The Bachelor Baker. Carolyne Aarsen

from the police department,” Rory said. “We can grab a chocolate bar at The Everything around the corner. Be way cheaper.”

      “But not as good.” In spite of her reluctance, however, the young girl straightened and with one last, longing look at the pastries gave Melissa an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

      Then they left.

      Another satisfied customer. Though the bakery was busy enough to require extra help, she had come across resistance to her prices—even though they were more than fair—and resistance to her presence. Small towns, she thought, turning away from the counter, Brian’s unwilling countenance slipping into her thoughts.

      “Sorry I wasn’t helping you,” Amanda called as she came out of the storage room at the back of the bakery lugging a large yellow pail. Tall and thin, with curly brown hair and what Amanda said were True Blue eyes, she didn’t look strong enough to carry the large bags of flour and pails of shortening Melissa used. “I saw you were busy with Mr. Montclair so I figured I’d get the shortening out to soften. But I couldn’t find it right away and had to go digging.” She set the pail down on the wooden counter, her hair coated with a layer of dust. “What’s the matter? You look ticked.”

      “It shows?” Melissa pushed out her lower lip and blew her bangs out of her face with a sigh of frustration. “I just lost a customer and tried to hire Brian Montclair.”

      “You tried to hire Brian?” Amanda looked at her, her blue eyes wide with surprise. “I heard him at The Everything when the bakery first started, you know, saying he wasn’t comin’ to any of the new businesses if he could help it. ‘Wasn’t working for no city slickers,’ he said.” Amanda’s last words rose up as if on a question. “Surprised he would come for an interview.”

      Though only a teenager, Amanda was a lifelong resident of Bygones and had been filling Melissa in on the many and varied people living in the town, their history and connections.

      “He didn’t know it was an interview when he came,” she said. “But he didn’t want the job.”

      “Not surprised. He’s more of a mechanic than a baker.”

      Guess she had him pegged after all, Melissa thought.

      “Got lotsa cake pops left,” Amanda said as she pried open the lid on the pail. “We don’t need to make any tomorrow.”

      “That’s too bad. I thought they would sell better,” Melissa said, picking up her checklist for what they needed to make for tomorrow. “Back in St. Louis there was a bakery around the corner from the hotel I baked at that couldn’t keep up with the demand. Lots of mothers had them at birthday parties.”

      “They’re great and all, but people need to try them, I guess. Maybe if Mrs. Morgan has them at the wedding—”

      Melissa held her hand up as if to stop what Amanda had to say. “Don’t even say that out loud or somehow she’ll find out and she’ll add them to an already overstuffed dessert menu.”

      Amanda grinned. “She is kinda getting carried away.”

      “Kinda,” Melissa agreed, glancing over the amount of squares and cookies still in the case. “At least today we don’t have as much left as yesterday.”

      She eased out another sigh, rubbing her left temple with her fingertips as she hung the clipboard back on the nail beside the industrial mixer. She’d been up since five o’clock this morning getting the bread going for the day and a spike of pain was slowly drilling into her temple.

      “You look beat,” Amanda said. “Why don’t you go home? I’ll be okay to close.”

      Melissa glanced around the bakery trying not to make a face at the flour dusting the floor, the crumbs spread around the cutting boards and the fingerprints she knew smudged the display cases in the front. Though she had dreamed for many years about opening her own bakery, the reality of the relentlessness of the work was settling in.

      As did the fact that the success of the bakery lay squarely on her shoulders. In St. Louis, working at the hotel as a baker, she was an employee. Here, she was on her own. Though independence and the ability to support herself were what she had always wanted, she never realized how heavy the load could be.

      “Okay. If you don’t mind cleaning up,” she said.

      “Sure. No problem.” Amanda flashed her a smile.

      With a grateful sigh Melissa tugged her apron off just as her cell phone rang. Her heart sank as she glanced at the name displayed on the screen.

      Mrs. Morgan. Mother of the groom of the wedding Melissa was baking for. Very demanding mother of the groom, she might add.

      “My dear Melissa. Sorry to be a bother,” Mrs. Morgan was saying in her usual hurried and breathless voice. “But I need to meet with you and Gracie. I want to rethink the dessert reception.”

      Of course she did, Melissa thought, leaning against the counter behind her. “When did you want to meet?”

      “Tomorrow. At noon at the Cozy Cup.”

      “Okay. I’ll be there.” She ended the call and blew out her breath, catching Amanda’s concerned look. “Will you be able to help me at noon tomorrow for an hour or so?”

      Amanda nodded. “My mom doesn’t need me then. I can easily come.”

      “That would be great.” She pushed herself away from the counter and walked into her office. Right now her first priority was to talk to Dale Eversleigh and see about getting a new list of prospective employees.

      * * *

      Brian strode across Bronson Avenue feeling more humiliated with each step. Working at the bakery? What was the SOS Committee thinking?

      When Melissa Sweeney had called him he wasn’t sure what she wanted, but she had asked him to come to the bakery and it would seem weird to say no. The first time he’d seen her around town he had been immediately attracted to the spunky redhead with the bright smile.

      That was until he found out that she was the owner of the new bakery. A business that had received the money he also had applied for.

      He yanked his keys out of his pocket, still frustrated that the SOS Committee had seen fit to give money to outsiders for shops like a pet store, flower shop, bookstore, coffee shop and bakery instead of the mechanic shop he’d wanted to open. The hardware store he could understand, but the rest?

      And now the committee seriously thought he would want to work at the bakery? The hardware store, okay, but the bakery? Seriously?

      He was about to cross Main Street to where his truck was parked by the grocery store when the door of the Cozy Cup Café opened and Miss Coraline stepped out.

      “Brian. Hello,” she said, giving him the same warm smile she seemed to have for all her former students.

      Miss Coraline was tall, always elegant, her silvery hair cut the same she had always worn it, a short style brushing her jaw. As far as Brian could tell she hadn’t aged since she taught him in high school.

      “Hello, Miss Coraline,” he said, spinning his truck keys around his finger, stifling the frustration still simmering below the surface of his own smile.

      “I noticed you just came out of the bakery,” she said, a surprised note in her voice. Brian suspected she remembered his rant about the new businesses at the Grand Opening.

      “Yeah. I...uh...got a call from Miss Sweeney. Said she wanted to talk to me about something.” He stopped himself there. If anything, he was even more angry than he had been then. Bad enough that the SOS Committee turned down his request, but now they wanted him to work for one of the people who had been chosen instead of him?

      Miss Coraline raised an eyebrow. “Something seems to be bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?”

      Brian seethed a few more seconds, gave his truck keys another