Marsipan Cake and Long Love Letters

Prologue

Just before closing, three women walked through the door. The sound made Hanna look up quickly from where she had been scraping burnt cheese from the pizza oven.

"Hey, just so you know, we are closing in a few minutes." She tried to smile but her cheeks felt stiff. It had been a long day of pretending to like people long enough to serve them food.

"Well, you're still open aren't you?" The raised eyebrows and intonation were meant to be taken as a challenge. Hanna didn't bother to raise a fuss over it, happy customers moved faster towards the door.

"Absolutely, but our dining room is closed and the pizza oven is already getting cold. Can I interest you in some sandwiches to go? Or were you guys thinking about getting a pastry or something sweet this evening?"

"We need some cake for our book club," one of the women with a softer, rounder face stepped up to the glass display case and peered inside, "Do you sell by the slice or do we need to buy the whole cake?"

"It will have to be by the slice tonight, hope that's okay. I'm sold out of the whole cakes. We do take pre-orders if another time you're having book club you want a whole cake."

"Oh heavens! What would we do with a whole cake?" The third lady laughed.

"Eat it!" The one with her face still mere inches away from Hanna's recently cleaned display case laughed and then smudged the glass with a finger pointing at the carrot cake slices decorated with edible flowers and curls of carrot. "Three of those, thank you!"

Hanna locked the door behind them as they left, wondering what kind of women had time for book club, fancy cakes and female friendships. Jealousy, her brain whispered. Yes, she told her brain, Yes that is exactly what that is.

20 minutes after locking the door, she was pulling her phone from her pocket and hitting speed dial 1. Her other hand reached for her car keys.

"Hey, how is he? I'm getting in my car now, so I'll be home in 10 minutes."

The voice on the other end sounded tired, harsh.

"No, don't worry about it, I will deal with it when I get there. Just put on the TV, it's fine." She sighed as she hung up, willing the ignition to do its job and ignite. The car started on the first try, it was like a tiny miracle. Hanna kissed the steering wheel.

"I love you, you're so good to me." She told the tiny and robust car, steering it on to the main road, watching the cafe in her rearview. Her hands smelled of Ajax and the skin between her fingers was cracking. She used lotion as often as she remembered to, but it didn't matter because whether she was at work or home, she was washing something up 3 minutes later, undoing whatever good the Jojoba oil might have attempted. She stopped looking at her hands, thought of Theo. He'd be snuggled up on the couch watching TV now. It was the best part of her day, coming home to him. The phone in her pocket started ringing again. It always did, there always some question she needed to answer, some need she had to meet. What would happen if I just didn't answer? She wondered, but then thought better, and swiped to the left.

It was then she saw the black minivan, on her left like a heat seeking missile. She later learned that the drivers brakes had failed, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But then again, the carseat in the back was empty, and she was alive. Hanna's life changed but she wasn't a quitter. She never stopped looking for tiny miracles.