The Baker's Man by Jennifer Moorman Read Free Book Online Page A

tightened. Was he? “And I was going to tell you.” Eventually .
    Baron shoved his hand through his hair. “I’m leaving the state, and a stranger is staying with my girlfriend. This is fantastic news,” he said sarcastically. “I don’t like him.”
    Anna walked around the counter and touched Baron’s arm. He visibly relaxed. “He’s a friend,” she said even though friend didn’t quite seem like the correct word to describe Eli. “You’re going to miss your flight if you don’t get going.”
    “What about us in the past tense?” he asked, reaching out to smooth his hand down her messy ponytail.
    Anna’s chest tightened, and she pressed her lips together. “This trip will give you some time to think about us.”
    Baron nodded. Then his eyes drifted to the archway. “What about him? How long is Frankenstein going to be staying with you?”
    “Frankenstein?” Anna’s stomach rolled, making her feel like she’d eaten too much raw cookie dough. She glanced over her shoulder, but Eli wasn’t standing there.
    “He’s huge.”
    “Maybe a few inches taller than you,” she said with a slow smile, and Baron pulled her into a quick hug. “I don’t know how long he’ll be here. Not long?”
    “Not long sounds like a good answer to me,” he said and kissed the top of her head. He stepped away and exhaled. “I’ll call you when I land.”
    Anna nodded. “Be safe.”
    She watched indecision ripple across Baron’s face. He didn’t seem to want to leave, but she assumed that had more to do with Eli waiting in the backroom than it did with him wanting to stay with her. She wanted him to stay, to tell her that he couldn’t imagine moving across the country without her by his side. But he turned and walked out. Anna watched him until he rounded the corner and disappeared. Sadness settled over her like poured molasses. Her shoulders sagged. She’d spent two years building a life on a foundation made of piecrusts. What was she going to do with Eli? He couldn’t possibly stay with her in her apartment, which suddenly seemed much too small to contain the two of them.
    Eli startled Anna when he lurched out of the backroom with his eyes crossed, rod-straight zombie arms, and dragging his right leg behind him. His bottom lip looked like it was being pulled by a fishhook. “Master,” he moaned, “I am here to do your bidding.”
    Unexpected laughter bubbled up her throat so quickly she nearly choked on it. “What are you doing ?”
    Eli laughed and straightened up. “I’m being Frankenstein.”
    She couldn’t help but laugh again, despite the fact that her life had turned into a train wreck. “That wasn’t Frankenstein. That was Igor.” She tried to sidestep around him, but he blocked her entry into the backroom.
    Eli pointed to his chest. “No. Me, Frankenstein. You, Anna.”
    She snorted and poked him in the chest. “No. You, idiot. Me, hungover.” She skirted around him, feeling the heat from his body reach out and blanket her arms, beckoning her closer.
    Anna walked into the kitchen and saw the rusted tin box sitting on the side counter. She lifted it slowly in both hands. Electricity danced across her skin. Static filled her ears. If the golden sand in the box was actually the reason for Eli’s existence, then it made sense that Grandma Bea had locked it away and told her never to touch it. Now it was too late. She was a modern-day Pandora, and what she’d done couldn’t be undone.
    She held the box away from her as though it might be a ticking bomb. Then she glanced over her shoulder. Eli leaned casually against the archway, his arms crossed over his chest, watching her with his too-blue eyes and a smile. Looking at him, she found herself unable to deny the truth: Eli was hers.

4
Mudslide Cookies
    The rest of the afternoon was a circus of activity. More women than Anna had ever seen in her bakery flocked in as though she might be giving away free samples from the Fountain of Youth. For the