Page 43 of A Future in the Bay

When they were finished eating dinner, they went down to Paige’s car and brought up her bags and boxes. With the three of them working together, the task took only a few minutes. They stacked everything in a corner of Paige’s old room, and then Wesley volunteered to clean up the kitchen while Josie helped Paige unpack.

“Thanks, sweetheart,” Josie said, giving him a quick peck on the lips as he was leaving. “I owe you one.”

“No, you don’t, it’s my turn,” he said, grinning at her, and disappeared.

“Wow, aren’t you two adorably domestic?” Paige teased. “Taking turns doing the dishes, huh?”

Josie blushed, and Paige couldn’t help laughing over how cute her sister was being.

“If that makes us adorably domestic, then I guess we’re adorably domestic,” Josie said, patting her cheeks. “We take turns cooking dinner and doing the dishes.”

“Yup, definitely adorable.”

They started to unpack Paige’s belongings together, which were mostly clothes and books.

“How are you feeling about everything?” Josie asked, getting a tender tone in her voice which meant she was going into big-sister mode.

“Good,” Paige said, smiling at her. “I mean, it’s bittersweet for sure. I’m sad about saying goodbye to my friends, and I loved my time at school. And I loved that little apartment! But I’m so ready to be back here so I can start my next adventure.”

“That’s my girl!” Josie grinned at her. “And congrats on getting hired to make Caitlin and Michael’s wedding cake. That’s huge.” Her eyes gleamed, as if she was proud of the hand she’d had in getting Paige hired.

“It is,” Paige said. “I’m super excited about it. But I’m nervous too,” she admitted, laughing breathlessly. “It’s such a big deal, and I’m worried that something will go wrong. Caitlin is planning on telling everyone that I’m making her cake, which is so sweet of her, and it should help spread the word about my bakery business really well. But what if the cake doesn’t turn out well, and then all those people think, ‘Okay, let’s not hire her’?”

“Paige.” Josie looked her sister square in the eye. “Do you know how to bake?”

“What?” Paige stammered, confused by the question.

“Do you know how to bake?”

“Well, yeah, of course I do.”

“Then bake the cake. Taste part of it to check the flavor and the consistency, and if you don’t like it, make another one. But I know you. I know you’re going to be careful and focused, and you’re going to create an incredible cake that everyone is going to love to eat.”

Paige let out a breath, feeling relieved by her sister’s words. “You’re right. I can do this. I made some pretty amazing wedding cakes in class.”

“That’s the spirit! Don’t let your nerves get you down. You may not own an actual bakery yet, but you are absolutely a professional. And now you’ve got a diploma to prove it.”

Paige scampered across the room and gave her sister a hug. “Thank you. I feel much less nervous already.”

“Good,” her sister said, grinning at her. “Now let’s finish unpacking so we can watch a movie and eat the chocolate ice cream I bought.”

“Ooh, really? That’s an incentive if I ever heard one.”

The two sisters continued to work, chatting about what movies they could watch. Paige felt tired but happy, and a feeling of peace washed over her. There might be challenges in front of her, but she trusted herself to accomplish them, and that was a good feeling.

Gwen rubbed her eyes, fighting back a yawn. It had been a long day at the clinic, and she was still there. She was just finishing up in her office, and she turned off her computer and carefully reset everything on the surface of her desk.

She stepped out into the lobby of the clinic, where Heidi was also getting ready to leave.

“I’m ready for a bubble bath and a glass of wine,” Heidi commented. “Pink Moscato. It’s been a long day.”

“You’re not kidding,” Gwen said, smiling at her and feeling grateful that all she had to do to get home was climb a staircase. “Thanks for all your hard work today.”

“You too! It was kind of nice to be so busy for a change—although I have to admit, I hope it doesn’t stay this way all the time. I’ve been enjoying sitting here reading books in my downtime.”

For a moment, Gwen didn’t say anything. She was struck by the realization that she was starting to enjoy her new slower place of life a little bit as well. The revelation surprised her—had she really changed so much in such a short amount of time?

“Sounds like fun,” she said, smiling at Heidi after a moment.

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