Second-Chance Sweet Shop. Rochelle Alers

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СКАЧАТЬ uninterrupted hours and woke feeling as if she had been reborn. It took two months for her to put together a business plan to start over in a town she’d fled fourteen years before. Not only had she changed; the family dynamics had also changed. Her father was gone, and her brothers were lifers in the military, which left just her and her mother.

      She parked the van beside Charlotte’s brand-new Corolla. Sasha had purchased the vehicle as a birthday gift a week after returning to The Falls, because her mother’s car had spent more time in the garage than it had on the road. She ignored Charlotte’s complaint that she didn’t need a new car, now that she was retired, and that a used one would suffice. Sasha had had to remind the older woman that she was entitled to own a vehicle that hadn’t belonged to someone else first.

      She got out, unlocked the front door, walked into the house and was met with mouthwatering aromas wafting to her nose. “Mama, I’m home,” Sasha called out as she dropped her tote on a bench seat and left her shoes on the mat inside the door.

      Charlotte came out of the kitchen wearing her ubiquitous bibbed apron. Sasha could not remember a time when her mother did not wear an apron when cooking. “I thought you were coming home much later.”

      Sasha ran her hand through the curls falling over her forehead. “I changed my mind.”

      “Are you feeling all right?”

      She registered the concern in Charlotte’s voice. “I’m just a little tired.” The apprehension coupled with euphoria she’d felt earlier that morning had dissipated like air leaking out of a balloon. “I’m going to eat with you, then take a long soak in the tub before going to bed.”

      “Did you talk to Dr. Adams?” Charlotte asked.

      Sasha smiled. “Yes. He gave me the papers I need to put Kiera on the payroll. I asked him about him setting up his dental practice, and he gave me some good advice. He also promised to become a steady customer if I bake some of his favorite breads.”

      Charlotte wrapped an arm around Sasha’s waist. “Come. We’ll talk in the kitchen. I still have to whip up the mashed potatoes.”

      Sasha sniffed the air. “You made meat loaf.” Her mother nodded. Charlotte knew meat loaf with mashed potatoes was her favorite comfort food. There had been a time when as a wife and mother Charlotte made it a practice to make her husband and children’s favorite dishes once a week. For Sasha it was meat loaf. Fried chicken for her brother Philip, grilled pork chops for Stephen and beef stew for her father.

      “Yes. And it’s time I take it out of the oven.” Reaching for an oven mitt, Charlotte opened the eye-level oven and set the hot pan on a trivet.

      “I’m going to wash my hands, and then I’ll finish the potatoes,” Sasha volunteered.

      “Are you sure?” Charlotte asked.

      “Yes. Sit down and put your feet up.”

      She did not want to remind her mother that she had been up before dawn and needed at least eight to ten hours of sleep to keep up her stamina. But Sasha hoped things would change with her new hire. Now Charlotte would be able to leave the shop midday and return home to rest before starting dinner.

      “I’m not an invalid,” Charlotte argued softly, as she opened the refrigerator and took out a bowl of Greek salad and a cruet with dressing.

      “I know that, Mama. But remember what the doctor said about overtiring yourself. You have a follow-up medical checkup next month and I know you’re looking forward to good news.”

      “I am. But I feel more like a toddler than a grandmother having to take naps in the afternoon.”

      Married at eighteen, Charlotte had delivered Philip at nineteen, and he, following in his mother’s footsteps, married within days of graduating high school. He made Charlotte a grandmother before her fortieth birthday.

      “You’ll be back to your former self when you least expect it.”

      After laying out another place setting, Charlotte sat down. She smiled. “That’s what I’m hoping. And what about you, Natasha?”

      Sasha halted washing her hands in one of the twin sinks. “What about me, Mama?”

      “Do you resent having to come back to The Falls after living the high life in Nashville?”

      Sasha went completely still before reaching for a paper towel to dry her hands. “Why would you ask me that?”

      Charlotte shrugged under a flower-sprigged blouse. The tiny blue flowers were an exact match for her eyes. “There are times when I see so much sadness in your eyes that I believe you’d rather be somewhere else.”

      Pushing her hands into a pair of oven mitts, Sasha picked up the pot of boiled potatoes and emptied it into a large colander, steam temporarily clouding her vision. “If I’d wanted to be somewhere else, I never would’ve come home.”

      “I hope you didn’t come back for me.”

      Sasha closed her eyes for several seconds as she carefully chose her words. She didn’t know what had triggered her mother to question her motive for returning to her hometown. “I came back for me and you, Mama. I was so sick of the so-called high life that there were days when I didn’t want to get out of bed. There was a time when I couldn’t wait to leave The Falls, and then fast-forward fourteen years and I couldn’t wait to come back. My only concerns are you getting well and making certain the bakeshop will be successful. When I mentioned my apprehension to Dwight, he reassured me what I’m feeling is normal for anyone opening a new business.”

      “I’m surprised he’s going to allow his daughter to work for you.”

      “Why would you say that?”

      “Everyone knows he’s very protective of that girl. That’s probably the reason why he hasn’t remarried.”

      “How long has he been divorced?”

      “Kiera may have been in the second grade when his wife left him.”

      Charlotte mentioning Dwight’s marital status stirred Sasha’s curiosity about the attractive dentist. “Why did they break up?” She riced the potatoes, added milk, unsalted melted butter, garlic powder, fresh chives, and then whisked the mixture until it was smooth and fluffy.

      “I don’t know if there’s any truth to it, but folks were saying Adrienne didn’t want him to set up a practice in Wickham Falls and she gave him an ultimatum. In the end, she left, and he stayed.”

      “But didn’t she know when she married him that he didn’t want to leave The Falls?” Sasha asked. There were very few people in town Charlotte wasn’t familiar with. After thirty years as a cafeteria worker for Johnson County Public Schools, she had come to know every student from kindergarten through twelfth grade during her tenure.

      “I don’t know. The only thing I can say is the Wheelers spoiled Adrienne because she was the only girl in a family with four boys, and with her looks she knew she could have any boy she wanted. And once she set her sights on Dwight it was all she wrote. Would you mind if I open a bottle of that fancy wine you sent me?” Charlotte asked, changing the topic of conversation. “After all, we are celebrating your grand opening, and there are a few bottles chilling СКАЧАТЬ