Page 24 of Bread in The Oven

As we make the turn onto Main Street in downtown Lake Renegade, my body freezes. I swear I just saw my parents. Theywere sitting in the gazebo. But it can’t be, right? There’s no way they could find us. My hand instinctively goes to my belly to protect it.

“Are you okay, Simone?” Raziel asks.

I know I shouldn’t keep this from him, but I don’t want him to think I’m crazy.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I answer with a smile.

I glance back over to the gazebo and no one’s there. I must be going crazy.

When we get to the bakery, I help put out the freshly baked pastries that we sell. Some days I come in early to help bake, and some days I start later. We open at seven in the morning and close up at six o’clock in the evening. Unless we sell out. Then we get to go home early. That happens more often than I thought it would. We have people that will drive in from the neighboring counties just to get our pastries. This is definitely my dream job.

“Morning,” I say to Rosaura, Gráinne and Caitríona.

They all come over and give me a hug. I’ve never hugged so much in my whole life. I can’t say it’s a bad feeling.

“How is baby doing?” Rosaura asks.

“Peanut is good. We’re supposed to go to the doctor for our first ultrasound.”

“Are you planning on finding out what you’re having?” Gráinne asks.

“We haven’t decided.” I laugh. “We keep going back and forth. What do you think we should do?”

All of them smile at me.

“It depends. Sometimes it’s nice to know. But on the other hand, having it be a surprise is fun too.” Gráinne chuckles.

“Wow, I’m not sure you’re helping.” Caitríona laughs.

“Hey, I tried.” Gráinne makes faces at her.

We spend the next hour getting things ready so we can open. It’s always a comfortable silence in the bakery when we’re doingthis. When I was with my parents, silence wasn’t comfortable. Usually silence led to yelling and then hitting. It took me a while to not jump at every noise.

Our day goes smoothly, just like most of our days.

“I have to head out to my appointment.”

“Is Romano coming here to get you?” Rosaura asks.

“No, he’s meeting me there.”

“Okay. Be safe.”

I turn to Raziel and he opens the door for me.

“Thank you.” I smile as we head out. It’s a ten minute walk, but it’s a nice one. Lake Renegade is a really great town, I’ve also talked to people who want to stay here. So they end up renting a house or apartment and find jobs. I hear their stories sometimes while they sit and eat our pastries.

“We found you! Are you okay? Were you kidnapped?”

I hear a voice yelling, I turn and see my parents. How did they find us? Raziel steps in front of me and shields me from them.

“Who the fuck are you?” He growls at them.

“We’re her parents, we thought we lost her. But here she is! Who are you? Are you the one that found our baby?” my father says.

How can they act like they’re so concerned about me? I try to stay hidden behind Raziel, which is easy because he’s a big guy. Not as big as my Romano, but still big. Speaking of my Romano, he’s charging towards us.

“Who the fuck are you and why are you talking to my woman?” he asks, getting in my father’s face.