Page 24 of Not Another Beach Read
"Well, you have got some great options here. Why don't you tell us what we're about to eat?"
She went through the rows of desserts, and each one we tried was even better than the last.
"These are incredible," said Holly. "You made these all yourself?"
Jenna blushed and looked down at the floor, but then quickly looked back up again. She had been getting better about accepting compliments; her confidence had been growing, and it was showing in so many different ways.
"Yes, I made all of these. Some of them are recipes from when I was a child and would bake with my grandma Gigi, but some I just made up on my own, which is why I need your help. I need you to tell me which ones are your favorites and if you thought any of them needed something more or something less."
"I thought they were all perfect," said Holly. "I especially loved the mini cheesecakes with the cherries on top."
"Those are one of my favorites as well," said Jenna. "You have great taste."
"It almost tasted a little like a key lime pie," I said.
"That's exactly right," said Jenna. "I put a touch of key lime in the cheesecake. I was hoping it would offset the sweetness of the cherries."
"I have never tasted anything like it," I said. "And you made some changes to these fruit tarts too?"
"Yes. Paige told me everyone's been picking off the kiwis, so I switched up the fruit a little bit and added berries instead."
"Good call. I would pick the kiwis off too," said Holly. "They just look weird to me. Any fruit that starts off with hair on it shouldn't be edible."
"Hair?" I said with a chuckle.
"You know, that fuzzy stuff on the outside. I can't even touch them," said Holly. "How anyone can slice into something that feels like a chipmunk is beyond me."
Jenna and I were doubled over with laughter.
"You're hilarious," said Jenna. "You should come around more often. Actually, that brings me to another reason why I wanted you to come here today."
My curiosity was piqued. "Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Maybe I should have run this by you first, Elyse. But Holly, I was wondering if you ever wanted to come in and help out here at the bakery. You could come when Elyse is at the bookstore."
"Really?" she said, looking at me.
I shrugged my shoulders, then nodded my head. "Why not?" I said. "If you get to taste test things like this every day..."
"Well, we won't have taste testing sessions every day. But there are usually some extras that you could go home with."
I pointed at Holly. "She says yes," I said with a laugh.
Holly looked at me and then back at Jenna. Her face held more happiness than I had seen since she came to stay with us.
"Like a job?" she said.
"Absolutely. It must get boring not having anything to keep you busy. And I could really use the help."
"I'm so happy to hear that the bakery is busy enough that you need help now, Jenna. And I would be thrilled to drive Holly any day, even if I'm not at the bookstore."
"And I would be happy to pick her up and drop her off some days as well," said Jenna. "It's still a novelty for me to drive."
We had all grown so accustomed to Jenna's confidence andindependence that sometimes we forgot that her ex-husband Craig had kept her under his thumb for so long, and her parents hadn't been much better. She had basically jumped from the frying pan into the fire as far as controlling relationships went, but now that her parents were gone and Craig was in jail for domestic assault on top of his sentence for having destroyed Paige's home, Jenna was blossoming under the sun of her new independence.
"I think this sounds great," I said.
"When can I start?" said Holly.
