Page 91 of Meet Me in Aveline

Tuck looked over at me and Lenora patted my hand. “I’m so sorry, Lettie. Did you make these? Because they are so good.”

I hung my head. “No, Tuck made them.”

Tuck pulled his lips into a line, hiding a smile. “Hey, you helped.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think handing you the measuring cup counts.”

“It does in my book,” he said and took a bite of one himself. “Man, these are good.”

“You are even better than me.” Lenora’s words were slow, meticulous. “The student became the teacher.”

Tuck shook his head and took a drink of water. “No, I could never be as good as The Queen. I do have to admit though, I spent a lot of nights perfecting your recipes over the years. I still have the box with the index cards you gave me.”

“Funny you bring that up. I have a whole stack of recipes for you to add to that box. I’ve been keeping them for you,” Lenora said.

Tuck’s eyes widened. “Really? You did that for me?”

She looked at Tuck as though it should have been obvious. “Of course I did. I always knew you’d come home.”

Tuck smiled. “Thank you, Lenora. That means a lot to me.”

“Oh, bother.” She chuckled. “It’s just some recipes.”

“But, you know, now that we’re talking about recipes and baking, we did want to talk to you two about something,” Teddy said, looking at both of us. “It doesn’t look like Lenora is going to be able to get back to baking any time soon. And I’ve been saying for a while that it’s about time for her to join me in retirement.”

I squealed before covering my mouth with my hands.

It was happening. Lenora was retiring.

I’d known the day would come, but the problem was, I didn’t know what to say or how to feel. On one hand, I was happy for Lenora and Teddy. I was glad that they were going to retire together. They would be able to spend all day and night together, fishing at the lake, baking at home, and relaxing, more than anything.

I could picture them now, sitting in the living room in the evenings. Lenora with a book in her hand and Teddy watching a game, Genevieve curled up on the couch. Or the two of them sipping coffee on the porch during the cool, autumn mornings. It would be perfect, the two of them together.

But on the other hand, I couldn’t imagine Lenora not owning The Baking Tin.

It was hard to think of her selling it too. Imagining someone else standing behind the counter and kneading the bread in the back, or worse, buying the building and shutting it down. I wouldn’t be able to stand seeing the bakery with a perpetual closed sign in the window. Aveline wouldn’t be the same without The Baking Tin. Surely, she would sell it to Tuck. He was the only other person I could have ever imagined running the bakery.

“Now you just put that squeal back until you know what’s going on.” Teddy smiled. “We don’t want to sell the bakery.”

I sighed. Maybe not.

I took a bite of lasagna and watched as Lenora took Tuck’s hand tenderly.

“Tuck, you’re a good man. I remember telling you that when you were eighteen years old and you didn’t think you would ever be anything more than what that father of yours was. But you were never like him. Remember what I told you back then?”

Tuck’s eyes were filled with tears. “I’m all my mother.”

“That’s right. And there was nothingbutgood in her, just like with you. There is warmth around you.” She never took her eyes off of him. “Do you remember what I told you the first day Lettie came into my bakery?”

I perked up, and Tuck nodded, a smile forming across his face. “I do.”

I had never heard this. I hadn’t known that Lenora had said anything about me that first day. “What did she say?”

Tuck’s gray eyes focused on mine. “She told me I let my future wife walk out of the bakery without even asking her name.”

My voice cracked. “You did? You said that?”

Lenora took my hand as well as Tuck’s. “Of course I did. I know things, you know? I know who I can trust, and I trust the two of you.” Lenora paused for a moment, and I watched her eyes blink slowly. She was tired, it was written on her face, and it was hard to see her this way. “That’s why we want you to have it. The bakery. Tuck, you’re the only person I can trust to bake like I do, and Lettie is the only one I trust to keep you in line,” Lenora said, giggling slightly.

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