Page 12 of Baking Spirits Bright

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE EXPECTED. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVELEXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL, HAVE A WINTER SURVIVIAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED, STAY WITH YOUR CAR.

We look at one another, our eyes meeting. "Holy shit, Lincoln. We're stuck here, aren't we?"

He nods slowly. "Yeah, I don't think it would be a good idea for us to make it home at this point."

I rush to the front of the bakery, gazing out the window again. "Oh my God, you can't even see the parking lot from here." I'm dizzy watching the swirling of flakes, and thankful I'm in here. If I were out there, I would be lost.

"Guess we're stuck here," he says, lifting his shoulder. "At least we have food, and there's a cot in the office."

"There is?" This is news to me. I didn't realize there was one back there. In fact, I don't think I even knew when I first worked here. "Was it back there when I worked here last time?"

He shakes his head. "No, when I first took over and started working longer hours, I was here more than I was at home. There were a lot of times when I'd go to sleep, wake up, and start working again. It's taken a lot for this place to be successful." He rolls his lips together. "It wasn't as easy as it looked, Lyla. I wish it had been, but I've had to give up much of my personal life to be here, to make this what it's become. It's the part that no one talks about."

I understand every single thing he's saying. Back when I was in the thick of this, I wanted someone to understand what I was going through, but I couldn't find anyone. There was never any thought of me reaching out to Lincoln, though, because we ended on such a bad note. "I get it, Linc. Maybe this time, we can help each other, instead of fighting against what each of us thinks should be the right decision. We can't be selfish and argumentative anymore. If we do, we'll end up ruining what could be a great working relationship. Do you agree?"

He sighs, resting his forearms on the case in front of him. "I do, and I'm willing to give this the best shot we can. Together, we're unstoppable. Your designs, my marketing know how? There's no one in the tri-county area who can beat us. But we have to get out of our own way."

The old me would've been offended, she would've huffed and not been willing to listen. Him accusing us of getting out of our own way would've been enough for me to blow off the handle. Part of that was because I was feeling so sheltered and like my ideas weren't being respected. The other part was because I wasn't confident in my own abilities. What owning my bakery gave to me is the knowledge about what I can do, and what I'm capable of. I'll no longer let my own insecurities or anyone's lack of belief in me dampen my sparkle. "We will. I'm in this with you. I want to give you my best, and I promise that I'm going to do that."

"And I promise that as soon as you're able, if you want to leave to do your own thing, I'll support it. I'll help you in any way I can. One thing I've learned in the last year is that I'm only as strong as the people I surround myself with." He swallows hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "And I'm stronger with you around, Lyla."

Those words warm a place in my chest that hasn't been warm in at least a year. Regardless of how we left one another, he was one of my best friends, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself. He's one of the few people who understands what I'm trying to do, and the failure of what I wasn't able to see through. "I'm stronger working with you, too." I sigh, the emotional impact of what we've been talking about, enough to wear me out. "So, what are we going to do today?"

He chuckles. "I guess we need to get comfortable. We sure as fuck aren't going anywhere."

And after the talk we just had, that doesn't sound like a horrible situation to be in at all.

CHAPTER TEN

Lincoln

It's chilly in the bakery, and I'm expecting the power to go out at any point. The wind isn't dying down at all, and it keeps snowing.

"Are you getting hungry?" Lyla asks a few hours later. We've been watching the storm, laying across the window seating in the lobby. It's cold, but she found blankets that had been stashed away by the previous owners, and we've kept decently warm.

"Fucking starving. I'm not sure what we can eat, though. There's obviously an abundance of sweets, but that's gonna spike our blood sugar and then we're gonna be pissy with each other."

She throws her head back, laughing. "I forgot how irritated you get when you're hungry. Let me take care of it. We make sandwiches here for lunch. I'll make sure we're nourished. The part that's going to be awful is when we might have to go to sleep here tonight. I'm not sure how we're going to work it out."

"You take care of the food. I'll take care of the sleeping arrangements."

Thirty minutes later we're sitting down in the break room with hot sandwiches, pasta salad, and soft drinks from the drink fridge in the lobby. "This looks really good." I eye the turkey and cheese sandwich, toasted to perfection, and the pasta salad she made yesterday. "Why is the pasta salad so much better the second day?" I groan as the flavor hits my tongue and I'm reminded of what an excellent cook Lyla is. It's not even about what she can bake. She's good at anything in the kitchen.

"Because all the spices and flavors meld together overnight," she moans as she takes a bite. "This is better than I imagined, though. Do you think it's because we're stuck here, and we can't go anywhere else?"

"That's a definite possibility."

It's quiet between the two of us as we continue to eat. Grabbing my phone, I flip it over and look. "It's only fucking ten am, Lyla. What the hell are we going to do if we're stuck here for a few days? I thought for sure it was late afternoon."

She laughs, groaning. "Oh my God, I thought it was too. I don't know what we're going to do. It's the slowest day ever. Isn't there a TV here? I remember there used to be one in here."

"Yeah, there was one, but I moved it to my office when I started spending the nights here. It was too quiet when I was trying to go to sleep. Even though I was exhausted, my brain wouldn't shut up long enough for me to actually fall asleep."

She wipes at her mouth, holding a napkin in front of her lips as she speaks. "Do you wanna go in there and turn it on the news? That way, we know what's going on with the weather, or at least what we can expect?"

I don't know why I hadn't thought of that earlier. At least this way we won't be cut off from the outside world. "Sure, you wanna wait until we finish eating, or back now?"

"I don't have that much more to go, so we can wait until we're done if you want?" She answers, lifting her shoulder up as if she doesn't care either way.

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