Page 26 of Baking With A Ghost

Mike waves over his shoulder as he leaves the coffee shop and I stay a little longer, staring at the empty seat across from me and wishing it was already Saturday.

John

A Bread Breakthrough

"Okay,John,thisisit. This is the recipe to nail it."

Slicing into the loaf, it smells amazing and the texture is fantastic. My heart soars with hope that I've finally got the right combination of flavours and ingredient amounts. This is my nostalgic loaf. It's going to be the one.

But as I chew and assess, it's still not quite right and I'm saddened. Maybe I need Mary to taste it again.

She'll hopefully stop by today and I'll try to nab her for another taste test. She won't sugar coat it if it tastes like shit. But I'm disheartened nonetheless, not just over the bread, but because I'm missing Simon. He never stays away longer than a few days and it makes me wonder if I've made a mistake arranging to have Mike summon him.

Is it possible to get mixed signals from a ghost? Not shocking, since I can't seem to form relationships with humans. It's only natural I fuck it up with a ghost.

With a sad shake of my head, I clean up the kitchen before I open the doors and wish for Simon to somehow show up.

"Mary!Iwaswonderingif you were going to make it in today. How are you?"

She sets her shopping bag on the counter for me, before sitting on a chair out front. Her normal shining smile is not there today and she avoids my eyes.

Frowning, I place her usual order in her bag and make her a cup of coffee with two creams and one sugar, before sitting down with her.

"Are you okay, Mary? You don't seem like yourself."

She smiles back at me and pats my hand. "Thank you, my dear, but I'm okay. I'm just agitated with something that happened earlier."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Do you know a man with a fancy car? Is he someone you're close to?"

I recoil at her words. Carl did something to Mary? How much do I tell her?

"I'll have to admit I do know him, yes. But we're no longer close. He's my ex." I clasp her hand and lean in. "Did he do something to you?"

Rage burns in my gut. If he tried to hurt her in any way, I will make his life hell.

"He didn't do anything, it's what he said." She sips her coffee before telling me the rest. "You know I pour my heart into my bed and breakfast."

"Yes, of course. It's why you buy lots of cinnamon rolls when you're booked up."

"Right. Well, he spent the night recently, and when he had breakfast he asked about the buns and I told him about you, of course. He… he said he was here to take you back and he wasn't going to take no for an answer."

"I'm sorry you had to witness the slime of the earth named Carl. He did pay me a visit, but he's gone and I'm still here. So no harm done." Unless you count his car. That had a nice dent on the hood.

She sags in relief. "So you're staying, then?"

"Of course. He's all talk, don't worry. I made it quite clear I wasn't leaving and this is my life. He wasn't a kind person to me and I made a bad judgement call being with him. I'm so much better without him."

"I had such a bad feeling about him as soon as he complained about parking his car on the side street. He's a bit of an asshole isn't he?"

I burst out laughing at her candidness. "He most certainly is! But I don't want to talk about him. I want you to taste my latest attempt at my Nostalgia loaf."

Her eyes light up with joy. "Oh! Yes, I'd love to see how far you've come."

Rushing to the kitchen, I slice her off a piece and carry it out on a napkin.

"It's a lot closer to what I'm aiming for. I think it's missing something though. I mean, it's good as is, but I feel like it could still be way better. So you try it and tell me what you think."

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