Sweet Love (NG5)

40 - Number four

MARCH

March came in like a lamb with an unseasonably warm day. Kat wasn't in the mood to enjoy the day. She spent the morning baking turnovers, the last dessert she ever baked for Pops. No one expected the treat, but once she posted the crowds came. She wanted to stay busy, but she was off after the lunch rush. Maybe she could occupy her mind with sales data.

The man had agreed to let her take some baking orders. As a trial. She already had a cupcake order for the twins' birthday, but Nick and Ivy would work shifts that week.

When her phone rang, she figured it was Will. Things had turned weird between them since their night out. She answered even though she didn't recognize the number. Listening, it was like Pops had intervened from heaven. The historical society had been closed because of an illness, but they had an open appointment for that afternoon.

Will came in for lunch and asked Martha who she was talking to, as she said, "Two o'clock. Great! Thanks."

She forgot they were keeping their distance as she walked over to him. "The historical society has an opening today."

"I'm coming."

She shook her head. "You don't want to."

"Yes, I do, we started this together."

Martha said, "Take your lover's spat to the sandwich board. I've got orders."

Kat sighed, and Will's face dropped. She had hurt him by rejecting him. If she were to trust anyone, it would be Will, since she felt things when they spent time together. She missed him while he had distanced himself. He wanted to help her, so she nodded. "Fine. It's at two."

The historical society was housed in an old fire station close to where the road to The Point met up with Route One. It would take only five minutes to drive there.

"I'll pick you up at ten to two."

Not willing to argue, she agreed, and he smiled for the first time in days.

Even though she got permission for bakery orders, the man pushed back on some recent ideas. Singles night, latte Fridays (not every day and without an expensive machine), the last was a shot in the dark, adding a brick oven. More nos than yeses had her loathing for the man amped up. The brick oven came back with a two letter response, all in caps.

She didn't have Will to complain to, so her hate had been festering along with the impending anniversary of Pops's death. It was hard not to associate his death with her life falling into shambles. Work was the answer to surviving the next minute then hour.

A busy lunch due in part to the weather, but also the turnovers left her with no time to shower before Will came. Maybe it was for the best. She imagined reading through musty papers.

As she climbed in his truck, she nodded. "Thanks."

"So what name are we looking for?"

"Petringa. But my grandparents were Cousins. Tobias and Lydia Cousins."

"We want to know which cottage right? So Petringa owned it?"

She nodded. Maybe she should look into her roots like the show on PBS. In her spare time, she thought ironically.

Once they arrived, she walked to the small door next to the large wooden doors. It looked like a barn and she wondered if horses had pulled the fire equipment. An elderly woman, walking with a cane, greeted them.

"I'm a bit slow. I had a knee replacement."

Kat smiled. "We appreciate the opportunity. I'm researching my family. They had a cottage on The Point."