The Christmas Bakery

Ruby stood, frozen in horror. 

The door to her bakery off its hinges and the mess past it only got worse.  She carefully stepped over the wreckage and entered her business. 

Tables and chairs were upturned and scattered across the floor. Pastries and ingredients were destroyed among shards of glass. She desperately tore through her ransacked shelves, looking for a special ingredient. It was the only thing the robber could have been there for.

Did the robber succeed?

Ruby grabbed a hidden lever behind a sack of flour with shaking hands.  

It had to be there...it just had to be...

The wall near the lever slid over and...

Empty.

Ruby couldn't believe it. All her hard work protecting that special ingredient and...it was gone.  

Stolen.

That ingredient was the very thing that made her bakery so special. Now, her bakery was just as normal as the others.

Ruby's family had worked on that special ingredient for generations. It was what made their business so popular...so loved.

Ruby sank to her knees and hid her face in her hands. She sat there and wept. She didn't care how exposed she was--how the people stared at her as they walked past. She couldn't keep it it. It was too terrible.

Suddenly someone was there, wrapping their arms around Ruby. Ruby looked up into her aunt's face and suddenly felt like a young girl again. The last time she had wept this hard was when her mother had died...and her father had left. It was just the two of them now. Them...and this bakery.

"They took it Aunt Mary...they took it--" Ruby's voice cracked.

"I know, sweet pea," her aunt replied as she pulled Ruby closer. "I know."

TEN YEARS LATER

"It's almost Christmas! Can you believe it? I just love, love, love Christmas!" Emily cried.

"I know, Em," Ruby replied, pulling her daughter in for a hug. "And I know you'll help me with the large amount of Christmas cookies that must be made!"

"Oh I will!" Emily answered joyfully. "And it will be the best ones in all of Dorella!"

Ruby opened the door to her bakery and breathed in the sound of fresh pastries.

"Aunt Mary!" Ruby exclaimed with a smile. Mary rushed over to her niece and gave her a large hug and kiss. Then she looked down at Emily.

"Are you ready to start the cookies?" Mary asked the little girl.

"You bet I am!" Emily replied as she rushed past Mary and into the bakery kitchen.

Even after the loss of the special ingredient ten years earlier, business was still booming. Though they were no longer the most popular bakery in the world.

Many people had invested the bakery break-in, but apparently the robber had covered up his tracks like a professional. The only thing they had left was a small locket with a picture of a baby inside. No fingerprints were found on it. Ruby had eventually let it go--there was nothing else she could do.

"Can we make gingerbread?" Emily asked. "Those are my favorite!"

"No sampling the cookies this year!" Ruby said with a smile. She gathered the ingredients and taught her daughter the steps to make the most delicious gingerbread cookies in all of Dorella. As Ruby grabbed the flour, her hand brushed over the lever that led to the secret compartment. Its shape made it simply look like another ingredient on her shelf. How could the robbers have known it's true purpose? She snapped out of her thinking when her daughter came up behind her and started tugging at her skirt.

"Come on, mama! Those cookies aren't going to bake themselves!" Emily cried.

"Of course not!" Ruby plastered a smile on her face and followed her daughter back to their large mixing bowl.

Still, the thought never left her mind.

How could the robber have known its true purpose?

After she tucked her daughter in bed, she grabbed her coat and headed back to the bakery. All the way she thought about the mystery playing out before her.

How?

Why?

As she rounded the corner to her bakery, she immediately knew something was wrong. As she walked closer to the door, she saw that it was off its hinges. The break-in of ten years before played back in her head. As she got closer, she could see the inside was ransacked.

Could the robber still be there?

Ruby was scared to find out. She was about to enter the building when something tugged on her dress.

"Mama?" a voice asked behind her.

"Emily, darling?" Ruby replied in a panic. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I followed you."

"Oh my baby. You shouldn't have...you shouldn't..."

"I want to help," Emily continued.

"With what?"

"With whatever it is you are doing," Emily answered quietly.

"Nothing sweetie," Ruby replied, trying to think of what to do. She couldn't take her daughter with her, but she also couldn't let her go home by herself. Should she leave the bakery? What if the robber was still inside? Should she call the police?

A huge bang sounded from inside and then some panicked shuffling.

"Stay behind mama," Ruby said in a hushed voice. "Don't leave my side, and don't let go of my skirt."

Emily quickly obeyed.

Ruby carefully entered the bakery and looked at her surroundings. It looked like the robber was looking for

something--like one had all those years ago. It was too late, though. The ingredient was gone. What else could the robber want?

Ruby grabbed a broken piece of wood and continued with caution. Her hands trembled as she tried to hold the wood steady. She could see a dark figure searching the shelves in the kitchen. His back was facing her.

Something crunched underneath Ruby and the robber whirled around. Before she could see who it was, Ruby swung the wood at him. The robber fell to the floor, unconscious.

Suddenly, recognition filled Ruby's eyes. She knew that man...she knew...

"Stand back, Emily," Ruby told her daughter. Again, Emily obeyed. Ruby bent her knees and looked the robber in the face.

It couldn't be...

Not after all these years...

"Father?" Ruby asked shakily. The man began to stir. He blinked a few times before he recognized Ruby.

"Daughter?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"What are you doing here?" Ruby asked, suddenly angry.

"I...I..."

"You came in here...destroyed my work...it was you, wasn't it? Ten years ago? Why did you do it? And why have you come back? That locket--it was me in there wasn't it."

"I...can explain."

Ruby stared at him angrily, but didn't interrupt him as he continued.

"I came here ten years ago...to come home. I wanted my daughter back and felt terrible for leaving her."

Ruby's glare softened a little, but she still felt angry.

"When I saw you in the bakery with your aunt, looking so much like your mother...I just couldn't. I turned and left. But that night I came again to steal that special ingredient that made your mother's bakery so popular. I stole it, so you would close, and the bakery would be gone forever."

"Why would you do that?" Ruby asked bitterly.

"Because it reminded me too much of your mother. If you closed, I thought you would move on and it would be much easier to come home--I know it was selfish...I just...

"Why did you come back then?"

"Your business--its still as popular as ever! I came to see if you discovered a new ingredient."

"The only secret ingredient we need in this bakery is homemade with love. That's why we're so popular. Not because of the thing you stole, but the thing you could never steal--each other."

"I see that now...and I'm ready to come home..."

"No, I don't think you see," Ruby replied angrily. "You are no longer part of our family."

"But he is!" Emily exclaimed, coming out from behind Ruby. "He's my grandfather! And I love him." She rushed forward into her grandfather's arms. Ruby's gaze finally softened.

"Can we keep him, mama?" Emily asked.

Ruby couldn't help laughing.

"I suppose we can," Ruby replied.

"Do you forgive me?" her father asked.

"I...guess I...can..." Ruby answered. Then she pulled her father and daughter in for a huge hug.

"I'm so sorry for all the pain I've caused you," her father said.

"I'm sorry for the years we've lost," Ruby said through tears.

"And I'm glad for the years to come!" Emily said, smiling gleefully.

"Merry Christmas, father," Ruby said.

"Merry Christmas, daughter," her father echoed.

"Merry Christmas to my new, complete family!" Emily finished. Ruby smiled down and realized her daughter was right. They did feel complete now. A complete family with many more christmases to come.