Love Under Lockdown

Chapter 2

Andrea's glee at selling breads was short-lived. Who knew the police were on Instagram? Once she had posted that all the breads on the third morning was sold out, a cease-and-desist notice had turned up in her inbox. It was illegal to have people at her home who did not reside in her household. Now, she was stuck with a whole lot of flour.

The police officer had suggested she apply for a permit to be considered a caterer, offering baked goods to essential workers, but it would take a few days to be approved. She did not want to risk a fine. Money was a premium now.

"Mommy, can you help me please?" Ryan's voice coming from the bathroom jolted her into action.

"Coming baby. What's wrong?"

Ryan stood at the sink attempting to brush his teeth.

"I can't see in the mirror. Can you lift me up please?"

She smiled at his efforts to stand on tiptoe on the stool near the sink.

"Up you go."

She buried her face in his neck, which made him giggle even as he brushed his teeth.

"Stop mommy. I need to spit."

She flipped him horizontal which made him giggle and spurt out the toothpaste. Andrea helped him rinse his mouth and wiped his face before squeezing him tightly.

"What would you like to do today? We've got it all to ourselves."

"Don't I have to go by the sitter?" Ryan looked up at her as they got comfortable on the living room couch.

"Nope. The police say we must stay indoors. Let's see what's on TV. You get first pick."

"Oh yeah." Ryan grabbed the remote and as she expected, headed straight for his favorite dinosaur cartoon.

Andrea cuddled her son and tried not to worry about money. It was hard. She had been counting on this move to Montserrat to get her life together. A global pandemic had not been anywhere on the horizon when she had put all her money into purchasing the three-bedroom house in Old Towne. She loved the residential community. The homes were spread out across gentle hills and valleys and the volcano was in the distant. The main town was less than thirty minutes away, but she rarely needed to go that far unless she was getting groceries or banking.

She searched for the notebook and pen she kept in the side table near the couch and began to scribble. First it was just about her frustration and her fears. Then she wrote a resolution to come up with a way to be proactive and not to worry about her lack of finances. Ryan's giggle at the antics of the dinosaurs made her pause and smile. She reached over and kissed his cheek and he snuggled closer.

Writing one last note about being thankful for her son and her life, she closed the book and dug in for a few hours of TV watching with her favorite male.

David smothered a yawn and tried to concentrate on what his client was saying. For the fifth time in as many months, they wanted adjustments to the software. Even more frustrating than the fact he was missing sleep, was that the very changes they were now requesting, he had recommended they implement at the start of the project. An unnecessary expense, they had said. He would feel no remorse at taking their money, as the original agreement excluded the current request, and he planned to bill them at the top of the scale for the upgrades.

His eyes landed on the note that had come with the batch of rolls, a few days before. He tended to doodle when he was stumped with coding and since receiving the gift, he had created a few concepts for a Breads by Andrea logo. He had also sketched her face and drawn a cartoon of her and her son laughing in the back yard. He had been debating leaving the drawings as a thank you for the bread. More than likely he would end up tossing the drawings, but he was drawn to her. She was beautiful. Loved her son fiercely, from what he could see, and he really wanted to know her story.