“Yes, this is Dave Stewart, the Cook County health inspector?” His voice held a question. “Can I speak to Jim or Elaine, please?”
Robin’s heart beat loud in her ears. Health inspector? Surely they hadn’t been reported for the flood situation. “I’m sorry, they are unavailable. This is Robin, their granddaughter. I’m filling in for them while they are away.”
“Oh. I’ll speak to you then.” She heard a rustle of paper on the other end of the line. “I’m calling to schedule your annual health inspection. Is Monday a good time to come by?”
Robin took a look around the kitchen-cum-war zone. “Um. Not really. Let’s do the end of the month.”
The inspector cleared his throat. “You can’t keep putting off this inspection. I gave your bakery some leniency after Mr. Fox had his heart attack, but now I must insist it get done. Otherwise I will be forced to shut you down. If you can’t do this Monday, it’ll have to be the first Monday in February.”
By the sink, Mack had finished packing his tools. His feet squished a little on the still-sodden floor. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth. “Sure. Fine.”
“We’ll just be checking to make sure everything is up-to-date, and of course I’ll want to check your walk-in. I’ll try to pop in sometime around lunch in…just about two weeks’ time.” The click on the other end sounded before she could say anything else.
She swallowed. Hung up the phone. Turned to Mack with a slight smile. “When can you start?”
After the plumber left, promising to return the next day, Robin stood in the kitchen, staring at the wall. Her grandparents had been gone for three days and things were already starting to fall apart. Where would she find someone to fix the cabinets on short notice? She’d have to figure it out somehow.
She made a mental note to check with the laundry service about the damp cloths she and Sammy had used yesterday to clean up. They needed to be laundered.
Speaking of Sammy, where had he come from yesterday? Not that she hadn’t appreciated his help, and right when she’d needed him, but she hadn’t thought about Sammy in years. Check that—she thought about him every time she watched a football game. She may have dated a football player or two, but Sammy was the one she always looked for on the field. As a lineman, he’d seemed to have a knack for always being in the right place to protect the ball. She wondered idly if he still played. And yeah, she could admit to having had a crush on him in high school. He’d grown into himself in the years since. More masculine.
In fact, Sammy Johnson had become one fine-looking man.
Of course, she’d heard about his accident and the heroics accompanying the event. Saving someone’s life was just what the Sammy Johnson she’d known would do. It didn’t surprise her to know he was a hero.
She moved to the nook where the computer sat on a small desk. Underneath, file drawers held financial statements and other business-related items.
Booting up the aging computer took forever, so Robin flipped through the product catalog in front of her. Drooling over fancy and expensive ovens always calmed her. She dreamed of a day she could purchase something like this for her own bakery. But those dreams would have to wait, as she had far more pressing needs.
Like saving the bakery her grandparents had trusted her with.
New plumbing and new cabinetry would cost money. She logged into her grandparents’ banking program. Checked the numbers again.
Apparently, Fox Bakery was broke.
Well, not technically. The Fox Bakery made enough to pay its bills and the wages for their part-time employees, but there wasn’t much left over. It looked like her grandparents routinely donated their product to any charity that asked them to donate to their silent auction or any church function that required fresh bread. There was even a record of them providing unleavened bread for an annual community Passion Play and Lord’s Supper event every Easter.
All admirable, of course, but it didn’t leave anything in the bank for routine updates to the building, like repairing ancient plumbing, for example.
She shuddered at the thought of calling her grandparents to ask them to pay the plumber. This money issue had probably contributed to Grandpa’s heart attack in the first place. There was no way she was interrupting their quiet trip to Florida with a plea for more cash.
She’d figure it out. And figure out how to replace the cabinet too.
The scent of bread grew stronger, alerting her that the current batch was nearly done. She went to the oven to pull the loaves out. She kept turning the problem over in her mind, kneading at it like a stubborn rye dough that refused to relax.
After transferring the long, thin baguettes to the cooling rack, she reached for her phone. Video chatting with Elise would be a helpful distraction. She checked the time again. With the time difference, she should catch her friend getting off work.
“Elise!”
“Robin!” The miles that separated them fell away. The two had been roommates and fast friends since Robin’s first year in Paris. Victor had introduced them, and when Elise had found out Robin needed a place to stay, she’d jumped at the chance to find a new flat together. She’d been looking for a way out of a bad situation. The two of them had soon become more like sisters than roommates.
Now her friend’s warm greeting comforted Robin like biting into a fresh baguette on a spring morning. In the tiny video screen, she could see that Elise was sitting at her miniscule kitchen table. Her white-blonde hair topped her head in a tight knot. Even through the screen, Elise’s bright blue eyes shone.
“How is Deep Haven?”
“Pretty much the same as how I left it.” Those words should have been depressing, but somehow, finding Deep Haven unchanged had been a balm. Coming back had felt…right. She related some of her woes to Elise.
“I’m sorry. That sounds rough. Can I help?”
