Moonlit Futures

Lexi POV

Rolling up my sleeves I grabbed the piping bag and starting tracing the designs Dale had drawn out on wax paper. Humming softly to myself I started to branch out of the designs that Dale had done. Feeling him watching me over my shoulder I kept working to make them flow effortlessly. 

"Ok girly, I thin you've done enough." Glancing up at him I set the bag down and slowly worked some of the stiffness from my hands. Glancing at the clock I saw that I had been working close to an hour just on the these designs. 

"So when will I get to actually decorate a cake?" I asked Dale as we started cleaning up the kitchen to start dinner.

"You keep coming over and I think we can start that the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow we start with the building a cake process. I'll teach you the basic shaped cakes tomorrow, stacking and layering and then we will move into more complex designs once we get those down. You have a good eye and a steady hand. You'll put me out of business before long." He said shrugging. Smiling broadly I nudged him out of the way and finished cleaning up the mess. Seeing him starting on the lasagna, I offered to start the garlic bread. Nodding to where he had the dough resting, I grabbed it and worked it into the shape I wanted. Putting it into the previously heated oven I waited until it was done. Going over to the island bar stools I sat and watched as Dale made the lasagna.

"You know you don't talk a lot girly? Amber been here she'd have talked me blue in the face by now. You're more content to sit and watch." Dale observed. Shrugging I couldn't help but laugh at his frustrated sigh.

"I'm shy." Shooting him a cheeky grin, his giant laugh made me join in. Waiting for a few more minutes I broke the silence.

"I got hurt recently, physically and emotionally. Apparently I suffer from PTSD. I didn't like the way my treatment was being addressed so I left. Tried handling it on my own. Exposure therapy or some shit." Looking away I went to pull the bread from the oven and let it cool before I sliced it up to add the garlic and spices to it. Sliding back onto the stool I saw Dale looking at me. "I handled it. I feel better nowadays. Not so jumpy." Hearing him snort I thought back to the day we first me. Smiling lightly I reached over and chucked his shoulder lightly.

"You came out of the shadows in all your imposing glory.  I mean it though, I'm better or at least getting there. I used to jump at my shadow. Hurt myself a couple of times. I just needed room to breathe." Seeing him stare at the pot, I leaned forward on the island a bit. Resting my weight on my elbows, I waited.

"What made you tell me this now?"

"You deserved to know. Plus I figure I should give a little. You took a  big leap of faith keeping me around and you clearly trust me a little bit or you wouldn't be showing me how to decorate I wouldn't think." Picking at the clean island surface, I watched him out of the corner of my eyes.

"I figured something along those lines, not the PTSD but a hurt. I just figured it was family trouble or boyfriend trouble." He said shrugging lightly. "Doesn't change the fact that you're a good person. I could tell that the moment I met you or I wouldn't have put you up with a friend or allowed you into  my business."

Smiling I continued to pick at the counter. We sat in comfortable silence until I went to check the bread.

"Dale? You aren't so wrong about the family and boyfriend trouble. They aren't the PTSD reasons but that's a whole shit show on it's own. Can I ask you for a bit of advice?" I asked taking the knife and cutting sections of the bread in order to prepare it for the spices. 

"Shoot Kid. Don't know why you want my advice though. Amber may be better with that."  

Stacking the pats of butter inbetween my slices, I reached for the garlic and oregano. 

"I think you're years of worldly experience may do better here. How do you forgive someone?" Looking over at me silently, I just shrugged at him and started to layer in the cheese. Wrapping the bread in aluminum foil I waited for him to respond. 

"You angry at them?"

"Yeah. A little hurt."

"You gotta let that go. Time heals all wounds but holding on to that only causes resentment. You'll never forgive him if you can't learn to let go."

"Let's say I already have forgiven them and I'm too scared to go back because they helped me when I needed it and I ran away. What then?"

"Well they love you don't they? They will understand. Everyone needs time. You were working things out in the best way for you. Give them the chance to love you again." Popping the lasagna in the oven we stared at each other for a moment. 

"When you talk you get real deep you know that?" Smiling at him I just shrugged as Amber slammed in the door. Smirking at her claims of starvation I went to get the plates and set the table for dinner.