“Honey, I’ll be right back,” her mother said. “I just need to speak to someone.” Without waiting for Hannah to say anything, her mother moved away.

Curiosity had Hannah watching as her mother crossed the street and approached Chief Campbell. Not thinking much of two old friends greeting each other, Hannah turned her attention back to the firefighters working to pump out the water.

She recalled her grandmother telling her that baking was in her blood. Her grandmother spent a large portion of her life creating amazing desserts for her family and friends. Hannah had been taught from a young age how to make a flaky pie crust and a fluffy angel food cake. When she was too short to see over the table, her grandmother would pull out a chair and let her kneel on it. Her grandmother used to say there was a certain elegance to Hannah’s cakes.

And then Hannah had gone on to be an employee at this very bakery for close to fourteen years now—ever since she was in high school. When the bakery reopened, she would no longer be an employee—she’d be the owner. Correction, she was the owner.

Agnes Dewey rushed over to her. “You poor girl.” She gave her a hug. “It’s just awful. I knew this was going to happen. You should have listened to the horoscope this morning.”

Hannah was so caught off guard by the woman’s hug that she didn’t know how to react. It was all so uncharacteristic of Agnes. And then the woman pulled away as fast as she’d hugged her.

“I…uh…” Hannah struggled for the right words.

Agnes clucked her tongue. “It’s just a shame that everything is ruined.”

Hannah wanted to disagree. The bakery wasn’t ruined. She opened her mouth but then wordlessly pressed her lips together. Was the woman right? Had Agnes overheard something about the building’s condition on the inside? Was the bakery beyond repair? Hannah’s heart once more sank down to her still-wet sneakers.

“It was going to be so amazing.” Agnes continued to talk as though she hadn’t even noticed that Hannah wasn’t taking part in the conversation. “I just feel so horrible that all of your dreams are ruined. But you gave it your best shot. If only you’d caught the leak sooner.” Agnes’s gaze latched onto someone else. “There’s Betty Simon. I have to speak to her about Spring Fling.” Agnes’s pitying gaze moved back to Hannah. “You take care of yourself.” And then she was gone.

Agnes was right. As the owner, she should have foreseen something like this. She’d worked so hard planning the renovations to bring the bakery into the modern era. She’d even made sure to budget in rewiring the entire building. But she never thought the place would need to be replumbed too.

Honestly, she wasn’t aware, until now, that pipes could wear out. Maybe I should have asked more questions. Maybe I should have had a different contractor. Maybe I should have—

“Stop blaming yourself.”