The Icing on the Cake (11 page)

After she and Minnie had finished their
lunch, Minnie invited her to her house so they could finish their conversation
without fear of Ruth and Lori spotting them playing hooky.  Kristine followed
Minnie into her tidy bungalow and took a seat in the living room.  She breathed
a sigh as she settled into the soft cushions of the vintage couch.

“What are you thinking right now?”
Minnie asked, as she took the seat across from her.

“I don’t know.  I guess I’m having
trouble wrapping my mind around the idea that Joe might really care about me.”

Minnie gave her a warning glance.  “Need
I give you another accounting of your many fine qualities?”

“No,” she answered, smiling. 

Minnie drew silent and regarded her
thoughtfully.  Finally, she spoke.  “Back at the fast food place, I confided in
you my difficulties working with your family members, but I didn’t tell you
everything.”

Kristine nodded, urging her to
continue. 

Minnie wrung her hands nervously. 
“Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut,” she muttered.

“Minnie.  It’s okay.  Go on, please.”

She sighed wearily.  “Yes, okay.  As you
know, I’ve worked with your mother for years.”  She grinned suddenly.  “Worked
with you, too, but you’re a very talented manager and baker, unlike your…  Er,
anyway….”

“Minnie, my mom is an excellent baker,”
she said.

“No, honey, she is not, nor does she
practice the skill very often.  If you’ll think back to all the times you and I
worked with her, it was the two of us doing all the prep and baking off of our
goods.  And if it wasn’t us, it was Mitch.”

Kristine cocked her head in thought and
her eyes widened with surprise.  “You’re right, Minnie.  I never really thought
about it before.  Mom has always been such a presence at the bakery.  I mean,
she spent mornings until closing there, six days a week, and then usually
stayed until later than that…”

Minnie nodded.  “That’s true.”

“Why did my mother spend so much time at
the bakery?” she mused.  “Especially when she wasn’t actually doing much when
she was there?”

“Well, I didn’t say that,” she said. 
“Your mother was great with the customers.  She’s a social butterfly.  She
enjoys chatting with customers.  She really gets to know them and before long,
she’s practically a member of the family.”

“Minnie, then why did you dislike
working with her so much?”

She chewed her lip thoughtfully before
continuing, “Although your mother didn’t actually do the baking, she took
credit for it anyway.  If someone complimented her on a particular item, she’d
talk at length about what inspired her to come up with the recipe—even if she
hadn’t been the one to come up with the idea.”

Kristine had to concede that Minnie was
right about that.  Her mother craved attention, much like Lori did…

  Minnie continued, “Whenever Lori was
working with her, she allowed her to get away with…”  She sighed.  “Lori
refused to work, plain and simple.  But your mother portrayed her to customers
as a rare talent when it came to preparing baked goods.  She gave people the
impression she was the work horse around the bakery and that she was being
groomed to take over.”

Kristine nodded.  She remembered her
mother ignoring her contributions.  She had taken the time to memorize every
recipe and had learned to work under intense pressure.  She had always assured
the case was filled.  Her mother had never acknowledged her hard work.  Her
father had, however.  He had praised her often.

“Lori spent her time complaining about
how much she hated the bakery and was angry that your mother expected her to
work there,” Minnie said.  “She always said she had much bigger plans for her
life.  I remember times Lori would throw a fit and literally trash the work
area.  Your mother barely scolded her.” 

“Lori was always Mom’s favorite,”
Kristine said matter-of-factly.

“I think your mom sort of took the path
of least resistance with your sister.  It was easier to defer to her than to
try to correct her.  Besides…”

“What?” Kristine prompted.

“Your mom and Lori are a lot alike. 
Your mom never wanted to work in the bakery, back when she was a teenager and
her parents expected her to give up her free time to help out.”

“You and Mom were friends in high school,
weren’t you?”

“Er, well…  No.  I knew ‘of’ her, but we
didn’t have the same group of friends, or ever spend any time together.”

“But Mom gives the impression you were
the best of friends.”

Minnie sighed.  “Your mom believes if
she says it, it’s true.”  Minnie gasped.  “Kristine, I’m sorry.  This is your
mother we’re talking about.   I just…  I want you to understand that the
problems with your mother aren’t your fault.  You’re simply two different
people.  You happen to be more like your father—low key, level headed, while
Lori takes after your mother.”  She frowned.  “Have I said too much, or
overstepped my bounds?”

“No.  It’s okay, Minnie.” 

“You know, your mom is probably siding
with Lori over you when it comes to Joe because it’s easier to do so than to
disagree with her.  Imagine the fallout if she tells Lori something she doesn’t
want to hear.”

“That could be,” Kristine acknowledged,
“but it still hurts.  For once, couldn’t she be on my side?”

“I guess it all evens out, or used to
anyway.  When your dad was alive, he was your biggest supporter.  He used to
get really frustrated with Lori’s antics.  And he used to…”

“He used to what?”

Minnie hesitated, as if fearful she was
going to say too much.  She watched Kristine, as if uncertain is she should say
more.  “Minnie, please, go on.  It’s okay.”

“Your father used to beg your mother to
spend more time at home.  He knew she enjoyed being at the bakery for the sole
purpose of interacting with ‘her’ public.  When he’d ask her to come home, to
help with you girls, she…”

“She refused,” Kristine said.  “I
remember that.  Dad used to plead with her to limit the number of hours she
spent at the bakery, but she wouldn’t hear of it.  And poor Dad, he worked a
full-time job, did his best to hold down the fort at home, and was also at the
beck and call of Mom when she needed something repaired at the bakery.”

“What I found strange was that your mom
really didn’t want to be at the bakery.  She was miserable when things were
quiet and customers were few and far between.”

“But she wanted to be home even less,”
Kristine finished, as understanding dawned.

Kristine suddenly felt she’d gained some
real insight into her mother’s behavior.  Maybe her mother felt closer to Lori
because Lori wasn’t inclined toward domesticity, either.  She wasn’t
particularly maternal and preferred being anywhere but home with her child.

“I’ve never given much thought to any of
this,” Kristine admitted.  “I just accepted Lori was spoiled, although she and
I have fought about it enough.  But my mom…  I never really connected that she
and Lori are a lot alike.”

“Well, it stands to reason you didn’t
notice,” Minnie said.  “You’ve been too busy working to notice.”

Kristine acknowledged her words with a
humorless laugh.

“Kristine,” Minnie ventured, “you are
entitled to a life, you know.  It’s time you thought about your own happiness,
rather than trying to keep the family business going without help from the
family.”

Kristine sought Minnie’s eyes as
something came to mind.  Minnie read something was amiss.

“What is it, Kristine?”

“Mom and Lori want to sell the bakery.”

Minnie gasped.  “How … do you feel about
that?”

“I’m not ready to part with a business
that’s been in our family for generations.  Mom really took me by surprise. 
The odd thing is, she came up with the idea after having a conversation with
Joe.”

Minnie sat, stunned, for a long moment. 
“I’m…  I’m at a loss for words.”

“I know.  It’s a shock.”

“But, if they want to sell, it’s two
against one…”

“Surprisingly, Mom did tell Lori my vote
holds more weight.”

Minnie arched her brows in surprise. 
“Wow.  That’s something, anyway.  Well, will you keep me posted?  If I need to
start looking for other work…”

“I will definitely keep you posted,”
Kristine assured her, just as her cell phone trilled in her pocket.  She pulled
it out and checked the screen.  “Lori,” she said drolly.  “Hello.”  She was
silent, listening.  “Okay, I’ll pick him up.”

“She needs you to pick up Devon?”

“Yes, apparently he has early release
today.  I’d better hurry.”

“I take it Devon is standing out front
of the school, waiting.”

“ ‘Fraid so.”

“Lori didn’t know about the early
release?”

“ ‘Fraid not.”

“I’ll drive you,” Minnie said. 

***

Minnie steered her small car alongside
the curb in front of the school.  “Do you want me to drive you and Devon home?”

Kristine shook her head.  “That’s okay. 
It won’t hurt us to walk.  I could use the exercise.”

“Okay.” 

Kristine reached for the door handle but
Minnie stopped her with a hand on her other arm.  “Kristine, I hope I didn’t
say too much.  I’d feel awful if I hurt you in any way.”

She shook her head.  “You didn’t.  I
appreciate your talking to me.  You’ve sort of opened my eyes to some things I
needed to see.”

She nodded in response and Kristine
climbed out of the car.  Jogging around the corner, she spotted Devon sitting
on the front steps of the school.  He wasn’t alone.  A man was sitting beside
him.  As she drew closer, she realized it was Joe.

Her eyes widened in surprise.  What was
Joe doing at Devon’s school?

Kristine watched him questioningly as
she approached.  Before she could speak, Devon said, “Mom forgot me again.”

“Oh, honey,” she said, smiling
apologetically, “it was my fault.  I forgot about your early release.”

Devon eyed her skeptically, seeing right
through her ruse, but she hated that his mother routinely disappointed him. 
What kind of a mother forgot her child on a regular basis?

“Hey, Joe,” she said.  “What are you
doing here?”

“Joe’s workin’ on a new building close
to my school.  He saw me when he was driving by,” Devon informed.

 “I saw Devon sitting here alone and
figured I’d better stop and check on him.  I didn’t see any other children
around, and no adults…”  He gave a shrug.

“So he stopped to see me,” Devon said
happily.  “He’s going to show me his new building when it’s safe to go inside.”

Kristine nodded and turned to Joe. 
“Thank you for watching him.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, watching her
intently now.  His eyes widened, as if he remembered something of import. 
“Hey, I stopped by the bakery today and you weren’t there.  It sort of threw me
for a loop because…”

“I’m always there,” she finished, and
then stood taller and declared, “I took the day off.”

“Well, good,” he said.  “You deserve
one.”  He watched her briefly.  “Any chance you and Devon would care to join me
for lunch?”

“Sure,” Devon said without hesitation.

“I’m afraid I’ve already eaten lunch,”
Kristine told him.

“But I haven’t, Auntie Kristine.”

“Devon hasn’t, Auntie Kristine,” Joe
said, matching Devon’s hopeful smile.

As much as she wanted to join him, she
declined his offer.  She needed time to think about her mother and sister’s
accusations.  She needed to decide if it would be appropriate to date her
sister’s former love interest.  If Lori was okay with it, it would be one
thing, but she’d made it perfectly clear she wanted Kristine and Joe to cease
and desist having any contact.

“Please, Auntie Kristine,” Devon said. 
“Joe’s my friend.”

The little boy watched her with
imploring eyes.  Her heart broke for him.  He’d just been left at the school,
forgotten by his mother, and if not for Joe coming along, something could have
happened to him.  What if he’d wandered off?  What if something had happened to
him?  Awful things happened to children in small towns too.

“Please, please,” he begged.

Kristine relented with a sigh.  “Okay.”

“My truck’s over there,” Joe pointed
ahead.  “Gracie’s waiting for you, Devon.”

The little boy charged toward the
truck.  “Thanks again, Joe,” Kristine said, as she walked alongside him to the
truck.  Devon had already reached it and was talking to Gracie through the open
window. 

Kristine brought Joe to a stop.  “Lori
called me and asked me to pick up Devon.  Did you…?”

“Yeah, I called her.  Like I said, I’d
been to the bakery earlier.  I was hoping to see you.  Anyway, when I spotted
Devon and had a conversation with him, I called the bakery and informed Lori
that he was sitting on the steps of the school.”  He paused.  “Imagine my
surprise seeing your mother and Lori at the bakery.”  He flashed a rueful
smile.  “I got the distinct impression they were having a bad day.”