Chapter 12 Stella #2
My temporary clothes and supplies had been delivered just after dinner, but I hadn’t wanted to stop and change—and I loved that the T-shirt Axel had given me smelled like him.
I sat on the edge of the guest bed in my new pajamas—a pair of red jersey knit pants and a black camisole—and thought back through my crazy day. Realizing I had already been through enough, I decided not to worry anymore and just get some sleep.
It was tough, but putting Axel’s T-shirt back on so I keep his scent close made it a little easier to drift off.
“Hey, Stella. What time do you…” Axel started to say but paused when he got to the bathroom doorway.
I was brushing my teeth, but I was already dressed in my new clothes we had bought last night. I needed to grab some of my own clothes while we were at the bakery today, but these would suffice until then.
“You are brushing your teeth with your left hand,” he said, seemingly confused. “But you write with your other hand.”
It was uncanny how observant this man was.
“I am tv?h?nt, too,” he replied with a grin.
“You’re what?” I asked, my words mumbled because of the toothbrush in my mouth.
“Umm…I don’t know what the English word is.” He looked up as though he was trying to think of how to explain. “Lika bra med b?da h?nderna.”
At that, my eyebrows shot as high up on my face as they could. I held up one finger to ask him to wait while I spit out my toothpaste and then turned back to him.
“I have no idea what you said.” I chuckled, thinking he would have thought that saying the whole thing in Swedish would somehow make it more likely for me to know what he was talking about.
“Tv?h?nt means…uh…two-handed. Or lika bra med b?da h?nderna means you are equally awesome with both hands,” he explained, and I cracked up. I may have even snorted a bit.
Equally awesome with both hands. I loved that.
Once I collected myself, I explained. “I think the English word you are searching for is ambidextrous, but I’m actually not that. I do everything with my right hand except brush my teeth. I don’t know why, but that’s how I’ve done it since I was a child.”
He nodded in understanding, but then I remembered what he had said first.
“Wait, you said you were…whatever the word was…too. Are you ambidextrous?”
“Yes,” he replied simply, as if this wasn’t a big deal. “I can do just about everything equally with both hands.”
“Wow.” I was impressed. “That’s really cool, Axel. I don’t think I’ve ever known anybody like that.”
Also, either my brain was more perverted than I gave it credit for, or there was just something about this man in front of me, but the next thing that came to mind was what he could do with both of those equally awesome hands to my body.
My gaze moved to where his hands were at his hips and I started to imagine all the things I wanted him to do to me with those hands.
“Stella.”
My gaze jerked back up to his face at his warning tone. “As much as I like what your brain is thinking right now, we have a lot to do today and not much time.
Finish up, and we’ll head over to meet Wade’s person in ten minutes.”
He turned and walked away as soon as he ended his sentence.
I felt slightly disappointed because, in my mind, ten minutes seemed like plenty of time to see what those hands could do.
But I also knew he was right, and we needed to get going if we were going to make it to Scandinavian Sweets and then my parents’ house on time.
I spent eight of the next ten minutes on the phone with Luna, filling her in about the insurance company and my plan to meet up and tell the rest of the staff the next day.
I wasn’t sure if we would be opening on Tuesday like normal, but it seemed unlikely.
Hopefully, I could at least give them a sense of what happened and tell them what the plan was by tomorrow.
She offered to send out the texts and handle calls to let everyone know while I handled the slew of people who were showing up at the bakery today to assess the damage.
I also realized I couldn’t just show up with Axel at my parents’ house without letting them know, so I shot off a quick text to my mom.
Me: Do you mind if I bring a friend with me to dinner tonight?
Mom: Of course, sweetheart. You know you don’t have to ask. Luna is always welcome.
Mom: Or is it one of your other bakery friends?
Mom: Doesn’t matter. Today is your special day, so you can bring anyone you want to celebrate.
My fingers froze over the keypad on my phone. How did I tell her, “Hey Ma, he’s a guy I met while protecting me from a man who wrote me creepy letters, and now he’s coming with me because that same man tried to burn down my bakery. But I also went on a date with him, so…”
Simple. Always best to keep it simple.
Me: His name is Axel, and he’s a friend I met through Anna.
Mom: Anna, the TV anchor?
Me: Yes. Axel works with her husband.
I saw the dots appear and then disappear back and forth several times before her response finally popped up. I knew she likely had a million questions but was holding herself back.
Mom: Is he married? Any kids?
I laughed that those were what she’d ultimately decided to ask.
Me: I’m cleaning right now. I’ll see you tonight. Love you.
I mean, it wasn’t a total lie. I was cleaning up some of Axel’s space because I felt bad being a guest and making it dirty.
By the time we arrived at the bakery, my nerves had ticked back up again. Even though what had happened was never far from my mind, it had been easier to disassociate at Axel’s place and let my mind calm.
The man Wade had recommended, Terrance, was already there when we arrived. Axel and I joined Wade, Terrance, and his crew in the back.
“Hey, Stella. How are you holdin’ up?”
Wade’s concern meant a lot to me, and I was glad he was here since he had dealt with a similar situation before.
“I’m doing okay, all things considered.”
“This is Terrance,” Wade introduced, and we all shook hands. “He’s the best in the business, so he’ll get you back to new really quick.”
“We’ve already been briefed by Collins, your fire investigator, and he let our guys get in to take a look around,” Terrance informed us. “You’ve got more water damage than you do fire damage since your neighbor’s hose put out the fire pretty quick.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” I told him honestly.
He gave me a small smile as he explained. “So far, this looks like what we would call a clean-water incident that we can get dried out in less than forty-eight hours. That limits a lot of mold and sanitation issues, which makes it easier for us to repair.”
“What about the fire damage part?” I asked, hoping that would also be easy for them to fix.
“We’ll need to do a full check of all the electrical and anything we can’t see on the surface, but so far, this looks to be a minor fire that was put out quick, so we should be in and out in a few days.”
“Do you mean forty-eight hours from now? I’m hoping we can re-open on Tuesday like normal.” I held my breath waiting for his response, but I also knew that I didn’t have much choice in the matter.
“I can’t do any repair work until your insurance agent comes out because they have to see the damage in order to process the claim, but I can get a few things done today to prevent the situation from getting worse.
” Terrance’s explanation made sense, but I was impatient.
“Then we can begin work, but the water damage needs to be dried out first. Realistically, you likely won’t open until next week. ”
I sighed deeply as my heart sank, knowing I would likely be closed for a few days.
I knew there was nothing I could do about it, but I still hated that we had to.
But I needed to remain optimistic and not let this get me down.
If I did, then whoever did this would win, and I didn’t want that to happen.
Axel’s hand, which had been at the small of my back the entire time, now slid to my waist and pulled me closer. It wasn’t a grand gesture physically, but it felt like one, nonetheless. I slid my own arm around his back. His silent support was exactly what I hadn’t known I needed.
“My goal is to do a deep dive into the electrical today and check to make sure we can source all the supplies we would need so we can start work as soon as your insurance agent gives us the all clear tomorrow morning,” Terrance added.
“Though honestly, your biggest hurdles may be the fire inspector and health inspector.”
“Why?” I asked.
“He has to approve of everything Terrance’s crew fixes in order for you to reopen,” Wade interrupted. “Plus, then you need the health inspector to sign off, and usually after incidents like this, they scrutinize everything.”
I sighed. That made sense, but I hadn’t thought of that.
“Usually, I try to give them a heads-up of when I will be finished so they can arrange to be here as soon as we are done and sign off on it,” Terrance added. “Especially since if they find something wrong, I need to know about it right away so I can fix it.”
A man walked through the door behind me, drawing my attention even before he spoke. “Give me a call tomorrow to let me know when you think you’ll be done, and I’ll see if I can meet you before you’re finished.”
“Stella, you remember Collins, your fire inspector.” Terrance pointed to the man and then spoke directly to him. “This should be a quick fix, and she’d like to re-open as soon as possible, so I’ll let you know if I can make that happen.”
“Sounds good,” Collins told him. “We’ve got all the evidence and documentation we need for our investigation. We’re going to leave the police tape up for now until your crew here can get some things situated, but you’re free to go inside and start repair work once your insurance agent comes by.”
They exchanged numbers for when the work would be completed, and I turned to thank Wade for setting me up with Terrance and his crew.