Cookies and Chaos

by C A Phipps

  Luke had returned to his cleaning with gusto and was humming a happy, if unrecognizable, tune.

  “That was very kind of you to offer to help them, especially since you don’t know them very well.”

  He ran a hand through his cropped fair hair. “I think entrepreneurial kids need to be encouraged. I had so many ideas as a kid, but my dad insisted I get good grades and play football. Nothing else. The grades I managed, football not so much. Anyway, I hadn’t intended to use the bakery, but it will be easier with all the pans and the size of the oven. I hope I didn’t overstep and force you into offering to let them do it here?”

  “Not at all. I would have been happy to help them myself, but I think it’s going to take several sessions and even though I’m not ready to open on Saturdays right now, I’m looking at opening up my cooking class to the public.”

  Currently, Maddie held a class for her friends. It had gone so well and been so much fun she thought it was time to listen to what many of her customers wanted and run one that other members of the community could attend. She’d been mulling it over for months and helping the boys could potentially affect that if she took more of a hands-on role.

  Luke’s green eyes lit up. “So many people have asked you about it, I don’t think you’ll have a problem getting people to sign up.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I still have some things to iron out. Back to the twins⏤if Layla says yes, we’ll need to decide how to manage them safely around the oven and sharp utensils.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Laura, her other intern came out of the kitchen with a fresh batch of cookies.

  “What needs managing safely?” she asked.

  Maddie explained and Laura gasped.

  “You’re going to let the twins run wild in our lovely kitchen?”

  Maddie had empathy for that thought, but thought Laura’s horror was a little over the top.

  “With Luke organizing and overseeing them, they should be fine.”

  “I guess it is your kitchen.” Laura wasn’t convinced.

  “Maybe we could say it’s a trial. If they don’t listen then we can nip it in the bud.”

  Laura sighed with relief. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. I’d help too, but kids scare me.” She patted her red bun, which had not a hair out of place.

  Maddie had a sudden recollection of instances where Laura had been busy elsewhere when the children came in prior to or just after school. Actually, it happened most days.

  “You’re not serious about them scaring you?”

  Laura nodded emphatically. “Very serious, I’m sorry to say. They seem to sense my fear and use it to their advantage.”

  Maddie had a vision of Laura jammed into a corner, with a pack of wild children poking her with sticks.

  “That’s a shame. Maybe, we should introduce you to them in short bursts? Like an allergy that you build up immunities to.”

  Luke was fascinated with the interchange and unsure if it was fact or fiction. It was usual to have banter in this kitchen and at Gran’s place too, but he was still relatively new to it, so she gave him a wink.

  He grinned. “I’ll keep them back, Laura, but I would say that watching you frost a cake or putting jelly into doughnuts would have them eating out of your hand.”

  And, just like that he was one of the team in every sense. Laura was both flattered and speechless.

  Maddie grinned. “Well done, Luke. The force is strong in you.”

  He’d probably heard the Star Wars reference many times, but had the decency to laugh. Laura, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have a clue as she shook her head and went back to her baking, stopping to give Big Red some loving on the way.

  Her fluffy feline arched his back at the head rub. He adored Laura, but would he feel so benevolent towards the boisterous twins?

  Chapter Two

  When the shop had its late morning quiet spell, Maddie sat Luke down in the small alcove that served as her office adjacent to the kitchen. They began to work out a few things around the cookie making venture, mostly the safety and hygiene aspects.

  “There’s no point in going into too much other detail before I speak to Layla. I’ll stop by the clinic before the community center.”

  Luke ran his hands along the edge of the counter. “While we’re alone, I want to say again how grateful I am to you for sticking up for me with the police, but also with our customers. I know having your support has helped a great deal with how people in town see me. Instead of judging me by my brother’s crimes, as some initially did, plenty have been going out of their way to ask how I am.”

  Maddie’s heart went out to him. The petnapping and murder were horrendous for everyone, but poor Luke had been the scapegoat for his brother. It was particularly annoying when no two siblings had ever been less alike.

  “If anything I’ve done or said has helped, then I’m glad, but I imagine having the Sheriff explain things was far more effective than anything I could say.”

  Luke looked up. “I don’t know about that; you and Gran have a lot of sway in Maple Falls. Although, I still can’t believe he did that for me.”

  She smiled at his flattery while not entirely agreeing. “Why-ever not? Ethan’s a good man and so are you. You’ve taken the chance to prove it many times, but I don’t think you need to do more than be yourself. And, perhaps staying away from anything that could harm your reputation is good advice.”

  He nodded. “I will, I promise. Straight after the court case I had the feeling I’d already damaged it beyond repair. There were funny looks and I overhead whispers and mutterings about my family which aren’t true. Mostly. Now things are gradually getting better and I feel like I can start to hold my head up. Around here, anyway.”

  Maddie’s heart hurt to see this young man in pain and less sure of himself like the day he had dared to go against his father’s wishes and train with her. A lot had happened since then. Good and bad.

  “I’m sorry that you’ve had to deal with the back lash as the brother of someone who did terrible things. It’s not fair, but give the ones who haven’t understood a little more time and they’ll appreciate like the rest of us that his crimes had nothing to do with you.”

  “I hope you’re right, and I hope Layla won’t say no to the boys baking here because of me.”

  So that was it—he didn’t want to disappoint the boys. One more sign that he was worth helping.

  “I’m sure she won’t have a problem with it,” Maddie reassured him, hoping she was right. Luke did not need another knock to his self-confidence.

  They worked hard all morning and after lunch, when the customers dwindled, Maddie loaded up her jeep, Honey, with cakes and cookies for the regular Tuesday afternoon tea at the community center.

  Honey was her pride and joy, other than the bakery, a gift from her late Grandad for graduating high school. Grandad had taught her everything she needed to know to keep Honey in top condition and this was her other passion.

  Gran would get a ride from Jed Clayton and meet her there with her own contribution. Together with the community center committee they raised funds for various charities.

  “I should be back in time to close,” she told her interns, knowing how diligent and capable they were to carry on without her around.

  She drove to the clinic first, hoping to see Layla and get that out of the way before it bothered her more than it already did, and there was no point in conjecture.

  Layla was stubborn like Ethan, a great mother and a wonderful nurse. Maddie hoped that her mothering side might help her see that Luke would be another good role-model for the twins.

  When Maddie entered the reception area Layla was bringing a patient out from the doctor’s room. She smiled when she saw Maddie, and continued to walk the elderly man to the door, talking loudly.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow to check on that dressing.”

  Mr. Edgar refused to wear his hearing aid, which caused everyone to
either yell at him or repeat themselves many times.

  “It’s not necessary, dear. You did a good job with it today.” He held up his bandaged arm.

  Layla walked in front of him. “I promise you that it is necessary. If we don’t do this regularly, your infection will return. Don’t make me come find you,” she threatened in the nicest possible way.

  “If you say so.”

  He did not look convinced or worried, and after seeing him outside where Bernie, the towns taxi driver, waited to take him home to the Sunny Days retirement community, Layla sighed as she came back to the reception area which was empty.

  “Men. At any age. The only time they want help is when they’re in hospital or have man flu.”

  Maddie laughed at Layla’s portrayal of the male population of Maple Falls and potentially all men.

  “Or they want new bikes.” It felt like an appropriate segue into the reason she was here.

  Layla grimaced. “You’ve heard about that?”

  “I have indeed. And I have the solution.”

  Layla clutched her heart dramatically. “I’m not sure I want to hear this. What have my terrors conned you into?”

  Maddie laughed. “They want to bake cookies to sell. Using my bakery to do it so you don’t have to be there.”

  Layla’s look darkened. “They asked to cook in your bakery? I’m sorry, Maddie. They had no right. Wait until I get hold of them.”

  Maddie put up her hands. “Before you lynch them, let me say that it wasn’t their idea to use my kitchen, but I’m happy to let them. The only potential issue is that I don’t have a lot of free time, so Luke has kindly offered to watch over them and teach them how to bake cookies.”

  Layla’s eyes widened. “Luke Chisholm?”

  “My intern. Yes.” Maddie crossed her fingers at her side.

  Layla frowned. “This is a huge imposition for someone I barely know.”

  “The boys like him. He’s nothing like his brother if that’s what’s bothering you.” Maddie felt the need to point out.

  “Not as much as it probably should. I heard about how he protected Angel’s assistant, Beth, so I’m not worried he’ll drag the boys into a life of crime. Although, with those two it would be hard to know who would be leading whom,” she added with a touch of irony.

  “What’s the problem then?”

  “Don’t you think it’s odd for a teenager to want to give up his time this way?”

  Maddie grinned. “When you get to know Luke better, you’ll see that he loves to help out. Frankly, he loves to bake so much, I don’t think he sees it as wasted time.”

  Layla mulled that over for a few moments. “Your opinion does matter, but what about ingredients and all the mess?”

  Maddie obviously had a few qualms around the survival of her pristine kitchen, but she wasn’t about to let Layla know about them.

  “Luke and I discussed this and with the boys’ agreement, I’ll provide the ingredients, then they can pay for them at cost once they sell the cookies. The bonus is that they’ll get an appreciation for gross and net profit.” She grinned. “And, rest assured that the mess will be dealt with by those who make it,” she ended firmly.

  “Good luck with that,” Layla gave a short laugh. “Where will they sell the cookies? I don’t like the idea of them going door-to-door.”

  “At the community center and I also thought that we could ask Angel and Isaac to sell some on their behalf at the salon and diner.”

  Layla gave her a searching look, then nodded. “I can see that you’ve thought this through. Against my better judgement, and your inability to say no, I’m going to agree. Please know you can pull the plug if it gets too much, or they don’t behave. I won’t be offended. I just hope you don’t live to regret this.”

  Maddie smiled, despite the sinking feeling that if even the boy’s mother thought this could turn bad, it didn’t bode well.

  “I will, but I think they’ll be fine. And thanks for not holding Luke’s past and his brother against him.”

  “Hey, at some stage we’ve all needed a second chance.” She gave Maddie a pointed look.

  Layla had never said anything directly, but clearly she thought Maddie and Ethan should cement their relationship.

  With the town having made up its mind and a lot of residents feeling the need to comment, she wondered if that was another reason she was so reluctant to commit to Ethan.

  Layla’s next patient arrived and promising to finalize things and let her know the details, Maddie headed to the community center to begin phase two of her plan.

  Some of the people there she could count on, but how would the rest of the group of mostly Sunny Days retirement community residents feel about helping the twins?

  Chapter Three

  When Maddie arrived at the community center, Gran was already there, having been picked up by Jed Clayton since she didn’t drive. This had begun several weeks back, when Maddie was busy managing the bakery on her own and didn’t have the time to spare.

  Since hiring Laura and Luke she did have a little more time and Maddie began helping out which meant that since they were living just down the road from each other, she could have brought Gran. She’d offered but had been turned down.

  Until today she hadn’t given it much thought. Was there something going on with Gran and Jed? Maddie shook her head at the idea. The two of them had been friends forever which is why they spent so much time together. Simple as that.

  She took the food into the kitchen where Gran and her friend Mavis Anderson were making tea and coffee.

  “These look delicious,” Mavis gushed as she took the tray and began to put the cakes and cookies onto plates. “With Gran’s blueberry tarts and these, afternoon tea is going to be another doozy.”

  Gran’s love of an English afternoon tea had been adopted whole-heartedly by the group. It served a dual purpose of getting everyone together who would otherwise be likely to spend most days on their own and as a fund-raiser for different projects within the community.

  Mavis, a round ball of anticipation, was partial to a daily dose of gossip, taken and given with a light-hearted view of life. She lived in the retirement community and knew everyone and everything that happened in and around it. Possibly the whole town as well.

  The community center was her other source of information and she was quivering with unasked questions as soon as anyone arrived. Right now, it was Maddie’s turn.

  “How are you doing, dear? I was so proud of you, solving that murder and saving all those pets last summer, but I do worry about the danger you put yourself in when you get involved in other people’s dramas.”

  Gran snorted at the irony, causing Maddie to turn away to hide her grin, although there had been nothing funny at the time. Plus, Mavis had seen her since the petnapping incident and said the same thing each time, almost verbatim.

  It was a common thread around town that if you wanted a thing known⏤tell Mavis. If you wanted a secret kept⏤tell Gran.

  “Having Big Red go missing involved me. I couldn’t sit by and wait for him to come home and Mr. Clayton was losing hope he’d ever get Sissy back.”

  “Well, I grant you that Big Red is a special cat and Sissy is a sweet Labradoodle, but surely the sheriff and his wonderful team could have solved the case without you?”

  Maddie gave a non-committal reply. Ethan had worked hard on the case, and she was certainly no substitute for a deputy, but she liked to think she had added a different perspective. Being raised by Gran who believed in family being a global village, Maddie also had an innate desire to help people and had surrounded herself with like-minded women, affectionately known as the Girlz.

  Maddie, Angel, Suzy and Laura. The first three had been through school together. Laura was a recent addition, but no less one of them and more so with the passing of months since they had known her.

  “Shall we take out the refreshments, Mavis?” Gran intervened.

  “My, yes. Everyone has
paid their $5 for the fundraiser.”

  Once a month, the community center committee of which Gran was still the president, raised money for different charities and groups in the area. Today it was for play equipment at the local kindergarten.

  The large room was sectioned into two by a couple of sliding screens, so it could be used by more than one group at a time. Their section was full by the time they went through with the plates and cups. It made Maddie proud to see the level of enthusiasm for such a good cause. With the potential to result in fewer sales for the bakery, she’d seen it as a great way to try out new recipes on more than her employees. The bonus had been that the group was now a source of advertising she hadn’t originally counted on, since they told all their friends and family.

  “What delicious treats are we in store for? Whatever it is I know it will be wonderful.” Jed Clayton rubbed his hands together.

  He had been friendly to Maddie before, but since he’d gotten Sissy back he couldn’t say enough kind things to and about her. The group erupted at his words as they tried to see what was on the plates and made guesses at flavors.

  “Today we have a mini chocolate croissant, chocolate chip cookies, and Gran’s blueberry tart.”

  “Did you hear that?” Jed called out to the others who nodded enthusiastically and settled themselves for Mavis to bring the plates around.

  “Take one of each and if there’s any left, we’ll see,” she used her best mothering voice.

  Gran was handing out the cups of tea and coffee, knowing precisely how each person took theirs. Maddie knew that she wasn’t happy about the plain cups, saucers, and plates, which were beyond drab in comparison to the ones she had at home and the many others she had donated to Maddie’s bakery, but she suffered them.

  An anglophile, Gran had been brought to America as a small child by her English parents, and was a lover of everything British. There wasn’t a coronation, wedding or any other kind of souvenir she didn’t possess.

  After they were served, Maddie had the chance to watch their reactions to the biscuits and cakes. It couldn’t have been better and she sipped her tea in satisfaction.