Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 91937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Epilogue
HARMONY
Seven months later
I turn down the street to the bakery, seeing a couple of people already out on their morning walk. I look over and see that it’s just turned 7:00 a.m. The sun is shining in the sky and you can feel the spring air and smell the flowers starting to come up.
Pulling around to the front of the bakery, I park the truck and get out. Very different than it was five months ago when I would go around the back at the ass crack of dawn so no one would know that I was the one making the cakes. But the minute the judgment from the court case started fluttering through town, Ms. Maddie said she wasn’t lying anymore. “Fuck them. I’m tired of you showing up and hiding. You come tomorrow at seven when we open, and that’s it.” So the following day, I came at seven.
It took one person to see me delivering the cakes for more rumors to fly. Which ended up with my ex-mother-in-law storming into the bakery and trying to strong-arm Ms. Maddie into not selling my stuff. But the numbers were there, and she was making a killing from them, so she politely told her to bless her heart and get out of her store unless she was going to buy something. From the chatter going around, she left or actually stormed out of there and vowed to make her pay. So far, her threats are falling on deaf ears because my cakes have been selling out faster than ever. Now that I’m able to buy more baking items, I’m also baking double the quantities I normally have. Those were also selling out by the end of the day. It also helped that the bar was buying a bunch of them and putting them on their dessert menu. Something Brady and I discussed him not doing. But in the end, I had to admit he was right. It was a good thing to do. We were even working together to get a dessert pairing going with the newest blends for the day tours, which seem to be booked up for the next six months. It’s the thing to do when you’re in town, apparently.
I tuck the keys to the truck in one back pocket while I put my phone in the other one before walking around to the side of the truck and opening the door, grabbing the first box and walking to the bakery. I get to the door and have to tuck the box to my hip to pull open the door. The bell on top rings, and I wait for Ms. Maddie to come out from the back. I walk over to the counter, placing the box on it and wait for her to come. It takes her a long time, and I look over the counter toward the back when I see someone else come out. “Hi,” I say to the new face.
“Hey,” she replies. Her face is white, and her eyes and nose are red, as if she’s been crying.
“Are you okay?” I ask, and she just stares at me and then the box.
“You must be Harmony, the girl who bakes the cakes,” she says to me, totally ignoring the question I just asked her.
“I am.” I nod at her.
“I’m Everleigh,” she says her name, “Ms. Maddie’s daughter.” My mouth almost goes into a smile until I see the tears well up in her eyes, and my heart sinks. “She had a heart attack last night.” My hand goes to my mouth to stop the gasp. “Luckily, I was on the phone with her when it happened, and I was able to get her help from her neighbor, and then the ambulance got there in time.”
“Oh my.” I feel my own tears now rolling down my face. “Is she okay?”
“She was resting this morning when I left the hospital,” she shares. “Doctor says that she needs to stay off her feet and rest.” She tries not to break down. “But she’s stubborn, so unless I’m going to stay here and watch her…” She shakes her head. “So now here I am for the next little while.”
“If there is anything I can do for you,” I offer, and she nods. “I have another one in the truck,” I tell her, and she nods, taking the cakes from the counter and walking toward the back of the store, not giving me anything else. Taking that as a clue to get the other box, I quickly rush out to the truck and grab the other cakes.
Pulling open the door, I see Everleigh come back out to get the box. “Do you have my number?” I ask, and she looks at me. “If you want to take my number down, you can let me know if you need anything.”