“Won’t that cramp Grace’s style? Being out on the town with two old ladies?”
“We are not old,” Ella rolled her eyes.
“Doesn’t she have another friend she can invite? What about Becca?”
“She and Becca are on the outs right now. Anyway, when was the last time the three of us went on an adventure like this together?”
“When we took her to thatWalking Deadconvention last summer and nearly got trampled by hundreds of women trying to get a look at Norman Reedus.”
“And wasn’t that fun?”
Funwas certainly not how I remembered it, but I knew that arguing was pointless. Ella had already made up her mind. “What band was it again?”
“Midnight in Dallas,” she squealed. “I practically had to sell my soul to get these tickets.”
I stared at her blankly. “Sounds like the name of a Lifetime movie.”
She picked up the magazine and swatted me over the head with it. “Evenyouknow who Midnight in Dallas is. They only swept the freaking Grammys this year. Remember that song we heard at the shop last week that you couldn’t stop listening to? ‘Fortress’? That’s their newest one.”
“The one with the sexy voice?” I asked, my interest admittedly a little piqued. I remembered the sound of that soulful voice. I couldn’t get it out of my head last week as I worked on our new Pumpkin Praline cupcake recipe. At the time, I didn’t know if the song was by a band or solo artist. All I knew was the voice behind it was like a velvet robe for the soul.
“That’s the one!” Her excitement overflowed like an uncorked bottle of champagne, and I knew there was no turning back. “We’ll get dressed up, go to dinner at Adele’s, and then head to the Ryman. It’ll be great.”
“You do realize I haven’t dressed up basically this entire decade, right?”
“You’re not getting out of this,” Ella said, eyeing me. “You always look amazing. You don’t give yourself enough credit, Liv. You can wear jeans and a T-shirt and still look like a fucking rockstar.”
“That’s good news seeing how that’s almost all I own.”
“So you’ll go?” Ella reached for my hands and gave them an excited squeeze.
I sighed, but I knew I couldn’t say no. Ella needed this night out as much as I did. “Yes. Yes, I’ll go.”
I cued up a Midnight in Dallas radio station on my phone while I worked the next morning. I found myself swaying to the sounds of that soulful, sexy as hell voice while I swirled a pastry bag over dozens of cupcakes. Their sound fit right in with the usual suspects on my playlists these days: The Lumineers, Lord Huron, The Civil Wars, Hozier, and even Ed Sheeran. Don’t get me wrong. My heart would always bleed country, but lately, my soul had been venturing over into indie rock and even a little pop.
Mondays were generally our slowest day of the week. Ella was off since Grace’s school had an Inservice Day, so it felt extra quiet. We had some large orders come in that morning, so I worked right through lunch, completely lost in the music. It wasn’t until Katie Kelley, our other pastry chef, spoke up that I even realized what time it was.
“Hey, Liv.” Katie’s sweet, soft-spoken voice broke through the Midnight in Dallas trance I was in. “Didn’t you say you needed to dip out a little early? It’s a quarter to four already.” Her honey-colored ponytail flipped as she turned to point at the clock.
“Shit.” I sighed. Days like today I was glad to be only a short walk from home. “I have a couple dozen left to go.”
“Girl, get out of here.” Katie waved me off, taking the pastry bag from my hands. “I’ve got this,andI’m opening up tomorrow. Don’t you worry about a thing. You and Ella have fun tonight.”
When Katie joined our team four years ago, Ella and I had been able to breathe a lot easier. She was only a few years younger than us, and she came with very little baking experience, but now she was a dear friend, brilliant pastry chef, and our most trusted employee. Katie was the friend who showed up with delicious home-cooked meals for me after Ben asked for a divorce. She was a little on the shy side, but dependable to a fault. Last spring when Ella and I both managed to come down with the flu, Katie showed up on our doorsteps with care packages of homemade chicken soup, Gatorade, tea, and trashy magazines. She did this all while keeping things running smoothly at the bakeryandmaking thirteen wedding cakes for one of our busiest weekends of the season.
“You’re a lifesaver.” I kissed her on the cheek before whipping off my apron and exchanging it for my tiny leopard-print cross body purse on the hook by the back door.
“You better come back with some good stories tomorrow,” Katie called after me.
“Right,” I mumbled. I turned the knob on the back door, giving it a shove with my hip, and I was off. I jogged down the sidewalk along the road behind the bakery. Everything surrounding the businesses of 12th Avenue South was purely residential with cozy, renovated bungalows, and a few new townhouses. Parking was hard to come by due to the eclectic mix of eateries and boutiques that lined 12th Avenue, so cars were always stacked like dominos along the tree-lined street.
The leaves that had already fallen crunched beneath my feet as I practically sprinted the entire two and a half blocks home. I quickly let myself in the front door, narrowly avoiding Mama’s tail as I skittered past her.
“Sorry, Mama.” She hissed as I threw my bag on the small table inside the foyer and ran down the hall to my bedroom. My phone chirped with a text notification from my back pocket, and I knew exactly who it was before I even looked at it.
Ella: We’re picking you up in the Lyft at 5:15. You better look hot!
I rolled my eyes as I ticked off my quick reply.
