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“Morning,” she called, letting herself inside.
“Morning, Reese,” Birdie called back, already elbow-deep in bread dough. “Are you sure you are good to be back at work,” her boss worried, looking her over.
“I have to get back into my routine,” Reese pasted a smile on her face hoping to convince the other woman she wasn’t as bad as she appeared.
“I suppose that will help. Why don’t you start with cinnamon rolls and then work your way into muffins?”
Reese’s smile was genuine this time. She was grateful the woman didn’t want to ask twenty questions. Birdie seemed to know when to talk and when to let a person work it out themselves. She supposed having as many husbands as her boss had, the woman knew a thing or two about thinking things through.
Reese dove into her work, rolling out the dough, spreading the mixture, and rolling it back up tightly. When the rolls were in the oven, she started on muffins. She flipped through the rest of the day’s list with ease. Reese and Birdie worked in companionable silence; each woman set on their tasks until it was time to open. Filling the display case, Reese felt lighter. Flour, butter, and sugar did as much for her today as Mr. Clean and Pledge did on a regular day.
Flipping the sign to open, Reese took her spot behind the counter, preparing herself for the questions she knew would come from the curious residents. Two hours later, Reese was surprised by the number of people stopping into the little bakery. She refilled the case once already, and it needed more again. People came in with their well wishes for Mav. A few asked questions, but everyone bought something.
“I know it is rude to ask, but do you suppose you could have one of life’s little road bumps once a quarter or so?” Birdie asked, wiping the flour from her face.
“I think it is time for you to get a new husband,” Reese told her dryly as she filled her hands with anything Birdie had ready to sell. The sound of her laughing followed Reese back out of the kitchen.
The bakery was about sold out by the time Birdie’s granddaughter came in at lunchtime. “I hate to ask,” Birdie hedged, “but do you think you could stay a little longer today and help me get caught up. We sold some of my delivery orders.”
“As long as the next bump in the road is yours, I will stay as long as you like,” Reese joked.
“Bite your tongue,” her boss chided. “But if I do decide on a new man, I am getting one with money this time. No more of this sparkling personality crap. Money and good in bed, then maybe I will think about keeping him.”
“Just go with the money. Dicks go wandering way too easy.”
“Very true. That was husband number two’s problem.”
Reese worked until the bakery was back on track. Before hanging up her apron, Birdie drafted her to make a few deliveries on her way home. Slinging her purse over her shoulder, Reese balanced the oversized paper bags filled with orders. She encountered someone who wanted to chat at each of her stops. They weren’t mean or rude. All they wanted was to hear all about how Mav was taken. Thankfully there weren’t any news channels or printed newspapers in Nelsonville. Reese was afraid they would be hunting her down for the story as well.
All she wanted was to go home. When the last bag was dropped off, Reese was ready to run as fast as she could manage to her house. The people were well-meaning, but she didn’t want to relive the terror of Mav missing. She tried to point that out politely. However, being the latest tidbit of exciting gossip to happen since who knows when, her polite words went right over some of their heads.
Finally making it back to her driveway, she groaned when she saw Officer Franks seated on her front porch. His patrol car was nowhere in sight, but his truck was pulled in at Cash’s house. If there was a bright side to this, he wasn’t wearing his uniform. Maybe he was just dropping by to see how her first day back at work had gone. Reese mentally rolled her eyes. Today going as it has been, that wasn’t likely.
“Working late today?”
“We were busy. Everyone wants to hear all about what it is like to have your kid go missing.”
“Sorry,” Franks grimaced. “It has been the only thing exciting to happen around here in a long time. You are going to be the local celebrity for a while.”
“They weren’t mean,” Reese said, sitting down beside Franks on the front porch. “People were just curious. No one was rude or anything. It was more of a gossip-need-to-know kind of thing.” Reese shifted before she thought better of it.
“Damn,” Franks jumped up, rubbing his butt.
“Sorry,” Reese tried to contain her giggle. “I forgot about the board.”
“Yeah, honey, I hear how sorry you are,” he tried for a grin, but his teasing never made it to his eyes. Franks looked as tired as she felt.
“You aren’t here just to visit a friend, are you?”
Franks sat back down, choosing the step instead of the porch floor. “I need you to come down to the station with me, Reese,” he said slowly.
“Shit,” Reese groaned. “What happened now?”
“I had to arrest Oliver,” Franks admitted dropping his head into his hands.
“Oh god. What did Pappy do? It wasn’t more marijuana, was it? We had that talk. He promised me no more.”
“Nope, wasn’t that, but if you come with me, I will release him to you.”
