Falls In Between

Chapter Eight-August

"Good morning, August." Olivia greets me from behind the counter of the bakery. I love how cozy the bakery is. There are a few tables and booths. Outside there are a few small tables.

"Hey." I reply moving towards her, on the other side of the counter.

"You ready to learn the bakery life?" She asks.

"Definitely." Louise comes from the back with an apron down her back.

"Welcome, Welcome. Let's get started." She says, waving for me to join her. For the first hour she showed me where everything was and an official tour. She then had me baking some things, which I was shocked to find out that it was calming.

"So what brings you to Pikeville Falls?" Louise asks as she kneads the dough.

"Just needed a fresh start. Somewhere new and no one knew me." I reply stirring the batter in the bowl.

"A little bird told me that you may already know someone..." I look up at her and she has a little smirk. Louise, a little gossiper. I like her.

"Yes. I knew Healy from a really long time ago." She makes an agreement noise. "It's a really long story."

"I understand, I'll just say this. Healy is a good man, a good vet. He takes good care of the animals. He is always a good person to have on your side." I nod and we continue to bake. After a few hours of working together and learning she sends me home after a busy day.

After my shift I start walking towards the inn knowing Chelsea can point me in the way of the grocery store and if there is a bus.

When I walk in, Chelsea is on the computer typing away. She doesn't hear me. "Hey."

She gasps and puts her hands on her heart. "Jesus."

"This is the second time I've scared you, you should probably get a bell on the door or something."

She stares at me for a moment. "You know that's probably not a bad idea." She writes something on a sticky note. "How was the bakery?"

"Perfect." I smile so big. "It's perfect."

"Good. Ain't Louise the sweetest?"

"She is, I really enjoyed it." Chelsea nods. "I mostly was coming to ask about the grocery store can I-."

"Oh! I totally forgot I was gonna take you but this last weekend was crazy! You are probably eating crumbs." She is so sweet, looks like she is so mad at herself.

"It's okay. I was just gonna ask if I can get there by walking or is there a bus?" she puts her finger out and picks up her phone and calls.

"Hey, can you come and take August to the grocery store real quick?" She starts pacing behind the desk. "Yeah, I meant to take her this last weekend, but you know how that went. Perfect. Thank you!" She hangs up.

"Max is at summer camp and Garrett has the restaurant under control, so Hannah is coming to take you." She smiles.

"Do you know everyone's schedules around here?" I laugh.

"Pretty much, yeah." She looks pleased with herself

Hannah picks me up from the inn in her very mom-like van. She tells me Max is at a soccer camp that the local school does every summer. He enjoys it. I love seeing her light up when she talks about him. I wish my mom gave an ounce of the love that Hannah has for Max.

"What about you, you want any kids in the future?" She asks as we pull up to the grocery store. It's some store I have never heard of, I'm assuming another local entity.

"Um..honestly probably not, but I guess maybe with the right person." Honestly embarrassed. After how I grew up, I think I'm just not sure.

"That's okay. It's definitely not for everyone." We walk inside and I pick up a few staples that I know won't break the bank. Easy, fast and unfortunately not that healthiest. As we go around the shop Hannah tells me more about her life and how she and Garrett met. She's a talker and I don't mind it in the slightest, meaning I don't have to talk about myself.

When we pull up to the check out, she eyes my cart. "Got everything?"

"Yup, I'm good." I smile and she doesn't totally believe me but she doesn't force it. We make our way back to the car and back into town. She drops me back off at Chelsea and Ken's house and makes my way through and into the pool house where I put my groceries away and lay down on the bed.

The last few days have been crazy and a lot. I still have a few hours before I am to meet Healy, I'll just take a short nap and then I'll go.