him as he began frantically picking off the spots that were dried and flaky.
“Damn kids!” Cyler exclaimed.
Patrick snapped a couple pictures before Cyler tackled him for his tablet, causing more paint to fly. It would be a long night of cleaning. I simply looked at Kemper and his now ruined shirt and giggled.
“Sorry I ruined your shirt,” I said apologetically as Kemper dusted himself off and walked back over to me. I wanted to ask him what it was he was going to say before Cyler interrupted us, but the moment had gone.
“Nonsense.” Kemp looked lovingly at his no longer perfect, crisp white shirt. “You made it better.”
Chapter Sixteen
Patrick’s mischievous laughter filtered throughout the General Store. It took another day to fully recuperate from the emotional and physical toll that saving Hope took on my body. I felt a gnawing uncertainty about Lois and Mark. Their nonchalant views on the infected Walker Woman made me cringe in discomfort. However, I was happy to be back within the familiarity of the Bakery and once again doing what I enjoyed.
Patrick was visiting today. He and Huxley ordered pastries for the mine workers every couple of weeks, and today he stopped by a bit early so we could chat while I prepared his order. He sat at the wooden counter on a stool while I iced some of the pastries. He gossiped about some of the workers and shared some of his more recent shenanigans.
“. . . and just the other day we hid Huxley’s desk deep within the mines. He was furious . He thought it was the other mine workers, but it was me.” He chuckled in amusement, and I shook my head in mock discontent. I liked that Patrick was playful and silly. “Damn thing was heavy as hell, but it was worth it to see him get mad.”
“I knew it was you that moved my desk,” a familiar angry voice filled the air. I turned to see Huxley walking up to the Bakery counter in heavy strides. He pulled up a seat, and just before sitting down, yanked Patrick’s chair out from underneath him, causing Patrick to crash rather ungracefully to the floor. Huxley smiled as he sat, then wiped his expression clean once he saw me looking.
“What are you doing here?” Patrick asked. He dusted himself off with a knowing smirk as I started making a new batch of cream cheese icing.
“I figured you could use some help carrying it all to the Mines,” Huxley hurriedly explained, tensing up. Patrick raised an eyebrow but didn’t question him further. I refused to think that it was because he wanted to spend time with me. Wishful thinking was for the hopeless.
I started to mix together my ingredients and the twins watched in fascination. “If you’re good, I’ll let you lick the spoon,” I said with a surprisingly coy smile, but Huxley merely coughed while Patrick licked his lips. I realized how flirtatious I sounded and blushed. I shook off the brief embarrassment and continued mixing the icing, while their identical eyes followed every movement I made. Once it was the consistency I liked, I put it in a funnel and began drizzling it onto the pastries.
“Oh, Ash! I wanted to introduce you to a couple of my friends!” Lois’ weak voice yelled throughout the store. I sighed in frustration. Lois was back to introducing me to new suitors.
“Help me!” I whispered frantically to the guys while wiping my hands on my apron. Lois was determined to marry me off, and each suitor got progressively worse. How could I look at another when already I had six very handsome men that occupied my every waking thought?
“What’s wrong, Ash? Not a people person?” Patrick joked.
“I’m just tired of being introduced to five new suitors every day,” I forced out in a whisper. “I thought she would have run out of men by now.” I groaned. Patrick and Huxley suddenly went rigid .
“How long has this been going on?” Huxley asked as Lois rounded the corner with two men trailing behind her.
“Since I started working here.” I forced a fake smile into place.
“Have you been, uh, courted by anyone?” Huxley asked awkwardly, but Lois pushed between Huxley and Patrick’s chairs and smiled at me before I could respond.
“Oh, darling, look at you. Always baking! She makes my shop smell so wonderful,” Lois said with a grin while speaking to two men that followed behind her. They were handsome but didn’t make my stomach