CHAPTER EIGHT: AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR

After the meeting, Ethan returned to his station and began preparing a fresh batch of pastry.
The dough rested beneath a damp cloth while Nina sliced peaches into even wedges.
Neither of them spoke much because both were concentrating.
Ethan mixed toasted oats with brown sugar, a little flour, and crushed peppercorns.
A sweet scent spread through the kitchen area when he heated the fruit.
He tasted a spoonful and added a pinch of salt.
“Better,” Nina said after trying it.
“You always say that after I add salt.”
“Because you always forget salt.”
Ethan pretended to be offended.
“I am an artist.”
“You’re a baker with a selective memory.”
A voice behind them said, “And a thick crust on the left side.”
They turned.


Inez Calder stood in the aisle, supported by a cane and wearing her yellow scarf.
Carol stood beside her, carrying a folding chair.
“You weren’t supposed to leave the hospital,” Ethan said.
“I was discharged this morning.”
Inez smiled.
“Apparently I have recovered enough to annoy everybody in person.”
Nina pulled up a chair immediately.
Ethan offered Inez water.
She accepted and watched him work.
“May I taste the filling?”
He handed her a clean spoon.
Inez closed her eyes briefly as the peaches settled on her tongue.
“Your mother taught you to roast them first,” she said.
Ethan looked surprised.
“How did you know?”
“Roasted peaches have a particular sweetness.”
“She made pies for the night-shift nurses at the hospital.”
“Did she?”
“They paid for ingredients, but she wouldn’t take money for her time.

”
Inez nodded.
“She sounds stubborn.”
“She was.”
“That often helps in a kitchen.”
Carol set down the folding chair and looked toward the ceremonial oven.
“Vincent has been trying to enter the display room since sunrise.”
“How do you know?” Nina asked.
“I heard him asking a security guard for a key.”
Inez took the brass token from Ethan when he offered it.
She held the medal for a moment without speaking.
“Rosa polished this every year,” she said.
“Even after she moved away, she asked me to send pictures.”
“I thought it stayed at the library,” Ethan replied.
“It did for most of the year.”
Inez ran her thumb around the scalloped rim.
“We opened the oven together on the anniversary of our win.”
Carol glanced away.
Inez noticed.
“What is bothering you now?”
“I almost let Vincent talk me into taking the medal to him.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I broke Ethan’s pipe instead.”
Inez’s expression softened.
“Carol, you cannot keep making dramatic mistakes and calling them courage.”
“I know.”
“Then show me what you’ve learned.”
Carol looked toward Ethan.
“I’ll stand beside him when he talks about what I did.”
“Good,” Inez said.
“That will be unpleasant and useful.”
A production assistant approached with a headset and a strained expression.
“Ms. Calder, Mr. Rusk would like to speak with you privately.”
Inez straightened in her chair.
“He can speak to me here.”
“He said it concerns the anniversary segment.”
“Then it concerns everybody.”
The assistant glanced toward the stage and retreated.
Ethan lowered his rolling pin.
“Are you certain you want to do this?”
Inez looked at him for a long moment.
“When Rosa died, her granddaughter sent me a photograph of the old bakery.”
“Was Rosa in it?”
“Yes.”
“Were you?”
“I was behind the camera.”
Inez smiled faintly.
“That photograph shows her standing in front of the oven, laughing at something I said.”
“What were you talking about?”
“I don’t remember.”
Her smile faded.
“I used to think the important thing was remembering the exact words.”
“And now?”
“Now I want people to know she was there.”
Ethan set the rolling pin down and offered his hand.
“Then let’s make sure they do.”