Sweet Dreams (The Bakery Romance Series Book 3) (23 page)

Chapter 35

Sterling pulled his car into the parking lot of Louis’s apartment building. He stared at the brick structure, thinking about all that had been going through his mind since the previous evening.

He again recalled Louis’s reprimanding words regarding his judgmental attitude. He recalled his father being judgmental towards others. Perhaps that’s where he’d learned his behavior. Or, maybe his attitude was just one of his flaws. He got out of the car, removed his checkbook from the glove compartment. He needed to speak with the twins, try and settle this issue that had been plaguing him since his father’s death.

*

The echo of the twins arguing spilled into the carpeted hallway. Since Leon had gotten evicted from his apartment, he’d moved in with Louis. Louis had called a few nights ago, complaining about his brother. He figured Leon would make his twin’s life miserable. Well, he was here to make things as best as he could. He rapped on the door. Louis opened it. Relief spilled into his brother’s eyes as soon as he saw Sterling. “I’m glad you’re here. I need to talk to somebody sane.” He studied Sterling. “You look upset. What’s wrong?”

He needed to start fixing his relationship with the twins, starting now. He gestured toward the kitchen table. “Let’s have a seat.”

Leon dropped into a chair, slouched forward. Sterling eyed him - he seemed sober, just mad. But, he needed to make sure. “You haven’t had anything to drink today have you?”

“What’s it to you?”

Louis spoke up, glaring at his twin. “He’s sober.”

“Drop your attitude, Leon. I’m here to split the money.”

Leon sat up straighter in his chair, his dark eyes wary. “Really?”

Sterling nodded. “What Aunt June told us...look, I feel bad about what happened with dad while we were growing up.”

Louis clapped Sterling’s shoulder, his dark eyes sympathetic. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know but, I still feel bad about it. I wonder if things would be different between us if Dad didn’t treat me as his favorite.” He also wondered if Leon would still have a drinking problem if he’d had a more stable relationship with their father. Well, there was no way of determining that. He just had to do what he felt was right. “Leon, before I split with you, I need you to promise me that you’ll get some help.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Help?”

“Yeah, with your drinking. We’re going to an AA meeting next week.” He’d already found out where the meeting was held.

“No I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. You will if you want your money.” This was so awkward. “I’m driving you to the meeting and dropping you off at home afterwards. I won’t go in with you. I just want to be sure that you’re going.” He needed to tell the truth. “I’m worried about you. What if you get a DUI? What if your drinking causes an accident? I’m trying to help you.” Why couldn’t his brother understand that? “I was going to give you the money gradually.” Leon needed to get a job. Sterling didn’t think Louis would appreciate his twin living with him and not working at all. He didn’t think he’d be doing his brother any good by giving him all of the money at once. Sterling figured going to the AA meetings might help his brother face the pain and bitterness that caused him to drink.

He briefly mapped out how he’d dole out the payments to Leon, again stipulating he attend AA meetings and search for a job. Surprisingly, Leon agreed. After Sterling had written out a check to both of the twins, he figured it was time for him to state the second reason for his visit. “I also wanted the three of us to get together at least once a month.”

“Why?” Leon truly looked puzzled.

He shrugged. “Why do we need a reason? We’re brothers and your being angry with me all the time bothers me. We could go out to dinner or I can do a barbeque or something.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Louis agreed.

“Well…I guess.” Leon didn’t sound so enthusiastic. Well, at least he didn’t flat out refuse, which was a huge step in the right direction. He figured he may as well be open about his life. He’d recently told Louis about Misty. He may as well tell Leon. Heck Leon may already know about Misty if Louis told him. “I was kind of dating somebody—”

Leon chuckled. “You have a girlfriend.” He acted like the whole idea was absurd.

“Well, she’s not really my girlfriend.” Since Leon seemed to be so amused, he figured he may as well keep on talking and tell him all about his troubled thoughts about Misty.

*

Although it was a hot sweltering Saturday, Misty had decided to take Jennifer out for a walk. For some reason her daughter had been restless for most of the day. It was Saturday and Adrian had decided to spend the day with some friends from church. Misty figured that Jennifer was restless since Adrian wasn’t there. Each Saturday, her cousin doted on Jennifer. She even patiently sat in the living room with Jennifer while Jennifer enjoyed Disney movies.

“Mommy, look. Those are pretty.” Jennifer pointed to the small bunch of flowers planted in their neighbor’s yard.

“Yes, Jennifer, those look pretty.”

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, signaling she’d received a new email. She stopped walking, checked the screen.

The email was from the Sarah Wilkins Society.

Maybe she should wait to go home before checking the email.

No, she couldn’t wait. She’d been anxious for this moment for months. She opened the email.

Dear Ms. Stewart,

We regret to inform you that Jennifer was not selected for the Sarah Wilkins scholarship. It was a tough decision and Ms. Wilkins encourages you to reapply next year. We sincerely hope that you are able to find financial aid from another source.

Thank you for applying.

Sincerely,

The Sarah Wilkins Scholarship Foundation

The heat of the day warmed her skin while she stared at the screen. She read the message, once, twice, three times.

Jennifer tugged her hand. “Mommy? What’s wrong?”

She blinked, suddenly feeling the tears sliding down her cheeks. She swiped the tears away, shoved the phone back into her pocket. So, Jennifer wasn’t going to attend Juliette’s after all. There had to be some way. Sure, she’d applied for other scholarships but, she’d honestly thought she’d win this one. She’d already received the rejections for the other scholarships for which she’d applied.
Lord, what am I going to do?

She needed to go back home and be alone for a while. Figure out what she could do. There had to be some way that she could send Jennifer to that school. Latisha was coming by later to go clothes shopping. Maybe that’s what she needed, someone to talk to. Again, she thought about Sterling. He’d written that thoughtful letter. Although he didn’t agree with her motives, he had been supportive. She’d still not heard back from him regarding their dinner date. She still wondered what had come up that was so important. She figured if she didn’t hear from him today, then he’d probably talk to her at church on Sunday about setting up another time for their date.

He was working in the bakery that afternoon. She needed to call him and let him know the bad news. She found his number on her contact list, called him. “Richard’s Bakery.”

This wasn’t Sterling’s voice. It must be one of his assistants. “May I speak to Sterling Richards?” Her voice wavered. She sounded horrible.

“He’s out delivering a wedding cake. Can I take a message?”

Sterling had mentioned that he occasionally did special deliveries for his business. He’d told her once that for weddings, he delivered the cake to the reception area and he had to arrange the huge layers before the guests arrived. “No, there’s no message.” She shoved the phone back into her pocket. She’d call him back later.

*

It’d been two hours since she’d received that awful email. Adrian had returned home and Misty had left Jennifer with Adrian, needing to get out of the house. She’d told Adrian about the email and her cousin had been sympathetic, stating she’d continue to pray for Misty to find the perfect pre-school for her daughter. Adrian had also reminded her about what Sterling had said – it was possible that Misty really didn’t think she was as good as the rich crowd. Maybe by getting Jennifer into Juliette’s, it made her feel more worthy about herself. Could that possibly be true?

Did she really want proof that she and Jennifer were just as good as the rich crowd?

Plagued with these thoughts, she cancelled out on Latisha, wanting to be alone. After Adrian agreed to keep Jennifer, Misty set out on a drive. She needed to go grocery shopping and do a few other errands for Adrian. She drove aimlessly for an hour, in deep thought. She recalled being poor, her mom’s drug abuse. She remembered living in the foster home for two years, not getting enough food to eat. She recalled shopping for new clothes at Goodwill, always longing to shop at the posh mall on the outskirts of town. She even recalled riding the school bus each day. Her bus passed the fancy private school each day. How she’d envied those wealthy kids. They’d seemed so cool and organized in their school uniforms. She’d spot them standing around the school campus, imagined what glorious lives they led. Her private school dream had probably taken root back then, before Jennifer even existed.

Money had always been a problem for her family. She’d been so sick and tired of their circumstances. When she’d finally found the courage to move, she’d not only wanted to raise Jennifer in a Christian household, but, she’d also wanted to leave her poor environment behind. She finally found herself parking in the small lot behind Sterling’s bakery. Deep down, she had a hard time accepting that he was probably right. With deep longing, she still pursued that dream, wanting to prove to herself that she was just as good as the rich folks on this God-given earth.

Still in deep thought, she got out of her car, slowly strolled to the entrance of the bakery. She glanced at the large, delicious-looking cupcake that decorated the glass-fronted building. She finally pushed the door open, went inside. The delicious scent of sugar and chocolate filled the air. A line of customers stood at the counter. A group of people zoomed past her, carrying monogrammed bakery bags. She stood in the middle of the bakery, just staring.

Tasty cupcakes and cookies were arranged behind the clean glass displays. Taking a closer look, she spotted pink-frosted cupcakes, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and several loaves of bread. If she weren’t feeling so down, she’d purchase some of those sweets. She’d pull up a chair to one of those small round tables and sip a hot cup of coffee while sampling a chocolate chip cookie. Far as she could recall, she’d never had Sterling’s chocolate chip cookies.

¿Puedo ayudarlo?”
That was Sterling’s voice. She scanned the work space behind the counter and spotted him speaking to a customer in Spanish. Sterling spoke Spanish? She sniffed, focused on the wonderful scents, tried to clear her troubles from her mind.

The Spanish speaking customer grinned, pointed to cookies.
“Galletas una docena de canela, por favor.”

Sterling nodded. He boxed up the cookies. His dark eyes appeared serious as he did the chore. He wore a white apron over his sexy muscular body. Goodness, he was such a beautiful man. She could just stare at him all day. The woman paid for the cookies.

Sterling grinned.
“Gracias.”

The woman nodded in response before making her exit.

Sterling glanced up and spotted her standing in the middle of the bakery. “Misty.” His deep voice echoed through the room. Several customers stopped eyeing the display cases and glanced over at Sterling, obviously startled by his loud voice.

He rushed back into what she assumed was the kitchen. A minute later another man appeared behind the counter with Sterling. She assumed he was one of his assistants. The assistant took the order from the next person in line. Sterling rushed toward her, his dark eyes full of concern. “Is something wrong?” He took her hand, led her over to one of the few empty tables. “You look upset.”

Her mind was literally spinning. Maybe she should not have come here. She said the first thing that popped into her mind. “I didn’t know you spoke Spanish.”

He blinked and tilted his head, stared at her. “I had to learn. It’s hard to run a business in Miami without speaking Spanish.”

There was so much about him that she didn’t know. She sighed, again glanced around the bustling bakery. Sterling was at work and she was bothering him. “Maybe I should go home.”

“Honey, no. What’s the matter?” His voice softened and he caressed her hand. Activity continued to bustle around them.

“Jennifer didn’t get the scholarship.” She cringed as the awful words tumbled from her mouth.

“Aw, Misty. I’m so sorry.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Are you really sorry?”

“Yes, I know how much this meant to you and I know you’re feeling sad.”

“Sterling!” One of his assistants called out from behind the counter. It looked like some sort of crises was going on. She was disturbing him at work. She probably should have waited until he got home tonight.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come.”

Sterling eyed the counter. “I’ll be there in a minute, Eddie.” He focused on her again. “Look, I really need to talk to you. Do you think Adrian could keep Jennifer after church tomorrow? I wanted to take you to the beach. I think we have a lot to talk about…” he glanced down at the floor before focusing on her again. “Well, I have a lot to say to you.”