Chapter 2
TWO
LIAM
“I’m going to open the bakery,” said Liam to his dad.
“Why?” he asked, sitting in his mother’s armchair.
His dad had barely moved from it since she died.
He’d even slept in it. Not that his dad was doing much sleeping.
Neither had Liam, to be fair, but at least he’d gone to bed and lain down.
He hated seeing his dad like this. His parents had been relationship goals, and he could only dream of having that kind of love one day for himself.
They weren’t Martin and Sylvie individually, they came as a pair, and everyone in this town saw them that way.
Now his dad was on his own. Well, he had Liam.
He would be here for as long as his dad needed him, and based on how he’d been for the last few days, he was going to need to stick around for the foreseeable future .
“It’s what Mum would have wanted, and we have staff who rely on us for work.”
“We can still pay them. I can’t go in there. I just can’t, Liam.”
“It’s fine, I can handle things.”
“You’ve got your own job.”
“I’m on bereavement leave.”
“Exactly. Time off to process your bereavement. Not to work another job.”
“I just need to do something, Dad. People will want to visit and pay their respects. We can give them that place.”
“I’m going to the toilet.”
His dad got up and shuffled away. There wasn’t much more Liam could say, so he pulled his coat on and left.
It was bitterly cold. It was the same every year.
As soon as Christmas was over, winter would show up in full force, but the chance of snow on the big day was practically zero.
Liam could think of only one white Christmas in his entire life.
The bakery was only a ten-minute walk from home.
It was the second of January, but it was the weekend, so nobody would be back at work for a couple of days.
Liam had already booked time off, and now with bereavement leave, he had all of next week off as well.
He got two weeks’ paid leave with no quibble, but he wanted to save the other week for around the funeral.
Liam knew if he asked, his manager would give him more time, but it was a busy time of year, and he didn’t want to put more pressure on the team.
He was an investment manager for a private equity firm, and they paid him handsomely, so he needed to show up.
Standing outside his mum’s bakery, Sylvie’s Slice, he couldn’t stop himself getting choked up.
This would be the first time he’d stepped inside without his mum being there.
He didn’t think there was a time he’d ever been in there when she wasn’t at the counter or baking in the kitchen.
The bakery had always been referred to as Liam’s older sibling, which he loved.
His parents had struggled to have kids, so the bakery had been something for his mum to throw her heart into when they were told it wouldn’t happen for them.
Sylvie was Heartwood through and through, and came from several generations of locals.
His dad had worked in the city but made the bakery happen for her.
Once it was paid for, his dad had quit his job in the city and run the place with her.
He looked after the business side, and his mum had created the magic in the kitchen.
Then Liam, who she called her miracle baby, came along, and it had been the four of them ever since.
Liam had spent most of his childhood here and been taught to bake by his mum.
His dad had taught him the other side of the business.
One day the place was going to be his. Working in a highly paid city job and squirrelling money away had been his plan.
Now he wasn’t sure what he was going to do.
Liam had always wanted to take over the bakery one day, but by then he wanted to be settled down with a guy and have kids of his own.
He could teach them to bake and pass the bakery on to them one day.
Fat chance of that happening. His history with men was diabolical.
Liam preferred older men, but they were only ever after one thing: a body to fuck until they were bored, which rarely took long.
Liam wanted romance, and all the feels like you read about in books.
His best friend had written a romance book, but he’d not done anything with it, and even though it was fantasy and featured shapeshifting wolves, it was more romantic than anything Liam had ever experienced in real life.
If he was ever going to find that, he needed to get new tastes.
Older men with a beard and tattoos would not settle down with someone like Liam, and if they were still single, the reason would not be a good one based on his own experience.
“Are you going to open the door?”
The voice made him jump. Liam had been standing outside the bakery thinking about his pathetic love life and missed Chloe walking up to him. She was a petite and curvy woman, her blonde hair always in a ponytail, and she wore pastel-coloured outfits which she always matched with her eye shadow.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to make you jump. Are we going in? Those cakes won’t bake themselves.”
“Thanks for coming down, Chloe.”
“It’s my job, Liam.”
He smiled. Chloe had been a great hire. She was only twenty-two and had worked here for six years, starting as a part-time weekender.
His mum had been talking about giving Chloe more responsibility before she died.
She knew how everything worked and could bake as well.
It wasn’t her passion, but Liam knew she could step in when he had to go back to the city for work, though that was a problem for later.
Liam opened the bakery and shut off the alarm.
He kept the lights off, as he didn’t want to show people they were opening yet.
It was already six o’clock, and his mum would usually be in here at four in the morning, baking and getting the place ready for opening.
He wouldn’t do too much today, though. There’d be no time to bake any bread, so he’d focus on muffins, cupcakes, brownies, and whatever else he could get done in a couple of hours.
“Just a sweet day today, I think. If people want healthy snacks, they’ll need to start their diet on Monday,” said Liam.
“Is Edith coming in?” asked Chloe.
Edith was in her seventies, and had been working here for a couple of years.
She was only part time and mainly did it for the social aspect.
They had one other staff member, Callum.
He only lived in the next town over, but he’d gone away with his family on a pre-booked holiday and wasn’t due back until Monday.
Callum had offered to fly home early when he’d heard about Sylvie, but Liam wouldn’t hear of it.
His mum had done an amazing job with the people she’d hired.
“I left her a message, but I don’t think it’ll be busy today. I’ll be out here with you.”
“You don’t think it’s going to be busy today? In this town? People are going to want to come in and offer their condolences.”
Liam groaned. She was right, but no matter when he reopened, that was going to happen.
He loved this village. The people were wonderful.
It was like a little bubble away from the world, where everyone was inclusive and kind, but the gossip grapevine was something else.
You couldn’t even fart in this town without someone stopping by with a pack of Imodium, which would be gross if that hadn’t actually happened.
One time, Liam had mentioned feeling a bit “funny in the tummy” as he had described it.
Later that day, Giselle Leblanc had knocked on the door of his annexe with “tummy medication.” He had wanted to die of embarrassment.
There was nothing that woman, and her wife Henrietta, didn’t know about the ins and outs of this town.
They owned CuriCraft, which was the local craft shop.
No matter what happened, one or both of them would find a reason to visit today.
Liam had been baking for two hours and knew he looked a mess, but when he was in the zone, he was in it.
Baking was like therapy, and never more so than it was now.
He had never been in this kitchen alone, without his mum, but he could still feel her presence everywhere.
This was her domain and always would be.
Liam was more than happy to share it with her.
He picked up the tray of chocolate orange muffins and walked out to the shop, where he placed them in the glass-fronted counter alongside all the other baked goods. It was full now, so he was happy with what he’d been able to do in the time he had.
“Shall we open the doors?” asked Liam.
“There’s already a line,” Chloe replied.
Liam looked at the front door, and there was indeed a line of people waiting. And who was at the front? Giselle and Henrietta. He may as well get this over with.
“Why don’t you get the door, and I can serve,” said Chloe. “People are going to want to talk to you.”
“Fine, but don’t laugh if I need to hide in the kitchen for a bit.”
Chloe did laugh, causing Liam to glare at her. He took a deep breath and flicked the lights on. It was daylight now, so people had seen them anyway. Liam turned the lock and opened the door. Before he could speak, he was being ensconced in a hug by Giselle and Henrietta.
Giselle had an elegant look in terms of how she held herself.
Her hair was a silver bob, and she always wore bright scarves.
She had a bohemian chic vibe, and still bore the trace of a French accent.
Her wife, Henrietta, was taller, almost statuesque, with natural tight grey curls.
She wore more earthy tones accented with chunky jewellery.
Between Giselle’s French heritage and Henrietta’s Jamaican roots, they could cook the most amazing food, so there was always a lingering aroma of spices whenever you were in their presence.