Chapter Elyse
ELYSE
I was unloading the dishwasher when my phone vibrated in my back pocket.
Jenna: Are you free for a little taste testing today?
Absolutely. What time should we be there?
Jenna: I should have everything cooled and ready to go in about an hour.
Sounds good. See you then.
Jenna: Make sure you bring Holly.
An hour later, we were parking in front of the Flour Shoppe, which was right next door to Back in the Day Books.
She was closed for the day, but I could still see a light shining from the kitchen in the back.
Jenna was one of the hardest working people I knew.
She was the perfect fit for our group; not a slacker in the bunch.
"All right, kiddo, ready to go?" I asked Holly, who was staring down at her phone. I glanced over briefly and saw that she was staring at her mom's pictures on her Facebook page.
"Any change?" I asked.
She looked over at me and flipped her phone upside down on her lap.
"Nothing," was all she said.
"You ready to eat some pastries? Nothing makes me feel better than flour, butter, and sugar baked into submission."
A brief laugh escaped Holly's lips. "I'm ready," she said.
Jenna, who had probably been watching for us, was standing at the door when we walked up.
"Good evening, ladies," she said. "Who's ready to be my taste testers?"
I bounced up and down on my toes with one hand in the air. "Oh, me! Pick me!"
Holly looked over at me and a small smile curved one side of her mouth. "Sounds good," she said with a little more enthusiasm than I'd seen from her in days.
We walked past Jenna, who locked the door behind us and then led us back to the kitchen.
The metal stainless steel countertop down the center was covered end to end in baked goods and the air was fragrant with vanilla and browned butter.
There was every variety you could think of: croissants, tarts, apple tartlets, cupcakes, tiny cheesecakes, cream puffs.
It was a smorgasbord of carbs, and I couldn't have been more excited.
"What have you gotten us into?" I said with a laugh.
"I have one of Paige's retreats coming up," she said, "and I wanted to make some changes to the menu this time, so I've been trying a few new desserts.
I figured I could try it for a week and if Paige approves, the retreaters would have a dessert to look forward to after they came back from dinner. "
"That's really smart, Jenna," I said. "It's always a good idea to try to expand your offerings. I think if everyone has been so thrilled with what you've been providing for breakfast, having something there for dessert would be wonderful."
"She asked me to put a couple ideas together because her retreaters have been looking for something when they get back from dinner, and Paige doesn't always have a dessert ready for them."
"Well, you have got some great options here. Why don't you tell us what we're about to eat?"
She went through the rows of desserts, and each one we tried was even better than the last.
"These are incredible," said Holly. "You made these all yourself?"
Jenna blushed and looked down at the floor, but then quickly looked back up again. She had been getting better about accepting compliments; her confidence had been growing, and it was showing in so many different ways.
"Yes, I made all of these. Some of them are recipes from when I was a child and would bake with my grandma Gigi, but some I just made up on my own, which is why I need your help.
I need you to tell me which ones are your favorites and if you thought any of them needed something more or something less. "
"I thought they were all perfect," said Holly. "I especially loved the mini cheesecakes with the cherries on top."
"Those are one of my favorites as well," said Jenna. "You have great taste."
"It almost tasted a little like a key lime pie," I said.
"That's exactly right," said Jenna. "I put a touch of key lime in the cheesecake. I was hoping it would offset the sweetness of the cherries."
"I have never tasted anything like it," I said. "And you made some changes to these fruit tarts too?"
"Yes. Paige told me everyone's been picking off the kiwis, so I switched up the fruit a little bit and added berries instead."
"Good call. I would pick the kiwis off too," said Holly. "They just look weird to me. Any fruit that starts off with hair on it shouldn't be edible."
"Hair?" I said with a chuckle.
"You know, that fuzzy stuff on the outside. I can't even touch them," said Holly. "How anyone can slice into something that feels like a chipmunk is beyond me."
Jenna and I were doubled over with laughter.
"You're hilarious," said Jenna. "You should come around more often. Actually, that brings me to another reason why I wanted you to come here today."
My curiosity was piqued. "Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Maybe I should have run this by you first, Elyse. But Holly, I was wondering if you ever wanted to come in and help out here at the bakery. You could come when Elyse is at the bookstore."
"Really?" she said, looking at me.
I shrugged my shoulders, then nodded my head. "Why not?" I said. "If you get to taste test things like this every day..."
"Well, we won't have taste testing sessions every day. But there are usually some extras that you could go home with."
I pointed at Holly. "She says yes," I said with a laugh.
Holly looked at me and then back at Jenna. Her face held more happiness than I had seen since she came to stay with us.
"Like a job?" she said.
"Absolutely. It must get boring not having anything to keep you busy. And I could really use the help."
"I'm so happy to hear that the bakery is busy enough that you need help now, Jenna. And I would be thrilled to drive Holly any day, even if I'm not at the bookstore."
"And I would be happy to pick her up and drop her off some days as well," said Jenna. "It's still a novelty for me to drive."
We had all grown so accustomed to Jenna's confidence and independence that sometimes we forgot that her ex-husband Craig had kept her under his thumb for so long, and her parents hadn't been much better.
She had basically jumped from the frying pan into the fire as far as controlling relationships went, but now that her parents were gone and Craig was in jail for domestic assault on top of his sentence for having destroyed Paige's home, Jenna was blossoming under the sun of her new independence.
"I think this sounds great," I said.
"When can I start?" said Holly.
"I'm at the bookstore tomorrow," I said, "unless that's too soon."
"Oh no, I could have used her today," said Jenna.
"I don't have much experience with cooking or baking," said Holly. "I do sometimes help my grandparents make dinner."
"No experience necessary," said Jenna, who was boxing up the baked goods that we had not eaten. "I can train you. As long as you can follow basic directions, you'll be perfect."
"Well then, I would love to," said Holly. "Thank you so much."
Jenna put two boxes of baked goods into our hands before we walked to the front door together.
She held the third box up. "I'm going to drop these off at Paige's on my way home.
If you think these are good, I want her to try them.
Maybe they will work for her retreat that's coming up this weekend.
" Jenna looked over at Holly. "I can definitely use your help getting ready for that. "
"Absolutely. I'd be happy to help you with anything. I love being with my Aunt Elyse and my Uncle Drew, but I also like to be busy," she said. "It helps to keep my mind occupied."
"I bet it does," said Jenna.
After giving Holly a quick side hug, she wrapped me up in her arms.
"It was great to see you tonight," she said. "Thank you for bringing Holly and for letting her come work with me. I honestly can use the help."
"It's my pleasure," I said, "on both accounts. And thanks for these," I said, raising up my box of pastries. "You can bet they will be gone before I turn off my nightlight tonight."
"I think Paige is going to love them," agreed Holly.
"I hope so. Ok then, I'm out of here," said Jenna as she locked the door behind us. "I will be getting in at about six, but whenever you get here will be great. See you tomorrow morning, Holly."
"I can't wait," she said.
And from the sparkle in her eyes, I knew she meant it.