15. Harrison
HARRISON
Harrison stood in Mallory’s kitchen that Thursday, watching as she pulled out pans, towels, and finally a massive stainless bowl of the dough she and Katie had made on Tuesday.
Katie had been excited about today all week. Every once in a while, she would ask Harrison if he thought the other girls would have fun, and he would say yes. Or she would say, I think they’ll like eating the cookies when we’re done. And he would say yes.
This was the most excitement she’d had about connecting with anyone other than Mallory, or the little cat she now had eating out of her hand and sleeping in a cardboard box full of towels on the porch.
On the way over today, she had been quiet though. He tried not to overthink it, but worry tickled at his mind anyway.
“Okay, we’ve got everything we need to bake the cookies,” Mallory said, turning to Katie with a gentle smile. “Do you think we should start the frosting now, or let the girls help with that?”
Katie shrugged but didn’t speak.
Harrison felt a pang.
“I’ll just get the butter out,” Mallory said calmly, nodding to herself. “That will mean we can get it started faster when we’re ready.”
“I have a stomachache,” Katie said suddenly.
Harrison’s heart fell. He knew what was coming now, yet he was powerless to stop it.
“Oh no,” Mallory said kindly, turning to Katie. “Do you want to sit down for a minute?”
Katie shook her head.
“Would you like a drink of water?” Mallory asked.
Mallory waited, but Katie didn’t have anything more to say.
“Okay, then,” Mallory said. “I’m just going to get everything organized. First, I’ll get scoops for the dough and lay those out over here.”
She did as she said she would, moving at a calm, dreamy pace that had Katie’s eyes following her.
“Now I’ll set up the baking sheets so they’re ready for cookies,” Mallory said. “And I’ll put some spatulas out for lifting the cookies off the sheets when they’re baked.”
Please let Katie feel calmer, Harrison prayed.
“I’ll pull out the cooling racks,” Mallory narrated as she did. “And I think everyone will want to wear an apron. Don’t you?”
She headed over to one of the closets and grabbed a rainbow of pretty aprons in different colors.
“My mom got these for me when I opened this place,” Mallory said fondly as she set them down. “She said I should have a color for every mood. Now your friends can each choose a color.”
“I don’t want a cookie party,” Katie screamed suddenly, knocking the spatulas to the floor with a clatter and bursting into tears.
“Okay,” Harrison said, striding over. He knew there was no point trying to convince her. Things would only get worse from here on in. It was better to get her home where she could relax on her own terms.
But before he had a chance to do anything, Mallory bent down to Katie’s level, her hand up in the air to Harrison, palm out, telling him to hold off.
“You don’t want a party,” Mallory repeated softly as Harrison froze in place.
Katie’s sobs paused and she looked up at Mallory.
“Tell me,” Mallory said. “Tell me about why you don’t want it.”
“I don’t want them here,” Katie said loudly, her voice still shaking.
“You don’t want them here,” Mallory repeated, nodding, and then waited.
But Katie just stood there, looking at Mallory with tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Should I tell you why I might not want a cookie party?” Mallory asked after a moment.
Katie nodded.
“Our time together here is really special to me,” Mallory said. “And I feel safe making cookies with someone I already know, someone who likes me.”
Katie scowled and looked down at her feet.
“I’m glad you gave me a chance to get to know you, Katie,” Mallory said. “And I hope you’ll give your other friends a chance too. But you don’t have to. It’s up to you.”
There was absolute silence in the kitchen. Harrison waited, wondering which of them would break and fill it with words or screams.
But neither one of those things happened. After a moment, Katie collapsed into Mallory’s arms, squeezing her tight.
Mallory hugged her back, and didn’t let go.
Harrison watched them, tears prickling his own eyes.
He longed to go to them and embrace them both, tell them both how humbled he was by their friendship.
But his feet wouldn’t carry him the rest of the way to them, and his mouth wouldn’t open up.
The sound of the bakery door opening and the bells jingling broke the spell.
Katie pulled back and looked at Mallory, as the chatter of kids talking excitedly drifted back to the kitchen.
“What do you think?” Mallory asked her quietly. “You can leave right out the back door with your dad and I can tell them you had a stomachache and had to go home. Or you can stay and show them how it’s done.”
There was more silence and Harrison felt his heart ache again, but this time with hope.
“I’ll stay,” Katie said at last, her voice a little hoarse.
“Thank you,” Mallory said, squeezing Katie’s hands. “I’m so glad you decided to stay. Let’s wash our faces before we go and greet everyone.”
They got up and went to the sink together.
It was only then that Harrison noticed that Mallory had tears on her cheeks too.
Half an hour later, the kitchen was brimming with activity. Seven little girls in colorful aprons stood on stools and crates, scooping cookie dough onto the sheets.
“Katie,” one of the girls called out, waving a scoop of dough in the air. “Katie, is this the right amount?”
Katie ran over.
“That’s just right, Addie,” she said, nodding to the girl.
“Thank you,” Addie replied happily, dumping her sphere of dough onto the sheet.
“Katie, Katie,” another kid yelled. “Katie, are they too close together?”
Katie dashed off to the other side of the kitchen, smiling as she went to take a look at the dough balls on the other kid’s pan.
“They’re a little close, Leah,” she told her. “Try them about this far apart.”
Leah watched while Katie nudged the ball over a little with a spatula.
“Okay,” Leah said, her eyes serious as she studied the pan.
Mallory’s timer went off, telling them that the ovens were preheated, and everyone went into overdrive trying to get their dough onto the sheets.
Harrison had meant to go out to the front and have a cup of coffee, to give them all some space. But he couldn’t seem to leave. Katie was in her element, flitting between the other girls like a hummingbird, practically glowing with pride as she helped everyone.
And her classmates were all so sweet, and also hysterically funny.
All of them were sneaking bites of dough whenever they thought no one was looking.
Two girls were competing to see who could cover their sheet fastest. And another girl was so clumsy that she dropped two dough balls on the floor, and almost started crying.
But Katie came right up and put a hand on her shoulder.
“I dropped something at my first baking lesson,” Katie told the girl. “And then Mal dropped a pitcher of ice water on purpose to make me feel better. Would you like me to drop a pitcher of ice water?”
The girl next to them bent over laughing until she was practically folded in half, and the little girl who had dropped the dough smiled through her tears.
Too soon, the cookies were baked and cooling on the racks and Mallory was showing them how she used the big mixer to make frosting.
“You always, always want to cover it,” she told them.
“How come?” one of the girls asked.
“Because confectioner’s sugar is very fine,” Mallory said. “And if you don’t cover it, it will poof right out and cover you in white powder. And then you’ll cough and sneeze, and look exactly like a ghost with a head cold. And that’s bad for business.”
Predictably, that cracked them all up.
Katie laughed as hard as anyone and came to stand beside Mallory, her hand on Mallory’s waist, like she wanted to be sure of her.
By the end of the afternoon, all the girls were out in the bakery sitting around a big table and sampling their creations.
The cookies might have been a little misshapen and covered with an awful lot of frosting, but the girls ate them with as much enthusiasm as if they were dining at a gourmet restaurant.
And the customers in the bakery were clearly charmed at the sight.
One by one, the girls were picked up and headed out the door with their plates of extra cookies to bring to their families.
Parents and caregivers had to remind some of them to thank Mallory for having them. But they all remembered to hug Katie and thank her for inviting them to bake with her.
When the last girl was gone, the three of them exchanged a glance.
“Whew,” Mallory said, sighing and smiling. “That was wild. But I had so much fun.”
“Me too,” Katie said. “And they liked it. They liked baking cookies.”
“Of course they did,” Mallory said. “They had you to help them.”
“Katie, Katie, Katie, Katie,” a little girl yelled, peeking her head back in. “I left my backpack.”
“Oh, it’s in the kitchen,” Katie said, hopping up. “Can I take her back?”
“Of course,” Mallory said, looking after them fondly as they hurried behind the counter together.
“Mallory,” Harrison said, determined to make his move.
It was only when she turned to him in surprise that he realized his voice had probably been too loud.
Calm down, you idiot, he told himself inwardly.
“I was thinking,” he said in the lightest tone he could manage. “The Hometown Holiday thing is in town this weekend. Would you want to go with Katie and me?”
Her eyes lit up and then her pretty face burst into a smile. He could have gazed into those beautiful green eyes forever.
“I’d love to,” she told him.
And even though it was just an event in town, and they would have an eight-year-old chaperone the whole time, his heart soared and he felt like he had won the lottery.