Page 83 of Home Body
Three minutes later Mamie went out and unlocked the front door. It was six in the morning on a Friday, and she was stunned at how many townsfolk were there to greet them on their opening day. As expected, people who had to be at work early came, but they hadn’t expected so many. It was like theirSaturday night barn dances where half the county seemed to show up.
Mamie and Rose greeted everyone warmly while Dalia, Kenyon, and Dolly ferried trays out of the kitchen and into the long glass cabinet. The aroma of newly fried donuts and baked croissants and rolls, not to mention the freshly brewed coffee, filled the bakery with a coziness that made it feel like home – the kind of home some folks never had but always wished for.
The room filled up as folks wanted to mingle and chat before rushing off to work. Brody was on duty but managed to stop by and squeeze through the crowd to congratulate his family. Llayne and Mack appeared and Llayne immediately put on an apron and helped Rose pass out samples of Mamie’s delectable cinnamon twists. Mack felt it best to stay out of the way and held the door as people came and went until he had to leave for work.
Mamie became so busy being inundated by friends and well-wishers, she had a hard time getting to the register. Dalia ran back and forth from the kitchen to take money and keep the cabinet stocked. Kenyon and Dolly did their best in the kitchen to keep the trays filled up. Llayne did her best to keep the customers’ fruit bowl filled. The way the oranges and apples and bananas got devoured, the bakery was going to need a much bigger bowl.
The rush died down and farmers began to parade in. Smart enough to stay away from the early onslaught, they came in all morning until lunchtime, when more town workers arrived, some who’d already been there the moment they opened. At two o’clock Dalia turned around the sign on the door from OPEN to CLOSED to shut shop for the day.
The mom walked her daughter down the street to gymnastics and hurried back to take a break. Outside the bakery she ran into a pack of men, Brody, Mack, Vic, and even Bart, who chattedaway. She could see through the window that Vic’s fiancée Margaret and Jessa had joined the women inside.
“Hi guys. Want a cup of coffee? We aren’t closed to you.” The crew gladly followed Dalia inside.
They pulled tables together and Dalia, Mamie, Kenyon, Llayne, Margaret, Dolly, Jessa, Brody, Mack, Vic, and Bart, gathered together as friends and families. Indeed, they’d become one big family.
Dalia lifted her coffee cup for a toast. “Here’s to Mama Mamie’s Bakery, proof that dreams can come true.” They all clinked cups, knowing this occasion signified the beginning of a new life for every single one of them. And they intended to be there for one another as they navigated those changes.
Dalia reveled in being amid this group of good people. The soul-crushing, forsaken days of her clandestine life as Scarlett Blaze had been extinguished. The future was ablaze with bright promise. She felt her face soften with a glow of pure contentment as she sipped her coffee and knew without a doubt that love always prevails. And love was always there – sometimes hidden, sometimes not as expected, and sometimes a surprise – but always there somewhere.
The trick was to let go of fantasies of how you thought love should be and open your mind to what it could be. And then open your heart to let it in.
