The idea was wholeheartedly accepted by the three individuals who were asked to participate to the point that they agreed to meet at the bakery Sunday evening. Mike parked his car in the space directly opposite the front door of the agreed upon meeting place and turned the ignition off. As the car’s engine stopped, he sat in the car and listened to Kristy singing across the street. She was singing “Away in the Manger”. He leaned his head back on the head rest and started humming the tune along with her. He had an interesting weekend so far. His mom arrived home yesterday around mid-morning. He had been scurrying around overdoing the vacuum when the front door opened, and she walked in. When he saw her, he dropped the handle of the upright machine, marched over to her, and gave her a big hug. She had returned his embrace, finally letting go and holding him at arm’s length. She looked at his smiling face and suddenly wrapped her arms around him a second time.
“Welcome home, Mom,” Mike spoke first.
“Thanks honey. It is good to be home,” she said and turned back toward the door. She had left her rolling suitcase in front of the coat closet. She pulled her tan coat off, unwrapped the burgundy scarf from around her neck and stuffed it inside of one arm of the coat. She opened the closet and hung the coat inside before turning back to face him. She smoothed the sweater she was wearing and asked him, “So what did I miss?”
“Where’s Uncle Billy?” Mike returned her question with one of his own.
“Oh, he will be back shortly. He is getting gas. He will leave early tomorrow morning,” she said as she walked to the couch and sat down. “Mike, Michael, who’s the girl?”
At first, he laughed before he explained to his Mother the mystery of Kristy. She had listened intently and asked confusing questions. He answered all of her questions but in the end, he drove her to meet Kristy.
As he drove into the lot of the Mini Mart, Kristy was chatting with Uncle Billy and her bell was going up and down keeping time to the tune she had been singing. They had exited his car, and when they approached her, Kristy waved. Mike waved back but his mother did not. She just kept walking toward the bell ringer.
“Hello, Samantha!” Kristy stopped ringing her bell and wrapped her arms around his mom. “It is so nice to finally meet you. Your husband says hello!”
The air around them seem to freeze. The sunlight got brighter as Kristy released Samantha. Kristy smiled at her and said, “I just know.”
Shaking himself from the memory, Mike opened his car door, the dome light flashing on, and stood outside the car. He waved at Kristy, who waved back. He closed the door and headed to the door of the bakery. The night air was crisp and clean and the candles from the lamplights cast flickering shadows on the sidewalk before him. As he opened the door, the bell above it jingled.
“Come on in. We are meeting in the kitchen!” Lou called out.
He walked around the counter and opened the door behind it and walked through the entrance into the core of the bakery. All of the lights were on and the sweet smell of something baking from one of the ovens filled the room. Lou was standing in front of it and turned her head around to see him.
“Oh, hi,” she swiveled her head back around to face the oven. “Cookies. I thought they would go well with our gathering.”
He smiled as he walked to the table closest to her office where a carton of milk was placed next to plastic cups. He smelled coffee brewing from somewhere else in the room. Six chairs were placed at the corner of the table, three along one edge and three along the other one. At each place, Lou had placed a small pad of paper and a pencil.
“Wow,” Mike proclaimed as he removed his coat. “Do we have a seating chart?”
“Very funny,” Lou answered as she removed the cookies from the oven. She took out two trays, one filled with Snickerdoodles and on the other, chocolate chip cookies. She placed them on a rack that was standing next to the ovens. “Coffee is in the office and there are mugs there next to it. Oh, throw your coat on that table. Hopefully, the others will follow your example.”
He did as he was told and choose to sit in a chair. He watched her as she went about her tasks of turning off the oven, removing her apron and throwing it on the table beside his coat. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail which now she reached back to release her hair and fell past her shoulders. She used her hands to comb through it when she noticed him watching her.
“What?’ she asked finishing with her hair and dropped her hands to her hips.
“Hey, would you like to go out to dinner with me after work tomorrow?” he asked her in response.
“What?’” she dropped her hands and walked toward him.
“Yeah, we could go up to Columbia,” he continued. “What do you say?”
“Well,” she sat in the chair beside him. “Sure.”
The bell jingled and voices of two men talking filled the space around them.
“We are in the back. Just come in the that door behind the counter,” Lou called to them still looking at Mike.
“Wow! Is this where all the magic happens?” Father Dooley exclaimed as he entered the room with his friend Pastor Paul.
“Yessir! Welcome to the real center of Barber’s Bakery,” Lou said as the two men entered. She watched them remove their coats and throw them on top of Mike’s.
“Cookies!” Paul said as he rubbed his hands together, stepping toward the cooling racks.
“They are cooling,” Lou told them. “Come sit down.”
The door jingled again, and Abe walked into the room like he had been there a hundred times.
“I love the smell of this place. It always smells like something just came out of the oven,” Abe said as he placed his coat on the pile on the table.
“It smells that way because I baked cookies, Abe,” Lou told him as she watched him walk behind her to sit in an open chair.
“Wait,” Mike started to speak to Abe. “Abe, have you been back here before?”
“Yes. Haven’t you?” Abe replied to his boss and friend.
“Well, no. This is my first time.”
“Mine, too,” Jim Dooley added.
“Me, too,” the Pastor raised his hand as he spoke.
“Well, I guess I am the lucky one,” Abe summarized and looked at the others. He was sitting at the corner on the edge along the oven wall. To his left sat Lou and next to her left, sat Mike. To Abe’s right, was the empty chair then Father Dooley and Pastor Paul on the end.
“All we need now is Kristy,” Lou stated.
“When I came in, she was singing,” Mike informed the group.
“Us, too,” Paul spoke for the two clerics.
“Well,” Abe began. “She was talking to Richard Dell when I arrived.”
“The farmer?” Mike asked Abe.
“Yep.”
The jingling of the bell over the front door interrupting the conversation in the bakery. Kristy’s voice was heard as it was speaking to another person who remained silent. Two individuals walked into the room. Kristy was leading the farmer with her.
“I think you need another member to this team. Forgive me, Paul, but I was telling him about the idea, and he offered to help so I brought him along,“ Kristy explained as she removed her coat and threw it on the pile.
“Sure,” Paul agreed as Lou rose to her feet and opened a nearby closed door next to her office. She disappeared inside and came back with another chair. Closing the door, she handed the chair to Paul, and returned to her chair.
Kristy scooted past her, stopping to bend between Lou and Mike and whispered, “Way to go, you two.”
Richard did not remove his coat but followed the blond woman past Mike, Lou, and Abe, to sit at the corner next to Father Dooley and Abe. Kristy continued around them and sat in the chair next to Paul.
“Smells like cookies,” she said. “The gang’s all here.”
“Okay,” Paul began. “Shall we pray first?”
The group nodded except for the farmer who simply bowed his head.
“Okay,” the pastor began to pray. “Almighty Father.”
“Wait!” Kristy halted him. “I think we should help Richard first.”
“What do you mean?” Mike asked her. “Help Richard first.”
“Richard, you need to ask for advice in order to help you make the right decision.”
Richard Dell shifted uncomfortably in his chair staring at the table. The room was silent as the others waited for him to explain.
“My daughter Anna ran away this past August,” he began and the people around him began to talk at once.
“Since August?” Mike yelled.
“That’s three months,” Abe said.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Paul said.
“I am your priest. Why didn’t you tell me?” Father Dooley asked and then the room fell silent again.
“Do you know where she is?” Lou quietly asked him.
“I think so. I think she is with her aunt who lives up near K.C.”
“That’s good,” Abe stated. “I would hate to think of one of my kids out on the street somewhere.”
Richard looked at Abe and nodded.
“How do you know?” Paul asked him. “How do you know she is with her aunt?”
“He talked to her yesterday,” Kristy noted.
“Well, what did her aunt say?” Mike asked the farmer.
“She said that Anna missed me but doesn’t want to talk to me,” he spoke with a quivering voice.
“Hhmm,” Father Dooley started to say. “What do you want to do?”
“I think you should go get her,” Abe stated out right.
“I think she will call you when she wants you,” Lou suggested.
“Have you prayed about it?” Paul asked him quietly.
The farmer looked up as the others around him went silent and waited on him.
“No,” he quietly said looking directly at Paul.
“Maybe you should,” Paul suggested looking at Richard and waited for a response. When receiving none, he continued by asking, “Do you want us to pray for you?”
Richard looked around the room at the people who were waiting on his response. On his left, Abe was leaning back with arms folded across his chest. Mike had his hands folded in front of him and Lou had turned in her chair to face him. On his right, next to him, Pastor Paul, like Mike, had his hands folded in front of him. Father Dooley was turned at an angle looking at him and at the far end was Kristy, grinning broadly and her green eyes seemed to glow. All were waiting for him to say something, but he did not know what to say so he simply nodded ‘yes’.
“Okay,” Paul said to him and then to the others. “Let’s start again. Shall we pray?”
All heads bowed down. Lou placed her hand on Mike’s arm, and he looked at her for a moment before closing his eyes. Abe leaned forward in his chair. Father Dooley crossed himself and folded his hands together. Kristy continued to smile, and she listened.
“Almighty God,” Paul began. “Thank you for being here. We ask you simply to help Richard and his daughter Anna decide how much they love each other and what to do to be together whether that means to far apart or close at hand. Help them find peace. Bless those sitting here as we begin a new adventure in Candlelight. May we make you happy. In Christ’s name, we pray.”
“Perfect,” James squeezed the arm of his friend. “I couldn’t have done better myself.”
The others laughed as they shifted their chairs closer to the table. Mike reached for the milk and a glass from the center of the table and Lou rose to retrieve the cookies. Abe took his pencil and started doodling on the paper in front of him.
“How should we start?” Paul asked the group.
“Well,” James answered. “why not begin by telling us your idea and we will go from there.”
Richard was sitting with his hands still folded in front of him suddenly rose from his chair, knocking it over. Abe jumped at the clatter and the others stopped to look at the farmer.
“What’s up, Richard?” Mike asked rising to his feet.
“I got to go,” Richard announced as he started walking around the table. “I’m sorry. I do want to help. I will help but I have to go.”
His walk turned into a jog as he turned the corner around Kristy toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Paul called out after him.
Richard did not answer when they heard the bell over the front door jingle.
“I know where he’s going.”
All eyes turned to gaze at the blond-haired woman sitting, broadly smiling, at the end of the table, and waited for her to continue.
“He is going to get her back.”
To be continued…
My First Stories 