Chapter 39 August
THIRTY-NINE
AUGUST
The town has a pep in its step. The flowers are in full bloom; people have switched their spring coats for T-shirts and shorts.
Forty-degree weather is turning into eighty-degree weather.
Surfers take advantage of the warm water when the sun is at its highest. Birds fly around chirping at one another.
When I walk into town, I'm greeted by bright smiles and kids laughing as they pass by.
But me? I still feel like I have a cloud over my head.
I gave Riley an ultimatum. Who does that? An asshole, that’s who. I had grabbed my phone, ready to apologize. As soon as I opened our text conversation, I stopped. Or my fingers stopped.
They hovered over the keyboard, and I waited to type out two words, I’m sorry, but I didn’t. Something in me didn’t think it was a good idea. Maybe my conscience? I had to practically beg her to give me a chance.
Sadness rushed over me like a wave, pulling me back into the sea. That was the second hardest day for me, the first being Dad getting diagnosed with cancer. I decided that I was going to lie in bed and sleep.
The day of the grand opening for Honey Cakes, I told myself everything would be okay. It’s time to move on. I’ve waited long enough. I can’t keep torturing myself like this. It’s not fair to keep punishing myself.
Plus, something has been on my mind since the opening of the bakery. The group stayed a few hours, just to see how things were going, and we made sure to keep buying things, so we weren’t the customers who took a table for no reason.
But I spied Mr. Miller, talking with Dad on the other side at a different table.
There was some laughter, solemn looks, and then a hug.
I hadn’t gotten around to asking what that conversation was about.
It seemed private. The two of them, sitting in a corner, speaking about something that may or may not be about Dad and his cancer.
Since then, I’ve kept busier than usual with work, taking care of Dad, and hanging out at the brewery. If I were told Riley was coming around, I’d come up with an excuse to leave. Any excuse.
At one point, I was so desperate to leave that I said I had to water the plants at my house.
The store is running smoothly, we’re gearing up for the launch, and Dad is at the tail end of his treatment. Nothing has changed regarding the surgery. I’ve come to accept it. The most important thing is being with him. We’ll watch movies, I’ll cook his favorite meal, or we’ll play boardgames.
Note to self: never play Monopoly with Dad. He'll bankrupt all the players in ten minutes.
I continue to walk around without a destination, soaking in the sun and trying—but failing—not to think about Riley.
Neither one of us reached out. I've had to stop myself a few times from stopping at the yoga studio to see if she has a class.
I open the door to Honey Cakes, and the little bell chimes to alert them of an incoming customer. The bakery smells like apple pie, and my stomach yells at me for some.
"Hey, Jamie." I wave to the very cheerful employee who always seems to be smiling.
She waves back enthusiastically, her white teeth showing off now that her braces are gone. "Hi! What can I get ya?”
"What’s the special treat for today?"
Almost every table is taken. A toddler looks at me with chocolate frosting all over his mouth and tiny fingers.
"Ooh, the specials today are so good. We have birthday cupcakes filled with edible birthday cake batter, a giant Oreo sandwich with Oreo truffle stuffed between the two cookies, and candied bacon that’s almost sold out." She takes a breath.
"Wow. Did Ellie make all of those?"
"Her and Emily.” She leans over the counter slightly with wide eyes. “They've been here since five in the morning, and they haven't stopped."
I lean to one side and look over Jamie's shoulder to the white swinging door that stands still. "Is she back there right now?"
Jamie nods.
"Is it okay if I go see her?"
She shrugs, "I don't see why not. You're her brother, so don't you like, get to do whatever you want here?"
"You must not have an older sister.” I walk around the counter and push through the door. "Whoa." I stop in my tracks and watch Ellie dance and sing while five mixing stands swirl.
Her hair is pulled into a ponytail, and it bounces around as she dances, her apron covered with flour. She uses a wooden spoon to sing into it like a microphone, bellowing “It's All Coming Back to Me Now” by Celine Dion.
I can recite the entire song, and it takes everything in me not to. It’s all she listened to growing up. Celine sang in Ellie's bedroom for weeks.
The assistant she hired sits on one of the silver counters, eating what looks like cake batter off a small spoon.
Ellie is at the climax of the song when she turns around, sees me, and jumps, yelling. She lowers her shoulders that were up to her ears and lets out a breath.
The girl turns down the music on the speaker next to her, swinging her black high-top Converse back and forth. Her dark hair is pulled into a similar ponytail, the color matching her shirt and jeans. She looks like she just graduated from high school and is not affected by this talent show.
"Am I interrupting?" I ask.
"Yeah." Ellie nods, lowering the spoon. "You are."
I turn to the girl still sitting on the counter and nod in greeting. "Hey, I'm August, Ellie's brother."
"Hey, I'm Emily, Ellie's assistant baker." She leans one arm back behind her and salutes me with her silver spoon.
“Emily is the best assistant. I had so many people apply, but the minute Emily sat down in front of me, I just knew. Don’t ask me how. Her aura spoke to me."
“Nice to meet you.” I give her a polite wave.
She jumps down and wipes her hands on her apron. "I'm gonna go check on the goods, see if we need to make anymore." She walks toward me and to the door. "Nice meeting you, Ellie's brother."
"So, what brings you to my domain?" Ellie starts cleaning up a little, taking care of the mixing bowls, cupcake pans, and parchment paper strewn everywhere.
Walking toward the counter on the opposite side of her, I brace my hands on top and rock back and forth. "Just wanted to stop by, see how you're doing."
"You visited yesterday. Not much has changed."
"Oh. That's cool," I mutter, looking around the big kitchen.
A big fancy double-burner stove takes up most of the wall behind her. Double-stacked ovens and large cooling racks are placed on the other side of the wall to the right of the ovens. Everything is neatly organized except for the counter.
It's an impressive kitchen. One you would see in a movie with fancy equipment. Except there are no white coats and or people screaming, “Yes, chef.”
"Why did you really come here?" She sweeps up flour from the floor.
I hate that she can read me like a book. I know she knows that Riley and I have been ignoring each other. She hasn’t asked why, and I don’t expect her to. She’s the type of person who waits to be told rather than dragging it out of someone.
"What? I can't visit my favorite sister?"
"Your only sister." The bristle of the broom makes noise against the tiles with every stroke. The chatter of customers echoes from behind the door. "She isn't here."
"Who?" I continue rocking back and forth on the counter.
"Oh, please." She stops sweeping. "Something happened between you two again. I don't know what, but it has to be bad if you both are avoiding each other."
"Nothing happened. We don't even hang out." I distract myself and start to walk around the kitchen, looking at everything like I haven't seen it all before.
"Then why aren't you around anytime everyone hangs out?"
"I'm busy." I look at one of the giant mixers. The large bowl can fit two Ellies in there.
"Right. So, the text you sent me earlier asking if Riley would be here having nothing to do with you ignoring her?" She gestures toward me in a circle.
I scoff. "No."
"Okay," she says, huffing. "Well, you’re coming out with us tonight, right? To celebrate the opening."
"Oh yeah. What’s the plan again?"
"We're going to have dinner and then go to the nightclub we all love so much," she says sarcastically.
I narrow my eyes. "Who convinced you to add that to your day?"
“Who do you think? Beau, of course. The party animal he is.” Ellie wipes at her face and a line of flour covers her cheek. "I don’t care, really. I can leave any time I want. I’ll have a couple of drinks, and then I’ll go home with Rowan. I know Riley could really use it, though."
"Is she okay?" I force out, patiently waiting to hear what she’s been up to.
She puts both her hands on top of the broom handle and rests her chin on them. "She’s kind of keeping to herself, and I’m not pushing her to tell me anything she doesn’t want to. She shows up to work and still goes out, which is a good sign."
“Is she helping you with the wedding… stuff? Whatever that entails.”
“Of course. She’s made it her mission to take off as much stress as possible, which means adding all of that on top of everything else she’s dealing with.”
"Is dad still walking you down the aisle?" I ask cautiously.
This is a sensitive topic for all of us, but especially for Ellie.
She's come to accept that he won't get the surgery.
If he can walk her down the aisle, then it's fine.
He'll most likely be in a wheelchair due to his energy being nonexistent.
I'm not looking forward to seeing him like that on my sister's wedding day, but I would rather see him alive.
"Yeah." She starts to sweep again.
Ellie doesn't seem to want to talk about it, so I stop.
"Cool. Well, I'll let you get back to work. I'll see you tonight." I ruffle her hair, and she swats my hand away.