James Chance sidled up to the front door of Sunflower Coffee and Tea Company and peered inside. He figured he looked more like a burglar casing the joint than the town sheriff as he searched the busy café for trouble.
Trouble, in this case, wasn’t criminals who might want to hold up the bakery in hopes of cleaning out the till, or stealing his sister Iris Chance McLeod’s morning glory muffin recipe. Trouble right now, for him, meant a certain very determined divorcee, Loreen Ludlaw, who took way too personal an interest in James, to the point that stalking would not be too strong a term. He’d considered a restraining order on Loreen but nixed that idea when his brother Evan, a lawyer, told him it would make him the town laughingstock. Though he suspected the good people of Hidden Falls, Oregon were already enjoying the joke at his expense.
As his trained cop’s gaze rapidly swept the inside of the coffee shop he recognized most of the customers. A table of older women laughing over their bright pottery mugs. A couple of young mothers in running gear, their babies sleeping in jogging strollers beside the table. A young man in a corner with his laptop open. He was a budding screenwriter who seemed to treat Iris’s coffee shop as his office. Since Iris offered free Internet along with the best brownies ever baked, she drew a number of people who studied, worked, or played on their computers amid all the chatter and noise of a busy café.
Loreen wasn’t on the premises, so he relaxed enough to open the door and walk inside. Even though he’d been expecting it, the noise still hit him—the laughter and the buzz of conversations. One of the babies began to fuss and its mother automatically reached into the stroller to pick up the crying infant. At the sound of the cheerful bells announcing his arrival, one of the older women in the coffee party glanced up and sent him a nod and a smile, which he returned.
He strode up to the counter where Iris worked the barista machine like the pro she was. Iris was pregnant with twins and from the way she was standing he suspected her back was bothering her. When she saw him, her face lit up with a smile. “Hey, little brother,” she said. “What’s up?”
Among his ten siblings, if he had to choose a favorite, he’d pick two: his twin brother, Josh, because they shared the unbreakable bond of twins, and Iris. Iris was the oldest girl in the family, and in many ways more nurturing than their mom. Iris had a way about her that made a person not only want to trust her, but to lay their burdens and problems on her shoulders.
She gave excellent advice, never blabbed secrets, and, unlike most of the rest of them, wasn’t given to teasing. She was also about to make him an uncle for the first time. He was happy to see a new generation of Chances being born. Plus, it was cool that they were twins.
“I was in the neighborhood,” he said. While he didn’t walk the business area of Hidden Falls every day, he was a familiar presence. He’d discovered that community policing was more about deterring crime and encouraging neighborliness than dealing with serious law-breaking. Which made a nice change from his last job.
Iris nodded, and her smile peeped out once more. “And I’m sure my morning glory muffins had nothing to do with your sudden urge to see me.”
He shook his head. “I’m always happy to see you.” He shrugged, “Snarfing muffins is an added bonus.” He waited as she placed a latte up on the counter and called, “Angela!” before asking, “Can I have an Americano with the muffin?”
“Coming right up. You want that to go?”
He was about to say, “No.” He planned to sit inside and hopefully to get Iris to join him so he could ask her excellent advice on how to deal with the prickly issue of Loreen Ludlow, but before he could speak a woman walked out from the kitchen carrying a tray of freshly baked brownies. When he glanced up at her, the earth seemed to stop turning. The chatter behind him faded to utter silence as he stared.
She wore her long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, her slim body was wrapped in an apron with a big yellow sunflower in the center, identical to Iris’s. Beneath the apron, she wore faded jeans and sneakers that, while clean, were old and worn. Her focus had been on the tray in her hands, but as though she felt his scrutiny, she glanced up. Those big blue eyes that he remembered so well opened wide and her pale skin flushed red and then fluttered back to unnaturally pale.
Her hands tightened on the aluminum baking sheet as though she were in danger of dropping it. Since she’d come to his town, and was working for his sister, she had to have known she would see him again. And it was she who spoke first. She said, in the soft voice that haunted his dreams, “Hello, James.”
He blinked and the world began to spin again. Once more he could hear the chatter and noise behind him. “Kimberly. Hi.” It was all he could manage from a suddenly dry throat. He felt foolish, thrown off his stride, and the fact that his sister was glancing between the two of them with undisguised curiosity only added to the stress of the moment.
To Iris he said, “I’ll take that coffee to go.”
He and Kimberly were going to have a little chat about what she was doing here, and soon. But for now he obeyed his instinct to retreat from a scene that was too hot for him to handle.
That woman, with her frail beauty, had already rocked his world once. Now that she’d come to his town, he had a bad feeling she was going to do it again.
Kimberly felt like a fool as she placed the fresh brownies into the display case, perfectly aware that her hands were trembling and that Iris was watching her intently.
Of course, in a bakery and coffee shop that was always busy, where there was barely ever a moment for her and Iris to chit-chat, suddenly everyone either had full cups of coffee or were getting ready to leave. The bell wasn’t ringing to announce fresh customers. Of all times, when she least wanted it, they had a lull.
When she finished with the brownies, she saw that Iris had leaned back against the counter and crossed her hands under her rounded belly in a gesture that was already growing familiar to Kimberly. “You should sit down,” Kim said. “Take a break.”
Iris gazed back at her with an expression that said as clearly as words, No, I am not going to stay out of your business. What she actually said was, “I’ll take a break in a minute. How do you know my brother?”
Okay, so she wasn’t going for subtle. Kim sighed. “I met him at a wedding.”
Iris waited, but she had no more to say. If Iris wanted more details, let her ask James for them.
“Lots of women know my brother, and don’t look as though the Headless Horseman is bearing down on them when they catch sight of him.” She paused for a moment and shifted as though her back were bothering her. “It crossed my mind that maybe he’d arrested you.”
The curse of her pale skin was that she blushed so easily. She also burned if she was in the sun for any length of time, but there was sunscreen for that. So far she’d never found any kind of cosmetic she could apply that would hide her blushes.
The words hung there, not an accusation, or a question, exactly, but a comment that obviously needed a reply.
“No, of course not! He’s never arrested me. I’ve never been arrested.” Her face felt hot enough to ignite her eyebrows and she sounded guilty and defensive even to her own burning ears. Would she never get away from her past?
It was, strangely enough, because of the same wedding where she’d met James that she’d been introduced to Iris. Kimberly was a trained baker who needed a change and Iris needed help in her bakery. Rose, James and Iris’s sister, and one of the other bridesmaids in the wedding party, had recalled Kim was a baker, and had hooked her and Iris up.
When Iris had phoned and asked if she’d be interested in working at Sunflower Coffee and Tea Company, she’d been thrilled at the opportunity to get out of Portland and live somewhere quiet. Iris must have given her married name, for she hadn’t made the connection with James, obviously, or she’d have turned down the opportunity right away.
It was only a couple of hours drive to Hidden Falls, Oregon but it was a world away from Portland. Smaller, with a charming main street of brick-fronted stores from the turn of the last century. She liked everything about the small town, including its name. If a waterfall could stay hidden, then why couldn’t she?
Kim had also taken to Iris right away. The job interview had been more like two friends chatting over coffee. Still, during the hour or so they spent together she’d told her potential new boss about her training at the British Columbia Culinary Academy where she’d specialized in breads and pastries.
“British Columbia? Are you Canadian?” Iris asked.
“I’m a dual citizen.”
“That must be nice. I drove all across Canada one summer and I thought it was beautiful.”
“It is.” And still she planned never to go back. Before Iris could ask anything more about her personal life, she began describing her work experience baking everything from brioche to puff pastry to gluten free bread. “I’m not afraid to work hard and I’m used to starting my shift as early as three a.m.”
Iris nodded. “There’s no sleeping late in our business. Even on my days off I still wake with the birds. It’s an occupational hazard, I guess.”
“I’ve never been a late sleeper.” Where she’d grown up, if it wasn’t a new baby crying, there were strange noises and comings and goings in the night that she had to pretend to know nothing about.
“How are you at working out front?” When Kim stared at her, she said, “With customers?”
“Oh. I’m usually in the kitchen.” Obviously a small bakery/coffee shop like this wouldn’t give her the luxury of staying in the kitchen all day. But it was a tiny town. Who’d ever discover her here? She could tell from Iris’s expression that customer service was going to be an important part of the job. She hid the root of her hesitation by pointing toward the counter and saying, “You’d have to train me to run that fancy Barista machine. I’ve never used one before.”
Iris sent her a relieved smile. “It’s not nearly as complicated as it looks. Where do you work now?”
“I’m at a cake factory. We bake wedding cakes mostly, but also birthday, graduation, retirement, that kind of thing.”
“Can I ask why you’re thinking of leaving?”
How to explain the itchy feeling at the back of her neck that crept up suddenly, and caused her to pack her bags and move on. She shrugged. “Cakes are fine, but I’m getting buttercream frosting fatigue.”
Iris nodded. “I’m the same. I love variety. When I first started Sunflower I was scared I’d get bored, but there’s no time to be bored and I change up the menu quite a bit while keeping a staple of favorites. It seems to work.” She glanced down at her belly. “As you can see, I’m expecting.” She grimaced. “Twins, in fact. My plan is to hire a second baker, someone who can take over for a little while when I have the babies.”
“Twins, wow. Congratulations.”
Iris rubbed her belly. “Thanks. It’s so much to take on. But I guess I’ll figure it out, especially if I’m not worried about running the bakery at the same time as getting used to being a mom.”
“I’d be happy to help in any way I can.” For a moment she flashed back to saying the same words to her own mother, when she was expecting yet again. At least this time she’d be helping as a paid baker instead of an unpaid mother’s helper.
Iris pushed her mug back suddenly as though she’d come to a decision. “Do you want to make something right now?”
She was a little taken aback. “Make something?”
“Sure. Best way I can think of to see if you’re a fit. Let’s bake a batch of muffins, or brownies, or anything you like.” She rose to her feet and picked up both of their mugs in one smooth motion. “So long as I have the ingredients. My associate Dosana–” She paused. “I don’t know why I said that. She’s not my associate, she’s my friend. Dosana started working here part-time when she was taking business school. Now she runs our second location. Anyway, she’s dropping by this afternoon. It’s great that she can meet you.”
Kim doubted very much that Dosana’s dropping by when she was here was pure coincidence but she was certain that if Iris wanted her to bake something and meet her other employee then she was seriously interested in hiring her. And Kim was seriously interested in taking the job.
Kim ran her eyes rapidly over the display case. The store was empty of customers since it was six o’clock at night and the bakery had closed. A few muffins and about half a dozen croissants were bagged up as day old merchandise to be sold off at half price in the morning. On top of the display case were jars containing cookies. The chocolate chip jar was nearly full but the one proclaiming Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies was nearly empty.
“Let’s make some peanut butter cookies,” she said, knowing that would be more useful to Iris than her showing off with something the bakery didn’t stock.
“You’re on,” Iris said.
They went into the back kitchen and Kim had a chance to check out the setup and was impressed. The kitchen was well set up and orderly which would make rush times more efficient. The stainless-steel tables were topped with either butcher block or marble, perfect for pastry. There were two big, industrial mixers, two ovens and an entire wall of mixing bowls, measuring cups and tins and sheets for baking bread, cakes and cookies.
The fridge was huge, as was the dishwasher and the ingredients were all labeled, everything from flour to cardamom. There was a tiny office, a staff washroom and a back door. The walls were subway tile and the floor an industrial tile, all currently sparkling and easy to keep clean.
She was wearing a short-sleeved blue blouse, white slacks and black Nikes. She checked that her hair was well secured in its ponytail and then walked to the sink to wash her hands. When she turned, Iris handed her a large white apron with the sunflower logo on it.
As they worked, Iris showed her where things were kept and passed her ingredients. “I call the cookies extra crunchy because I use crunchy peanut butter and add in whole peanuts.”
She nodded, setting the big mixer to cream the butter and sugar mixture and beginning to break eggs.
“Did you always want to be a baker?” Iris asked as she opened the stainless steel drawer labeled flour.
“I fell into it because it was something I could do.” Her mother’s voice echoed. Kimberly, honey, I don’t know what we’d do without you. You’re so good in the kitchen! Mommy’s little helper.
At six she could make porridge, peel vegetables and feed and change a baby. By ten she was cooking meals and by the age of twelve she made all the bread and did most of the cooking for a large and growing family.
While the cookies were baking, Iris said, “Even though I do this every day, the smell of baking still reminds me of home. Not that my mother is the world’s greatest cook. We had a big family and not much money, so there was never anything fancy in our home, but always plenty to eat and lots of laughter.” She wiped down the counters while Kim cleaned the mixer. “I’m the oldest girl, so I was always helping out. Guess that’s how I learned to love cooking.”
Kim was amazed at how similar their backgrounds were. “How big is your family?”
Iris scrunched up her nose. “There are eleven kids.”
“Eleven. Wow. We were only six, but it seemed like a hundred.”
“You the oldest?”
She nodded.
A glance of understanding passed between them. She bet Iris had learned to cook when she was young, and had done more than her fair share of babysitting. She wondered if she and her siblings were close.
If she’d known how close, and that James Chance was one of those siblings, Kim would have run out of the bakery, jumped in her car and sped away.
But she didn’t know, so, when Iris pulled the industrial sized cookie sheet out of the oven, sampled the cookie before it had even finished cooling and proclaimed it ‘delicious,’ she’d been happy.