Cigarettes and Summer Nights

Greenewood is a small town in northern California. Only a few hundred people live there. The roads are still covered with stone and light-posts stand on every corner. Their bank was on the far south end of town, near the river that separates it from other cities. There is a strip of stores, including a small grocery, a clinic, a couple of clothing stores that mostly sold hunting gear and off-brand jeans, and one bakery. The bakery is owned by a woman named Jenna Moore. She has lived in Greenewood most of her life and made a living from continuing her mother's shop with the family recipes. Many houses were scattered around the open land, and most were close together with small backyards.

Jenna yawned as she walked into the bakery. Her heels clicked against the hardwood floors as she walked towards the back where the kitchen was. She smiled as she saw the two girls she hired working. The smell of blueberry mix filled her nose as she tied the small black apron around her waist. She peeked into the mixing bowl and frowned, something was wrong.

“Ashley, how many blueberries did you put in?” She asked before turning off the mixer.

The worker looked down at the recipe before her glossed lips turned into an o shape. She filled another cup of blueberries and dumped them into the mixer. She started it again and got out two muffin pans.

“We do our jobs correctly the first time, remember that always. Oh girls, those muffins are due before five o'clock. Mrs. Johnson needs them for her daughter's birthday sleepover.” Jenna sighed before walking to the refrigerator.

She pulled out the cookie sheets that had different cookies, pastries, and small cupcakes on them. She closed the silver metal door before walking into the front and started to place the food in the glass displaying shelves. Once that was finished she changed the close sign on the door to open and looked around her shop.

The floor was a light wood while the walls were a tart apple color. Pictures of baked good were hanged on the wall and a few table and chairs were sprawled around the open space. She smiled before walking to the cash register. The small bell above the door dinged and she looked up to see the familiar man of Leonardo Parker walked in. A light jacket covered his body and a baseball cap was on his head. He smiled as he saw his old time friend, Jenna.

“Leonardo Parker, is that you? Are you finally visiting Greenewood after all this time?” Jenna joked as she walked away from the register and to him.

Leonardo chuckled before wrapping his arms around her shoulders. “No, I came because I missed my old friend.”

Jenna looked up at him and smiled. Leonardo and her have been best friends since either one of them could remember. His parents, Marcus and Chantel and her parents, Julie and Kenny were friends since collage. When Leonardo and Jenna were little, Chantel and Julie would set them up on play dates and as they got older their friendship strengthened. Leonardo moved away after college, going into Hollywood. His movie script was chosen to be produced and he had to be there. Jenna stayed in Greenewood after high school, not going into college but helping her parents out with the bakery.

Jenna backed away from Leonardo as his arms fell to his side. He shifted awkwardly on his feet. She heard the small bell ding again and looked past Leonardo to see a young man, about twenty eight, walk into the small bakery. He had a stubble of a beard growing on his face and his brown eyes looked tired. He slumped into the small chair and table closest to the large front window and started to look at the menu.

“Coffee?” She asked, directly to Leonardo but both men muttered “yes”.

She nodded before walking to the coffee machine. She poured in one cup full of coffee beans and let them get crushed down. She walked over to the young man and sat in the seat in front of him. His name was Jacob, and he was her boyfriend. He worked as a logger, cutting down the pine trees for other companies around Greenewood to use. She smiled as he looked up at her. He gave her a small smile before looking at the menu two more times.

She grabbed one of his hands and asked, “How was work?”

Jacob sneezed before answering, “It was good, I cut down 24 trees last night.”

Jacob worked the night shift. He liked the cold feeling around him better than the sun and he seemed to be more alert at night. Jenna nodded, kissed his cheek and got off the chair. She walked away from him, and checked on the coffee bean grinder. She poured the ground up coffee beans into the small coffee pot, added the water and checked on her workers. They were working on icing the cooled off cupcakes while the muffins were cooking.

It was only nine o'clock on a Saturday morning, more people would come in for brunch or lunch and then later in the day for either something special or something to nibble throughout the rest of the day. She looked over at Jacob again, making sure he was not lighting up a cigarette, and looked over at Leonardo; he was reading a book. She chuckled slightly before grabbing two cups.

She filled each up with coffee, added two sugars and two small cups of creamer in one and brought them over. She gave Jacobs' his and walked over to Leonardo's table and gave his. She walked to the coffee station again and carried the bowl of sugar and creamer to Leonardo.

She heard the bell dinged again and looked at the door. There she saw the familiar woman of her sister Anne and her six year old daughter, Kelley. Jenna smiled as the small girl ran to her. It was close to the beginning of June and Jenna kept Kelley for the summer while her mother worked out of the country.

“How are ya Kell?” Jenna asked before wrapping her niece in a hug.

Anne smiled at her younger sister. She walked up to them and hugged her sister, once she stood up.

“I'm good. Momma said that this time I might be able to cook with you.” Kelley answered before standing next to her mother.

Jenna looked at her sister. Anne shrugged before saying, “Grandma taught me and you at six, so why not keep the tradition?”

Jenna smiled and nodded. “Well Kelley, it depends on if you are a good girl for me.”

“I'll be good! I promise!” Kelley pleaded, her small hands wrapped around each other.

Jenna heard both men chuckled. She turned to the side to see them both watching her and her situation. She rolled her eyes before turning back.

“Well honey, I have to go now. Be good for auntie Jenna.” Anne said to her daughter before giving her a tight squeeze.

Kelley nodded to her mother and held onto Jenna's hand. Anne mouthed thank you at her sister before walking out the door. Jacob set the cup on the table and stood up. He looked at Kelley and faked a hurt expression.

“Kelley, you didn't say hi to me...” Jacob said, his voice showing his pretend sadness.

Kelley ran over to the man as Jenna cleaned up his cup and Leonardo's cup. She smiled at him before mouthing sorry. She knew he wanted to sit down and talk about all that he has missed but with her boyfriend coming in and then her niece, she was too distracted to talk.

“It's okay. We can talk some other time.” He whispered to her before getting off the chair.

He kissed her cheek softly before walking out the door. Jenna watched him walk out, the scene looked familiar to her. It was just the same when he walked out six years ago, but this time she did not feel a pain in her heart. She fetched a chair before joining Jacob and Kelley.