A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,6

kind, patient, and did his best to be a good boss, Scott was his polar opposite: brash, rude, and he treated her like… well, she didn’t know how he treated dogs. Maybe his one good point was that he was kind to animals. It was possible, she supposed.

Scott didn’t seem all that interested in running the bakery, either. As Mr. Dearborn’s only child, it was tradition that he’d take it over – but Scott just didn’t seem to care that much about it.

Not that Annie thought you needed to necessarily follow in your parents’ footsteps – God knew if she did that, she’d be screwed! – but despite not caring about the bakery, Scott also seemed pretty… weird about it too.

Like that time he got poor Danny fired, she thought as she needlessly rearranged the nativity scene so she’d have something to do with her hands.

Danny had been Mr. Dearborn’s apprentice for several months. He was everything Scott wasn’t: passionate, hardworking, and dedicated to the bakery. He’d gotten along well with Mr. Dearborn, and he hadn’t minded coming in at a moment’s notice when Scott missed a shift.

But it had been clear that Scott had hated him, right from the start. It wasn’t long before Annie had started to overhear Scott complaining to his father about Danny, saying all sorts of things Annie had had a hard time believing were true. Things about the register being short, about things going missing.

And then, one day, Danny had been gone, and Mr. Dearborn had told her he’d moved on. Annie hadn’t felt it was her place to ask, but she was sure Scott had had something to do with his firing.

Annie had been worried she was next on the chopping block, but so far, nothing had happened.

It’s because Scott doesn’t see me as a threat.

The answer came to her suddenly. Danny had been a baker’s apprentice. A skilled job that took years of practice, and Mr. Dearborn was clearly training him well and sharing his family recipes with him.

That was what Scott hadn’t liked.

“You remember what I said about not working after tomorrow,” Mr. Dearborn said as he put on his heavy winter coat. “Christina’s got it covered. You’ll get your holiday pay, of course, but there’ll be no need for you to worry about a thing. You deserve a break, Annie.”

Annie bit her lip as she waved through the window at Mr. Dearborn as he headed out to his car. She glanced at the clock as he drove away – ten minutes until the end of her shift.

Ten minutes until she’d have to spend the whole of Christmas and the days leading up to it alone with her thoughts.

Unless I can convince Christina to trade with me…

As soon as the thought came to her though, she dismissed it. As much as she didn’t want to spend the whole of the Christmas break alone, her guilty conscience wouldn’t give her a moment’s rest if she threw Mr. Dearborn’s generous gesture back in his face like that!

“Hey! I’m here!”

Annie turned at the sound of the back door of the bakery clattering open, followed by the sound of Christina’s voice. She appeared a moment later, shaking the snow out of her long black hair.

“Phew! It’s freaking cold out there!” Christina said, with an exaggerated shiver. “I’m starting to think I should’ve just gone home for my winter break after all! But no, silly me just had to see a white Christmas, didn’t I?”

Annie laughed. Christina was a Singaporean exchange student doing a semester at the art and design school in Cedar Ridge; Annie didn’t know much about Singapore, but she was guessing it didn’t snow much at any time of year.

“Rating out of ten?” she asked, as Christina tied on her work apron.

“Hmm. Seven,” she replied, tapping her lower lip with her finger in thought. “Very nice to look at, but less nice to be standing around at the bus stop in. Worth doing once just so I can say I did.”

“Well, just remember us who’re stuck here once you return to your balmy-year-round paradise,” Annie said with a laugh as she untied her work apron, only a little reluctantly. She paused, licking her lips. “Are you sure you don’t mind taking these shifts?”

“It’s no problem,” Christina said, shaking her head. “I don’t do Christmas – I was raised Buddhist you know, so it’s not really a thing. And I’d like to take a road trip to see more of America in my study