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She worked night and day to make a go of this. Working long hours into the night baking to make sure the counter was full every single morning, she managed to make enough money, with this addition, to support her mother’s health care bills.
Over the next couple of years, Brooke ended up getting an account with Baking Crate. Now she can bring her exclusive treats to other parts of the world. Not only was this a building block for her career, it also enabled Brooke to be able to replenish her parents’ savings, still helping to support them to this day. While in Willow Valley, I had the opportunity to work with Brooke during this past month. I have never known anyone who puts more effort and care into her business. She cares about each employee, and about the people of her community, and most of the time spends her time doing things to benefit others instead of herself. Not to mention the food, the sweets are all amazing. Willow Valley is lucky to have her, and it’s apparent they know it. The support from this small community is amazing.
I urge anyone who is passing through this small town, find and stop in and meet Brooke and her team. You’ll not only be greeted with a smile, but you’ll be greeted and welcomed into one of the most welcoming towns I’ve ever been in. Sit down, enjoy a cup of coffee and some breakfast, and don’t forget to grab a wonderful treat from the sweets counter. You’ll be missing out if you don’t.
I stared down at the images that had been included, softly smiling as I saw most of me with my staff, and then I flipped the page to see a large photo of me standing beside Tristan, his arm around me. It was from the night we’d gone to the park after we’d gotten the tree. I’d completely forgotten it had even been taken. We’d stopped in front of the gazebo in the park, and someone from the mayor’s office had asked if they could take our picture. Tristan had pulled me into him, and we both smiled as she snapped the picture. I’d forgotten that there would be a copy available for us to pick up the next morning, and we’d never gone to get the photo.
I smiled as I ran my fingers over the image. I picked up my glass of wine, swirled the contents, and drank down the remains of the glass.
* * *
Christmas Eve was one of my busiest days. I was always closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day. I’d started my day early. I had orders for cookie platters, cakes, yule logs, not to mention the place had been packed since we’d opened. Last-minute shoppers bustled in the streets, stopping along the way to get out of the cold and grab a hot coffee and a snack.
I’d just popped the last few trays of cookies into the oven. I’d committed to staying open later than normal today and was quickly running out of baked goods. I looked around. The cakes that were being picked up today were already cooling and would soon need to be decorated. I hobbled over to the mixer and had just starting to make the icing when the phone rang.
“Melinda, can you grab that?” I called as I stood adding icing sugar into the mixing bowl bit by bit.
“Sorry, I’ll be there in a couple seconds,” she yelled back, running out the door with three trays of cookies stacked on top of each other.
I shut the mixer off and ran over to the phone. “Hello, The Crispy Biscuit,” I said breathlessly into the receiver.
“Brooke? Is that you?”
“Dad??”
“Yeah, it’s me. How’s things?”
“Busy as always. It’s not like you to call me at the diner. What’s up?” I said, wiping my hands on my apron and sitting down.
The phone went silent.
“Dad?” Something was wrong, I could feel it in the air.
“It’s your mom. She had some sort of spell two days ago. I brought her into the hospital and…”
I could hear the shakiness in his voice, the panic. “What is it, Dad? Why didn’t you call me?” I asked, panic building in me.
“Um…I don’t know how to tell you this, but the cancer it’s back, and it’s spread.”
My stomach sank and my eyes filled with tears as I processed what he’d said. Everything went quiet as I began shutting my surroundings out.
“How bad?” I asked, sitting down trying to catch my breath.
“They aren’t sure. They are still waiting on some tests. However, they think it’s been back for a while and she just hadn’t noticed.”
I brought my hand to my mouth to stop the sobs that so badly wanted to escape. They were in Paris, not supposed to be back until the middle of January. What if she didn’t make it? I’d never get to say good-bye. Sobs silently racked my body, but I did my best to compose myself so my father couldn’t hear that in my voice.
“What are you going to do? Come home, to her doctors?”
“The doctors here think she is okay to fly, so yes. They will send their findings to her doctor in Florida, and then we will be coming home. I’ve already booked our flight.”
“I want to come see her,” I said instantly, forgetting the fact that New Year’s was just around the corner and the week after Christmas was a busy one.
“Brooke, what about the diner?”
“I’ll be there,” I bit out. “Please send me your flight information. I love you both,” I said, my voice beginning to betray me.
“Love you too.”
