Beauty and the Baker Read online

  It was a beautiful autumn day. Charlie could see the mountains in the distance, the tops already covered with a light dusting of snow. He knew where Max’s haberdashery was located, and that seemed to be in an area that had quite a bit of activity.

  He left the alleyway behind the house and headed towards the shopping district. He walked up W 10 1/2 Street to S Main where he needed to decide which direction to go.

  He could either turn right and head down towards the train station and the shops therein, or he could go left and head towards the restaurants, saloons and the mine.

  He looked right again and a shop with large lettering in the window called to him. A bakery.

  He used to love pressing his nose against the bakery windows in New York. There was never enough money to be able to afford any of the cakes or pies that were on display.

  That made his decision much easier.

  He would go that way and pick up something for dessert. Cassie mentioned something about pastries. Normally she had them with tea in the morning, but Charlie noticed she was eating toast the past few days. Maybe the baby was giving her an upset stomach.

  When he came up to the window, he noticed the letters painted on the glass. Maybelle’s Bakery. Finest cakes around.

  It sounded good to him.

  He went to try the door, but it was locked. He looked around to see if he was before or after hours, but according to the hours on the door, the bakery should have been open.

  Pressing his nose against the glass as he did when he was younger, he cupped his hands around his eyes to give him a peek inside the shop. It was dark.

  He was able to see three ovens in the back of the shop; their chimneys reaching up through the ceiling. In the middle of the store was an empty case. Where pastries and cakes should be on display, there were simply lace doilies covering trays without goodies.

  At the front of the store, near the window there were several small tables with two chairs at each. It appeared to be a nice place to visit for a few and have a sweet.

  Disappointment filled him. Perhaps he could find something at the mercantile. He went a few doors down and saw a sign for a tea shop.

  A bell rang as he stepped into the small shop. A young woman greeted him. She was holding a tea pot in her hand. “May I help you,” she asked.

  “Yes ma’am,” Charlie said, removing his hat the way his mama had taught him. “I was wondering if you knew when the bakery might be open again?”

  The woman moved to the counter and placed the pot down. “I don’t know when. The lady who owns it was injured. I think she broke her leg, so I’m not sure when she will be back.”

  Charlie looked around the shop. There was a nice display of cookies underneath a glass dome. “Are those for sale?” he asked, pointing to the treats.

  “Yes, they are. I also have some tarts in the back.”

  “I’ll take a dozen cookies, and let’s say six tarts.” The cookies he would share that evening. The tarts he would save for Cassie.

  The woman packed up his treats and wrapped them in a box with white string. Charlie laid a few coins on the counter, thanked the woman and then headed back up the road.

  He came up to the haberdashery. He hadn’t seen the store before, so he might as well stop by and see Max before he continued down the road.

  There wasn’t anyone in the store. It appeared Max was next door talking to his father. Hal’s tailor shop was situated right next to the haberdashery. There was an open door that connected the two establishments.

  He walked past the armoire displaying dress shirts, tables filled with pants and another with ties on display.

  Behind the counter were boxes of notions and threads lined up waiting for purchase. Charles went over and looked. There appeared to be needles, buttons, tapes and pins. On top of one of the boxes were three pearl buttons just sitting out.

  I wonder why Max hadn’t put them away. His brother-in-law was peculiar in some of his habits. He couldn’t abide any messes, so it was surprising Charlie that he would have left the buttons out.

  Charlie scooped them up and put them in the appropriate box before heading back towards Hal and Max.

  “Charlie!” his father called. “I’m so glad you stopped by. Come in, come in.”

  He went and allowed his father to fold him in a quick embrace. Charlie tried not to flinch as his hands patted his back.

  “This is a nice set up,” he said.

  “Come. Come look, boy,” Hal said pulling him over to where two machines sat side by side. “Max purchased these.”

  “Those are exceptional,” Charlie said, looking at the sewing machines. These even had a foot petal and a belt that went around the balance wheel, to make it easier for the person sewing.

  Hal rubbed his hands together. “Brand new Singer sewing machines. Can you imagine that? Being able to use these instead of sewing by hand? These make it so easy for us to get the costumes done.”

  “Much better than sewing by hand, that’s for sure.”

  Hal scratched his belly. “Uh, yes. So, what brings you down here, son?”

  “I was just taking a walk. Headed towards the train station.” Charlie shoved his hands in his pockets. “I guess it was time that I saw the town.”

  “What do you think so far?” Max asked.

  “I’ve not seen much. Just a few shops, and the inside of the tea house.” He pointed to the box he left on the counter. “I got some cookies for tonight.”

  “Ah yes, we are looking forward to having dinner at the house,” Hal said. “I’ll be escorting Frances over around 6:00 tonight.”

  “Cassie told me the good news.”

  Max beamed with pride. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll start looking for somewhere to live so you can start preparing for the baby.”

  Max laughed. “Well, the baby isn’t arriving anytime soon, so you have a bit of time.”

  “Max was just telling me about the new order for costumes. Macbeth will be coming to town by the holidays. I promised Frances I’d take her to see another play.”

  “Are you going to assist with the costumes, Charlie?” Max asked.

  “Cassie mentioned it. I’m not sure how much help I’d be.”

  “I’m sure any help would be fine.”

  “Thanks,” Charlie said and went to fetch his box. He looked around the shop once more. “You have a really nice set up here, Max.”

  Max nodded, and Charlie headed back into the street. He had a few hours until he was expected home for supper. So, he took a walk to the livery and spent a bit of time talking to the owner.

  Charlie had never been around horses, so he was thrilled when the owner handed him a carrot and instructed him on how to feed it to the horse.

  The horse’s lips were velvety soft as it picked the carrot off the palm of his hand. Once the treat was gone, Charlie stroked the horse’s head.

  He thanked the livery owner and continued over to the dry goods store. He stood at the window and gazed on the bolts of fabric. It brought back too many memories of when he was running bolts just like that from one department to another in the factory.

  He quickly pressed on, stopping in front of the mercantile. There was a barrel of penny apples on the porch, so Charlie grabbed four of them and headed inside.

  The shop was filled with every type of item Charlie could imagine. He didn’t go to the stores in New York that often. They were often expensive. So, most of the shopping was done at the shop in the lowest level of the tenement.

  Charlie stared at barrels of flour, sugar, beans and salt. There were hams hanging from the rafter behind the counter. Canned goods filled shelves as high as he could see.

  He was just coming around a display of straw brooms when he bumped into someone heading towards the door. The sack dropped from her hands and broke on the floor, scattering the contents everywhere.

  “Oh bother,” the woman said, leaning down to pick up the pieces of the paper sack. She stood up and Charles fo
und himself staring into the golden eyes that haunted his dream the night before. “You!” she cried.

  Chapter 7

  Georgina couldn’t believe it. What were the chances that she run into the handsome man from the day before?

  Stop it, Georgina, she thought to herself. She was soon to be a married woman. She couldn’t be having thoughts about another man. She just wished she knew what Lawrence looked like so she could think of him, instead of using the image before him as a substitute.

  “You should have looked where you were going.” She looked down at her skirt. It was covered in flour. “Oh, bother,” she said. “I’ve done more laundry recently than I’ve ever done before.” She looked at the man. “That was a nickel’s worth of flour. I needed it to make a cake.”

  “I really do apologize. I didn’t see you come around the corner.”

  Georgina huffed by him and put the pieces of paper on the counter. “Maybe you should look where you are walking next time.”

  “Maybe you should look as well.”

  “I had already paid for my purchases. I was heading back to my house. You clearly weren’t looking.”

  “If you weren’t in such a rush you wouldn’t have dropped the flour.”

  “Well now I don’t have any flour. I might as well throw pennies on the floor.”

  “I’ll replace the bag.”

  “I need to get home immediately so I can make this cake.”

  “Then let’s get you out of here.”

  “Fine,” she said crossing her arms over her chest. She knew it was childish, but she had spent most of last night wondering about the strange man who invaded the garden. Now he was standing in front of her, all she could do was protect herself from any other feelings she may have. “Did your cat come back?”

  The man placed a box tied with string and a few apples on the counter next to her bits of paper. “I told you it isn’t my cat.”

  “If it isn’t your cat, I don’t know why you were chasing it.”

  She watched the man drag his hand down his face. “Listen, lady. The cat got out the window and I went to find it. It jumped the fence into your yard. That was it.”

  “So, it is your cat.”

  “No, it is not. It belongs to my brother-in-law.” She recalled her aunt saying something about the cat belonging to a neighbor. Maybe this man was telling the truth.

  The shopkeep cleared his throat. Georgina glared at him. “If you lovers are done arguing, perhaps we can tidy this mess up.”

  “We aren’t,” Georgina said.

  “Aren’t what?”

  “Lovers.” She looked at the man. “Or arguing. It was simply a discussion.”

  A wide grin broke out on the man’s face. Dimples. Oh goodness, he had dimples. He turned to the shopkeep. “I need a dime’s worth of flour. The four apples. And…” he looked around the store. Georgina watched him pick up a stuffed bear and add it to the pile. “Add this bear. What do I owe you?”

  Georgina tried not to think about the child that would be getting that bear. Maybe once she moved to San Francisco she’d talk to Lawrence about having children right away.

  “Sixteen cents.”

  The man counted out coins while the shopkeep packaged up the items. “It was only a nickel’s worth of flour. I can’t afford to pay you for the difference.”

  “Don’t worry.” The man placed the bear under his arm and gathered the two sacks. He picked up the box with his finger. “Let’s go,” he said, heading towards the door.

  “Wait. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t even know your name.”

  “You can call me Charlie.”

  Charlie offered to carry the sack of flour just so he could spend a little more time with her.

  He learned her name was Georgina and she had only come to Creede to help her aunt who had a broken leg. The leg that she broke tripping over Mr. Gladstone in the garden.

  There was definitely something familiar about Georgina and Charlie wished he could figure out why that was. Maybe she reminded him of someone.

  There weren’t many women working in the factories, so he knew it wasn’t from there.

  “Tell me about this cake you are baking,” he said, as they walked past the shops towards the residential area.

  “My aunt is trying to perfect her recipe for chocolate cake. So, we’ve been experimenting with different recipes. We used the last of the flour on a cinnamon and chocolate cake.”

  “That sounds good. But anything involving chocolate and cake sounds good.”

  “I thought it was delicious, but it wasn’t what my aunt was looking for.” Georgina leaned over and whispered to him. “I think she has been trying to figure this out for years. Or it gives her a reason to keep making cakes.”

  Charlie laughed. “I’d like you to make me a cake.”

  Georgina stopped. “Really? Whatever for?”

  “I went by the bakery today and it was closed. I was hoping to buy a cake.”

  Georgina laid her hand on his arm. He felt his arm go warm underneath her touch. “My aunt owns the bakery. That’s why I’m here.”

  “Really?”

  Georgina nodded. “I’m going to reopen the shop tomorrow morning. That is why I’ve been baking like crazy. I need to figure out all my aunt’s recipes.”

  “So, you aren’t a baker?”

  “Oh heavens no. I like to bake, but I’m not a baker.” She removed her hand and clasped both of them in front of her, swinging her arms as she walked. “If you stop by tomorrow, I’ll have your cake ready for you. What kind would you like?”

  Charlie thought about it. He recalled a cake he had seen in the window of the bakery back home.

  “Do you know how to make a pound cake?”

  “I’m not sure. My aunt probably knows. I can ask her. She has plenty of recipe books.”

  “There was this bakery back in New York. I would pass it on the way to work every morning. People would go in with their papers and coffee and come out with these beautiful boxes wrapped in ribbons.” He smiled at the memory. “There would be a display in the window, featuring cakes and breads. They had this loaf cake that looked so delicious. It was golden in color with a white glaze covering it.” Charlie gave a little groan. “I asked someone what type of cake it was, and they said pound cake.”

  “Did you ever try it?”

  Charlie shook his head. “No. It was too expensive. The loaf was fifteen cents. I asked my mother if she could make one. She didn’t get a chance to before she died.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Georgina offered. “Is your father still alive?”

  “Yes. He works at the tailor shop right next to the haberdashery. Max, my brother-in-law owns both shops, but my father does all the alterations for the store.” He looked at Georgina. “How about your parents?”

  “They are. They live on the East Coast. They are supposed to come out and visit in a few weeks. I am hoping I’ll still be around.”

  Charlie walked in silence the rest of the way. He didn’t have much to say and was just glad he could spend more time with her.

  He wished the walk was longer, but they were standing outside the garden gate in a matter of minutes. Charlie handed Georgina the bag of flour.

  “I need to get back to the house. There are a few things I need to do before tonight.”

  He watched Georgina sway from side to side, the fabric of her skirt swishing around her ankles.

  “Thanks for the flour. If you stop by the bakery tomorrow, I’ll see about making your pound cake.” “Thanks,” he said, raising his hand as he turned to leave.

  “Wait,” she called after him. “Would you like to try it?”

  “Try what?”

  “The cake. You can visit with my aunt and eat some of the cinnamon chocolate cake, while I make another one.”

  Charlie felt his face expand in a grin.

  “I think I would like that very much.”

&n
bsp; “Good,” Georgina said.

  Charlie enjoyed his afternoon with Georgina and Maybelle. In fact, he understood why Max went to the bakery every morning before heading to the haberdashery. Maybelle’s jelly pastries were that good.

  In this case, they were Georgina’s, but Maybelle’s recipe. He had three jelly tarts and a big piece of chocolate cake with cinnamon. His belly was so full that he didn’t know how he was going to eat dinner that evening.

  “Do you want another piece of cake?” Maybelle asked. She was sitting at the table with her leg propped up under the table.

  The first cake Georgina made was already in the oven. Maybelle said that cake was for a dinner that evening at a friend’s house.

  Georgina was standing at the table sifting the cocoa and flour for the second cake. Charlie finished his glass of milk. “No thank you, ma’am. That was absolutely delicious.”

  “Thank you, but it isn’t what I was going for.”

  “What are you trying to do?”

  “I want a cake that is dark, and rich and the crumble is so delicate it just melts in your mouth.” Maybelle took a sip of her coffee.

  Charlie rubbed his belly. “I’m more than happy to taste all your cakes. Before you serve them to your customers, of course.”

  Georgina laughed. The sound carrying through the air like a symphony of birds.

  Charlie nearly dropped his glass. The nurse.

  She was the nurse he saw when he first woke up in the hospital. Why would she be all the way out here in Colorado?

  Charlie watched as she cracked several eggs into the dry ingredients, along with some melted butter and sat down on one of the wooden chairs at the table. She hugged the bowl against her belly and started stirring the cake batter.

  “I swear, it is so much easier to mix when I’m sitting. Auntie, I insist that we get a comfortable chair for the bakery!” She gave a little giggle that went straight to Charlie’s heart.

  She must not know it was him!

  Suddenly a heaviness came upon him. She wouldn’t be interested in someone like him. Why was he even thinking like that?

  Granted she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She could have her choice of any man. Why, she probably had a beau back in Baltimore.