Ruby has always been a baker at heart. She's learned all her baking skills from her grandmother - a famous baker with many cookbooks on the market. She owes everything to her grandmother, who took her in when her parents died and when their bakery i...
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RUBY
Spring days were always my favourite.
There was so much potential on a spring day. The blooming flowers, the scent of pollen in the air, the bees that fly around looking for a cool drink on a hot day. They were always motivating to me. A warm spring day was when I pulled out some of my best bakes. Floral flavours were my forte, and lavender and honey cupcakes were my signature bake.
My grandmother was also well known for her amazing food, particularly her baking. She had multiple cookbooks on the market, and she was where I had learned all of my skills. I could remember balancing on a step stool in her bakery kitchen as a young child, helping her make cupcakes or bake fresh rolls of bread. She used to let me come up with all sorts of weird and wonderful flavour suggestions. Lemon sugar, Lilac, Orange creamsicle.
It was one of my favourite memories,
The interior of the bakery was warm and inviting, and always smelled of freshly baked bread. According to my grandmother, it had been inspired by small country town cottages, and I loved the decor inside. The windows were trimmed with lace curtains, and walnut dining sets scattered around the room. It was at my insistence that each table was adorned with a centrepiece of flowers; pink and green and white, to offset the rest of the space.
I've always loved flowers as well. They were more than just pretty; they symbolised growth. Rebirth. A new beginning.
This spring was going to be my new beginning.
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I could feel the new season air as I opened the bakery doors and set the chalkboard sign out front. It was early — mostly businessmen and women, trade workers and the occasional school student wandering the streets to get to their destination. My grandmother and I always made it a point to open early for these people and had earned some of our most loyal customers that way.
"Good morning, Miss Ruby!" I was greeted enthusiastically by a gaggle of young children. I recognised them as local schoolchildren, a young group who attended the Saint Mary's Cathedral school in the heart of West Lake It made sense that they would travel this early, considering the school was a least half an hour from this part of town; closer to an hour if you took public transport.
"Well good morning, guys. Are you here for breakfast, or just passing through?" The kids shared a glance.
"Maybe we'll take it to go?"
I beckoned them inside. Soft piano music played through a speaker I'd set, which I felt gave the bakery a softer and more inviting ambience. The girls practically pressed their noses into the glass display case, surveying the baked goods. I was used to serving them, they'd become regular customers on their way to school.
