Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
I kept the front-of-house lights on because I had an assortment of cookies and tarts that would be picked up at noon. When a woman knocked on the door, I let her in.
“Hey, thanks for coming early. The tarts are boxed separately,” I indicated the boxes on the counter.”
“Oh, I’m not here for a pickup. I love your muffins, and I saw the help wanted sign in the window. Are you taking applications?”
“Yes, we are. I’m Madison,” I said, impatient but trying to be friendly.
“Good to meet you. Are you the genius behind those chocolate cherry muffins? I’m Lillian.”
“I created the recipe. I’m glad you like them. I’d love to chat about my favorite subject, but I’m in the middle of a huge order right now. That’s why I closed early. You can write your information on this, and I’ll be in touch later in the week.” I said.
She thanked me, wrote down her details and left with merciful speed.
“You didn’t waste much time on her. Did she have dirty fingernails or something?” Marco remarked.
“No, I just don’t have time to deal with anyone who isn’t actively helping. Hint—” I said pointedly, only half joking.
“Sorry, I’d say I was on a coffee break, but this is a coffee shop,” he said, “and I don’t smoke. We’ll say it was a standing around break. I finished sweeping.”
“Good, now grab the pink sticky note off the pantry door and follow the recipe to make up the eggplant filling. Lots of chopping, everything has to be uniform.”
“Use the mandoline slicer?”
“Absolutely,” I said, “Just use the gripper so you don’t slice off a finger.”
I made it another two hours before I called the number on the notepad and asked if Lillian could start on a trial basis the next day. I stayed super late finishing the rolls, each a glossy golden brown as I packed them in parchment for morning pickup. With a sigh, I rubbed my neck and promised myself a long hot bath at home.
Lillian turned out to be a lifesaver. She was friendly and cheerful and knew how to operate a cash register with a cantankerous card reader. She made small talk with customers who were waiting on Marco to bring their coffee to go and kept the checkout line moving at a good clip. It left me time to connect with my customers, to ask about their new home, their new dog, or their dad’s surgery. My favorite part of the business was bringing joy to the lives of people I got to know through my love of baking. I’d missed that in the last few harried weeks. It felt good and I was thankful.
After we closed, Lillian agreed to stay for a cup of coffee and one of the chocolate muffins I’d saved for her.
“You made a huge difference this morning in how smoothly everything went. I can’t thank you enough for being a quick study,” I said, sipping my coffee and sinking into a chair.
“Thanks. I was pretty nervous when that crowd poured in around eight. I thought, hey we’re done with the early rush—then here comes another wave.”
“I know it can be a lot. I’m really lucky to have so much repeat business since it’s time for holiday festivities at a lot of small businesses. They order muffins and scones and things for their staff. I spend a lot of time filling those orders and with the staffing glitch recently, I’ve been chained to the mixer almost.”
“I’m glad I could give you a break. I only freaked out once, which isn’t bad for the first day, right?”
“That man tried to pay you with change only. It’s a legitimate freakout,” I said to her warmly.
“This muffin is amazing. Thanks for saving me one.”
“Anytime. Thanks for pitching in on short notice,” I said.
She told me a little about herself—moved to the city from a smaller town to be with her boyfriend who’s now an ex, didn’t like office temp work and now wants to branch out. Maybe considering culinary school down the road. I paid her in cash for the day and had her fill out payroll forms. I felt a lot lighter just knowing she’d show up for work the next day and be efficient enough that I didn’t have to do three things at once. I hadn’t realized how tiring it was to be short-staffed until I had a morning when I wasn’t. I finished my coffee and got to work on another batch of muffins for the nail salon’s holiday open house tomorrow morning.
23
NOAH
Leo made chili for supper—one of the two things he cooks—and we sat down for a meal together. It had been almost a week since we all sat at the same time and ate. Everyone had meetings, project deadlines or, in Madison’s case, big holiday orders to fill. Half the time she was in the kitchen till eleven or so just wrapping up the next day’s baking. I had lent a hand on some gingerbread and fruitcake muffins yesterday—fruitcake is just never good in my opinion. Making it muffin-shaped doesn’t hide the fact. I did get into rolling out the dough for the cinnamon rolls though.