Page 34 of Day Break

She ran her eyes over my computer bag, then back up to my face.

“If you want, I can get you some coffee and you can work in peace. George and Byron won’t be up until around eight, so I try to bake quietly.” She turned to the coffee maker.

It was then that I smelled the rich scent and felt my stomach growl.

“Thank you,” I said, motioning towards the back door. “I’m going to sit outside.”

“Go, I’ll bring it out.” She glanced over her shoulder at me.

I sat at the patio table and had just logged into the system when she set a tray on the table next to me with a mug of hot coffee, a container of creamer and sugar, and a plate of what appeared to be steaming hot coffee cake.

I looked up. “You didn’t just make that, did you?” I asked.

“I’ve been up for a while,” she answered with a smile. “Let me know if you need anything else.” She turned and disappeared back into the house.

I poured both creamer and sugar into my coffee and took a sip before trying the bread. It melted in my mouth. Like, literally. The dab of butter she’d put on top of it had melted in, causing me to moan with delight.

The last time I’d tasted coffee cake this good was… I tilted my head and tried to think. Then my eyes ran to the back corner of the yard, and I realized the truth. The last time had been when my grandmother had made it.

Taking the plate with me, I walked into the house.

“Where did you get the recipe for this?” I asked, holding out the plate towards her.

Chloe frowned at me and took a step back. “I… it was your grandmother’s. George gave me her recipe book.” She held onto the wooden spoon in her hands. “Is something wrong?”

I took a couple deep breaths. “No, it’s just…” I ran my free hand through my hair and then took my fork and ate another bite. Yup, this was just like my grandmother used to make. “It reminds me of her,” I said. I felt totally stupid at this point, so I turned and walked out of the house without waiting for a response.

I finished the cake and the coffee and had yet to even look at my computer screen. Instead, my eyes ran over the yard, remembering what it had been like when she was alive. The only woman who had shown me any kind of love. Sherry had loved me too, but in a younger sister kind of way.

My mother had never shown me an ounce of maternal love. She’d never shown Sherry any either. We’d been left to fend for ourselves. The only person we’d ever gotten that from had died when I’d been ten. Then Sherry had been taken from me too.

I closed my eyes on the pain that always came thinking about the only two women I’d ever loved. One had left at the end of her full life, the other before she’d even really started to live.

“Are you okay?” Chloe asked.

I jerked my eyes open and to my horror realized a tear had slipped down my cheek. Wiping it away quickly, I turned so that she couldn’t see it.

“Yes, just… enjoying the country. I don’t get up here as often as I used to.”

She stood there, looking at me.

“George will be out here soon. Do you mind if I join you?” she asked.

“Please.” I waved to the empty chairs.

She smiled and set a covered tray on the table.

We talked about my job. I could tell she was trying to make small talk, but the deepness of my mood grayed out everything.

My grandfather and Byron came out five minutes later.

“How’d you sleep, my boy,” my grandfather said cheerfully.

“The country air always helps. That and the quiet,” I said, trying to sound happy.

I noticed that Chloe’s eyes narrowed slightly at my white lie.

“How did you sleep?” I asked my grandfather after he’d settled and had a plate of breakfast and a cup of coffee.