The Icing on the Cake (13 page)

Kristine woke the next morning to the
reality that she had nowhere to go.  Her bakery was ruined and she had herself
to thank for it.  If only she had gone to work the day before.

In her mind’s eye, she saw the
firefighters drenching her beloved bakery with tens of thousands of gallons of
water.  Everything was ruined.  What the fire didn’t destroy, the water did. 
If only she hadn’t fought with her mother and sister.  If only she had just
gone to work as usual.  Everything was her fault.

She rolled over in bed and pounded her
pillow.  This time, the action was an attempt to release her fury with herself,
rather than to make a comfortable impression for her head.  After giving the
pillow a good pummeling, she dropped her face into the billowy softness.  She
willed herself back to sleep, to no avail.

She finally turned over and stared at
the ceiling.  She lay there, unmoving, for an hour or so, hoping sleep would
come.  No such luck.

Finally, in frustration, she rose and
readied for her day.  She had a meeting with an insurance adjustor later in the
morning.  The fire marshal explained it might take some time to determine the
source of the fire.  As such, the insurance company could only send an adjustor
to assess the damage, but they wouldn’t offer any settlement until he provided
a written report outlining any cause or causes.

When Kristine had asked Lori what had
happened, she had simply shaken her head.  Kristine wasn’t sure if she was
traumatized by the fire or punishing her for showing up with Joe.  Lori had
certainly played the part of the victim, crying and clinging to Joe as if he
were a life preserver.

Kristine had felt a surge of anger, followed
by jealousy, followed by resignation.  If she hadn’t stepped on her sister’s
toes and shown a reciprocal interest in Joe, none of this would have happened. 
Lori should have seen him first, that day he’d saved her from a serious injury
by catching her when she’d fallen off the ladder.  If only Lori had been
working that morning, he might have seen her first and realized he still felt
something for her.  If only…

Kristine promptly rejected the image of
Joe and Lori together.  Joe was a grown man.  He had every right to prefer one
sister over the other.  Of course, she might feel differently if she hadn’t
been the sister for whom he had a preference.  She grasped her face in her
hands and let out a long, mournful groan. 

Finally, she took a shoring breath and
padded down the stairs.  She found both her mother and sister in the kitchen. 
She was surprised to find them both up and dressed.  They typically slept in
much later. 

Lori was leaning against the kitchen
counter, sipping coffee.  Her mother was seated, eating toast.  “Good morning,
Kristine,” her mother said, sounding much more formal than her usual self.    

“Good morning, Mom,” she said, watching
her questioningly.

“So…” Lori began, “you were with Joe
when Mom called you yesterday.”

She nodded.  She couldn’t very well
lie.  They’d seen her.  “Yes, I was.”

“And Devon too?” Lori asked.

“Yes, he was with me.  When I went by
school to pick him up, Joe was there.  Well, you know that, right?  He called
you when he saw Devon all alone at school.”

Lori glared at her.  “Are you trying to
suggest I’m a negligent mother?  I forgot about early release, Kristine. 
Okay?  Someday, when you’re a mom, you’ll understand it isn’t easy to remember
every little detail involving your kids.”

Kristine watched her, aghast.  She
hadn’t suggested any such thing.  However, if the shoe fit… 

Before she could formulate a response,
her mother spoke up.  “Lori’s right.  It isn’t easy being a mother—trying to
assure everyone’s needs are met.  Frankly, it’s a thankless job and one that
people are quick to criticize.”

“I never said it was easy being a mother
and I didn’t criticize you,” Kristine said, thoroughly confused by the swift
turn of the conversation.

“I can see the judgment in your eyes,”
Lori accused, as she glared at Kristine.  “And so you know, I don’t appreciate
you sneaking around with Joe behind my back, and with my child along for the
ride.”

Kristine looked from her sister to her
mother.  She expected this sort of nonsense from Lori, but her mother had
seemingly jumped on the crazy train with her.  “Mom…?”

“Kristine,” her mother said curtly,
“Lori makes a good point.  What were you thinking, taking Devon around Joe?”

She shook her head, absolutely perplexed
by the question.  “Why wouldn’t I?”

Her mother ignored the question, but
Lori spoke up.  “It doesn’t matter,” she said, now smiling smugly.  “Joe and I
have a lunch date.  He told me we’d get everything sorted out.”

Kristine felt her heart break in two. 
So Lori had worked her magic on Joe.  What else was new?  Few men could resist
her beautiful sister.  Why would Joe be any different?

***

Kristine accompanied the insurance
adjustor on a walk through the damaged bakery.  Her heart broke anew as she
took in the magnitude of the damage.  Repairing it would require a total gut
job.  They would have to replace everything and start from scratch.

Fortunately, the exterior of the old
brick building, though charred, appeared sound.  They would have to have an
engineer have a look at the foundation and exterior, as well as the roof, in
order to assure all retained structural integrity, but Kristine was hopeful
they would receive a good report.

As she talked at length with the
adjustor about the potential to rebuild, she happened to catch sight of her
sister strolling along the sidewalk across the street.  When Lori ducked into a
small café, she realized she was likely meeting Joe there.

She inhaled deeply, to still the
drumbeat of her heart.  The thought of Lori and Joe together was painful to
consider, but inevitably would happen.  She was certain of that.  When Lori
needed to, she could turn on the charm, and that, coupled with her stunning
beauty, assured she’d get her man.

Kristine resolved then and there to
accept the inevitable.  She’d been happy with her life before Joe came along
and she would be happy after.  The fact that her mother and sister had turned
on her would make living at home difficult, but it was time for her to move out
anyway.  She was twenty-eight and should have gone on her way after graduating
college.  But she’d stayed to work at the bakery at her mother’s request.

She remembered her father had urged her
to spread her wings and fly, but she had felt wrong even considering it.  Her
mother had worked so hard at the bakery, sacrificing her time in order to help
provide a good life for her children…

She realized now that her mother had
used her time at the bakery as an excuse to be away from the drudgery of
running a household.  It was her escape, and in a sense, Kristine was as guilty
as her mother of making her livelihood her life.  Perhaps she enjoyed the
feeling of being needed and relished the compliments from people who recognized
her talents as a premiere baker and gifted business manager as much as her
mother had during her early years.  Either way, it was time to move on from her
home. 

Was it time to leave the bakery behind? 
She had assumed they would rebuild Branton’s and start anew.  But would her
mother and Lori be on board with rebuilding?  They had wanted to sell before
the fire, so it stood to reason they would want to sell after.

If they were determined to part with it,
would they rebuild first?  Or would they take the insurance money, split it
three ways, demolish the building and sell the land beneath it?

What would become of Minnie and Mitch? 
They’d worked for Branton’s for years and years.  Cooper Glenn was a small
town.  How would they find work?  Theirs was the only bakery in town, aside
from an in-store bakery at the local supermarket.

The thought of losing the business, the
finality of its loss, the impact on her friends…  Kristine felt tears spring to
her eyes.  She couldn’t bear for a stranger to see her crying and she excused
herself and dashed away.  Climbing into her car, she dropped her head onto the
steering wheel and allowed the tears to flow—for the bakery, for her broken
relationships, for her father…  She cried most for Joe.  Faced with losing him
entirely, she knew now she loved him. 

***

Kristine checked her face in the
rearview mirror.  What little mascara she wore was running in steaks down her
tear-stained cheeks.  Her nose was red, as were her eyes.  She looked awful.

She considered going home to clean up,
but thought better of it.  She couldn’t face her mother and her accusing eyes. 
She couldn’t bear that her mother had seemingly turned on her, when she had
tried to do everything within her power to keep the family afloat.

It was time to search for an apartment. 
Making a quick decision to pick up the newspaper in order to look for a place,
she checked her mirror and carefully did a u-turn.  She passed the café just as
Lori and Joe stepped outside.

Lori had her arm wrapped around Joe’s
arm and her head was tipped back, her face alight with laughter.  Joe had his
head turned slightly toward her, as if he’d been listening intently to whatever
she had been saying.  The two turned to their left and began strolling along
the sidewalk.

Joe spotted her as she drove past. 
Their eyes connected for a brief second before she yanked hers away.  She
didn’t miss the flash of confusion in his eyes, or the lift of his hand in a
wave.  She didn’t wave back and continued toward the store.

There, she purchased a newspaper and
returned to her car, where she sat and read through the ‘for rent’ section of
the paper.  She found a few possibilities, circled them, and then pulled her
cell phone out of her purse in order to make inquiries.

Within an hour, she had three potential
places to consider and had set up appointments to see them.  She checked her
watch.  Her first appointment was twenty minutes away and on the other end of
town. 

She started up the car, just as Joe
pulled into the space beside her.  She cringed.  After his meeting with Lori,
he must have headed in the direction she’d traveled and spotted her car. 

It appeared he was about to climb out,
in order to talk to her.  She simply couldn’t talk to him right now.  He was
probably going to tell her that he and Lori had discovered they still felt
something for one another and that they owed it to each to explore those feelings. 
She just didn’t want to hear it.  Couldn’t bear to hear it.

She released the emergency break,
shifted into reverse, and backed out so quickly she left him open-mouthed and
watching after her. She felt ridiculous, but what could she do?  She’d suffered
enough loss of late, and losing him when she’d just found him was too much to
bear. 

Perhaps it would be best if she left
everything behind.  Maybe it was time she move away entirely—leave Cooper Glenn. 
She’d probably been premature scheduling appointments to view rentals.  If they
sold the bakery, she would have little reason to stay.  Since she’d lost Joe,
the only thing keeping her here was Devon.  Could she go off and leave her
nephew with a mother who couldn’t take care of herself, let alone him, and a
grandmother who couldn’t see her daughter was lacking when it came to maternal
instincts? 

What would happen to her precious nephew
if she left town?

She sighed as she considered her
options.  She couldn’t leave Devon behind.  He didn’t belong to her, but
leaving town felt like abandoning him.

Could she do it?

Minnie would tell her it was time to
focus on herself—to find her own happiness.  But how could she do that if Devon
was constantly on her mind.  The guilt of leaving him behind would kill her.

In light of that reality, she decided to
go ahead and view the rental properties.  If nothing else, she could find a
place as a means to buy time, in order for her to come to an ultimate decision
about her future.

As she toured the apartment with a
middle-aged woman who managed the complex, she soon realized the place was
simply too tiny.  A studio, it featured a small bathroom and a single, large
room.  She didn’t feel comfortable attempting to carve out a bedroom and living
space within the oddly-shaped room.   

An hour later, she viewed a much larger
duplex.  Brick, with a manicured front lawn, the apartment had curb appeal and
a great location.  If she happened to go back to work at a rebuilt bakery, she
would be close enough to walk to work.

She entered the duplex with a young man
who explained the building belonged to his parents.  He showed her from room to
room and she found she really liked it.  She was thrilled with the master
bedroom with the ensuite bath.  The kitchen was updated with new stainless
steel appliances and she was delighted to see a large window above the kitchen
sink, affording a view of the small yard outside.  Mature arborvitae lined the
space, providing both shade and privacy.