Sweet Dreams (The Bakery Romance Series Book 3) (21 page)

Chapter 31

Misty glanced at the clock. Eight thirty. It wasn’t too late for her to go over to Sterling’s. Jennifer was already in bed for the night and Adrian had retired to her bedroom. This should only take a few minutes. Since the phone call with Mr. Cloud earlier that day, she’d been apprehensive about going over to Sterling’s to ask about his writing the letter. She’d even thought about calling him to ask about it.

She’d even thought about bringing Jennifer along. She figured her daughter would act as a buffer between them. Jennifer just might sweeten Sterling’s foul mood. After thinking about it for the rest of the day, she decided the best way to handle this would be to just ask Sterling directly. She’d go over there and talk to him. That’s what she’d do. Maybe after they talked about the letter, they could talk about the lull in their…well, the lull in their friendship.

Friendship? She closed her eyes. What they had was more than friendship. She could finally admit that to herself now. She missed him like crazy, and she didn’t know what she’d do if he never learned to accept her with all of her flaws. Yes, his attitude made her angry, but, that didn’t change the fact that she still missed him.

For right now, she just needed to focus, think of this as a business meeting. No need to think about how much she was attracted to him. It was quite obvious that he was no longer attracted to her.

Well, sitting here thinking about this wasn’t getting the task done. She might as well get this over with. She left Adrian’s, locked the door and strolled over to Sterling’s house. She closed her eyes.
Lord, please help me.
She knocked as hard as she could. Sterling opened the door.

He looked terrific.

He sported some old, battered cargo shorts with holes. She had to force herself not to stare at his muscular shapely calves. He wore flip flops on his feet and a red t-shirt covered his muscular chest. The delicious scent of his cologne filled her nose, and then she forced herself to focus on his handsome face. Their eyes locked. He finally spoke. “Misty. I didn’t know you were coming by.”

Oh, this was just great. Maybe he had company. He was probably so repulsed about her background that he’d already gone and found somebody else to spend time with. Next thing she knew, he might cancel his weekly escorting services to the soup kitchen since he didn’t want to be around her anymore. Well, if he didn’t, then so be it. She’d learn to accept it and move on. She’d been through worse situations.

He gestured inside. “Come on in.”

She stepped into the house, still struggling with what to say. She looked around. Okay, good, it appeared that he was alone. The TV was tuned to one of those reality shows. Sterling walked through the living room and right into his kitchen. A lump of dough sat on the counter, and for the first time, she noticed his large hands were covered with flour. She said the first thing that popped into her mind. “You’re making bread?”

He slowly nodded. “Have a seat.”

She perched on the chair, still determined not to stay for a long time. He continued working the dough, kneading it. The beautiful muscles in his arms flexed as he did the chore. She stared at the strong plane of his back – there was just something so domesticated and beautiful about him standing in his kitchen, working that dough. It was probably one of the most beautiful sites she’d ever seen. “Kneading dough helps calm me down when I’m upset,” he explained, his back still turned to her.

“What are you upset about?”

He finally turned around, looked directly into her eyes. “You.”

Floored, she didn’t know how to respond. Maybe he still had feelings for her after all. He was the one who’d seemed interested in their having a relationship when they’d dined at the ice cream parlor. Did he still feel that way, in spite of the silence he’d given her over the last two weeks? Her brain became so full of things, too many things, she couldn’t focus on what she needed to say. Instead, she continued watching him work the dough. Minutes later, he plopped two white loaves into the oven, set the timer. “It’ll be done in about an hour. I could bring a loaf over to you and Adrian if you’d like.”

She nodded. The idea of fresh bread sounded appealing. She and Adrian could eat it with butter and some of Adrian’s homemade preserves. With a start, she realized she’d never visited Sterling in his bakery. She could probably take Jennifer with her. Her daughter would love looking at all those sweets. She shook the thought away. She didn’t come over here to talk about bread. She needed to stay focused. “I have to talk to you about something important.”

“Hold on. Let me wash this flour off my hands.”

At the kitchen sink, he washed his hands. He seemed to take an awfully long time doing the chore, but, she figured she was just being impatient. She was just anxious to get this conversation over with so that she could rush back home. Finally, he was done washing his hands. He joined her at the table, stretched his long muscular legs in front of him. “Man, what a week.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if something had happened between him and his brother. But, she pushed the thought out of her mind. He probably didn’t want her to ask too many questions right now. He probably wanted to be alone, watching TV while his bread baked in the oven. She sniffed. The faint scent of baking bread seeped into the kitchen. It smelled delicious. She was surprised she could smell the bread baking already. It’d only been in the oven for a few minutes.

“I need you to write me a letter.”

He raised his thick eyebrows, his chocolate brown eyes startled. “A letter for what?”

In a rushed voice, she explained her recent conversation with Mr. Cloud. “So, you see, I need to get a letter from you about my service in the food kitchen.”

He gave her a brief, curt nod. “I’ll have it for you in the morning.”

Goodness, she didn’t realize he’d do it that quickly. “Are you sure?”

“I know how much you want to get Jennifer into that school.”

“But, she’s already in.”

“What? When was she accepted?”

“I just found out today. Now I have to finish the whole process up by applying for this scholarship.”

“Yes, and once you get this scholarship and Jennifer is in that school, then everything will be okay.” Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

“Why do you say it like that?”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. Trying to figure you out.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’ve been thinking about how you were raised, your getting food from a soup kitchen when you were younger. Being poor.”

She tilted her head. Where was he going with this? “So, what about it?”

“You don’t want to get Jennifer into that school because of the educational value. You want to get her into Juliette’s so that you can feel better about yourself.”

“Sterling, that’s a horrible thing to say.” She stood up. No way did she have to stay here and listen to this garbage. “How could you say such a thing?”

“Misty, it’s true.” He softened his voice, and her heart skipped when he took her hand. “Don’t lose your temper. Listen to me. You keep saying that Jennifer is just as good as those rich kids attending that school. Well, you’re right, she is. Both you and Jennifer are just as good as the people attending that school. But, you want to get her into that school because you really
don’t
believe you are as good as those rich people. Her attending that school would prove to you that you
may
be just as good as they are.” He continued studying her with his sexy brown eyes. “But, honey, you don’t need that school to prove to yourself that you’re as good as the rich crowd. God loves you just as much, no matter if you’re rich or poor.”

“I know that,” she said in a small voice.

“I think you know that with your head, but you don’t know that with your heart. You feel that you’re
not
as good as those rich people.” He scooted his chair closer, continued holding her hand. “You don’t have to say anything. Just think about what I’ve said.” Whoa, this was too much. She needed to get out of here. She pulled her hand away.

“Just let me know when my letter is ready.”

She hurried back go Adrian’s. Misty tossed and turned all night, thinking about Sterling’s words. Had she really thought that acceptance into Juliette’s was proof that she was just as good as those upper class folks? Around four AM, she heard footsteps outside their front door. Seconds later, she heard a car driving away. Sterling must’ve gone to work. Curious she rolled out of bed, walked to the front door. She peered out the peephole. Nobody there. She opened the door, spotting a small open box containing a fresh loaf of bread. Beside the bread was an envelope addressed to the Sarah Wilkins Scholarship Foundation.

Chapter 32

Sterling placed the huge tray of cinnamon rolls into the oven and set the timer. Sweat rolled down his face. He glanced at the clock. Seven thirty. It was Monday night and the bakery was closed, but, he needed to work with some dough, knead it out, work out his frustrations. He’d been experimenting with a new cinnamon roll recipe. Being in his bakery alone, with no assistants or customers, proved therapeutic.

The pounding knock on the front door of the bakery startled him. He rushed to the front, spotted Louis outside. He unlocked the door and his brother stepped inside, sniffing. “Smells good in here.”

“Thanks. Thought I’d come in when my bakery’s closed and do some experimenting.”

His brother dropped into a chair, wiped his hand over his face. “You didn’t answer your cell or your house phone. I figured you were here.”

“Anything wrong?”

“No, I just wanted some company.”

Sterling plopped into a chair beside his brother. “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”

“Well, Aunt June called me.”

“Really?”

Louis nodded. “Yeah, she said she wanted to know how Leon was doing. She seems upset that you and Leon haven’t been getting along.”

Sterling shrugged. He highly doubted Aunt June could do anything to solve their problems. “Did she say anything else?”

“She’s talking about coming up to visit again.”

This was surprising. “Really? When?” His dad’s funeral had only been a few months ago. Seemed like it was too soon for his Aunt June to return for another visit.

Louis shrugged. “She didn’t say when. It just seems weird to be hearing from her since she never talked to us very much.”

Sterling agreed with him. He wasn’t sure what else he could say about their Aunt June’s sudden concern for their welfare.

Louis changed the subject. “So, Sterling, how have you been doing?”

He may as well be honest. “Terrible.”

“Really? Why?”

He told Louis all about his relationship with Misty. He ended by telling of her unsavory background, and about his conversation with her the previous night. “I know I made her mad, but, I do think she believes that getting into that school is like a seal of approval from the upper class people. She doesn’t need that seal of approval to feel better about herself.”

Louis nodded. The oven timer buzzed. Minutes later, he brought a fresh plate of hot cinnamon buns to the table. Louis gobbled the warm buns, licking the icing off his fingers. “Man, these are good.” His brother pushed his table manners aside when he was around family. After slurping a carton of milk, Louis finally spoke. “You’re probably right about the school. But you’re wrong to judge her about her past.”

“I’m not judging her.” Heck, he knew when you were born again, it was like being made new. That was the gospel. He wasn’t holding her past mistakes against her, well, not very much.

“Yes, you are. You just said that things have been stilted between you two since you ran into that guy, Ace, at the grocery store. Misty knows what you’re like. That’s why she never told you about her former life.”

“What do you mean what I’m like?”

“You judge people when they don’t fit into your little box.”

This made no sense. Louis’s visit was doing nothing but lousing up his already-messed-up day. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You talk about Latisha flirting with you.”

He threw his hands up in the air. “But, she was!”

“But, Misty tried to help her. Didn’t you tell me once that Christians should help each other?”

He didn’t even know if Latisha was a Christian, but, that was a subject for another day. “So, what’s your point?”

“My point is, I can tell that you like Misty. You need to treat her past just as it is, her past. She’s not like that now. She’s mainly focusing on raising her daughter, which is a good thing. From what you’re telling me, she didn’t even want to date you. She didn’t throw herself on you all the time like Latisha.”

He gave Louis the rest of the buns to take home. Yeah, Misty’s past bothered him. It was a tough pill to swallow, and Louis’s words rang through his mind like a warning bell. He loved Misty, he really did. He knew he shouldn’t judge her by the way she used to be. Maybe he should call her to…well, maybe he needed to explain why he’d been acting like a jerk. Louis’s words were like a splash of cold water onto his soul. Now he just needed to figure out what to say to Misty.

*

Misty completed the email for Carmen. Whew, what a day. She’d been so busy at work, but, busy was good. It didn’t give her time to dwell on what Sterling had said to her. His thoughtless words kept her awake at night. It’d almost been a week since their conversation. After she’d found the loaf of bread and the letter on her doorstep, she’d opened the letter. She’d been stunned about what Sterling said in the letter. He’d told of her learning to cook so that she could work in the soup kitchen. He’d mentioned that she was the most dedicated volunteer that he’d ever met. Did he really mean that, or was he only saying that because of their shared attraction?

She supposed he really meant it. After all, she knew that Sterling could be tactless, but, he was honest. The thoughtful letter had touched her core, and when she’d gotten to work the following day, she’d scanned the letter and had submitted it with her application for the scholarship. The ringing telephone interrupted her musings. “Carmen’s Law Firm.”

“Ms. Stewart?”

Misty sat up straight in her desk chair at work. “Yes?”

“I’m calling from the Sarah Wilkins Scholarship Foundation.”

“Yes..hi.” She tried to tame her voice.

“You’ve been selected as a finalist for the scholarship. Ms. Wilkins needs to set up a time to meet with you and your daughter. After she’s personally interviewed all of the finalists, then she’ll be making her final decision.”

She closed her eyes.
Thank you, Jesus.
Their appointment was set for the following day. She ended the call, still trying to process all that had happened within the last few minutes. The scholarship was now in her grasp. She wanted to grab that money and send Jennifer to Juliette’s. Sterling’s firm sexy voice interrupted her musings. She still struggled with what he’d said. But, she wouldn’t let their conversation bring her down. She needed to focus on getting ready for the interview tomorrow afternoon.