Page 8 of A Christmas Adventure

"To the bakery? No," Maite is horrified, "come on, for the few hours I'm going to have you here, we're not going to waste them there."

"Come on, mom. It's been a long time since I've been there and I'm excited, and by the way, you can check that everything is in order."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

On the way, Maite explains to her daughter in detail what happened on the day her father told her he was leaving her. She listens with half of her attention on her and the other half thinking that she should call her father and give him a piece of her mind, but the truth is she still doesn't know what to say to him. Her father has made a decision without consulting them, he has left knowing the consequences, so she understands that he is very sure of what he has done.

"Luckily I have the bakery, with so much work I can hardly think about anything," her mother continues to relate.

"Who's in charge of the purchases now and making trips to Huesca to deliver the weekly orders?" Violet asks.

Some of the products from her parents' bakery are so famous that they make them to order to sell also in bakeries in Huesca. Her father was the one who took care of making a trip one day a week to distribute the orders and also to buy some products taking advantage of the trip.

"Last week Antonio's son went to do me the favor, but the man can't, he has a lot of work here. This week I'm going to have to pay for a special transport service that will take away a large part of the profits."

"You have to hire someone, mom."

"I know, I know, I'm working on it. Don't worry, I already started spreading the word on Friday and you wouldn't believe it, on Saturday people came interested, but they were just kids from the village who want to make some money during these holidays, and I have to think long term."

"Well, mom, but until you find someone you could hire one of those kids."

"No way, Violet," Maite refuses, "right now it's counterproductive. I lose too much time teaching them and by the time I have them ready, they leave."

Her daughter has to agree with her on that.

"If only my boss would give me vacation earlier," she laments.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll find someone soon."

When they enter the bakery, Violet feels a nostalgia she no longer remembered. Thousands of memories from her childhood come back to her memory and suddenly she feels like she's going back in time. She greets Antonio with an effusive hug and then goes out to the sales area, where a married couple Violet has known all her life is serving non-stop.

"Well, Violet," the woman greets her, making her husband turn around.

Violet greets them with her hand and as if she had never forgotten the afternoons of her adolescence she spent helping her parents, she washes her hands and starts serving people while her mother gives orders like a sergeant in the back room. This is how they spend almost two hours without noticing, until Maite grabs her by the arm and pulls her.

"Come on, let's go eat, Antonio will take care of closing."

"Are you sure? I don't mind if we continue."

Maite smiles looking at her daughter surprised. She still remembers the arguments they had and that hatred Violet seemed to feel towards the work she could inherit from her parents. She supposes the change in attitude is due to the fact that she has only spent a few hours there and that, deep down, all of that brings back good memories.

Mother and daughter eat a stew that Maite prepared the day before. Violet continues to regret not being able to stay longer, but her mother assures her that she's fine, thatthey can talk on the phone and that Christmas vacation is only a couple of weeks away.

"I'm fine, honey, really. I just need to assimilate it. It was a hard blow and being alone makes the walls feel like they're closing in on me, but I'll get used to it."

Violet feels an unknown rage towards her father and is glad he has gone far away, so she doesn't have the temptation to go looking for him to tell him what she thinks.

She says goodbye to her mother with the tranquility of finding her much more composed than she expected, now she just has to let the days pass and not worry, soon she will return to the village and will be able to help her in those festive days when they have the most work during the whole year. After that, she will simply have to make do with calling her and escaping some weekend, but by then, she hopes her mother will be better.

Chapter 5

Several days have passed since her return, and on Thursday, December 7th, Violeta can't focus. It's the middle of Constitution Day weekend, and although she had agreed with her boss over a month ago to work through it to keep the project on schedule, her frustration at not being able to spend these days with her mother has her mind elsewhere, far from the meeting she's attending. She talks to Maite daily and knows that since Tuesday, her mother has a new assistant. A woman named Olga who just moved to the town, specifically to the house of their neighbors that has been empty for a long time after the wife's death and the husband's move to a nursing home. Apparently, the man passed away recently, and Olga is one of the nieces who inherited the house.

"I'm delighted, Violeta," her mother told her just last night. "She's hardworking and reliable. And the customers are very happy with her."

"That's great, Mom."