Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Cafe

by Rebecca Raisin

  When she looks at me, it’s almost as if she’s another person, there’s such a sadness in her eyes, and without her usual smile it doesn’t look like Cee.

  “Janey’s been diagnosed with cancer. From what they know, it seems one o’ those aggressive types…” She breaks off as her words become a jumble when the tears finally spill.

  I wrap my arms around her, knowing there’s nothing I can say that will ease her heartbreak in the slightest, and because I’m so shocked. I think of Janey, with her ever-present smile, silver hair always tied up in an orderly bun. She keeps the town social life ticking over as she buzzes around organizing events, and fundraisers. She’s so vital and vibrant it’s hard to picture her as anything less. Surely it can’t be?

  “Will she be OK? I mean, modern medicine is so good these days, right?”

  I lean on the car next to CeeCee.

  “They gonna try, sugar plum, and I been praying for her.”

  “Where is she, Cee? Up in Springfield?”

  CeeCee nods as she wipes her tears.

  “Why don’t you go to her? Surely she needs you more than anything right now.”

  She takes a long shuddery breath in. “I was going to wait and see what Walt had to say. He’s coming back some time this weekend to drop off the keys for the store. I told him we’d find a way to keep it open, like maybe do a roster system with the other shopkeepers on the street. That way they still got some money comin’ in.”

  Once people find out about Janey, there’ll be all sorts of help lined up, from bulk trays of casseroles, to people tending their garden, and anything else they can think of that might ease their burden. Ashford will band together in a show of support for Janey and Walt.

  “I’m sure there’ll be no shortage of helpers. We better make up a basket of chocolate for them too.” It’s the only thing I know to do in a crisis. Ply people with food and hope it brings a small level of comfort somehow.

  My heart breaks for them, and for CeeCee, who was trying so hard to keep it from me when she must have been slowly dying inside.

  “We can sort out his shop, Cee. You should go to her.”

  Chapter Eleven

  By early afternoon the kids finally lose their zeal. We’ve sold out of almost everything as the festival went on merrily outside, while the children played inside. My head throbs with the sudden silence but I brace myself for them to get their second wind as the Easter bunny is moments away from arriving to spread some cheer and hand out eggs we’d secreted out. I stop for a moment, and look over at Walt and Janey’s shop, and can’t help but miss them. I know CeeCee will put on an act, pretending to be all bubbly and happy for everyone’s sake, but really her heart’s broken into about a million pieces.

  CeeCee wanders over to me and whispers, “He’s here.” She nods to the back door.

  I find Charlie in the crowd and get set to watch her reaction.

  CeeCee claps her hands to get their attention. “We just wanna say thank you for coming to play here at the Gingerbread Café today. We surely have enjoyed it. If you wouldn’t mind doing me one last favor…”

  The kids sit cross-legged on the floor, staring up at her.

  “Can anyone tell me who that is at the back door?”

  Their heads swivel to door as the Easter bunny walks in holding a basket filled with eggs. They immediately jump up and race towards him screaming, “The Easter bunny!”

  Damon in his pink fluffy bunny suit is well disguised, but I can almost feel him laughing under the bobbly head as they launch themselves at his knees. Charlie is at the back of the crowd, her face lit with wonder.

  Parents shade their faces as they peer through the glass. They’ve been relegated outside and seem happy to watch from the street.

  Damon tries to hand out eggs but can’t pick them up with his huge paws. He muffles, “A little help here?”

  We giggle and edge the kids back so we can get through and help him.

  “Have you been a good girl?” he asks me.

  “Isn’t it Santa who asks that?”

  “You’re on the naughty list. I’ll deal with you later,” he says, stepping forward and shaking hands with the kids as they stand stunned. I try and wipe the goofy, lovey-dovey look off my face, but find it impossible. CeeCee’s right: I had to kiss a toad before my knight in a bright pink bunny suit found my heart. I watch Charlie pick the foil off her egg slowly and delicately before popping it into her mouth, beaming.

  ***

  “It just ain’t the same without Janey and Walt here,” CeeCee says sadly. We’re up before the sun, hiding the eggs for the Easter egg hunt in shrubs along the streets of Ashford. Sarah and Damon are helping; they’re further ahead, chatting as they walk on opposite sides of the street.

  “I know,” I say softly. “Feels hollow without them.”

  CeeCee goes to speak but chokes up. She takes a minute then says, “You know, Lil, the only thing that matters in life is having good friends and family around you. When you get to the twilight of your life, like me, you realize that. Money, fancy clothes, none of that matters. When you’re sitting alone in the dark of night, the things that make your heart happy are simple. Charlie’s smile when she bit into that cake pop. You and me laughing ourselves silly every day. My grandbabies, my kids, who all done me proud. And Janey. Our friendship’s spanned decades. There ain’t a thing we don’t know ’bout each other, and that counts for more than anythin’. I know she gonna pull through, I know it. But if she don’t, it means that God got other plans for her, and, as sad as that be, I trust Him. And I’ll be ever grateful for havin’ a friend like Janey. Life doesn’t always have a happy ending, and that makes it even more important to love and cherish what you got. So you just remember that, Lil, OK?” She wipes tears from her eyes, and nods at me before turning away and walking up the quiet street. Times like this I know she wants to be alone. Her words replay in my mind. I can’t help but wonder what else she means.

  My heart’s heavy as I walk the other way, placing eggs into the underbrush of plants that line the street. Things don’t often change in Ashford, but it suddenly seems as though they will. The people I look up to and respect are all advancing in years, and I just can’t picture my life without them. I try and shake the blues away. Everything is always sadder before the sun comes up. Picturing Janey and Walt about to face their biggest struggle puts the Joel fiasco into perspective. As CeeCee says, it’s only money. Once I pay him, I’ll never have to see him again, and that’s worth more than anything. My friends need me now, and I need to be strong for them, not lost inside my mind with Joel, and his toxic threats.

  ***

  Since Walt isn’t here, Damon takes over as the egg-hunt organizer. He lines the kids up along a makeshift start line, painted hurriedly at daybreak, when we realized we’d forgotten.

  “OK, does everyone have a basket?” he hollers above the excited chatter.

  Their “yes sirs’” ring out high into the fresh morning air.

  “Great! Now we have a few little ones here today. It’d be nice if the bigger kids buddy up and make sure they find just as many eggs as you.”

  The line wobbles as the tweens move places to stand next to the younger kids to shadow them.

  “On your marks, get set, GO!”

  We watch them race every which way, their yelps punctuating the morning.

  CeeCee and I head on into the café, and get to making gingerbread coffee for the parents, who stumble in groggy from such an early start.

  ***

  The kids have all moseyed on home as I close up shop for the day. CeeCee tallied up the takings, including the festival, and it looks as though we’ve made more than we anticipated. All our hard work was worth it in the end.

  I’m just about to lock the front door when Damon pushes against it. Charlie stands behind him, gripping the edge of his shirt.

  “Hi,” I say, confused. We’d planned to close up and meet at home so Charlie could have a nap after running arou
nd town most of the day. I’d planned on guzzling a big glass of wine.

  “I forgot to give you something,” he says, stepping into the café. He hands me a small silver-wrapped egg.

  “Hey!” I say. “We didn’t have silver eggs. Where did you get this one?”

  “We made it. Go on, see if you like it.”

  I take my time unwrapping the egg, which is not like me at all but I figure if Charlie, a seven-year-old, can be delicate, I can certainly try.

  Once the foil is off I see a smattering of letters embossed into the chocolate. “What does it say?” I peer closer.

  They stand silently.

  And then I see it. I feel my cheeks color, and I do the silly jump-clap dance again.

  The teeny, tiny words spell: Will you marry me?

  “Yes!” I scream and collapse into Damon’s arms. Charlie looks up, her smile dazzling as I pull her into the hug.

  Damon’s face shines as he says, “Open the egg.”

  I go to smash the egg in my palm as I normally do, when he grabs my hand to stop me. “Maybe just bite the top off first.”

  Why can’t I be ladylike, just once? I take a small bite and the shell crumbles. Amidst the chocolate rubble lies an antique-looking diamond ring. It’s so feminine, and delicate I immediately love it. He reaches for the ring, and slides it on my finger. I hold my breath, hoping it’s not too small; he inches it over my knuckle — a perfect fit. In fact, it looks as if it’s always been there. I can’t help grinning at my finger, which I’m sure looks downright silly.

  “I knew the very moment I met you, I was going to marry you,” Damon says softly.

  I bite my lip as I think of all the things that spun through my mind when I first clapped eyes on Damon, and, if I’m honest, I thought he was as delectable as one of CeeCee’s pies, but wouldn’t have thought of telling a soul. “Is this why you’ve been leaving the house before daybreak?”

  “Surely was. I had to enlist CeeCee’s help to make the egg, and then there was the matter of getting her approval on the right ring…”

  Charlie toddles off to help herself to a snack. With one last look at the ring, I put my hands in Damon’s back jean pockets and pull him close. “I thought it was my bed hair that had you running scared in the mornings.”

  “There’s not one thing I don’t love about you, Lil. Not even the way you choke over the coffee I make you in the mornings…”

  “Oh, you noticed that?”

  He throws his head back and laughs. “It’s like you’re forcing yourself to down a cup of poison.”

  I feel myself color and I laugh. “OK, so I can go back to instant coffee now.” Damon’s coffee machine is like his other child; I didn’t have the heart to tell him how bad it tastes to me.

  He nods. “I can’t wait to tell the world you said yes.”

  “I can’t wait either.”

  He leans down and kisses me, and I feel as though my life has just begun. I was only practising before. This is the real deal. We stand back gawping at each other, mirroring the same goofy look.

  CeeCee pokes her head through the door. “Is there a Mrs Guthrie here?” she asks, pretending to be someone else. And that’s when I lose it. I’m a laughing, sobbing, shrieking mess of happiness.

  Chapter Twelve

  I flick the bedside light off, and tiptoe from Charlie’s room. Back in our room, Damon’s propped up in bed reading a book.

  “Hey,” he says, smiling. He closes the book and pats the bed. “You sure you’re OK reading to Charlie every night?”

  I creep under the covers next to him, and slide up against his warm body. “I’m sure. How can I refuse those big blue eyes of hers?”

  He laughs. “I know that feeling. But maybe we’ll take it in turns. Don’t want your wolf voice to burn out.”

  “Oh, you heard? She said I had to sound gruffer, and more snarly when the wolf speaks.”

  “Wait until you read the dinosaur one. She’ll make you act out their roars.”

  We lay back on the pillows, facing each other. “I think I better get Sarah to order me some princess books, pronto.”

  “Mmm.” Damon traces my lips with a finger. “Lil, do you believe in soulmates?”

  I think back to when I met Damon at Christmas time. I had the strangest sensation, as if we already knew each other, and that he’d come back to Ashford just for me. “Do you?” I ask, not willing to be the first to say it.

  “I didn’t before I met you. I know this is going to sound corny, but I get this whole body-melt sensation when I’m near you. It’s not just how pretty you are, or your gorgeous curves, or your goofiness, it’s something more than all of that combined. Like there’s an energy around you that pulls me in your orbit. It’s the strongest feeling, like my soul recognizes yours. Gosh, that sounds stupid.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” Before a blubber-fest happens I cup his face, close my eyes, and kiss him as if we’re the last people on earth.

  ***

  After the excitement of the weekend, there’s not much that can steal the smile from my lips. I tell Cee I have to run errands, so I can nip off to the bank, and withdraw the money for Joel. With my savings and the weekend takings I have almost six thousand. I’ll apply for the credit card, and do whatever I can to pay him and get his noxious presence out of my life.

  Picking up my handbag, I see my engagement ring sparkling under the light. Excitement sweeps me over every time I think of marrying Damon. We stayed up late discussing what kind of wedding we’d like and both agree on something simple. I may even wear gloop, just that once.

  I say goodbye to CeeCee and walk outside. It’s just after nine, and people mill lazily about on the streets. Everyone is probably pooped after yesterday’s celebrations. Funny how my weariness has been replaced with wonderment.

  The bank is quiet as I walk to a teller.

  “Hey,” Alyssa greets me. “We were just talking about you.”

  “Oh, yeah? Good or bad?” I joke as I reach for my bank card.

  “I was raving to Marlene here about the pie CeeCee brought in. She said it was a secret recipe…”

  “A secret recipe? You must have had the orange-kissed strawberry and rhubarb pie, then. Tastes as good as summer holiday.”

  “It surely does. Didn’t last too long, I can tell you.”

  “They never do when it’s one of CeeCee’s.”

  Alyssa smiles. “What’s going on with Cee? Is she moving or something?”

  “No, why do you ask?” I frown remembering her spiel about friendships, and the importance of them, the morning of the egg hunt. A lump forms in my throat, I hope CeeCee isn’t planning on moving. Her kids live out of town — maybe she wants to be closer to them. Maybe finding out about Janey has made her rethink her priorities. I couldn’t imagine my life without CeeCee.

  Alyssa continues, “She took out a bundle of cash. We can’t think of where she’d spend so much money in Ashford. But she wouldn’t tell. She closed her account and everything.”

  Grabbing my bank card, I race for the exit.

  Alyssa yells out behind me, “You OK, Lil? What’d I say?”

  I lift an arm to wave and head out to the street back to the Gingerbread Café.

  Out of breath, I spill inside the café. CeeCee is alone, mixing something over the stove. She turns when she hears my clumsy footsteps.

  “Lil, you beetroot red. What…you taking up running now? You already too skinny!”

  “CeeCee, you can’t do it. That money is for your retirement.” I know Curtis, Cee’s husband, left her a modest amount of money when he passed. Money he’d saved for exactly that reason, so she would have a nest egg and wouldn’t need to work if she chose not to.

  Her face tenses. “Do what?”

  I tilt my head. “I’ve just been to the bank, Cee.”

  She clucks her tongue. “Mother o’ Mary, no one can have any secrets in this town. They had no right telling you that!” Her face darkens. “It’s my money, and it ai
n’t up to you how I spend it.”

  “But, Cee…”

  She holds a hand up. “No, Lil. I don’t need that money. And that snake was never goin’ to leave you alone. He’s gone now. The loan’s paid off and all done right. Mr Jefferson made it so. Joel won’t bother you again, and of that I can be certain.”

  “Is that what you talked about the day he turned up over the road?”

  She waves a hand. “Can’t remember.”

  I gulp back tears. “So you paid him already?”

  “I surely did. Couldn’t get there quick enough.”

  “I’ll go to the bank. I can pay some of it back right now, Cee. Then I’ll…”

  She shakes her head. “I don’t need it, Lil. It wasn’t a loan. It was a gift. Because that’s what friends do. When Curtis died I figured my whole life was finished. I couldn’t jump over that grief, Lil. But then you came along. Dragged me outta that house, and into the café. Made up some pretense about needin’ help, when you surely didn’t. Even made me take a wage when you were so broke you couldn’t pay attention! Well, things like that I ain’t never gonna forget. So now we even.”

  She shuffles to a table and sits heavily, motioning for me to join her.

  “But, Cee…”

  “Hush. It ain’t important. You ever wonder why people trying to help you, Lil?”

  I go to respond but she holds a hand up.

  “Because you always helpin’ people first. You got a good heart, Lil, and it’s even better cause you don’t know it. You just think that’s how things should be. So take it when it comes back to you.”

  I’m lost for words, wondering how she could be so generous. I’m going to have to plot some clever way for her to take the money back as soon as I get it.

  “I’m going to go visit Janey today. You be all right here without me?” Her mask of composure cracks for a moment, as I see such pain in her eyes.

  I quickly reassure her. “I’ll be fine. I think it’ll be quiet after such a big weekend.”

  “OK, maybe I’ll call Walt, and see what he needs.”

  I nod, knowing Walt will be happy to have CeeCee’s effervescent presence around at such a sad time. And as they say, laughter is the best medicine. “Why don’t you stay a while with Janey? I can get someone to help me here. Don’t think there’s anything more important than that right now.”