“That’s not him. Look at what he’s driving.”
Yes, the SUV was an expensive model, but it was several years old. And it appeared to be in good condition, no broken taillights or cracked wind shield. But there was dust caked on the car as if the owner had gone off-roading.
Sally squinted. “Ayuh. I heard those bread stores of his are successful. He probably drives something flashier.”
Claire pictured a red Corvette, a short, balding man slipping from the driver’s side as his blond trophy wife tottered to her feet on high heels that would get stuck in the sidewalk cracks. Her name would probably end in two Es.
The customer who had been standing at the cash register cleared her throat.
As Claire cashed her out, her phone chimed with an incoming text message. She ignored it until she’d boxed up her customer’s choices and delivered them to her. Only then did Claire fish the phone out of her pocket.
She smiled in relief as she peered at the text. It was the last of her teenage hires promising to come in to bake cupcakes on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evening. With their help and her supervision, she would be on top of the last-minute cupcake sale four days away. The morning was going well. She’d already secured an ad with the local radio station, ordered flyers from Stacy, and now had helpers for the baking. She breathed a little easier.
At least until she looked up from the phone to find Sally standing in front of her.
“Good news?” asked the old woman.
Claire nodded.
The handywoman grunted. “Well, that’s good because you’re not going to like what I found in the kitchen.”
Claire sighed and followed the older woman to the site of the concern. What would she find? Rats? A busted pipe already turning her kitchen into the town swimming pool? The floor was dry.
Claire followed Sally to the bathroom, where the handywoman pointed under the vanity. “Got a leak.”
Shoot!The pipes. “Can you patch it until I get money for the pipe repairs?”
Sally’s eyes narrowed. She rubbed her chin and bent over to inspect the pipes again. “I guess so. But these are old, too, like the rest of the building.” She peered back up at Claire, awaiting the final decision.
The cupcake sale was already in motion. She hadn’t talked to the bank about the loan for the pipe repairs. She only needed four more days to make it through the grand opening, then she would get the ball rolling for the whole repair job.
“A patch job will have to do. Let’s hope it holds until after the big cupcake sale.”
Hailey parked the old beat-up Dodge she’d borrowed from her grandfather in the town lot a few stores down from Sandcastles. She turned off the ignition and patted the dashboard. “Now you be nice and startup when I get off work.”
Ignoring the rusty groan of the car door, she hurried down the street to Sandcastles. Across the street, something was different. The store now had the paper off the windows and a big sign for a sale.Oh no!Would that take business away?
She let herself in the bakery’s side door, almost forgetting to pull it tight. The door was another thing at Sandcastles that needed to be fixed. If they didn’t make sure it latched, it would swing back open. The last thing they needed was a bakery full of flies.
“Did you see the big sale sign across the street?” she asked Claire as she cinched the strings around her waist.
Claire turned from where she’d been talking to Sally in the hallway. It seemed like Sally had been there more often than not lately, which added another layer of worry. Were there more and more things that needed to be fixed?Poor Claire.Hailey knew that Claire wasn’t exactly rolling in money. Even if Hailey took some responsibility from Claire’s shoulders, she wasn’t sure Claire would have extra money to give her a small raise.
“Yes, but we’re going to do them one better,” Claire said.
“We are?”
“Yes. We’re having a two-for-one cupcakes sale on Saturday.”
Hailey turned to survey the kitchen with its one oven and limited counter space, already calculating what they would need to pull that off in her head. “How many extra cupcakes?”
“About thirty dozen.”
Hailey let out a low whistle. “Okay, we’ll have to bake at night unless we’re going to have less of the regular items.”
“I know. I want to keep our regular schedule during the day but figured we could bake extra at night. The cupcakes will keep, and I’ll ask Jane and Maxi to help frost them all on the last night. I’ve hired Ashton and Sarah to help with the baking, and if you have time at night, I’ll pay you extra.”
Hailey frowned. A few nights of extra pay wouldn’t solve all her problems. Every little bit helped, though. “I might be able to do some extra hours.”If Gramp’s car holds out.
