Giving Blood at the Danton Bakery

18. Peppermint Cookies

Theo's fingers wrapped around the tickets in his pocket for the tenth time that day. He was so excited that he left before the sun went down, the icy drizzle that had covered the town all day making for a good excuse to have his coat, hat, and umbrella out, though the sunglasses earned him a few odd looks. Arriving at the shop a little early, Theo was met with . . .

"Nobody's here?" he stated at the darkened bakery. Odd, considering Bea was usually present before opening, baking and humming to herself or studying while something was in the oven. But there was no Bea in the kitchen or anywhere else in the bakery for that matter. Even Edith and Mason were absent, though the former really didn't need to show up before opening and the latter didn't adhere to any kind of schedule at all.

Frowning, Theo began the oven heating according to the note on a batch of cookie dough he found in the fridge. Good thing it was the middle of the week because if they were hit hard at opening there would be almost nothing to sell. Once the oven was heating up and he set the tray of cookie dough balls on the counter, Theo began to search for more recipes that he could manage or even better more pre-made goods that only needed to be baked.

Thankfully, the jingle of a set of keys at the front of the bakery signaled the arrival of the baker.

"Bea! There you are. I was wondering . . . " Theo came out from the kitchen to greet her, only to find she had a foul look on her face and was being harassed on the sidewalk by a man in a suit.

Rushing to the door, Theo was there by the time Bea got it unlocked and she came inside, the strange man trailing her.

"You can't be serious, Beatrice," he said, wholly ignoring Theo as he followed the baker toward the back of the cafe.

"You need to go, Lou. This is my workplace, you can't just barge in like you own it." Bea shot Theo a sympathetic look. "Sorry, this is my brother, Louis."

Theo, who had been fully ready to throw the man out and call the police, turned to get another look. Indeed, the resemblance was strong. A similar chin and the shape of the nose, but where Bea's hair was glossy and warm, the man's hair was a much paler brown. Still, not even a brother would excuse harassing Bea in Theo's mind.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we aren't open for business yet and I have to ask you to leave," Theo said.

The man scowled, looking down his nose even as he brushed the crisp lapel of his suit. "I won't be talked down to by a two-bit snack shop, I'm here to speak to my sister."

This annoyed Theo. Very little truly got under Theo's skin, but in the thirty seconds he had known Louis, he had managed to do so.

"Now you listen here-" Theo began. Bea, who had been tying her apron on, now came between the vampire and her brother.

"Hold on!" She said, spinning to apologize to Theo first. "I'm really sorry about him, my family has some entitlement issues." She shot her brother a dirty look. "And Lou, you need to leave. This is a perfectly respectable place, the best bakery in town with a brilliant owner, and I won't have you messing this up for me."

"Messing what up for you?" he scoffed. "This place? It's barely more than a corner store. If Dad finds out this is where you've been spending your time instead of your degree he'd be so disappointed."

Bea's face turned red as she turned sad eyes toward the floor.

Theo, having been around for nearly two hundred years now, was able to pick up on certain cues. Like Bea, he was raised by a disapproving family. Any notion of what to do with his life that wasn't dictated by his aunts was clearly the wrong path to choose. Bea must be dealing with something similar, judging from Lou's words and actions.