I laughed. It sounded kind of sad. Made sense because it was how I felt. Happy and excited but missing Maddox and Briar. I didn’t feel whole without them.I was homesick and still had at least another week before I’d be able to hold them again.
“There they are.” William pointed up the road.
Just like the last time I’d seen the minors, exhaustion weighed heavily on each of them. Their clothes were covered in grime and dark streaks, like coal, and they varied in age, from teenagers to probably fifties or so. A mule walked with them, hauling a cart with their tools and bags.
“Excuse me!” I waved to get their attention. They stopped and frowned at me. Not a bad frown. It was the tired kind that came from working yourself to the bone. “Um, hi. I’m Evan. That’s William, Callum, and Ban. We’ve been baking all day. Practicing recipes for our café’s grand opening and all of that.” I held up my basket. “Anyway, we made way too much and have a lot leftover. Cookies, muffins, and cupcakes. Do you want them?”
Oh no.The words were flying out of my mouth at the speed of light.
The man beside the mule turned to the others. He was the oldest of the group, with deep forehead wrinkles and a rough exterior that came from working hard, day in and day out, probably for decades.
Suddenly, I felt silly. These men were tired and just wanted to go home, and there I was, standing in their way and offering them sweets. The man turned back to me.
“Thanks for the offer,” he said in a hoarse voice. “But we don’t have much coin.”
“No worries! We’re giving them to you, no coin necessary.” I stepped closer and handed him two bundles from my basket. Callum and the others distributed the bundles from their baskets to the rest of the minors.
One of the men looked younger than me. He had a face full of freckles and a rail-thin body, like he was burning way more calories than he was taking in. When he took a sugar cookie from his bundle and bit into it, his tired eyes gained a spark, and a toothy smile followed.
That smile was worth more than any amount of coin.
“You have my thanks,” the man in front said. His russet eyes then raked over my face. “It’s odd.”
“What is?” I asked.
“Years ago, too many for me to count off the top of my head, there was a pretty blonde who did this same thing. She’d come up the mountain each day and give us lunch. Said she wouldn’t tolerate us goin’ hungry. Brought us sandwiches and pastries.”
My heart knocked hard.
“The Beauty of Exalos, we all called her. And shewasa beauty. She really was.” He scratched at the stubble on his chin. “You remind me of her a little.”
My mom.
“What happened to her?” My sternum felt like it was about to snap in half.
“Vanished,” he answered. “One day, she was handing out food to me and my men, then the next, she was just gone. Rumors spread through town, but no one knows for sure. But anyway.” He nodded to the wrapped bundle of treats in hishand. “Thanks again for this. I need to get home to the wife and young’uns.”
I stepped aside so he and the mule hauling the cart could pass. The other men nodded to me, and the youngest one with the freckles smiled again.
“It’s delicious,” he said before biting into another cookie. “I’ll be sure to visit your café when it opens.”
“Well, would you look at that.” William shut the lid on his empty basket. “We already have a guaranteed first customer.”
“Not only him,” Callum said. “The old mage from the guild wants a piece of Ev too. Piece of his cake, I mean.”
I jabbed at his ribs. “First of all, Xavier isn’t old. And second, he was just being nice. Not everyone who smiles at me wants apiece.”
“But most of them do.” He winked.
“Your cinnamon roll status is fluttering away,” I said. “Soon, you’ll be a slab of stale and crusty bread.”
“Still delicious with a smear of butter or jam.”
“Or in a bread pudding,” I said, then elbowed him again.
“Ow. What was that for?”
“Giving me more recipe ideas. I have enough going on in my head.”
