Who I Once Was (Book Three in the 'Small Town Girl' Series)

Chapter Twelve: Baking

When I woke up in the morning, Dad was gone and I had a text saying he had gone to the store, so I decided to make cookies for when he got home. I felt significantly better after last night, and for whatever reason that put me in a baking mood.

I put on some music, grabbed one of Mom's old aprons and began rolling the cookie dough into balls when the front door opened and Dad came in with about ten grocery bags on each arm.

"You need help?" I questioned, wiping my hands off on the apron.

"No, we've got it." He said. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"We?" I walked around the counter just in time to see another woman come in, carrying groceries too. She was really pretty, easily Dad's age with bright red hair. She was wearing a white, tea-length dress covered in Butterflies, along with a teal 3/4 sleeve cardigan and a yellow belt around her waist.

They both set their bags down on the table before turning to face each other.

"Thanks for the help, Deb." Dad said.

"Well, of course, Paul! What are neighbors for?" She smiled brightly at him and I took this as my cue to walk into the dining area. "Oh! Who's this?"

"Right, you two haven't met, this is my Daughter Skipper. Skip, this is Deborah, she moved in next door last year."

"Its just Deb," She corrected, holding out her hand to me. I took it to shake and she put her other hand over mine, holding my hand between both of hers. She had perfectly manicured bright red nails, "You are the wonderful daughter Paul has told me so much about!"

"Has he now?" I asked, looking at Dad.

"All good things, honest." She said, pulling away from me and rubbing Dad's arm, causing me to raise my eyebrows. "Anything else you need, sugar?"

"Nope I think that's good. Thank you so much." She nodded, turning back to me and smiling.

"It was an absolute pleasure to meet you, Skipper." I smiled.

"Yeah, you too." I said. She smiled at Dad one last time.

"I'll walk you out." Dad said, rushing over. They walked out and I moved over, watching them through the screen door. Dad was smiling in a way that I hadn't seen in a long time. He said something to her and Deb laughed, throwing her head back and lightly patting his shoulder before walking down the stairs and back to her house. Dad came back in, smiling at the floor, but then he looked up at me and his smile fell.

"So...Deb?" I asked. He shook his head, walking over to the table.

"Its not like that Skipper." I nodded.

"Right yeah, I can tell with all the touching she's definitely just being neighborly." He shook his head. "She's cute."

"We're not having this conversation."

"Ok, if you say so." I walked back into the kitchen, going back to my cookie dough, and he began unloading the groceries. "You gonna ask her out?"

"Skipper." he shot me a look and I held my hands up.

"I'm just saying, from where I'm standing there could be a chance that she's into you, and she's really cute, and you two would be really cute together, that's all I'll say on the subject." I said, pressing my lips into a thin line while waiting for his response. He sighed.

"I'm not ready for that." he said. "I can't just jump into another relationship it'll feel like...I'm betraying your mother or something."

"Dad...Mom died ten years ago." I said. "And she would want you to be happy."

"I am happy." He said. I raised my eyebrows. "How could I not be happy? I have you!"

"I'm hardly ever here." He shrugged, causing me to sigh.

"Look, I'm not going to force you into anything," I said, "If you really are happy, then you have every right to remain that way."

"I am."

"But if you're not, and if you're just saying 'no' for my sake or for Mom's then don't because I know for a fact that both of us would one hundred percent support you in starting a new relationship." He just looked at me. "Now that's all I'll say." He nodded, going back to the groceries and not saying anything else, so I went back to my cookies. A few minutes went by and then he stuck his head in the doorway.

"Do you really think she likes me?" I smirked at my tray.

"I swore I wouldn't say anything else." I pointed out. "But yeah, I think she might." He nodded.

"Ok...ok." He ducked out again and I laughed silently to myself, shaking my head and going to pre-heat the oven. "So, what's the plan today? What do you want to do?"

"Well, first I want to finish these cookies." 

"You're baking?" He asked, coming back into the kitchen with a milk carton to put in the fridge. 

"Yeah. Why is that weird?"

"its not weird its just...sometimes I forget how much like your mother you are." I furrowed my eyebrows. "She used to bake once a problem had been resolved. It was her 'passing through the storm' tradition." I chuckled.

"That explains why my diet for the past five years has been take out and cold pastries that Starbucks didn't sell." I stated. "The past five years of my life has been a storm."

"Have you done anymore thinking about what you're going to do?" He asked. I shrugged, walking over to the oven to preheat it.

"I don't know. But I'd better decide quickly, I'm gonna be out of an apartment here soon."

"Right, about that," he said, "Are you gonna want help packing up your stuff?"

"I can manage. I'm not gonna ask you to drive all the way to California just to pack up a few boxes."

"Are you gonna drive?" He asked. "Because that's like...forty hours."

"Forty three, actually." I corrected. "And yeah, it would be a heck of a lot cheaper to drive than to have to get all of my stuff shipped here."

"That's true," He said, "But I wasn't asking for me."

"You weren't?" I questioned. He shook his head.

"No, Farkle called while I was at the store. He said he has some Minkus International business coming up in that area and thought, if he had to go down that way anyway, you might want some help with your stuff."

"Well, that's really sweet, but why didn't he just ask me directly?" I questioned. He shrugged.

"Beats me. That kid has always been a mystery to me." I put my cookie sheet in the oven. "Don't get me wrong, I love him and all, he's great, but he's just..."

"Farkle?" I asked. He nodded.

"Right. I forgot 'Farkle' is a state of being." I smiled. "You gonna let him come with you?" I shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe. I can think of worse things than being stuck in a car with Farkle for a day and a half."

"Might give you guys some time to catch up, maybe...drum up some old feelings." I raised my eyebrows at him. He threw his hands up. "Oh, so you can talk about my love life, but yours is off limits?" I laughed, rolling my eyes at him. "Hey, I know what we can do tonight."

"What?" I questioned.

"Why don't we invite all your friends over for dinner? Their parents too! We'll have a good ole fashioned dinner party."

"That's kind of short notice, isn't it?"

"All of our kids are back in the same place. Desperate times call for desperate measures." I shrugged.

"I'll call the kids, you get the parents."

"On it."