Chapter 5 #3
The bakery itself is a countertop-high wall of glass shelving filled with every single delicious-looking fall treat you could imagine.
There are apple scones and apple pies, pumpkin bread and pumpkin-shape cookies covered with thick icing.
There are apple-filled croissants and fat slices of carrot cake dripping with cream cheese frosting, and chocolate chip muffins as big as my hand.
There is zucchini bread and cranberry cobbler and cinnamon cake.
And the donuts. Oh, the donuts. Sweet, puffy, hoops of yum!
They are piled next to each other in a row, and the sugar glistens atop them, beckoning me.
I cannot stop staring. Or salivating. Mostly salivating.
I’m still eyeing everything in a baked-goods-fueled daze when the door to the back of the bakery swings open and a young woman comes out. She looks to be about my age.
“This is Serafina,” Charlotte announces with a twirl of her hand.
Serafina? Oh yes. I have heard this name before. Mom did mention her. Only, when I heard her name, I remembered thinking it sounded super unique. This is Sera .
“Hi.” Serafina looks up, and the first thing I see is her bright, orange-dyed hair.
Otherwise, she is wearing all black, including a long-sleeved T, leggings, Crocs, and an open sweater that hits her calves.
She has a mess of thin gold chains around her neck and a moon-shape gold pin in her hair.
Her fingers are covered with rings, and the skin I can see, including a bit of her neck and her wrists and forearms, is covered in astrological-looking tats.
She’s giving total woo-woo vibes but in the best possible way.
Almost witchy. Super cool. I have the urge to ask her to read my tarot cards, but then I immediately think it’s probably presumptuous of me to assume she does that.
“Nice to meet you,” I say. Okay, I admit I also wonder if she is going to ask me what my sign is. And I’ll totally tell her. It’s Libra, btw.
“Sera, this is Ellie,” Charlotte says next.
“ You’re Ellie!” Sera exclaims, clapping her hands and making all her jewelry jingle. She gives me a huge smile. “My energy healer told me there was gonna be a big change around here this month. Now I know why. And please, just call me Sera.”
“Hi. I’m not sure what my energy is up to, but here I am.” I grin sheepishly.
“Oh, your energy is great. I can feel it,” Sera replies.
“Really?” I want to pull up a chair and talk to her for the rest of the day while eating donuts. Also, now I’m feeling like the tarot card question may not have been out of order, but I will save that for later.
“Definitely,” Sera replies with a firm nod. And I can’t help but wish she’d been around when I’d first started dating Geoff. Maybe she could have told me he had steal-your-ideas energy.
“Sera’s food is magic,” Charlotte says next.
“Here are the ribbons for the cookie bags.” She hands the bag of ribbons to Sera and goes around the counter, where she pulls a donut off the glass shelf with a napkin and hands it to me.
“Ellie was just saying she hasn’t had an apple cider donut in years. ”
“Are you serious?” Sera blinks at me. Her eyes are clear light green.
A really unusual color. Kinda like a cat.
And now I’m wondering if she’s like Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
I want to keep staring at her, but I realize she’s just asked me a question and that I have a donut in my hand that’s not gonna eat itself.
“Yeah, I used to love these. I can’t remember how long it’s been,” I say, truly wondering why I’ve never managed to get ahold of an apple cider donut in the city all these years. It seems so obviously wrong now.
“Well, eat up,” Sera says. “There are plenty. I have two more batches baking in the back.”
Without further ado I take a big bite of the donut.
And HOLY! Charlotte wasn’t kidding. It’s the best donut I’ve ever tasted.
And that includes Mom’s. It’s soft and fresh and sugary and cakey and hits my taste buds in the exact right spots.
It then proceeds to essentially melt in my mouth. I close my eyes. Pure bliss.
“This donut is perfection,” I announce, reopening my eyes and staring at it as if I’ve fallen in love, and honestly, I kinda have.
“I’m serious,” Charlotte continues, nodding. “Sera’s food is truly magical. Like legit infused with magic . She’s a karmic baker.”
Wait. What’s this now? I cock my head to the side and stare at them both. “Karmic baker?” I’m sure I would’ve remembered it if Mom had mentioned a “karmic baker.”
Sera laughs. “Yeah, I don’t really tell everyone that, but everything is energy. So, I just infuse the food with good energy. I’ll explain it to you sometime if you’re interested.”
Uh, hell yes . I am interested. She can explain it to me at the same time she reads my tarot.
I take another bite of the donut and close my eyes.
I don’t know anything about energy healing, but the vibe I am getting off the donut feels sooo good.
And hey, I don’t judge anyone’s woo. Just because I can’t read energy and make karmic donuts doesn’t mean there aren’t others in the world with these much-needed skills. I’m here for it.
“Magic energy,” Charlotte adds, taking a bite of her own donut. “Sera’s apple cider is actually a love potion too.”
“Like a real, live love potion?” I ask. I add this to the mental list of topics that Mom has buried the lede on during our phone conversations. Aiden’s hot. We’re selling love potions now. I mean, come on , Mom.
Sera waves a ring-filled hand in the air. “Yep. It’s a whole process, of course, and there are rules, but people have been known to fall in love after drinking it.”
“Really?” Okay, now I’m even more interested, but honestly, I don’t care what Sera claims about her apple cider, if it tastes half as good as this donut, it’s two thumbs up. Would recommend.
“Sometimes she sneaks good energy into Jesse’s brews too,” Charlotte says in a whisper.
“Ah, yes. Jesse. He’s the new cider brewer, right?” When I saw the bar, I finally remembered where I’d heard that name before. I vaguely remember Mom telling me they hired a guy who was really into brewing. Before that, it had mostly been Dad and Mr. Parker doing the best they could.
“Yeah. He’s the brewer. But he’s been here nearly two years,” Sera says.
“He’s a lot ,” Charlotte adds with an eye roll.
“Capricorn,” Sera says in a stage whisper. She shakes her head as if that one word is self-explanatory.
I give her my best blank stare, and she must feel my ignorant energy because she adds, “ Intense. ”
I want to ask them both more about Jesse, but the doors to the back of the bar flap open just then, and a tall guy who also looks about my age comes out carrying a big plastic tray filled with upside-down glass beer mugs.
“That’s him,” Charlotte whispers.
My brows shoot up. Well, now. Jesse is hot too. If you like fit blond dudes with heavenly blue eyes who wear ball caps and flannel shirts. It’s not actually my jam, but I know someone who is very into it. Though she’ll never admit it. Maria. Too bad she’s not here right now.
“Introduce me,” I say, turning toward the bar.
“Hey, Jesse. Come meet Ellie,” Charlotte calls.
Jesse immediately frowns. He puts down the big plastic tray on the far side of the bar, turns, wipes his hands on a bar towel, and then jogs over. “Ellie?” he asks, still frowning.
“I’m Lucy and Mark’s daughter,” I explain. Why is he frowning?
“Oh yeah,” he says, and I get the distinct impression that he’s heard something about me that makes him a little wary. Hmm. Now I want to know what.
“You live in the city, right?” he asks.
“Yep,” I say, not about to expound upon anything in my life at the moment. I live in the city. That’s enough for Jesse to know about me in addition to whatever he also knows that’s making him look at me like that. “The brewery looks great,” I add.
And it really does. The entire back wall is filled with two neat rows of beer taps.
Most of them with long pulls in the shapes of apples or trees or leaves.
There are black-and-white pictures of beer steins and beer mugs and growlers along the back wall, and the sleek bar top is the same dark-brown wood as the tops of the stools.
The entire space is punctuated by pristine stainless steel sinks and counters, and there are tiny white pumpkins and gourds set in small clusters along the bar.
“Thanks,” Jesse replies, finally smiling. “I’ve been working hard on it. I’ve got big plans. I actually want to turn this place into a full-service bar someday. Instead of serving mostly cider. That’s my real dream. And—”
I listen to Jesse talk about IPAs, and the price of hops, and the difference in a drink’s taste based on filtered water, for the better part of ten minutes before Charlotte interrupts him.
“Well, we’d better get going,” she says.
“Ellie’s supposed to meet Aiden out at the work barn.
They’re planning the festival together.”
Jesse arches a brow. “ You’re planning the festival?” He points at me. “With Aiden ?”
“Yeah,” I say, narrowing my eyes and letting him see, because I’m kinda hoping he’ll elaborate on the words he has tellingly emphasized.
“Wow, okay,” is all he provides before he tosses the bar towel over his shoulder. “Nice meeting you, Ellie.” He immediately turns and gets back to work while I’m left pondering what the hell “wow, okay” means.
Charlotte tugs me back over to the bakery counter. “Sorry,” she whispers. “Jesse can be a little... much. Especially when you get him talking about beer.”
“I like a man who knows what he wants in life.”
“I guess that’s one way to put it,” Charlotte replies with a sigh.
I glance at my watch. Charlotte was right. It’s nearly ten. Half the day gone if you’re meeting a farmer. I need to find Aiden. “Can you show me where the work barn is?” I totally plan to ask her what Jesse meant by “wow, okay” during our walk to the next barn. This time I won’t dawdle.
“Oh yeah, come on,” Charlotte says, ushering me along.
Before I say goodbye to Sera, I point to one more donut. “Can I just?”
Sera nods. “Of course.” She grabs another donut from the glass shelf with a napkin and hands it to me over the countertop. I promptly stuff it in the pocket of the jacket I’m wearing. And then I’m off following Charlotte out the door in search of her cranky brother.