Lucy drove around the lake, admiring the mountains beyond the clear blue waters, and the Redwoods standing tall and proud. It was a really nice place, a home, she thought, and that unsettled her. She’d not allowed herself to think that way since leaving hers.
She passed driveways heading up into the trees, and two big greenhouses surrounded by a high security fence. When the mailboxes stopped Lucy found a small track, and turned onto it. At the end was nothing but trees. Getting out, she walked around and found no tire tracks or other signs of activity. This would be a good place to park for the night. Climbing into the back of the Bronco, she checked her supplies.
This was Lucy’s home, and had been since she brought it four years ago. It was old but reliable, and she needed that. She had her mattress, a suitcase and a cooler bag, plus a set of shelves. Everything she owned was in here. Her life.
“And isn’t that pathetic.”
She’d have laughed at this existence a few years ago; now, it was all she had. If she was moving, no one would catch her, and that was the only thing she focused on.
Taking out the loaf of bread she’d bought this morning, Lucy slathered two slices in peanut butter, then ate while contemplating her next move. For some reason, she didn’t want to leave Lake Howling yet. It felt safe here, and that had nothing to do with Noah. He didn’t make her feel safe; he made her nervous.
Pulling out her notebook, she wrote down the pros and cons for staying in Lake Howling for a few days… maybe even a week. That was how she made a decision if she was torn about what to do.
Pros
Quiet and peaceful
Safe—no one would find me here
I could get work
Cons
NOAH
She could only think of that one con.
Avoid him going forward. She could do that, surely. They’d shared one night together, and it had been sex, nothing more. No connections were formed; it was scratching an itch.
Decision made, Lucy changed her shirt for her clean white one, and instead of her boots wore a pair of flats. Brushing her hair, she then tidied everything away and climbed back into the driver seat. A loud woof had her opening the door again.
A tan smooth-haired dog with a huge head that likely had huge jaws inside it was standing a few feet from her car.
“Hey, bud, you lost?” The tail wagged, which had her getting out and dropping to her haunches. The dog crept forward. Holding out a hand, she let the animal sniff it. “Nothing to fear here.”
The dog’s ears were back, and it’s black eyes focused on Lucy. She could see its ribs.
“Where are your parents?” The dog whined.
Sighing, she got to her feet and opened the back door again. Getting in, she pulled out the bread and made another peanut butter sandwich. Taking out one of her bowls, Lucy poured water in it. Then climbing back out, she placed it on the ground.
“Have at it, buddy, and then go and find your people, or some new ones.”
Getting back in the driver side, she then backed slowly out. The dog watched her. At the end of the track, she turned right and headed back into town.
The town of Lake Howling was cute, and with the exception of Noah, Lucy was pretty sure she could pass a bit of time here happily exploring before moving on again.
Parking in front of Cribbins Cakery aka the Howlery, she climbed out after looking up and down the street. No sign of Noah, and if she was staying, she couldn’t worry about that, Lucy reminded herself.
Stopping outside the window, she studied it. The yellow striped canopy overhead was pretty, but the display was all over the place. Color and clutter everywhere. Lucy couldn’t see a theme, just a jumble of things. Pictures of cakes were stuck to the left side of the window, and beneath them a rolling pin. Beside that was a muffin pan and a potted plant. It should really be decorated for fall now, and Thanksgiving.
She’d seen some pretty cool-looking displays further up the street; maybe whoever did them hadn’t reached the Howlery yet.
Pushing open the door, she was greeted with a loud buzzing sound, and quickly realized that the window display had carried through to here. A higgledy-piggledy mess of things was placed everywhere. She saw a cabinet with cake displays that needed dusting, another with decorative supplies. There were cake boards, and posters on the walls, and other random things like two bright pink satin pillows fringed in green.
“Lucy!” Mrs. Cribbins appeared. Still dressed in her orange exercise gear, she now wore a red apron with Santa on the front. But the really odd thing about her appearance, if she could point out just one, was that her face was coated white.
“Hello, Mrs. Cribbins.” She couldn’t stop staring; the woman looked like a ghost.
“I dropped a bag of flour. Now, are you here about the position or to torment me?”
“Ah… well—”
“You want me to beg, Lucy?” The woman had her hands on her hips and didn’t look the begging type from where Lucy was standing.
“No. And yes, I would like to apply, please. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here, but your notice said temporary.”
“Yes, we’ll just see how you go and take it from there.”
“Don’t you want to know about me? I mean, I could be a bad person or something.” Lucy felt she needed to say that; the woman was far too trusting.
“Noah recommended you, so that’s good enough for me.”
“To be honest, he doesn’t really know me that well. I mean…. Well, the thing is, I spent a few hours with him in a bar one night talking, but that’s all.”
Mrs. Cribbins waved a hand about. “Will you rob me?”
“No!” Lucy was horrified that she’d think that.
“Can you bake?”
Lucy nodded. “And cake design is a hobby of mine.”
“Well, then. You’re hired.”
It was ridiculous, but she felt tears fill her eyes. Lucy didn’t cry, she’d learned tears were useless for anything but tiring you out years ago. Looking over her shoulder she focused on the window display. “I could rearrange that too, if you like?”
“Noah said it looked like a yard sale.”
Lucy had to agree with him.
“So if you can do better, I’d be grateful. We do decorative cakes, cupcakes, that kind of thing. My husband Hank does the deliveries most often, but I know you drive, so you could do some too.”
It all sounded very relaxed to Lucy’s mind.
“Come out back and look at the kitchen.”
Clean but cluttered. At the end of the room, she found a set of stairs. “Is that for storage?”
“It’s accommodation, but we don’t use it, so it’s for storage at the moment. Where are you staying, Lucy?”
“Ah, I… I, well, I’m good, thanks.” The question had caught her off guard. She’d pretty much lived in her Bronco now for four years. Only taking a room when Lucy wanted one night of luxury and could afford it.
“That room is yours if you want it. We can negotiate terms when you’ve had your first week’s wage. Here’s the key. You go on and move in when you want.” Mrs. Cribbins was digging into the pockets of her apron. She pulled out a key ring with a pink fluffy pom pom on the end.
“I can’t move in here!” Lucy actually took a step back, as the thought was far too appealing. A roof over her head so that the nights she woke scared she’d be safe, not locked in her Bronco. “You don’t know me,” she said again.
“Is this going to be a problem, me not knowing you? Because you’ve said that plenty since coming inside the shop.” Mrs. Cribbins’s long fake lashes fluttered.
“Only twice,” Lucy pointed out.
“Which is one too many. Okay?”
Lucy nodded.
“Good. Now, how about you bake me that recipe on the bench there, then ice it for Mary Beth Sydney’s second birthday. She wants that character there.” Mrs. Cribbins pointed to a photo beside the recipe. “They always try and get me to do things like that, but to be honest I’m not good with anything but flowers and the occasional vegetable.”
“Okay,” Lucy didn’t know how else to answer that.
“We have Rose O’Donnell’s to do tomorrow.”
Lucy read the recipe. It didn’t look hard, and a doll cake shouldn’t tax her overly. She’d watched so many videos and spent hours learning about cake decorating. Usually in libraries, as they were free and didn’t kick you out until the doors closed.
Why she’d chosen to learn cake decorating, she had no idea, it was just something that appealed to her.
“We’re open Tuesday to Saturday if you want those days, and you’d be doing me a favor if you did. I’m tired, Lucy. Thanksgiving is close, and I’ve neglected my family for too long. I need to clean my house and get ready for the relatives that descend like a plague. So you can take any or all the hours that suit you. I bake at home when I have to, but you could bake the cakes here if you’re staying above.”
It was almost too good to be true, and suddenly Lucy felt the old panic well up inside her. “I—ah, I don’t know.”
Something changed in Mrs. Cribbins’s face, and it softened beneath the coating of flour. “Well now, you do what suits you and I’ll just leave you to think about that while you bake the cake. If it’s no good I won’t hire you, will that make you feel better?”
Lucy forced out a laugh as the tightness in her chest eased a little.
“Plenty of soda in the fridge, because my Hank likes them. A pot of coffee is usually brewing too, but I mostly get mine from Buster because I like to annoy him at least twice a day.”
Why did she like this woman so much already?
“Now you head on upstairs and have a quick look, then get to that cake, and I’ll be out front cleaning. The Lord alone knows I need to,” Mrs. Cribbins sighed.
“Ah… I could tidy that if I stay, if you want, Mrs. Cribbins.”
“You call me Mrs. C like the rest of them, and I’m not gonna lie, Lucy, that actually excites me more than the baking. Tidying and getting things aesthetically appealing are not my thing.”
“Okay, well, I’ll do it for you.”
Her cheek was patted by a surprisingly soft hand. “I think you and I are going to get along just fine, sweetie.”
A simple pat on the cheek and you fall apart. Lucy sniffed as Mrs. C went back into the shop.
Looking around, she made herself breathe slowly. She’d learned how to counter the panic attacks by doing that before they got out of control. “In and out,” Lucy whispered, walking around the room and breathing slowly.
The appliances were relatively modern, and she could see everything was here that was needed for the business Mrs. C ran. Looking at the stairs, she made herself walk up them. The room at the top was long, the length of the shop. A few boxes were stacked about the place and there was a bed by the window. Another door lead to a bathroom that had a shower, which would have hot and cold running water. The thought was blissful.
This could be a place for you to feel safe, if only for a while.
Could she stay? Lucy decided to leave that decision until she’d worked here a few days. For now, she had a cake to bake.
Small steps, Lucy. Remember, that’s how you’ve lived your life for the last four years. Exhaling slowly again, she walked back down the stairs and took down an apron that had a snowman on it. Soon she forgot about everything but doing what she loved.