Fortunately, Trey hadn’t left the confines of his tattoo parlor to ruin her little buzz.
High school was finished. She wasn’t going to let him stand all over her.
“Well if it makes you feel any better, your father can shut him down whenever he wants,” Lexie said.
“What?” June frowned.
“Your father owns the building. He can cause a lot of waves if you want.”
Shaking her head, June closed her eyes. She was a bigger person than that. “No, I could never do that to him. I’m not that kind of person.”
“I know, sweetie, which is why we love you so much. I’ve got to go. I’m making a pork stew if you’re interested in stopping by.”
June declined the invitation. She wasn’t living at home but above the bakery. Every morning without fail she was up at four o’clock to start baking. She loved the new timetable. Just Another Slice closed at five, giving her an hour to clean everything away. She was home within five minutes of cleaning up, doing her own thing until nine when she was in bed sleeping. Then she’d wake up, and her whole day would start again, apart from Sunday. Her only day off was Sunday. She liked her life, and it was fun.
“Okay, I’ll see you soon. Do not be a stranger to us,” Lexie said, kissing her cheek.
As June headed back inside the bakery, the scent of cinnamon bagels permeated the air. She loved the smell of baking. It always reminded her of her mother’s kitchen. It was always nostalgic for her. Molly Tatum, her one employee, was handing a ham toasted sandwich to a customer.
“We’re out of whole meal roles,” Molly said, closing the till.
“A fresh batch is already in the oven.”
Molly was a surprise employee for June. During school, Molly had been one of the popular kids. She was always giving parties and wearing new clothes, but she’d never given June a hard time growing up.
Putting the sign up for a full-time assistant, June never expected Molly to answer the advertisement. She learned throughout the interview that Molly was the mother of two children and the father had left her. No one knew who the father was. June couldn’t imagine raising two babies at all, but Molly was doing it all alone. Whenever Molly was asked about the father, the other woman shut down and refused to say anything. June figured it was up to Molly, and she wasn’t going to force her to spill.
She’d needed the job and wanted to get off the benefit because it was sending her into a depression. Pitying the woman, June removed the application from the window and offered Molly the job on the spot. She probably should have interviewed more people, but she possessed a heart and wanted to help Molly. In the month she’d been open she’d met Molly’s two children and fallen in love with them instantly.
Molly never talked about their father, and June never asked who he was.
“If you want tomorrow I’ll teach you to make the dough for the whole meal bagels?” June went to check the oven. Another five minutes and she could pull them out.
“I’d love that. Why are you so good to me?” Molly asked.
“What do you mean?” June turned to the other woman, frowning.
“You’re June Armstrong. You could employ anyone, and yet you employed me and I’ve got no baking experience at all. All I know how to do is put a ready meal in the microwave.”
“Hey, I taught you how to make lasagna and chicken the other day,” June said, smiling.
Molly smiled. “I guess I want to know why?”
“Why I offered you the job?” Grabbing the hair net from the hook June placed it on her hair, wrapping up the strands.
“We didn’t get on in high school. I was popular, you were not, and yet you’re being nice to me. A lot of my old friends ditched me when I turned up pregnant without a boyfriend, but you’re still here.” Tears filled Molly’s eyes, and they gripped at June’s heart.
Her mother had filled her in on all the town gossip while she’d been away.
“I’m not a bitter person. I don’t see the need to hold a grudge. You were never outright mean to me, Molly. When you walked in the door, I wasn’t going to give you the job at all. Getting to know you and seeing your problems, you need this job a lot more than most. Besides, Sasha and Luke love you working for me, and they get more than a frozen ready meal now.”
June pulled out the whole meal bagels and placed them on a cooling rack.
Turning back to Molly, she saw the other woman crying.
“You’re the only friend I’ve got,” Molly said.
“That’s okay. We only ever need one friend in this world to survive.” She moved toward the other woman and hugged her close. “Tell you what, when you pick Luke and Sasha up today, come back here. I’ve got a casserole in the oven, and there’s plenty for all of us.”