A Second Chance

By Dawn Natelle

Thanks for all the kudos and comments on the last chapter. They really do inspire me: Dawn

THURSDAY, May 26, 2016

Love bread makes bakery a success

Doreen Stein, Times Columnist

When it was approved by council almost two years ago, some called it Strong’s Folly. A strip of six small shops had become town property due to back taxes owing. Almost half the council wanted the building sold to a developer, but councilor Bill Strong fought to have the town retain the ownership of the property and use the strip as the base for the new west-end library branch. Critics said that it would be a boondoggle for the community for years.

Guess what? It isn’t. The library opened over a year ago, and has steadily been growing in support. There has been a spike in usage recently, as middle school students have taken to having weekly film nights there on Thursday nights. It provides the kids with a safe place to watch a DVD film from the library catalog. Parents and students both are thrilled by the idea.

And the rest of the strip? The part that they said would be vacant for years? Well, there are already four businesses operating there, and Councilor Strong says that a fifth and final shop is soon to come online. There is a beauty shop that caters to the younger women and schoolgirls. It seems to be booked several days ahead at all times. An art gallery next to it features the work of a local artist, as well as work brought in from Toronto artists. It just opened, but the owners say they are pleased with the sales.

The first property to be leased was an Italian fruit market and deli, with a selection of cold cuts and custom cheeses that isn’t available elsewhere in the city, along with of fruits and vegetables that remind me of Kensington Market in Toronto. It is run by the Dasilva family, recent immigrants to Canada who are already making a mark in the town retail sector.

But today we look at the Bread Baron (cute name), operated by Geoff Barron, who worked in a bakery in London for 12 years before deciding that Ingersoll needed a family bakery. He and his mother ran the shop alone for several months, although recently he has hired staff. He had to. The sales demanded it, as more and more people have discovered this little corner of heaven in our town.

One item that I have become addicted too is Love Bread. Last week one of our advertising sales representatives came in with a small ad for the bakery, containing a poem about one of their breads. Originally called Seven Grain bread, it got the new name when a bakery clerk’s daughter decided it was Love bread, made with Love as the main ingredient. The poem was cute (look for it elsewhere in the paper) so I decided to stop in at the bakery that evening to try it.

Big mistake. There were so many alluring smells that I spent the better part of $20. The bread is just a bit over $3, but there were doughnuts, cookies, brownies, Danish pastries, French pastry, and dinner rolls. Even though I spent a twenty, it would have cost as much in the grocery store.

You see low prices are not part of the Bread Baron marketing plan. Instead they promote fresh baking at a reasonable price. The young lady at the counter actually talked me out of buying two loaves of the bread, suggesting that it tastes best the day it was made. She said that it came out of the oven less than three hours earlier. Compare that to Toronto-made bread that spends hours on a truck, and days on the shelf.

To make a long story short, my family went wild over the goodies. My kids formerly would eat nothing other than white Wonder Bread. I cajoled them into trying Love Bread (by promising the aforesaid Danish pastries for dessert as a bribe). Well, if anyone wants a half loaf of Wonder Bread, let me know. My kids will no longer eat anything but Love Bread.

No wonder (no pun intended, although it does work well). Love bread tastes as close to cake as bread can. It makes an ideal sandwich (guess what, the kids now want to take a Love sandwich to school instead of eating in the cafeteria). But when it is fresh out of the oven the way it was when I tasted it, it is divine. No butter needed, no meat: nothing but pure bread. The only shortcoming I have with the bread is that there are only two end slices. In my family, a loaf of ends would be perfect.

So guess what? I have been at that bakery every day since. (Curse them for not opening on Sunday). When I asked for two loaves the next day, the girl at the bakery again warned me that the bread isn’t quite as tasty on the second day. Your inquiring reporter asked what it tastes like on the third day, and she looked quizzically at me and said: “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of it being around that long.”

She was joking of course, but said there were no preservatives in the bread, so it will only last for a few days before starting to go stale. If that happens, she recommends French toast. I told her I needed two loaves because my family had suddenly become bread eaters, and it was going to be a daily purchase. And I am glad that it is Love bread they are eating, and not a load of preservatives.

Now I know my column has more than a few readers, so this is a warning. They can only make so many loaves of Love bread a day. I recommend shopping in the morning or phoning in an order. If you wait until after 3 p.m. the bakery starts to sell out, and they prefer it that way, so the shelves can be filled with fresh stock in the morning.

(Doreen Stein writes weekly for the Times on things around and about Ingersoll.)

Geoff stood up after reading the article. “You say this was yesterday’s paper?” he asked Doug.

“Yes Geoff. I delivered over 300 of them last night after school, and I know the rest of the town was getting them too,” the boy said. “Mom reads the paper when I am delivering, and she told me about it when I got home. Pretty neat, isn’t it?”

“It sure is, but I’ll bet it means we get swamped with business today. We’ll have to add some more batches of Love bread into the schedule somehow. I think we can hold off on making pies for another day. And maybe we will drop one of the batches of white bread. Is this the day you can work until 9:30?”

“Actually, I could work for you the entire day,” Doug suggested. “I don’t have anything special today. I could skip classes and pick it up from my friends.”

“I dunno. I don’t like the idea of you missing class. But perhaps just once. I’ll have to talk to your Mom about it.”

“She gets up at 7,” Doug said.

“Okay, I’ll call her. And I want to warn you, there is going to be a little ceremony in here at about 8:30. I want you to keep an eye on the ovens while it is happening. Okay?”

Maria arrived at work at 7, earlier than ever, and when Geoff tried to tease her, she pointed out that as a partner she got to choose her own hours. She read Doug’s paper and immediately realized that the bakery was going to be slammed with customers.

“Oh, my. Do you think we can handle it?” she asked. The Cartright’s had gotten their paper at the old house, and grandpa tended to read his on Thursday mornings, so she hadn’t seen the article yet.

“I’m about to go call Doug’s mom. He suggested that he could skip today to help out. But I need her permission,” Geoff said.

“Of course,” Maria said, wondering if there was some way she could get ahold of Rachael to come in. Since her ‘incident’ last month, she had been doing well in school and could handle a missed day. She would be able to help Carol in the front, and that would save Mrs. Barron, who didn’t handle the stress of a busy store well at all, from having to come in.

Carol came in at 8:30, and then, to Maria’s surprise, Bobby and Rachael were there a few minutes later. Apparently Geoff had told them to walk in for some reason.

The reason soon became apparent, Geoff went up to Maria in the center of the bakeshop holding a doughnut. He got down on one knee and said: “Maria Cartright, I fell in love with you the first time I met you. My love for you has grown since then, and continues to grow as I find out what an incredible woman you are. Would you do the honor of marrying me?” He held out the doughnut. “I haven’t had a chance to buy a ring, so this will have to do for now. I promise we will pick out something nicer later. Especially as I expect Bobby to eat this on the way to school.”

“I accept,” Maria said. “It is so sudden, but I feel I have known you for years. It feels right. Yes, I will marry you: although not today. We are going to be too darned busy.”

With that he put the doughnut on her finger, and then stood to kiss her. The kiss lasted a long time, and both parties seemed to be enjoying it. It was only broken when Doug announced: “Bread’s ready.”

Geoff swung into action, and started unloading the bread as Doug slipped on gloves to rack the hot bread as it came out of the pans. Bobby then came up to his mom. “Do I really get to eat the doughnut?”

“Yes love, you do. That way I will always have it near me: in your tummy. Carol will put some icing on it, and then you need to get to school. Do you think you can walk in alone today?”

“Sure, I know the way really good now,” he said.

“What? I can take him.” Rachael said.

“Would you stay here and help out?” Maria said. “Just this once. Carol is going to need help up front, and I will be needed here in the back.”

“Sure,” Rachael said. “Let me text Mikki and let her know. I already told her I would miss the bus, but would meet her at school. Oh, and tonight is movie night. I think I will tell them I will pass on it. I’ll be pretty tired after a day working. And Robert couldn’t come anyway, although I think he just wasn’t interested in seeing West Side Story. Maybe I can text Carly to take over and be in charge. She will like that. I collected the money for the treats yesterday, and gave it to Tony.”

“Great. Let’s let Bobby out the front door, and see if any people are … Oh my.” Maria saw a line of at least 10 people out front, and it was still 20 minutes before 9.

She let Bobby out the door, and the boy smacked his lips on his doughnut as though it was scripted. “Come in, come in,” Maria said to the waiting crowd. “We normally open at 9 sharp, but I think we are in for a busy day. We don’t have everything out yet, but if you wait it will come. I recognize some familiar faces, but there are a lot of new ones too. Welcome to Bread Baron, the best bakery in town. I hope you will enjoy our goods as much as our regular customers do.”

Carol and Rachael immediately were swamped at the counter, and were filling orders as fast as the old cash register could handle it. Maria finished stocking the shelves with goods, and slicing the bread. Carol was still afraid of the bread slicer and its 24 sharp knives.

Later in the day, when new bread came out, Rachael ran the slicer. Geoff had a new batch of Love bread coming out every hour until 2 p.m. and at times as soon as Rachael sliced and bagged a loaf, Carol took it and sold it to a customer.

Maria was busy on the phone for much of the day. People would call in with orders, and she took the orders and packaged them up. All were billed to credit cards, so there was no problem worrying about no-shows.

At 1 p.m. Bill Strong came in to meet with Maria, and she had to beg off, rescheduling for a Sunday meeting. As a businessman, Bill understood the need to cater to customers, so was happy to delay the meeting.

It was two p.m. when Geoff came out and found the bakery still packed with people. “That was the last 96 loaves,” he announced. “It looks like there will be enough for everybody else here, although I’m not sure about any latecomers.” He looked around his shop, and saw that all the other goodies were gone. Even the pies he had hoped to stretch for another day were gone.

It was just after 3 when the last of the Love Bread was gone, and Carole and Rachael were able to take a breath. Bobby came in soon after, and set up camp on his flour sack fort.

For the last three hours of the day, it was just serving the people who had made phone orders. Jeff was making pies, and at a quarter to 5 Maria brought the last order out to the woman who had called for it, and made a sign on the computer that said “SOLD OUT. Come Again tomorrow.”

She put it on the door, along with the closed sign. But they didn’t lock the door, and took orders for tomorrow from the few people who still came in, thinking the sign couldn’t possible mean them.

The door was locked at 6, and the girls had most of the cleaning up done. It was much easier when there was no items on the shelves to be taken to the back. Rachael showed Carol how to run the end-of-day summary on the cash register, and handed it to Geoff. His eyes went wide as he read the total. He then went to the cash register and opened it, pulling out the huge stack of 20s.

“Each and every one of you went above and beyond,” he announced. “We are all exhausted, and to make you all feel a little better, here is a bonus.” He peeled off $60 and handed it to each of them. When he came to Rachael he noted: “We will put you on payroll now, so you will get a paycheck on Tuesday just like everyone else. If you want, we can give you some regular hours after school, helping Carol close up.”

He then went to Maria, and peeled off another five 20s. “I couldn’t do this without you,” he said lovingly.

“Damned right you couldn’t” Maria said jokingly. “And put that money back in the till. I’m a partner now, and I don’t get a bonus like the staff. Besides, I’ve emptied the cash register three times already today, so I have way more money than that back in the lunch nook.”

“Lunch?” Rachael said. “Did any of us get lunch? We have cold cuts in the fridge. Do we have any bread?”

“I put a loaf away for the family, but we can sacrifice it for the good of the team.” She and Rachael made sandwiches for everyone, with Geoff, Bobby and Doug each eating two. Doug was thrilled. He had only worked two days, and he will be able to give his mother another $60 tonight … a total of $100 over the two days. That was his monthly goal from delivering newspapers and cutting lawns. Plus they were feeding him today.

“So thanks again, everyone,” Geoff said as Carol and Doug were ready to leave. “I guess I have an hour or two or work reconciling credit cards and doing the cash. See you all tomorrow at your regular times. You will only be going ‘til 8:30 Doug. Get some sleep.”

“And you are wrong again, mister,” Maria said when they had left. “You are going to spend the next half hour teaching me how to do the credit cards and cash. And you are going straight to bed. You need to do all this again tomorrow, without as much help.”

“Well, I do have Kyle coming in for a couple hours tomorrow, and Doug will be able to help train him. I hope he is half the man Doug is. Saturday I will have them both for the full day. Can Rachael work Saturday?”

“I wish I could,” Rachael said. “But we are filming out at the gravel pit for our project early, and I have an appointment with the pastor at 10 a.m.”

“Well, that is okay. Mom was saved from this today, so maybe she can help a bit on Saturday,” Geoff said.

Rachael and Bobby walked to Grandpa’s, where Rachael had a chicken marinating. Maria followed more than an hour later, and she just slumped in her chair. “That was more tiring than a full day at the café,” she noted. “I can’t believe the money we took in today. But it will kill Geoff if we can’t get him more help.”

“Something has to turn up. Can he advertise for an experienced baker?” Rachael asked.

“We will have to, but that will still take a couple weeks. Tomorrow is going to be hardest, without you and Doug for the whole day. You guys made it bearable today. And Saturday will be okay, with both Doug and Kyle coming in for the whole day. With them in the back I will be able to work with Carol in the front.”

“I wish I could help,” Rachael said. “Maybe I should stop scheduling things on Saturday’s. Although Robert did tell me that they would like all of us out at the farm on Friday night.”

“Tomorrow?” Maria said in alarm.

“No, the following Friday,” Rachael said. “Will you guys still be super busy?”

“I hope not,” Maria said. “I suspect that as people forget the article in the paper, it won’t be so busy. We should get a lot of new customers though. But hopefully they won’t want to all come in on the same day.”

“Good. I have an idea that JJ is giving Ruby a ring on Friday, and he wants us there. Somehow we have already become family to them. Is there any idea on when Geoff is going to get you a ring? I mean other than a doughnut one?”

Maria burst out with a short laugh. “When will he ever get out of the bakery long enough to shop?” she said. “I suspect he will be skipping out on church this Sunday too. He can’t make bread on Sunday. It would be too stale on Monday. But there are a lot of other things that we are running out of that he will need to catch up on. People are coming in for the bread, but then they see all the other goodies, and buy them as well. We will be completely wiped out by Saturday, I’m sure.”

“Momma, I know you promised to come to church with me on Sundays, but if you want to work on Sunday with Geoff, I’m okay with that. It is a special situation, and you have come with me every other Sunday.”

“Are you sure honey? I know how important church is to you. And to tell you the truth it has become important to me too. But if I’m there with Geoff, it is more like we really are partners. And it might mean he can get a full night’s sleep on Saturday instead of the four hours he’s been getting lately. Oh dear, I have to meet with Bill Strong then too. I’ll text him to come to the bakery. We can meet in the lunch nook.”

Grandpa had a good supper. The other three didn’t eat as much, due to the sandwiches they had at the bakery. Bobby did manage to eat the two chicken legs, which he loved, as well as the other small portions that Rachael put on his plate.

Once the dishes were cleared, the family sat around Grandpa’s living room, although it was only a few minutes later that Maria started snoring on the sofa. This made Grandpa ready for bed early, and Rachael took him up to his room and helped him get into bed.

“Bobby, will you stay here with Momma?” she said when she got back downstairs. “I’m going back to the old house to get some clothes for Momma to wear to work tomorrow. She might as well sleep here tonight. There already is a bed made up for her in what will be her room after we move. And it is a shorter walk to the bakery in the morning from here. I suspect she will go in pretty early. I told Grandpa not to worry if he heard her in the morning.”

Rachael headed to the old house and picked up clothes and Maria’s coffee mug and brought them back to Grandpa’s house. She then roused her mother and led her upstairs to her room, where she helped the still-groggy woman into her nightclothes and into bed. Doing so, Rachael was again amazed at how beautiful her mother was. Geoff has no idea of what a treat he is going to get, she thought.

As she walked out of the bedroom, she heard her mother say: “Thank you Momma. I love you?”

“I love you too,” Rachael said, then realized that her sleepy mother must be in a dream and thought it was her mother who had put her to bed.

Downstairs Bobby was ready to head back to the old house. In late spring the days were getting long, but it was full dark as they headed home. Bobby was thrilled to be walking home in the dark, with the streetlights creating patterns as they walked. He noted that his shadow would grow longer and longer as they walked away from one light, and then there would be a second shadow behind that grew shorter and shorter as they neared the next light. Finally they were home.

It was still a bit before Bobby’s bedtime, so they read a bit of Harry Potter in the living room, and then Bobby had his bath. After a short read in Bobby’s bed he was asleep, and Rachael felt a need to have an evening bath as well, after all the running she had done all day. Then she also was ready to crawl into bed.

Dear Lord

Thank you for making the bakery so popular. It is a lot right now, but I trust Momma and Geoff will make it work. And especially thank you for making Geoff decide to propose. I’m gonna have a Daddy. Bobby is going to have a Daddy for the first time. And we already love Geoff, so it is perfect. We have a real family. Five of us, counting Grandpa. You are so special, Lord. I thank you for everything you do for me. For us.

Amen