Ester saw a painter putting the name of the bakery on the storefront window when she approached. The letters were painted blue and yellow like the Swedish flag. “Signe Carlson Bakery” (*) covered the top of both bakery windows which faced both, Foster and Paulina Avenues on the corner. She smiled at the painter as she walked past him through the storefront door. A bell rang when she entered and she remembered it was a warning to staff that customers were entering. Ester admired the room as she looked around. The oak counters were stained a rich golden tone and the display cases matched. The store smelled of a combination of new wood, fresh paint, and sweet pastries. The counter had a large cash register on one end and tall, glass-covered cake stands across the other end. Behind the cases a wall of shelves stored more baked goods.
“Hello? Mrs. Carlson?” Ester called.
“Call me Signe, and I will call you Ester.” Signe Carlson said as she emerged from the back room. She took Ester’s hand in greeting.
“Yes, Signe.” Ester nodded. “The bakery looks beautifully finished and ready to open.”
“We are ready to open next week. Come meet our baker and I will tell you about our plans for production and sales.”
Ester felt good about being here although she was a little worried about the English speaking customers. Signe assured her that it would take a while before non-Swedes came into the store.
“This is our neighborhood.” Signe said. “We have made it our home in America. It should reflect our language and our community.”
After they toured the kitchen and the office and met the baker, Mrs. Carlson took Ester to the front of the store again to show her how to use the cash register. She also, showed her the pricing sheets for the different baked goods.
“These prices may change each week depending on the cost of our ingredients but the new prices will always be here by the cash register. Now this is the book where you enter orders for special occasions.”
Mrs. Carlson explained how to enter the ‘date received’ and the ‘date needed’ in the book so that the baker can plan his baking schedule. She also told Ester the bakery phone number and showed her the flyers to put in each order to advertise the weekly and seasonal specials.
“We will start you out slow.” Mrs. Carlson said. “I will be at the counter with you for a while until we both feel comfortable with your skills.”
The phone rang in the back office so Mrs. Carlson left to answer it and Ester was left to review what she had learned so far.
Olof arrived outside the bakery. It wasn’t that hard to find even without much of an address or directions. He was more than familiar with the neighborhood and the people in the neighborhood easily directed him once he asked where to find the new bakery. They all were happily awaiting its opening themselves. Olof peered in the windows to see if anyone was inside. He was overjoyed to see Ester behind the counter with her head down reading something on the counter.
“She looks so beautiful.” he said to himself.
He knocked on the door to get her attention. He tried to open the door but it was locked. Ester looked up. She saw someone standing in the doorway but she couldn’t see if it was anyone she recognized. She walked over to the door to tell the person knocking that the store wasn’t open yet when she realized it was Olof.
Taken by surprise at seeing him she said to herself, “He looks so handsome.”
She could hear him now through the door calling. “Ester!” Let me in.”
She opened the door but held it partially closed.
“Olof, I can’t let you in. I am working now. My employer will be back in front any minute.”
“Can we meet at your place tonight after work? I want to apologize for my behavior. I need to talk with you.” He begged.
“Yaj, Yaj. Tonight. We will talk then. Please go now.” Ester said.
Olof waved to her as he left and she closed the door quickly behind her.
“Who was that?” Mrs. Carlson asked when she came back in to the front of the store.
Ester face flushed and she looked at Mrs. Carlson for a second trying to decide what to say. Then she just blurted out, “My friend was asking when I would be off work.”
Signe Carlson laughed and said. “He looks like a close friend.” Then Signe looked at the clock opposite the counter and realized it was almost 4:00 o’clock. They had been working for almost the entire afternoon.
She said, “Don’t worry, Ester, we should be done by 5. I just want to go over the inventory method. That’s what we count after the store closes each day to determine what should be placed in the ‘day-old’ bin on the next day. Also, it helps us plan the evening baking for the next day. We don’t want to over bake any particular item which didn’t sell or we may need to bake more of an item that sold well.”
Ester’s head was spinning when she said good-bye to Mrs. Carlson that night. Signe had told her they would open on Monday next week. She needed to be there by 5 am to help place all the baked goods on the shelves for the day.
Ester thought I’ll never remember any of this. All I could think of was Olof. He’s back! I need to get home to see him. Then she thought, I should be angry with him. What will he say to me? After what he did. How will I tell him about the baby? Why didn’t I think of this before? Why didn’t I plan how to tell him?
She ran to Clark Street to catch the streetcar. She wondered if he would be waiting for her at her building. They hadn’t really made any definite plans.
Olof was definitely waiting for her at her building. He went there immediately after she said he had to leave the bakery. There was no place else he wanted to be now. He tried to practice what he would say to her but nothing he thought of came out right. Olof thought about waiting in the building courtyard for Ester but then he realized he had no idea how long she would be working. She could be working until 9 or 10 tonight. He walked and walked trying to think about waiting in the courtyard or maybe going to Yungdahl’s to wait. He forgot to get on the streetcar, he was so driven by his thoughts. He just ended up walking the entire way there lost in his thoughts of Ester.
As Ester road the streetcar down Clark and then Chicago Avenue, she worried about him waiting in the courtyard for her. He didn’t know how long she would be working. It could have been until 9 or 10 at night. Oh where would he wait? He couldn’t wait in the courtyard that long. Maybe he would go to the Drugstore to wait. He might not even come to my rooms until after 9 o’clock, she worried. As soon as she got off the streetcar she ran the rest of the way home. It was only one block to Sherman Avenue and then a short block to her building. When she got to the courtyard no one was there. She stopped and looked around. She walked down the side walk to the back of the building thinking he might have walked around the block if he got bored sitting and waiting.
Olof had stopped at the Drug Store to get some candy for Ester and a drink for himself. He wanted to give her something. He was just walking up Sherman Avenue when he saw Ester coming out from behind the building. He started running. He figured she didn’t see him so he wanted to catch her before she went upstairs.
But she had seen him and ran out to the street to catch him.
They found each other at the courtyard entrance and ran into each other’s arms.
“Ester!”
“Olof!”
They kissed and hugged on the street then stood back and laughed together in their embrace as if they had never parted. With their arms wrapped around each other they walked into Ester’s building together.
When they got into her rooms, Ester said “Olof… but he interrupted.
“Ester, Let me talk first. I was a fool to leave you. I am so sorry. I realized I would be lost without you. I don’t want to lose you. Please forgive me for being so foolish. I love you Ester.”
“I should be angry with you.” Ester scowled at him. “I was very hurt when you left and you didn’t even talk to me. Then I find out that you left town. I was heartbroken.” Tears welled up in her eyes. Then her scowl turned to a smile. “But I love you too. Olof. I don’t want to live without you.”
Olof held her close and tenderly kissed her tears away.
“But wait I still have more to tell you.” Ester stopped his kisses.
“Tell me. What is it?” he said.
“We are having a baby. I am pregnant. You are a father Olof.”
Olof roared. “Praise the Lord.”
“Shhh, the neighbors will hear you.”
And they both laughed and hugged.
“There is nothing more to say. We have to get married.” Olof took her face between his hands to kiss her then he jumped away. “I don’t even have a job! Olof shouted and spun her around instead.
“At least, I have a job for now.” Ester answered as they danced around laughing at each other.
Then Olof sat down at the table in Ester’s tiny apartment. He pulled her onto his lap and looked into her soft blue eyes.
“Please be my wife, Ester Nilssen. I want to love you forever. We will talk to Reverend Wendall tomorrow to announce the bands and in three weeks we will be married.
“I will marry you, Olof Johansson.” Ester kissed him.
Their night was filled with desire and dreams. Plans for their future kept them giddy with joy and hot with passion.
That same day after Olof left Yungdahl’s house to find Ester, Mr. Yungdahl walked over to William Carlson’s house. He found William in the kitchen feeding young Bertie his morning meal.
“Carlson, how is that young fellow, Bertie?” Yungdahl called through the back kitchen window.
“Come in, Yungdahl. Bertie is just having his breakfast and we are waiting for Mary, his new nanny, to come. What brings you here today?” William said watching Yungdahl play with the baby.
“Oh Bertie you are getting so big, young man.” Yungdahl teased the baby and pulled up a chair at the kitchen table.
“I have news. You will be surprised to hear, Olof is back!
“Whoa, that is news. How do you know? Did you see him?”
“Wait, yaj. I’ll tell you. He came to my house late, last night. He’d just gotten off the train from Rockford and needed a place to stay.”
“Where is he now?”
Yungdahl laughed. “You won’t believe it!”
“Come on, you old man. Tell me.”
“He went to ask Ester to marry him.”
Just then baby Bertie let out a baby screech. He was wanting his breakfast. Both men laughed at the child’s demands.
Yungdahl said, “See even Bertie is happy for those two.”
“Is he coming back to your house tonight? I want to see him.”
“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe, maybe not. I will tell him when I see him that you want to talk with him. I think he has other things on his mind right now.” The old man chuckled.
“Oh, yaj.” We will just have to wait, I guess.” William agreed.