Mattie's Meltaways by Mary Manners

Author:Mary Manners
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Fiction
ISBN: 978-1-61116-113-7
Publisher: Pelican Ventures Book Group - White Rose Publishing
Published: 2012-10-17T04:00:00+00:00

6

One week turned into two, and Sweet Treats still had a long way to go before Mattie and her sisters could reopen the doors for business.

“You look tired, Tessa.” Mattie took the sponge from her sister’s hand. “That’s enough cleaning for today. You should be home with your feet propped up.”

“I still have three weeks to go, and I feel ready to explode.” Tessa eased into a chair at one of the wrought-iron tables and propped her feet onto the seat beside her. “How will I ever make it?”

“Go home and enjoy a good book.” Grace chased Nathaniel around the dining room while Natalie clutched her rag doll and squalled for a snack. “Soon enough, you’ll have your hands full, like me, with diaper changes and soccer games.”

Kate laughed as she took Natalie from her sister’s arms and popped a cracker into her mouth. The squall subsided, if only for a few moments. “Then your baby will be ready to start kindergarten, and you’ll wonder where all the time went.”

“You’re wishing my life away.” Tessa frowned. “I’ll keep my backache and swollen feet for now, thank you very much.”

“Works like a charm every time.” Mattie grinned at her sisters. “No use complaining, because there’s a blessing in every one of life’s stages, right?”

“Of course.” Grace glanced out the shop front window. “And here comes yours right now, Mattie.”

Mattie followed Grace’s gaze to see Tyler loping up the street, hauling a five-gallon bucket of paint in one hand as if it weighed no more than a pack of gum. He’d promised to finish painting the kitchen walls today while Jessie was at school, so the bakery could air out over the weekend. Then Mattie and her sisters would restock the shop and get the bakery reopened for business sometime late next week.

The bell over the door jingled as he entered. Mattie smiled. “Hi, Tyler.”

“Hey, Mattie.” He left the bucket beside the door and strode over for a kiss. “Smells good in here. You been baking?”

“I just dipped a few meltaways for you.” She handed him a small, white pastry bag. “I thought you might like to snack on some while you work, and a new stove was delivered just this morning.”

He dipped his hand into the bag, drew out a chocolate and popped it into his mouth. “Mmm…as good as I remember.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

Tyler turned to Tessa. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a whale.” She pressed a hand to her rounded belly. “A beached whale.”

“Is that so?” His laughter disguised the worry Mattie knew lurked beneath the laid-back veneer. She could sense the reservation in him each time he glimpsed Tessa’s child-swollen belly and she knew he imagined all the things that could go wrong during the baby’s birth. “The feeling will pass…in a couple of weeks.”

“Spoken like a man.” Tessa frowned. “Want to trade places?”

Tyler shook his head, clearly mortified at the thought. “No thanks. Not me. I’ll stick to painting.”

Grace laughed at their exchange while she gathered the twins’ diaper bag.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.