Page 61 of Pick Me This Time

“I can use some of that,” I said as we shook. “What’s going on?”

“We should have this place ready to open for the start of the festival.” He grinned. “It wouldn’t be the same if the bakery wasn’t operational. And the damage wasn’t as extensive as it looked. You got to it in time with that extinguisher, man. The fire department says another ten minutes and it would’ve taken at least the roof.”

“Shit.” I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply and sending a silent thanks out into the universe that I’d walked out of the house when I had that morning.

Another ten minutes and we might’ve had to rebuild, which would’ve meant that all the last traces of my mom would’ve been lost. When I opened my eyes again, Jake’s features had softened with understanding.

He raked a hand through his blond hair, then inclined his head at the guy working on the outlet. “That’s Dan. He’s my electrician. When he’s done, the ovens shouldn’t give you any more trouble.”

I nodded and looked past Jake at Dan. “Thanks for your hard work, man.”

The guy grunted, face scrunched up in concentration as he did whatever it was he was doing. As something sparked, he grinned at me over his shoulder. “I love this place, so you’re welcome, but we’re trying to get this done for the benefit of the whole town.”

“Fair enough,” I said before turning back to Jake. “Outside?”

“We’re getting some paint up on the walls to hide the smoke stains. The murals are safe. I’m having one of my best guys restore the parts that need to be, but you won’t be able to tell the new from the old by the time he gets through with it.”

“Thank you,” I said genuinely, then frowned when he started striding to the door. “You’re leaving?”

He smiled as he waved for me to join him. “I have a project two towns over I need to finish today before it rains, but I’ll be back tomorrow. You’re in good hands with my guys.”

“Of course.” I followed him out, leaving his crew to work in peace when he took off.

I climbed back into Eric’s truck, aimless until I decided to go help my dad with the pumpkin patch. We hadn’t really spoken since the fire, but I wasn’t giving up on him. I knew he wasn’t going to make it easy on me, but we’d just seen—again—how much things could change in the space of even just an hour.

I wasn’t expecting him to do a complete one eighty and forgive me for all my perceived sins overnight, but I also wasn’t leaving things the way they were. The old man would just have to learn to deal with it.