The Baker's Man (17 page)

Anna looked at Lily before answering. There was no going back now, no laughing the entire conversation off as a joke. “With the magic sand we found in the tin box and a recipe,” she said honestly. “I didn’t think it would work.”

“But it did,” Tessa said, and her eyes shone in the strung lights. “No wonder none of us had ever heard of Eli before.” She laughed, but the edges of the sound were stained with a wildness that filled the air with the scent of fire burning through a green forest. “And your grandpa only loved Grandma Bea because she made him. Does that mean Eli’s feelings for you aren’t real? Is that why he’s so attached to you? Because you made him? I was worried something was going on, even after he kissed me, but this means he might actually want to be with me! Do you think I should tell him?” Tessa said and pressed her hands together over her heart.

Anna grabbed Tessa’s forearms. “You can’t tell him.” Lily shook her head in agreement.

“Why?” Tessa asked. “That way he’ll understand that his attachment to you is because you made him. He’ll be free to love me the way he wants to.”

Anna shook her head vehemently. “No, Tessa. You can never tell Eli the truth.”

“You want to lie to him?” she asked.

“It’s not lying,” Lily argued and stepped beside Anna. “You can’t tell someone he’s made from dough. He’ll think you’re out of your mind. It’s better he doesn’t know anything.”

Tessa frowned. “I think we should be honest with him.”

“For what purpose?” Lily asked. “So that you’ll know you have all of his affections? You already do. You win. Game over. There’s no reason to tell him anything.”

Tessa frowned a moment longer, and then she nodded her head. “You’re right. I really do think he cares about me.” She smiled and pulled them into a hug so quickly Anna and Lily knocked foreheads. “This is so exciting. You created a man just for me. I don’t even know what all of this
means
, but I feel all jittery inside.” Tessa sobered slightly and added, “I definitely don’t want to be like Grandma Mildred and have the whole town think I’m batty. Maybe it’s best if this is our little secret.” She looked at Anna and Lily, and they both nodded.

“I should get going,” Tessa said. “I came to grab Mama a few oatmeal raisin cookies, and she’s waiting on me. How much?”

Anna flicked her hand to the side. “Take whatever you want. No charge.”
You’ve already taken Eli
.

Tessa thanked Anna and told them she’d be back before the fireworks. Anna wrapped her arms around her chest. The wind rushed through the tent and whipped her long hair around her face. Her teeth chattered.

“You have to tell him,” Lily said.

Anna stared at the uneaten sweets. The lights dimmed and colors faded. “Why? You said Tessa’s already won.”

“I only said that so she wouldn’t go off blabbing to Eli that he’s the Dough Boy,” Lily said. “If he ever hears the truth from anyone, it should be from you.”

Lily refilled Anna’s travel mug with the last of the hot chocolate and handed it to her friend. “Now get up and put a smile on your face. You look like someone burned down your house. Jakob and Eli will be back soon, and we can’t have you looking like that.” She smoothed flyaway hairs away from Anna’s face. “Speak of the devil, and he appears,” Lily said as Jakob, Eli, and Jakob’s parents, the Connellys, walked up to the booth.

“Look who I found,” Jakob said to Lily. “Mom brought back a surprise for us from their trip.”

Anna motioned for everyone to come behind the booth. Eli offered Anna a french fry from his cardboard boat that had once been filled with battered cod and fries. She declined and said hello to Jakob’s parents. Then she made herself busy by straightening the display. Eli finished his dinner while Jakob and Lily talked with the Connellys in the rear of the tent.

“You think we’ll be done in an hour?” Eli asked, crumbling his cardboard boat and tossing it into a large city trashcan.

Anna surveyed the tables and glanced back at the empty boxes. “It’s possible,” she said. “There’s not much left to do, so if you have something else you’d like to do, I can handle the booth by myself.”

“We started together, and we’ll finish together,” Eli said.

“Tessa wants to watch the fireworks with you,” Anna blurted and then looked away from his gaze. When Eli didn’t respond, she glanced over her shoulder to see him watching her. She tried to offer him an encouraging smile, but her heart wasn’t in it, and only half of her mouth tugged up.

Jakob’s voice rose and pulled Anna’s attention away from Eli. “They brought it all the way from Italy,” Jakob said, his voice pinched at the edges. “The sommelier a few tents over was nice enough to open it for us. One glass won’t kill you.”

Oh, no
. Anna watched Jakob hand Lily a plastic wine glass. Lily’s other hand unconsciously rested on her stomach. Jakob’s father, Mr. Connelly, was distracted by a teenage girl with an overly excited Labrador retriever. The dog’s leash had wrapped around her midsection. She spun around in a circle and giggled, and the dog seemed to think it was a game. However, Mrs. Connelly’s attention was on Lily, and her eyes narrowed.

“What’s wrong, Lily?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Lily said, smiling and avoiding eye contact. Anna caught a whiff of boiling coffee on a hotplate.

“Lily’s had a virus for a week or so,” Jakob asked. “But she’s feeling better. I really don’t think the wine will bother you now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Mrs. Connelly said. “The flu?”

“Who knows?” Jakob said, filling Lily’s glass with the Italian wine. “She refused to go to the doctor. She was throwing up off and on for a few days, but now she’s only nauseous in the mornings.”

Anna saw a sheen of sweat glistening on Lily’s forehead. “You make it sound terrible,” Lily joked. The wine glass trembled in her hand and created ripples across the surface of the deep burgundy liquid.

“He makes it sound like morning sickness,” Mrs. Connelly said. Then she leaned forward, and her dyed blonde hair fell across her shoulders, framing the creamy skin on her face. “You’re not pregnant, are you?” she said in a voice that masqueraded as a playful whisper but was clearly spoken loud enough for the group to hear.

Jakob laughed and wrinkled his brow. “Mom,” he said, “that’s awkward. Next subject please. How about this wine?” He nudged Lily with his elbow, but Lily didn’t respond. Her hands were shaking so badly a drop of wine sloshed onto the rim and rolled down the glass until it stained her finger red. Jakob finally sensed something was wrong. “You okay?”

Anna had been unable to move until that moment. She made a motion to swoop in and save Lily, but Eli grabbed her arm. “What are you doing?” she whispered, trying to tug her arm free. He shook his head.

“It was a joke, dear,” Mrs. Connelly said and smiled with her bright white teeth. She adjusted her string of pearls. “I know my son wouldn’t be so immature, especially not in the middle of such an important promotion. Drink to good fortune.” Mrs. Connelly gasped when the tangled dog butted its nose into the back of her designer skirt. “Excuse me,” she breathed out in offense to the apologizing teenager. Mr. Connelly tried to help untangle them.

Lily’s cheeks flushed, and her eyes began to water. She looked at Jakob and said, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

She handed him her full glass of wine. “For not drinking this. I didn’t want you to find out this way,” she said. She mouthed, “I
am
pregnant.”

Anna gripped Eli’s arm until she left behind the imprint of her fingers. Jakob’s eyes widened, and he shook his head as if to loosen the words Lily had shoved into his ears. “You’re what? How?”

Lily choked on a pitiful laugh. “I think the
how
is obvious.”

“This is terrible timing,” Jakob said. Unfortunately, Mrs. Connelly chose that moment to reenter the conversation.

“What’s wrong?” Mrs. Connelly asked, but no one was listening to her.

“I didn’t plan on this either,” Lily said. “But it happened, and now we have to deal with it.”

Jakob’s wrists dropped, and the wine in the glasses poured onto the grass. “I don’t even know
how
to deal with this right now. If the firm finds out…you
know
how they’re liable to act if they hear you’re pregnant,” he said.

Tears rolled freely down Lily’s cheeks. “I don’t want to jeopardize your career. That’s why I haven’t said anything.”

“Excuse me,” Mrs. Connelly said. “Did you say you’re
pregnant
?” The judgment in her voice was as severe as the edge of a scalding blade passing through chilled cheesecake. Without waiting for a response, she stepped closer to Jakob. Her voice was low and stern. “Tell me you have not been foolish enough to get your girlfriend pregnant right in the middle of the biggest opportunity of your life. You could ruin your whole career. I hope you’ll at least be intelligent enough to keep this mistake to yourselves until the firm makes their decision.” She shook her head. The soft lines of her face faded. Her coral colored lips were pulled tight, casting deep lines around her mouth, and her jaw was rigid as though she might be clenching her teeth. She stepped away and grabbed Mr. Connelly’s arm. He appeared somewhat confused, but she dragged him away through the crowd.

Indecision filled Jakob’s eyes. He rubbed both hands down his face. “Damn, Lily. Awful timing with this.” He looked at her and touched her arm briefly, and then he hurried after his parents, calling out to his mother. Lily turned around and stared wide-eyed at Anna and Eli, who were unintentional participants.

Anna walked over to Lily and pulled her into a tight hug. “Go talk to Jakob,” Anna said. Lily nodded and rocked on her heels for a moment. She tugged a curl and wrapped it around her finger. Then, she inhaled and exhaled a shaky breath, looked at Anna one more time, and rushed off to find Jakob.

Anna watched Lily go, and she rubbed her fingers across her collarbone. Night began to fall. A group of children ran by with lit sparklers, leaving behind trails of falling stars.

“They’ll work it out,” Eli said.

Anna nodded.
They have to
. A waltz began to play from the bandstand. As soon as the sun set completely, the fireworks would begin. Anna unloaded the few baked goods remaining in boxes, and she displayed them on the tables. Then she broke down the cardboard boxes with Eli’s help. The temperature dropped slowly at first with the fading light, and then quickly, chilling her cheeks and reddening her nose. Their breath puffed out in front of their lips in misty, white clouds.

“There’s my girl,” a man said.

Anna smelled green pine needles and freshly cut grass. She grinned. “Hey, Daddy,” she said. He stepped around the side of the tent with Evelyn behind him. Anna hugged him. “I wondered when y’all would stop by.” She grabbed a bag of his favorite cookies and handed them to him.

“Looks like you’ve been ransacked,” he said.

“We’ve had a good day,” she answered. “Hey, Mama.” Evelyn hugged Anna and then rummaged through what remained of the baked goods. “Daddy, this is Eli. Eli, this is my dad, Charles O’Brien.”

Charles O’Brien was the opposite of Evelyn. Where she was wound tightly and neatly pressed, Charles was relaxed and casual. His friendly smile and quiet laughter set people at ease. Anna had always found refuge from her mama’s strictness with her daddy. When Anna was a little girl, she and her daddy had often escaped to take hikes or sit in a fishing boat all day while Charles baited her hook and she spotted shapes in the clouds. He was the one to slip chocolates into her pockets and send her off to school when Evelyn packed Anna’s brown lunch sack full of carrots and low-fat peanut butter on wheat bread.

“Call me Charlie,” he said. “Nice to meet you. Evie said you went to school with Anna.”

Eli nodded. “I did. Can’t keep up with her, but I try,” he said, smiling at Anna.

“That’s not an easy task,” Charlie said. “But don’t give up just yet.”

Eli laughed, and Evelyn asked if they were out of the walnut blondies. Eli helped search through the bags while Charlie pulled Anna to the side under the guise of telling her about the auction.

“I had to force your mother to stop bidding on your desserts,” Charlie said with a sparkle in his dark eyes. “She was upsetting the townsfolk.”

“Mama knows I’ll bake her whatever she wants,” Anna said and shook her head. She adjusted the black toboggan on Charlie’s head because one ear was covered and the other ear stuck out like an elf ear.

“She can’t help herself. It’s her competitive nature. She’s your biggest fan, you know,” Charlie said. “I know it doesn’t always seem that way.”

“Because she seems like my biggest critic?” Anna asked.

Charlie chuckled. “That’s her way of wanting the best for you,” he said. Then he lowered his voice. “She told me about the bakery in Wildehaven Beach. Congratulations.”

Anna’s green eyes widened. A tornado of warm air circled around them, lifting Anna’s hair from her shoulders. She hesitated and then smiled. “Thanks, Daddy,” she said, feeling ten years old again and basking in her daddy’s praise for a job well done.

“Charlie, we need to get going if we’re going to find a good spot for the fireworks,” Evelyn said, dropping the bag of blondies into her purse.

“Come have lunch with us tomorrow,” Charlie said. “I talked your mother into making us fried chicken and mashed potatoes.”

Anna laughed. “How in the world did you manage to convince her to cook with grease?” Anna asked, hooking her arm through Charlie’s and slowly walking toward the front of the tent.

“I bribed her actually,” he whispered. “New kitchen in exchange for greasy food at least once every two weeks.” Charlie and Anna shared a conspiratorial moment of triumph.

“Eli, join us for lunch tomorrow if you’re free,” Charlie said. “Evie’s cooking my favorite.”

“I’d like that,” Eli said as Charlie patted his back a few times.

“Be there at noon,” Evelyn said and retied Anna’s scarf around her neck before she and Charlie headed off to find spots to watch the fireworks show.

In the park, festivalgoers bundled up together on blankets and gathered groups of camping chairs in tightly knit areas. Firemen stood around the site from where the fireworks would be shot and prepared for any stray sparks that might ignite trees or grass. Anna dropped the last cookie bag into the box and scanned the tables. The crowds on the streets thinned, and people huddled in clearings, already staring up at the stars dotting the midnight blue sky.