The Bee's Knees

Chapter 22

Anna's mom ushered her into the living room where the rest of her family was waiting. Her dad and his squirrel had collapsed into their favorite armchair, and her grandma yawned as she scratched her coyote behind the ears. Her grandpa looked especially worn out. His hands shook as he sipped from a mug of piping hot tea with Bertrand curled up by his feet, and his eyes no longer held the same brightness they once had.

Despite supposedly needing to talk to her about something, Anna's mom was completely silent. Nobody else said a word either, with only Bertrand's rumbling snores breaking through the quiet.

"Is everything okay?" Anna asked. Her gaze traveled from one family member to the next, but she couldn't figure out why they'd all gathered like this. With Sweet Surprise closed until they finished their repairs, there wasn't much they could do until it was ready to reopen.

Maybe it wouldn't reopen after all. Anna's mom had promised her she'd try to keep it open for as long as she could, but if the fire damaged too much, then not even Sliced could give them enough money to save it.

"Sorry, sweetheart, it's just hard to know where to begin," her dad said.

"You can start by telling her she's not in trouble," her grandma said. Her coyote yipped its agreement. "Poor kid's been through enough scares lately without you leaving her in suspense."

"Ah, yes, you're right." Her dad laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "You're not in trouble."

Anna's bees still buzzed with tension. She'd already figured that wasn't the problem, especially since she'd been doing nothing but studying for days. What were they so anxious about telling her? "If I'm not in trouble, then why do you all look so worried?"

"It's been a long couple of days, Cupcake," her grandpa said. His voice no longer held the hoarse raspiness that came with the smoke, but tiredness still weighed down his words.

"We all need to talk about the bakery, so it's been tricky to figure out the right way to do it." Her mom rubbed her forehead, no doubt debating whether to brew herself another cup of coffee. "No sense fussing about that anymore, I suppose. Anna, I need you to answer me honestly. Are you okay with us discussing all this with you, or would it be too stressful right now?"

Anna's bees nearly dropped out of the air. Her mom was actually asking her if she wanted to be involved? Maybe the craziness of the last few days had messed with her hearing. That or things had gotten much worse than she thought, and her mom had no choice but to break the news to her. "Yeah, I can handle it."

"Alright." Her mom let out a long, slow breath. "We've been dealing with the insurance company all morning."

"And haven't finalized everything yet," her dad added, slapping a hand over his mouth after his wife gave him a look.

"Despite listening to way too much hold music," her mom grumbled, "but we got an estimate for how much money they're going to give us."

"Okay." Anna bit her lip. She wouldn't cry. No matter how bad the news was, she promised herself she wouldn't cry. Not when her mom had finally stopped treating her like a little kid.

"It won't quite cover all the damage," her mom said, "but we should be able to reopen Sweet Surprise in a couple weeks. We'll still need more money to keep it open, but for now, we're doing okay."

"That's awesome!" After everything they'd been through, Sweet Surprise reopening at all was a huge relief. That meant they still had a chance to save it.

"Not finished yet, honey," her mom said gently. "We've all been talking, and we have some more news to share with you."

"We know how much you care about the bakery," her grandma said.

"And you've been studying really hard," her dad added.

"So if everything goes well with your math test this week..." Her grandpa's smile twitched with the effort of not spilling the beans.

"We're going to let you be on Sliced if you get at least an 85 on that test," her mom finished.

"Really?" Anna's bees twirled around her, humming with so much excitement she could barely hear herself think.

"Really. And I'll be helping you study as much as I can." Her mom chuckled nervously. "It'll be a lot to juggle with all the phone calls I have to make this week, but if there's one thing I'm good at, it's math."

"And being a mom." Anna wrapped her in a hug. She and her mom didn't always see eye to eye, but as she received a tight squeeze back, Anna knew her mom was doing the best she could for her.

"Save some sweetness for the oven." Her mom winked. "Sliced needs a little more footage of you in the kitchen, so you can bake one dessert before your math test."

"But only if we all get to share," her dad said teasingly.

"Time to put your new apron to good use!" her grandpa said. Bertrand licked his lips as if he could already taste the delicious dessert they'd make together.

Returning to the kitchen felt like coming back into the air conditioning after a long day in Louisiana's sweltering heat. Anna's apron wrapped around her as warmly as one of Bertrand's famous bear hugs as she looked through the pantry. Her family never kept as many ingredients at home as they did in the bakery, but there was always more than enough to whip up something delicious.

With only one chance to bake before the math test, Anna decided to make one of her favorites: brownies. As simple as they were, nothing could beat a warm, gooey mouthful.

At least, that's what she thought until she started measuring ingredients. Anna's bees hummed a little tune as her family filmed her. She'd never baked on camera before, but everyone watching her with the biggest smiles on their faces made it impossible to care who else would see her. Sliced got hundreds of thousands of views per episode, but she only cared about her audience of four.

Her grandma tiptoed forward to get close-up shots of the batter with her phone, her coyote wagging its tail like a puppy. Bertrand munched on the extra walnuts Anna chopped just for him while her grandpa laughingly brushed crumbs out of his fur. Only when he was sure the big bear wouldn't abscond with the rest of the nuts did her grandpa dig through their pantry in search of their cookie cutters, handing them to Anna in exchange for 'one hug from the world's sweetest granddaughter'.

After pouring the batter and sprinkling nuts in fun shapes with the help of outlines created by the cookie cutters, Anna slid the pan into the oven. But that wasn't the end of her family spending time in the kitchen with her. No, Skippy and her dad kept their eyes glued to the oven, crouching in front of it as if they could magically make the brownies bake more quickly.

Anna's mom was even less patient. She licked the spoon until not a speck of chocolate remained save for the ones on her lips. "One of the best parts of growing up is nobody can tell you not to eat the batter!"

"No, but we can tell you to leave some for the rest of us," Anna's grandma said. Her coyote whined as she ran her finger around the edge of the bowl. "I almost wish we made a whole extra batch just for the batter."

Despite her stomach growling like an angry bobcat, Anna resisted the temptation to join the battle over the bowl. She only had eyes for the timer ticking down.

The instant the long-awaited ding echoed through the kitchen, Anna opened the oven and tested the brownies with a toothpick, which came out with just a few crumbs. Perfect.

The scent of chocolate filled the air as Anna carved out the brownies. Each one depicted a heart made out of nuts, promising just the right amount of crunch to go with the decadently moist center. "Alright, everybody, dig in!"

She didn't need to tell them twice. A symphony of chewing and finger licking filled the kitchen as everyone devoured the perfectly gooey brownies.

With Anna's whole family gathered together to enjoy what she'd made, finally getting back into the kitchen tasted extra sweet.