would be as happy about the news.
Twelve
CALLIE
TWO WEEKS LATER
“And what are those?” Mrs. Rankin asked, pointing with a look of distaste at my signature Saint Honorés.
I explained patiently what they were, even though I wanted to scream at her that they were the same pastries she’d asked about every day the bakery was open for the last two weeks.
Morag from Morag’s Grocery stood behind Mrs. Rankin and rolled her eyes.
We both knew Mrs. Rankin knew exactly what all the new pastries in Callie’s Wee Cakery were. She was merely making a passive-aggressive point that she didn’t like the new changes. And she didn’t like that I’d left Ardnoch for three years and thought I could waltz back into my mother’s bakery and village life like I’d never left.
“Hmm.” She sniffed and shot Mum a look, but she was too busy helping another villager out with her order. As were our customer service assistants, Angie and Cathy. “All of these fancy French things … There was nothing wrong with what your mother used to sell, you know.”
“There was nothing wrong with them, Aisla,” Morag said from behind her, “as there’s nothing wrong with Callie’s pastries. In fact, they’re divine, and I’d quite like to sample one before the end of time.”
I pinched my lips to smother a smile as Aisla Rankin shot Morag a displeased look over her shoulder. “Perhaps you should reconsider sampling any sweet treats, Morag.”
Morag raised a brow. “And what does that mean?”
“Nothing. Just that you might have been sampling a few too many lately.”
Oh, no she didn’t.
The customers crowded into the store sucked in their breath, appalled.
“Mrs. Rankin,” Mum called.
She turned her glower on Mum. “Yes?”
“I don’t take kindly to you insulting my customers, and since you’re clearly displeased with our new array of baked goods, I don’t think you’ll be too put out when I tell you I must ask you to leave.”
Gaping at Mum, I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me.
This was what I was afraid of.
Since my return to the bakery, there had been some hiccups with the new menu. People were a bit disgruntled at first that some of the cakes Mum had been baking for years were no longer on offer, to make room for my new recipes. I was gutted on day one when local customers left in a huff without buying anything, and I was so sure I was going to cost Mum her business if we didn’t return it to the status quo. However, Mum remained calm and assured me that in a tiny place like Ardnoch, sometimes people weren’t eager for change. It took time.
As for tourists, they snapped photos of my pastries, oohing and aahing over them. That only made me feel slightly better because I wanted to win over the people who lived here.
Our kind friends and family heard about the terrible day and dropped in throughout the next week to buy the pastries and make a big show around the village about how delicious they were. When we opened on Saturday, customers returned and decided to give my inventions a try.