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Chapter Seven
I entered the bakery at 4:45 pm. By five after, we were in the back, cleaning up.
“How long does it usually take you to finish?” I asked as I wiped down the shelves and counters.
“It depends on the day, but if I’m lucky, I walk out around six,” Kate replied from her place by the sink. “I try to keep up with the dishes throughout the day, but there are a few last-minute customers I still want to help.”
“So you go out of your way to do so.” It certainly sounded like something she’d do.
“I don’t know if Nora’s the same way or not, but some folks can’t get here until after work. I don’t want them to miss out just because we have the same hours.”
“But then you’re working overtime.”
“It’s okay. It isn’t like I have anything else to do. Most nights, that is.” She offered me a wry smile, then went back to what she’d been doing. “What about you? I know construction has strange hours.”
“We work as much as we can, but it’s hard. If there’s bad weather, there isn’t much we can do.”
“So what do you do?”
“On the bad days, we’ll check inventory, call our clients, and move the schedule around. Then, to make up for it, we’ll work later the days we’re on. So long as it isn’t hot. Otherwise, we stop early.”
“Sounds like you work a bit of overtime as well.”
“We can, though it isn’t terribly common since we try to keep to the area. We could branch out, I guess, but we like to be available in case someone needs us here.”
“Do you like it? Working for your folks?” Kate cast me a sideways glance.
“It isn’t bad, exactly.”
“But?” she urged as she put away a handful of dishes.
“I can’t call in sick. If I can move and I don’t have a fever, I work.” Which was pretty much all the time.
“Your folks sound a lot like my mom. I wasn’t allowed to miss a day of school unless I was coughing up a lung. She even sent me in with pinkeye one time until the nurse called to send me home.”
“Is that part of the reason why you don’t want to have this as a profession? The long hours?”
“I enjoy it most of the time, but being on your feet all day like that can take its toll. It’s why I crash as soon as I get in. Sometimes, I fall asleep before Nora can finish heating up my meal.”
“How is she doing, by the way? Any better?”
“She’s getting around. It’s made her extra grumpy even though I know she feels a lot better than she did.” Kate straightened her back, then lifted her arms over her head in a long stretch. “There. Whatever’s left can wait until tomorrow morning.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yup. I need to come in early anyway. There’s a big order I want to finish before I open the doors.”
“We could work on the dough now if you’d like.”
“I’ve been looking forward to this all day, so if I have to wash one more dish, I’ll probably lose my mind.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Even if I agree to help?”
“You’ve already helped enough as it is.” Kate let out a breath, wiped her hands off on a towel she had hanging by the sink, then turned to me and smiled. “Shall we?”
