by Vella, Wendy
“I’m not sure you’re licensed for this kind of muffin.” Noah took another bite. “Date, walnut, with a hit of bourbon, and that other stuff like flour, salt, sugar, butter, eggs, etc.”
“Close.”
If a customer guessed the ingredients, they got the muffin and a coffee for free. It drove Branna McBride crazy. In all the years she’d lived here, she’d never got it right.
“Maple syrup,” Noah said after another bite.
“Bingo.”
“Yeah. Go me.” Noah pulled out his cellphone and called Jake McBride, Branna’s husband and another friend.
“Put your wife on, I need to brag,” he said after Jake answered.
“Hello, Noah.”
“Hey, Irish. I just guessed the mystery muffin. Tell her.” He held out the phone.
“He guessed it right, Bran. First time!”
“Asshole,” she sighed. “But as I have to prepare for my daughter’s birthday party, I can’t stay on the phone insulting you for too much longer.”
“It’s all good, you keep on trying, honey, one day you may even get it right,” Noah said.
“I’m almost tempted to take back that invitation, but I like your sister.”
“Aww, come on, you love me, Irish, and your daughter too.”
“Okay, but you have to bring me chocolate.”
“Deal. Take care, Branna.” He threw some insults at Jake when he got back on the phone, then pocketed his cellphone. His thoughts returned to Lani. He still couldn’t get his head around the fact she was in town. What were the chances she’d end up here?
“What?” Buster handed him a coffee.
“Nothing. Just thinking.”
“Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem for you.”
“Ha ha.”
“Willow and I were talking about that facility along the lake. The one that’s been there a few months and you’re all bent out of shape over,” Buster said.
“I’m not bent out of shape. It just pisses me off that something’s going on there and we don’t know what.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Buster waved the servers he held. “No need to start in on all that now, green boy, we get that it bothers you.”
“I’m not a green boy just because I want to know they’re not genetically modifying food or doing other dodgy stuff there. It’s responsible to be aware of that shit, Buster. Like it is to look after the environment.”
“I recycle, and I don’t know why they would be using that place for nefarious intentions.”
“Nefarious, really?”
“I’ve been reading.” Buster was suddenly busy cleaning the counter. “It’s important that I can always relate to my children.”
“And you think they’re coming out using words like nefarious?”
“Shut up.” Buster raised a hand. “I am neither for nor against genetically modifying stuff, but I do know it has its place sometimes. They’re not polluting the lake or anything, nor do they have rowdy parties and race through town in their V8s.”
“Once. I did it for a dare, and it was you who put me up to it.”
“It’s a moment etched in my memory.” Buster closed his eyes. “Especially when Sheriff Tasker cuffed and dragged you into the Liar.”
“Whatever, now focus. Here’s a couple of clues for you, Baker Boy, as to what is going on down the road. Two huge greenhouses the size of a football field, security gates, and a large fence.” Noah had been trying to find out what was going on inside that compound for weeks. “Plus, no one is talking.”
“He on about the aliens again?” Tex wandered over.
“Yup,” Buster said.
“They are not fucking aliens,” Noah ground out.
“Hey, hey, no cussing like that, babies present,” Buster said.
“Where?” Noah made a show of looking around him.
“They hear stuff, I read about it.”
“Jesus.” The word hissed out of Noah’s mouth. “You two…. Actually, there are no words for how whipped you are.”
“Jealousy is an ugly trait in a grown man, bud,” Tex said, opening the cabinet and taking a double chocolate muffin with caramel icing out.
“Whatever. My point here is, we need to know what’s going on. They won’t speak, mainly because we can’t get close enough to anyone who works there.”
“Like I said, aliens.”
Noah threw his hands in the air and left pissed off and unsettled, and not just because Lani Sullivan was in town.
Chapter Five
Lani drove around the lake, admiring the mountains beyond the clear blue waters, and the Redwoods standing tall and proud. It was a really nice place, a home, she thought, and that unsettled her. She’d not allowed herself to think that way since leaving hers.
She passed driveways heading up into the trees, and two big greenhouses surrounded by a high security fence. When the mailboxes stopped Lani found a small track, and turned onto it. At the end was nothing but trees. Getting out, she walked around and found no tire tracks or other signs of activity. This would be a good place to park for the night. Climbing into the back of the Bronco, she checked her supplies.
This was Lani’s home, and had been since she brought it four years ago. It was old but reliable, and she needed that. She had her mattress, a suitcase and a cooler bag, plus a set of shelves. Everything she owned was in here. Her life.
“And isn’t that pathetic.”
She’d have laughed at this existence a few years ago; now, it was all she had. If she was moving, no one would catch her, and that was the only thing she focused on.
Taking out the loaf of bread she’d bought this morning, Lani slathered two slices in peanut butter, then ate while contemplating her next move. For some reason, she didn’t want to leave Lake Howling yet. It felt safe here, and that had nothing to do with Noah. He didn’t make her feel safe; he made her nervous.
Pulling out her notebook, she wrote down the pros and cons for staying in Lake Howling for a few days… maybe even a week. That was how she made a decision if she was torn about what to do.
Pros
Quiet and peaceful
Safe—no one would find me here
I could get work
Cons
NOAH
She could only think of that one con.
Avoid him going forward. She could do that, surely. They’d shared one night together, and it had been sex, nothing more. No connections were formed; it was scratching an itch.
Decision made, Lani changed her shirt for her clean white one, and instead of her boots wore a pair of flats. Brushing her hair, she then tidied everything away and climbed back into the driver seat. A loud woof had her opening the door again.
A tan smooth-haired dog with a huge head that likely had huge jaws inside it was standing a few feet from her car.
“Hey, bud, you lost?” The tail wagged, which had her getting out and dropping to her haunches. The dog crept forward. Holding out a hand, she let the animal sniff it. “Nothing to fear here.”
The dog’s ears were back, and it’s black eyes focused on Lani. She could see its ribs.
“Where are your parents?” The dog whined.
Sighing, she got to her feet and opened the back door again. Getting in, she pulled out the bread and made another peanut butter sandwich. Taking out one of her bowls, Lani poured water in it. Then climbing back out, she placed it on the ground.
“Have at it, buddy, and then go and find your people, or some new ones.”
Getting back in the driver side, she then backed slowly out. The dog watched her. At the end of the track, she turned right and headed back into town.
The town of Lake Howling was cute, and with the exception of Noah, Lani was pretty sure she could pass a bit of time here happily exploring before moving on again.
Parking in front of Cribbins Cakery aka the Howlery, she climbed out after looking up and down the street. No sign of Noah, and if she was staying, she couldn’t worry about that,
Lani reminded herself.
Stopping outside the window, she studied it. The yellow striped canopy overhead was pretty, but the display was all over the place. Color and clutter everywhere. Lani couldn’t see a theme, just a jumble of things. Pictures of cakes were stuck to the left side of the window, and beneath them a rolling pin. Beside that was a muffin pan and a potted plant. It should really be decorated for fall now, and Thanksgiving.
She’d seen some pretty cool-looking displays further up the street; maybe whoever did them hadn’t reached the Howlery yet.
Pushing open the door, she was greeted with a loud buzzing sound, and quickly realized that the window display had carried through to here. A higgledy-piggledy mess of things was placed everywhere. She saw a cabinet with cake displays that needed dusting, another with decorative supplies. There were cake boards, and posters on the walls, and other random things like two bright pink satin pillows fringed in green.
“Lani!” Mrs. Cribbins appeared. Still dressed in her orange exercise gear, she now wore a red apron with Santa on the front. But the really odd thing about her appearance, if she could point out just one, was that her face was coated white.
“Hello, Mrs. Cribbins.” She couldn’t stop staring; the woman looked like a ghost.
“I dropped a bag of flour. Now, are you here about the position or to torment me?”
“Ah… well—”
“You want me to beg, Lani?” The woman had her hands on her hips and didn’t look the begging type from where Lani was standing.
“No. And yes, I would like to apply, please. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here, but your notice said temporary.”
“Yes, we’ll just see how you go and take it from there.”
“Don’t you want to know about me? I mean, I could be a bad person or something.” Lani felt she needed to say that; the woman was far too trusting.
“Noah recommended you, so that’s good enough for me.”
“To be honest, he doesn’t really know me that well. I mean…. Well, the thing is, I spent a few hours with him in a bar one night talking, but that’s all.”
Mrs. Cribbins waved a hand about. “Will you rob me?”
“No!” Lani was horrified that she’d think that.
“Can you bake?”
Lani nodded. “And cake design is a hobby of mine.”
“Well, then. You’re hired.”
It was ridiculous, but she felt tears fill her eyes. Lani didn’t cry, she’d learned tears were useless for anything but tiring you out years ago. Looking over her shoulder she focused on the window display. “I could rearrange that too, if you like?”
“Noah said it looked like a yard sale.”
Lani had to agree with him.
“So if you can do better, I’d be grateful. We do decorative cakes, cupcakes, that kind of thing. My husband Hank does the deliveries most often, but I know you drive, so you could do some too.”
It all sounded very relaxed to Lani’s mind.
“Come out back and look at the kitchen.”
Clean but cluttered. At the end of the room, she found a set of stairs. “Is that for storage?”
“It’s accommodation, but we don’t use it, so it’s for storage at the moment. Where are you staying, Lani?”
“Ah, I… I, well, I’m good, thanks.” The question had caught her off guard. She’d pretty much lived in her Bronco now for four years. Only taking a room when Lani wanted one night of luxury and could afford it.
“That room is yours if you want it. We can negotiate terms when you’ve had your first week’s wage. Here’s the key. You go on and move in when you want.” Mrs. Cribbins was digging into the pockets of her apron. She pulled out a key ring with a pink fluffy pom pom on the end.
“I can’t move in here!” Lani actually took a step back, as the thought was far too appealing. A roof over her head so that the nights she woke scared she’d be safe, not locked in her Bronco. “You don’t know me,” she said again.
“Is this going to be a problem, me not knowing you? Because you’ve said that plenty since coming inside the shop.” Mrs. Cribbins’s long fake lashes fluttered.
“Only twice,” Lani pointed out.
“Which is one too many. Okay?”
Lani nodded.
“Good. Now, how about you bake me that recipe on the bench there, then ice it for Mary Beth Sydney’s second birthday. She wants that character there.” Mrs. Cribbins pointed to a photo beside the recipe. “They always try and get me to do things like that, but to be honest I’m not good with anything but flowers and the occasional vegetable.”
“Okay,” Lani didn’t know how else to answer that.
“We have Rose O’Donnell’s to do tomorrow.”
Lani read the recipe. It didn’t look hard, and a doll cake shouldn’t tax her overly. She’d watched so many videos and spent hours learning about cake decorating. Usually in libraries, as they were free and didn’t kick you out until the doors closed.
Why she’d chosen to learn cake decorating, she had no idea, it was just something that appealed to her.
“We’re open Tuesday to Saturday if you want those days, and you’d be doing me a favor if you did. I’m tired, Lani. Thanksgiving is close, and I’ve neglected my family for too long. I need to clean my house and get ready for the relatives that descend like a plague. So you can take any or all the hours that suit you. I bake at home when I have to, but you could bake the cakes here if you’re staying above.”
It was almost too good to be true, and suddenly Lani felt the old panic well up inside her. “I—ah, I don’t know.”
Something changed in Mrs. Cribbins’s face, and it softened beneath the coating of flour. “Well now, you do what suits you and I’ll just leave you to think about that while you bake the cake. If it’s no good I won’t hire you, will that make you feel better?”
Lani forced out a laugh as the tightness in her chest eased a little.
“Plenty of soda in the fridge, because my Hank likes them. A pot of coffee is usually brewing too, but I mostly get mine from Buster because I like to annoy him at least twice a day.”
Why did she like this woman so much already?
“Now you head on upstairs and have a quick look, then get to that cake, and I’ll be out front cleaning. The Lord alone knows I need to,” Mrs. Cribbins sighed.
“Ah… I could tidy that if I stay, if you want, Mrs. Cribbins.”
“You call me Mrs. C like the rest of them, and I’m not gonna lie, Lani, that actually excites me more than the baking. Tidying and getting things aesthetically appealing are not my thing.”
“Okay, well, I’ll do it for you.”
Her cheek was patted by a surprisingly soft hand. “I think you and I are going to get along just fine, sweetie.”
A simple pat on the cheek and you fall apart. Lani sniffed as Mrs. C went back into the shop.
Looking around, she made herself breathe slowly. She’d learned how to counter the panic attacks by doing that before they got out of control. “In and out,” Lani whispered, walking around the room and breathing slowly.
The appliances were relatively modern, and she could see everything was here that was needed for the business Mrs. C ran. Looking at the stairs, she made herself walk up them. The room at the top was long, the length of the shop. A few boxes were stacked about the place and there was a bed by the window. Another door lead to a bathroom that had a shower, which would have hot and cold running water. The thought was blissful.
This could be a place for you to feel safe, if only for a while.
Could she stay? Lani decided to leave that decision until she’d worked here a few days. For now, she had a cake to bake.
Small steps, Lani. Remember, that’s how you’ve lived your life for the last four years. Exhaling slowly again, she walked back down the stairs and took down an apron that had a snowman on it. Soon she forgot about everything but doing what she loved.
Chapter Six
“So, ch
ampagne, then, is my guess, seeing as it’s Rosie’s birthday.” Noah looked at the McBrides as they approached the bar.
“Perfect, and we should be celebrating parenting a child to the age of five,” Jake said. “Because while it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done, it’s the most challenging.”
He and Jake had run together as children and hadn’t really stopped. Tall, dark and his sister Faith said, handsome, he’d married his wife, Branna, a few years back and they had a sweet little girl called Rose, who Noah and pretty much everyone she met loved.
“I’ll just take a juice thanks, Noah.”
Branna was Irish, and if her name hadn’t given her away, then her accent would. She was dark haired too, but a lot prettier than her man.
“Juice? You love champagne.”
“Sure, but tonight I want juice.”
“Just tell him, he’ll find out soon enough,” Jake said from his place leaning on the bar.
“Tell me what?”
“She’s having another baby in about five months.”
“No way… really? Cool.” Noah ignored the little stab to his heart and hugged Branna gently, then chest bumped his friend. “What’s in the water around here at the moment? That’s three of you in the space of a year.”
“Weird, right?” Jake added.
“Where is Rose?” Noah looked around him. “I mean, isn’t this her celebration?”
“Here!”
Noah caught the little girl as she ran at him and threw her into the air.
“Seriously, man, she makes me do that constantly. You need to stop. You and her other uncles all catching her like that, she thinks it’s a daily thing. It’s killing my back,” Jake said.
“How’s my best girl?” Noah ignored him. “I got you a present, because someone told me it was your birthday and you’re going to be five.”
“I am!” She squeezed her arms around his neck. Rose gave the best hugs.
“No way. Surely you can’t be that old?”
Something made him look over Rose’s head, and he found Lani standing there. She looked nervous.
“Hi.” He lowered Rose to the floor and took her hand in his. “Rose, this is Lani.” He walked to where she stood.
