Lily

by Chris Keniston

  Chapter Twelve

  Tonight was turning out to be a most interesting scenario. Cole was pretty sure having so many pretty women hovering over him was any man’s dream. So far Violet had filled the air with some relaxing incense. Iris had just now shut her phone off after fielding multiple calls from a rather snooty woman grumbling about leaving her stranded without help the weekend of the biggest gala of the year. Cindy had left not quite an hour ago to check on a couple of animals recovering from surgery this morning. That left Poppy, Callie, and Lily together baking in the kitchen.

  From the divine smells threatening to overpower Violet’s incense, Cole had no doubt whatever came out of that oven was going to be loaded with calories, carbs, sugar, and taste like heaven. How not a single person in this family had a weight problem was beyond him. If fed a constant diet of Lucy’s hearty, stick to your bones meals and Lily’s fresh baked goods, he’d never again be able to race up the stairs in a burning building. Which was exactly why he’d been quietly exercising his ankle. Drawing the alphabet with his foot gave his ankle an easy workout. He’d made a mental note to find out about some weights so he could at least slow the atrophy that comes with an injury like this.

  “If those people are so invasive of your spare time,” Callie rinsed her hands at the sink, “I don’t want to consider what it’s like in the same house with them.”

  “There was a time when it didn’t bother me at all.” Iris slid onto a stool by the island. “Normally, she’s very pleasant. Demanding, but pleasant. Things have been off kilter since the last trip. I think I’ve had enough. I’ve only been back at the lake for a few hours and already I can breathe again.”

  “Wow.” Violet sat beside her. “Today was a lot of things, but relaxing isn’t one of the words that comes to mind.”

  “No,” Iris smiled at Lily just as her cousin met her gaze, “but home is home.”

  Cole had been fascinated watching the interactions between these women. It was obvious they were close. Very close. Anyone would have thought they were sisters. Or something better than sisters. He knew a lot of siblings who fought like cats and dogs.

  “The secret to life is enjoying the passing of time.” Lily shook something onto the baked goods in front of her and grabbed a plate, heading in his direction. “Doesn’t sound like you’re enjoying anything.”

  “No.” Iris shook her head, snatching something from the top of the dish as Lily walked by, and bit into it. “Damn, I forgot how detrimental being around you is for my waistline. So good!”

  “These are different.” Poppy stood behind the small island, pilfering the stash left behind.

  “They are.” Lily waved the dish of brownies in front of Cole. “I tried the apple sauce.”

  Cole reached for a brownie and paused, looking up at her. Her cheeks flushed a dim shade of rose just before pulling the corners of her mouth into a smile. Maybe the baking change had been for him after all.

  “Really? Apple sauce?” Iris stood to grab another from the pan. “These are fantastic and not a hit to the waistline. Beyond cool.”

  “They’re not exactly dietetic.” Lily set the plate down in front of Cole. He knew she was waiting for his reaction. “But it’s definitely lower in calories and sugar than my traditional recipe.”

  Slowly, he took a small bite. Good. Really good. “Delicious,” he mumbled around another bite.

  Someone’s cell phone sounded a notification. Callie the high school gym teacher grabbed another brownie and darted toward the door, pausing to kiss her cousin. “Have to run. I forgot I promised the new drama teacher to help with the play production.”

  “Man or woman?” Violet shouted to Callie’s departing back.

  “Woman,” Callie called out, reaching for the door knob.

  Violet shrugged shaking her head. “Can’t win them all.”

  The conversation coming to a natural pause, one by one, each woman had a reason for taking off, leaving only Lily and Violet alone with him.

  “You don’t have to stay.” Lily wiped at the kitchen counters. “He’s doing much better.”

  She was right about that. His breathing had been just fine. The pain in his chest had eased to unnoticeable, and everything felt normal from the inside out. Heaven knew nothing felt normal from the outside in. If his buddies at the station could see him chowing down on brownies and cookies and chicken fried steak, they’d probably commit him to the psych ward for evaluation. Especially once they learned rather than gagging, he was actually enjoying himself.

  “I don’t think the General would be very happy with me if I left.” Violet came to stand by him, bent to look in his eyes. “Stick out your tongue.”

  Cole felt his eyes widen with surprise as his mouth opened and he did as instructed.

  “You look good to me.” She straightened. “Do you mind if I go unwind for a bit in the other room?”

  Lily shook her head. “Not at all. I’m sure all will be fine.”

  Violet snatched a brownie from the dish and waved it at her cousin. “You know, if you can get these to the point that you can call them diet friendly, this could be that item you’ve been looking for.”

  Lily glanced down at the dish and frowned.

  “Want to share?” he asked.

  She nudged the plate closer and Cole had to smother the urge to tease her.

  “Not the brownies. What your cousin is talking about.”

  “Oh, that.” She collapsed into the chair beside him. Today had clearly been a long day for everyone, but not till he noticed those few seconds of giving in to exhaustion on her face did he remember she had been awake and going nonstop since before the break of dawn.

  Now he was torn between sending her off to bed for some much needed rest and learning more about the real Lily Nelson.

  ***

  Lily wasn’t sure she would ever get out of this chair again. Not till this very moment did she realize how bone weary tired she was. For a few seconds she considered reaching for a nearby blanket and curling up to sleep right here.

  “Lily,” Cole almost whispered. His voice floated over her like the warm blanket she’d been craving. “Hey. Maybe you should go to bed.”

  Her eyelids felt like they’d been nailed shut. Channeling all her energy to lift them slowly, her gaze settled on Cole, watching her with unexpected concern burning in his eyes. Wasn’t that a switch? Until now she had been the one doing all the worrying about him.

  “I need coffee.” She shoved off from the chair. Lifting her feet seemed to take more effort than usual.

  Cole flung his legs over the side of the sofa to sit up. “You need sleep.”

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Her feet rooted to the floor, she blinked a few times before focusing on his good hand leaning on the sofa.

  “I’m going to help you to bed.”

  “Excuse me?” Maybe he was having a relapse, because he and his sprained ankle were not making sense.

  “You don’t need coffee. You need rest.”

  “Well, I’m not going to get rest worrying about you hobbling around on a foot that’s supposed to be elevated. Besides, I thought you wanted to know what Violet was talking about with the brownies.”

  He fell back onto the sofa. “Yes, I do want to know more, but I’d rather you sat down and gave yourself a chance to rest.”

  Even though she wanted to argue he wasn’t the boss of her, his concern touched her more than she would have expected, and her tired body screamed, “for the love of God woman, sit down.” She tried her best to sit gracefully, but flopped like a soggy Raggedy Ann doll. “Anyone who has known me for very long knows I love my work. I can’t imagine not baking.”

  “I can see that.”

  “When I came home from Paris—”

  “France?”

  She nodded. “I went to culinary school there.”

  Cole whistled loudly. “Cool.”

  “Way cool. I arrived home by way of a brief stint working in Manhattan full
of excitement, eagerness, and dreams of opening my own bakery. My sister the bookkeeper sat down with me and helped work out a savings plan. Mom lets me live at the house rent free as long as the extra money goes into the bakery fund.”

  “Sounds like a nice nest egg is building.”

  “Not nice enough.” She leaned back and kicked off her shoes. “Part of the business plan is a shop on Main Street.”

  “Here in Lawford?”

  She nodded. “Like Iris said, home is home. I got to do a little traveling while in Europe. The distances aren’t much more than the Northeastern states.”

  “See, there is an adventurous side to Lily Nelson.”

  She managed a slight shrug. “I suppose in some ways that’s true.”

  “I don’t know many women willing to venture out on their own through Europe or starting a business. Even making substitutions in recipes, is a bit of an adventure, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, I think.” She couldn’t help but smile. “But I also have seen the biggest and brightest cities in the world. Cooked in Paris and Manhattan. This is where I want to be.”

  His head bobbed. “I’m originally from suburban Massachusetts. Worked in the department there for a few years when a good buddy took a job up here. I came to visit him a couple of times, and a year later when the chance to work at the same department came up, I took it. No looking back.”

  “So you get it?”

  He nodded again.

  “The thing about the shops on Main Street in our little town is they don’t turn over very often. Most of them have had the same ownership for as long as I’ve been alive.”

  “So it’s taking too long?”

  “Actually, it’s happening too soon.”

  Cole shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

  “There’s a small shop where the owner is retiring. Her husband passed away recently and apparently over funeral arrangements she told my mom she was thinking it was time to retire. It’s a great location.” Letting her head fall back, she heaved a tired sigh before straightening up again. “Besides the fact that I don’t have enough money saved for the cost of converting a retail space into a fully functioning bakery, I still don’t have the edge I would need to bring in tourists and residents from neighboring towns around the lake in order to sustain my business.”

  “Edge? As in...” the last word hung in silence.

  “Something that is different from every other bakery in the county. I have a good reputation from my work at the Inn. Even so, it’s not enough. There are lots of bakers who make delicious strudels and creampuffs and breads and you name it, it’s delicious. I need that something special.”

  “Hence Violet’s comments about a diet brownie.” He nestled into the sofa. “Healthy, organic, vegan, keto, you name it, people are definitely more conscientious about the foods they put in their mouth.”

  “So I’ve noticed. They also go nuts over decadent sweets. Look at all the exclusively cupcake shops that popped up with icing as tall as the cupcake. Someone even managed to make a tourist destination out of raw cookie dough.” In her pocket, her phone buzzed. A quick glance at the screen and she tapped the phone. “Hi Mom.”

  “Sweetie. Margaret O’Malley called. She’s thought about it and wants to meet with you.”

  “I don’t know.” Even though she was dying to have a look at the back of the building. She’d been into the public storefront a million times growing up, but not the back, the space she’d need for the bakery. She sighed and shook her head. She didn’t dare look at something she couldn’t have. “The timing isn’t right on this.”

  “Oh, Lily. The first step is always the hardest. I’ll tell Margaret you’ll be happy to meet her tomorrow morning at eleven.”

  Briefly Lily’s mind drifted back to those first days after her dad died when her mom, putting on a brave face, shucked her apron and stepped into her husband’s shoes at the funeral home. First step. “Thanks, Mom.”

  Cole shifted in place. “Seems, like it or not, you may be opening a bakery.”

  Like it or not. She definitely liked. And she certainly wanted. Her gaze drifted to the man stretched out on the sofa. Life was full of things people liked and wanted. Neither was her problem. No, she had a feeling deep in her gut that her greatest challenge just might be sitting in front of her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Despite the stress levels of the last couple of days, Cole slept through the night like the proverbial baby. Though he would have liked to awaken to a considerably less swollen ankle, he had to admit it could have been much worse if Lily hadn’t insisted he follow the recovery rules to the letter. At least the discomfort in his shoulder had gone from a constant thrumming to nearly nonexistent. As his grandmother used to say, “a little bit of something is better than a lot of nothing.” He would take slow and steady progress over no change at all any day of the week.

  Making his way into the bathroom this morning and dressing for the day went much more smoothly than yesterday, and certainly much better than the first night when he’d gotten stuck in his t-shirt like a toddler dressing for the first time. The one thing he did wish is that he wasn’t still dependent on this stupid scooter for even short distances almost as much as he wished he could ditch the sling. Slowly maneuvering his way into the hall, the total void of human activity took him by surprise. The door to Lily’s room, which yesterday had been ajar, remained closed this morning. He could hear the soft sounds of an ocean from the other side. No doubt Violet’s contribution to everybody’s peace of mind.

  Even more of a surprise on his approach to the living area, was finding Lily on a stool, leaning over the counter, sleeping on top of multiple papers sprawled across the butcher-block surface. Careful not to make any noise and startle her, he looked over her shoulder. He was neither an accountant nor owned a business, but from what he could tell, she must have been up most of the night doodling with diagrams, lists, and enough math to make any normal person go cross-eyed. His chest tightened. No matter her bravado about timing and product, he could see from the number of pages crumpled, torn, scratched, scribbled, and sprawled in front of her, how very much she must want this.

  The pages with the most scratching out were the ones with calculations. Ignoring the feeling he was intruding on a private moment, he held one page in particular. Estimated construction costs. With each item marked off down the list, the strokes grew stronger, bolder, and he would guess angrier. It didn’t look like she’d found a way to make the math work. The basics were intact. Demolition, sheetrock, plumbing, electrical. All things that a building remodel needed and couldn’t skimp on.

  Had the talk last night of diet sweets given her one side of the answers she needed, and now the practical side of the plan was what had her falling asleep on the counter? As much as he hated to disturb her, he couldn’t leave her here. She needed a little decent rest in her own bed before going to the meeting this morning.

  Not till he tapped her shoulder softly and looked up from the counter did he notice the pile of pans and bowls in the sink. She must have baked something for the Inn. “Lily,” he whispered.

  She didn’t budge.

  “Lily,” he repeated.

  Her head shifted and she managed to bury her face deeper into the curved elbow of one arm.

  “Lily, please. You need to go to bed.” He brushed a lock of hair away from her face. She truly did look like an angel, especially with her eyes closed and her cheeks all pink from pressure against her arm. Despite his better judgment, he put his good hand on her shoulder and jostled it for a moment.

  That seemed to get her attention. She mumbled, might have groaned, and very slowly lifted herself into an upright position.

  “Hello, Sleeping Beauty.”

  “Sleeping?” Her gaze shifted to the clock on the wall. “Barb should be here any minute.” With that, Lily sprang up as though she’d been awake for hours. From the fridge she pulled out a couple of trays covered with clear wr
ap. Then she hurried to the other side of the kitchen and loaded a shopping bag with more items.

  “Don’t you ever sleep?”

  A soft rap sounded on the front door, and Lily whispered to him as she walked away, “Of course I do.”

  “Fooled me,” he mumbled to himself.

  From the chatter over the transfer of baked goods he concluded the Inn’s guests were getting cinnamon rolls this morning with homemade icing. Just the thought of it had him almost salivating. What had she done to him?

  “Feel better soon,” the older woman called to him from the front door.

  “Thank you,” he waved back at her, and waited for the door to latch. “You should go take a short nap.”

  “That’s the last thing I need. If I were to lie down now I wouldn’t wake up till tomorrow morning.” She walked past him and stopped at the sink. Sponge in one hand and dish soap in the other, she went to work at putting a dent in the mess she’d made overnight.

  He wasn’t convinced, but she did look like she had her second wind.

  “You should be lying down with your foot up,” she said a little louder to be heard over the running water.

  “Yes ma’am.” He almost saluted. “Are you still going to meet that lady this morning?”

  “Yes. I think so.”

  “No more doubts?”

  “Oh, I have plenty of doubts. Doubts, conflict, concern and poverty, but where there’s a will there’s a way.”

  The adventurous side of this nice girl was definitely growing on him. “Would you mind if I came along for the ride?” Before she could shut him down, he continued, “I could use a little fresh air and exercise.”

  “I understand the fresh air part, but I doubt seriously the doctor would agree with you about the exercise.”

  “On this contraption the only thing getting exercised is my good arm and my good leg. Besides, I’m curious. I’d really like to see what it is that has you so excited.” He wanted to say controlled excitement, but figured that might get him in more trouble than not, so he opted to keep-it-simple-stupid.