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“Honestly, I don’t think anything in this town could disappoint me,” she said matter-of-factly.
I had an idea of something that might be able to, but I wasn’t going to be the one to take her to Peach Street and show her that my mother was dead and not baking cookies.
“Well, I don’t know what everyone else does, but I had an idea for today. Follow me,” I said and headed across the street. We stepped up to the door of The Baking Tin, and I gestured to it. “Sweet treats, anyone?”
Lettie looked inquisitively at the sign in the window that said CLOSED. “Um, I think there is a minor problem.”
“Oh, what? This?” I pointed to the sign and batted my hand. “That’s not a problem when you have the keys to the city.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a set of keys with a keychain in the shape of a pie.
“Oh, wow! You mean to tell me I’m on a date with a man so important, he has the keys to the city?”
“Okay, keys to the bakery, but it might as well be the keys to the city.” I stuck the key in the lock and turned, hearing the chime.
“Oh, yes. The keys to the bakery are much more impressive, I must say.” She walked in and looked around as I turned on the light. “So where are the donuts? My mouth is watering just thinking about them.”
I grabbed a couple of aprons from behind the counter and handed her one. I began to tie mine around my waist and watched as she did the same. “I kind of thought we could bake something together.”
Her eyes brightened, and her lips curled into a half smile. “Really? I would love that. I’ve never baked anything before.”
“Are you serious? Nothing? Not even cookies?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Nothing.”
I stood back and held my arms out to let her through to the back of the bakery. “Well, today is the day. What do you want to bake? I’m a pro at monster cookies, and I’m not trying to brag, but I make one hell of a scone.”
“What are monster cookies?” Lettie asked, her eyes bright.
“Oh, just the best cookie in the world. Oatmeal, M&Ms, peanut butter, chocolate chips, basically everything from your kitchen in a cookie.”
“Okay, that sounds like heaven.” I watched as she placed her pointer finger to her lips, deep in thought. “But I’m going with donuts. I want to bake donuts.”
I pulled my lips together, trying not to laugh, but she could see through me.
“What? What’s so funny?”
I shrugged, moving to the cupboard and grabbing out a bag of flour. “Nothing. It’s just, you don’t reallybakedonuts. I mean you can, but Lenora usually fries them.”
“Oh,” she replied. “Yeah, of course. Well, let’s fry them then.”
I nodded, watching her pull her hair back into a ponytail before washing her hands at the sink and drying them with a towel from the counter. She turned toward me and placed her hand on her hip. “What do I do first? Do we need to boil some water to fry them in?”
I couldn’t hold back my laughter this time, and I realized that this was going to be a step-by-step process because Lettie didn’t even seem to know the difference between flour and sugar.
“What now?” she asked, rolling her eyes playfully.
I kept chuckling, trying not to make fun of her but not being able to stop. “Oh, no, Little One. No water.”
She peered around at the stove and shrugged. “Huh… Okay. Seems weird, but you’re the pro.”
I held up a wooden spoon. “Let’s start with the basics, Lettie. This… is a spoon.”
I ducked as she threw the towel at me.
THIRTY-TWO
LETTIE
After Tuck gaveme a lesson on basic kitchen utensils, I stood in the back of the bakery and watched as he gathered the ingredients for the donuts. He moved around the kitchen with ease, like he was meant to be in there. I liked being with him and watching him in a place where he felt so at ease.
