Page 15 of To Tell the Truth
Samantha closed the door and locked it. Then she cleaned up the counter and started turning off the lights in the back. The front of the store was next with its retail space and display cases for pies and cupcakes and cookies. Everything was gone now for the day except for a few loaves of bread that Cora left with to donate to a local soup kitchen.
Samantha was shutting off the lights in the case when she heard someone knock on the front door of the store.
"Sorry, we're closed," she yelled without looking up.
They knocked again. Seriously, who keeps knocking when the sign clearly said they were closed for the night?
Samantha stood up and was about to point to the closed sign in the window when she saw who was on the other side of the door.
Fletcher Keris.TheFletcher Keris.HerFletcher Keris.
OK, he technically wasn't hers, but she wished he was, especially with the way he was smiling at her now. He gave her one of those waves through the window with that smile plastered on.
Then she remembered she was in the bakery that was partially owned by a player for the Chicago Otters and members of the team lived around here and came to the bakery all the time.
Samantha walked over to the door as fast as she could to undo the bolt, pull Fletcher in, and bolt it back up.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Uh, hi?"
"Hi." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "But really, what are you doing here?"
"I'm in town for a hockey game." His bemused look was starting to fall from his face. "It's nice to see you."
Samantha suddenly realized she was being rude. It was just that... it was Fletcher in her bakery. She thought she was meeting him tomorrow for coffee. She had prepared herself emotionally to see him in a public place for coffee tomorrow. So she was not ready to see him now in her bakery.
"Uh, it's nice to see you." She tried to give him a smile, but her mind was still racing. "I'm just a little surprised to see you here."
"Well, I figured I would come see the U.S. Cupcake Frosting Champion in her natural environment, although I didn't realize you would be closed this early."
"It's a weekday and we close early on weekdays." She took another breath, trying to comprehend all of this. "Why are you here on a weekday?"
"I'm in town for a hockey game."
"Right. Hockey game. You said that." Samantha pulled her lips into a tight smile. "Sorry, I just... I didn't expect to see you here."
Fletcher grimaced a bit. "I thought I would surprise you, but I'm realizing maybe that wasn't the best plan?"
"No, it's a good plan. It's just me. I'm trying to take all of this in."
She gestured towards him as if she was trying to take all of him in. And really, she was. Because this was Fletcher in her bakery, and her mind was trying to figure out what to do about all of this.
But she needed to close up the shop first.
"Could you do something for me?"
Fletcher's eyes finally started to shine a bit more. "Name it."
"Can you close the blinds in the front windows?"
His face told her that he was not expecting that question, but he quickly recovered with a bemused smile and a small nod before going about closing the blinds as he was asked.
"Don't want people to see a California Sunbursts player in your bakery?" he joked as he grabbed the last blind.
She didn't want to respond and hoped she could just brush it off as a joke as she kept turning off lights and pretending to lock things up.
"Samantha?"
