Melodies of the Heart: A Pinewood Grove Sweet Romance by Sarah Paisley

stayed true.
    Despite the two forces inside her that were competing to spoil her good mood, Kassidy was all smiles when she got downstairs and pulled on an apron for work.
    “I’ve got a cake to finish,” her mother said. Saturdays meant weddings and that meant her mother was more than busy. “I need to go deliver it over in Stoville at one.” She was a perfectionist and that meant the cakes were entirely her baby. Mrs. Olsen didn’t trust anyone to do the cakes but herself, including delivery.
    “Want me to do some rolls?” Kassidy asked. She knew what she was doing, but always wanted to be in back for more practice. If this was going to be her store, she needed to be in the kitchen more.
    “No, your father is doing that,” she said. “I need you on cash.”
    “But mom, it’s dead,” Kassidy argued, but one look from her mother silenced her.
    “It’ll pick up,” she said. “It’s Saturday and tourists might be coming through town on their way to the camp ground up the highway. I need you out here so I don’t get distracted while I finish adding the sugar flowers to the cake.”
    “Okay,” Kassidy said, resigning herself to another day of cash duty. If she was really going to take over, she needed to be working on the cakes with her mother. They kept the place in business and Kassidy knew she didn’t have enough time under her belt creating the intricate desserts.
    But instead, she leaned on the counter and waited for people to come in. Her mother was right, there were a lot of cars driving by with canoes on their roofs and quite a few were towing campers, but none of them stopped on Main Street to take a look at the local shops. ShopMart was only a couple minutes up the road and that was where they were headed. She didn’t need to watch them to know that.
    At least during the morning a few of their regulars did stop by. Murph came for another loaf of bread and let her know he was still waiting on a new muffler to come in for Levi’s bike, and Mary Alice bought a basket of muffins to bring over to the seniors home across the street. It wasn’t much, but at least there were people stopping by and buying things.
    Kassidy wanted to ask Mary Alice about Levi, but she knew how that would sound. She also worried about her parents only being on the other side of the wall and hearing her question the older woman on her latest tenant, so she let the woman go with a, “See you tonight,” and left it at that.
    As it neared noon, three familiar faces walked into the bakery and Kassidy was glad and nervous to see them at the same time. They’d been friends since they were little kids, especially her and Addison. There was no way that they wouldn’t know something was up with her the moment she opened her mouth.
    “Hey,” Kassidy greeted them, trying to keep a calm look on her face.
    “Hey yourself,” Gillian said with a bladed laugh.
    “Um, hi,” Kassidy repeated. “What are you guys up to today?”
    “Going to go down to the state park and hang out,” Addison told her. “Some of the guys from high school got a camp site up there, so we’ll go up and have some fun. You should come after work.”
    “I can’t,” Kassidy sighed. “I’m busy.”
    “Oh?” Addison asked, studying Kassidy for her secrets.
    “‘Oh,’ nothing,” Kassidy said. “You know I help Mary Alice on Saturdays.”
    “Still?” Gillian laughed at her. “I figured you’d give that up once you got out of high school.”
    “Nah,” Kassidy said with a shrug. “I like it.”
    “Sure, whatever,” Gillian said, obviously not caring about Kassidy and her work at the seniors’ home. “So, how’s Levi?”
    Addison shoved her at that. “Gillian, stop,” she warned her.
    “Oh come on,” Gillian said. “We all want to know.”
    “There’s nothing to know,” Kassidy lied. “I just helped him take his bike to Murph’s to get fixed up. That’s it.”
    “Was that before or after you went out for ice cream with him?”