Two Bakers are Better than One

 Tess loved to spend time with her niece, Stacy, and thought she may enjoy walking around the Winter Wonderland carnival. The brisk December air didn’t squelch the excitement or festivity in town. Lights adorned nearly everything, Christmas trees were being sold in one corner, hot chocolate vendors were here and there, people were dressed as elves and the Clauses, and a variety of Christmas music was played over a loud-speaker. Merriment and cookies galore! It truly captured the spirit of Christmas.

“Auntie Tess, I want that one!” The little girl pointed to the dangling, stuffed, pink gorilla above the booth next to them. With a smile, Tess took out her pocketbook and turned to the vendor.

“How much is it, Harry?”

“Oh, that one? You have to win one of these smaller ones first, then you can trade it for the gorilla.” He watched her smile fall.

“So, you’re telling me you won’t just take a twenty for this?” She pulled one out of her pocketbook enticingly. The vendor smiled but watched her wave the bill before him with her gloved hand.

“Come on, Tess. Where’s the fun in that?” Harry teased. “I’d rather watch you attempt to knock over that stack of bottles over there.”

“Me, too.” An unexpected male voice made all three turn their heads in his direction. Tess tensed up, knowing who it was before her eyes ever fell on him.

“Stay out of this, Emmet,” she sassed. Emmet Buchanan ran the Donut Shop on Bleaker street. Tess on the other hand, ran Sweet Creams bakery two streets over on Lincoln. To say that they rival each other was quite the understatement.

“I clearly don’t plan to.” His smile curved his lips and made Harry chuckle. He took out a five-dollar bill and walked closer to the booth. “How many chances do I get with this?”

“Six,” Harry told.

“Six? You’re in the money with this, aren’t you?”

“I do alright,” he joked.

“What are you doing?” Tess asked Emmet as he picked up one of the six baseballs Harry put before him on the counter.

“What’s it look like? I’m going to win her that pink gorilla.”

“Stacy’s my niece. Don’t you think I should be doing that?”

“I don’t see it happening.” He shook his head. “You’re not fun enough for that.”

“I don’t have to be fun to hit a few bottles with a ball.” She folded her arms. “Did you ever think Stacy may want to win it for herself?”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He set the ball down and knelt to talk to the six-year-old. “I didn’t think to ask, but do you want to throw the ball?”

“I can’t see over the counter,” she said honestly. “You go ahead.”

“Harry, do you have a step stool over there?”

“I certainly do.” The vendor turned to pick it up. Being lightweight, he handed it across the counter to Emmet.

“Thank you.” He set it down and presented it to Stacy. “There you go. Here’s your ball.” Emmet placed the baseball in her little hand and enjoyed watching her eyes light up. He then looked to her aunt, who examined him with her eyebrow arched.

Stacy took on the challenge at hand and threw with all her might. However, she couldn’t quite hit her target. At one point, Harry nearly dove to avoid a flyball.

“Emmet,” Stacy turned to him, feeling a little down. “I can’t even hit one… Could you please try with the rest?”

“Um… why don’t we let Aunt Tess try first?” He suggested after seeing Tess’s expression.

“Aunt Tess,” the little girl turned to her. “Please?”

“How could I say no?” She smiled and took one of the last two baseballs on the counter.

“Then, Emmet can throw the last one,” Stacy decided.

“Alright,” he agreed. “No pressure, Tess, but if you and I both win, the gorilla is hers. We wouldn’t even have to pay for another round.”

“Gee, thanks for that thought.”

“You’re welcome,” Emmet teased. He was always good at bringing out her competitive streak. The whole town knew that. “It’s ok. When you miss, I still have another five to try again.”

“We’re not going to need it. You see that middle bottle? That’s your head,” she playfully imagined and whipped the ball toward it.

The middle bottle that held up all the others was struck, and the whole assembly went crashing to the ground. Stacy rejoiced and high-fived her aunt, who smiled at her success.

“That’s a hard act to follow,” Emmet admitted as he stepped up and took the last ball in his hands.

“Don’t worry. When you miss, I have a twenty to buy more chances.” He scowled at her, but she grinned. “Oh, come on! You can’t be worse than me at this and baking. It’s just not possible.”

“Is that a backhanded compliment?”

“A little bit, but for real, good luck. For once, we are actually on the same side.”

“Don’t go soft on me, Tess. You’ll lose your edge.”

“Sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Good.”

“Would you just throw already?”

“I would if you would stop talking, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

Harry laughed and said, “You two fight like a married couple.”

“Take it back,” Emmet demanded of him.

“Just throw the ball, Emmet,” Tess said with a shake of her head.

“Are you going to hush?”

“Maybe just for a second.”

“I can deal with that,” he promised. Tess ran her fingers over her lips like a zipper on a jacket. Seeing this, Emmet focused himself and threw the ball.

With success, the ball collided with the arranged bottles and sent them all to the ground. The little girl squealed and jumped up and down in her excitement. Harry took down the big pink gorilla and happily handed it to her.

“Here you go. Congrats, all of you.”

“Thanks, Harry. Have a good one!” Emmet wished as the three turned to leave.

“Thank you, Mr. Buchanan and Aunt Tess! I will treasure this always,” the six-year-old said and hugged her new toy.

“You’re welcome, Stacy. Enjoy it,” Emmet wished. Tess smiled at him, not sure of his motives but dying to find out.

“Hey, Stacy. Could you go get us all a popcorn ball from Mrs. Claus?” She handed her niece the money, and the little girl nodded before bouncing over to the vendor dressed as the fictional character.

“She’s cute.”

“Yeah, she is.”

“It must run in the family.”

“Are you hitting on me?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Please tell me that’s not why you paid for that gorilla.”

“I paid for chances. We won that together.” Their gazes met, and her eyebrow arched again.

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing.”

“No, I know you, too well to believe that. We’ve been rivals for about five years, Emmet Buchanan… and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

“There you go getting soft again.”

“Sorry.”

“But I have, too.” They shared a smile, and both glanced over to Stacy, who was patiently waiting in line. “However, lately, I’ve been thinking.”

“Here it comes.”

“How amazing would we be if we worked together?”

She shook her head at the shock of those words. “What? In a bakery? We’d kill each other the first day.”

“But the second day, when we worked through our differences and toward a common cause, we’d bring home the pink gorilla.”

“We could not work together,” she detested through a laugh. “I refuse.”

“Alright,” he accepted with a shrug. “I still think we work well together.”

“Well… I guess I can’t disagree.”

“No, you can’t.”

“But I hate to agree with you.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“Listen, I don’t know why you did what you did for her, but thank you.”

“You’re welcome. So, um… how long do you have her?”

“Just another hour.”

He nodded before he boldly added. “After you drop her off, why don’t we go get some dinner?”

“Together?”

“Sure. I enjoy fighting with you.”

“I enjoy it, too.”

“So, let’s enjoy not getting along over dinner.”

“Why?”

“Because I think we are perfect together, and you just agreed with me.”

“Shoot…”

“Imagine how bad we could razz the pastry chef after dessert,” he said and made her giggle.

“He doesn’t stand a chance,” she joked.

“No, he doesn’t… Are you accepting my invitation?”

“Cautiously,” she said with a smile.

“The truth is I really admire you, Tess, and I’d like to get to know you better, all joking aside. One dinner is all I’m asking.”

“Now, who’s going soft?” She had to tease, but he liked the way her cheeks grew rosy. “I guess I can stand to have one dinner with you.”

“You might want two.”

“Don’t push it.”