“Yes,” chimed in Eilaen. “Everything is so overwhelming! There are so many options.”
“Well Kaida and Eilaen. If it’s help you need, then help you shall get. My name is Ginkom and I am completely at your service.” The gnome peered up at them again, taking them in before continuing. Kaida felt as if he were sizing them up by the way he looked at them. “If you would follow me through this door here, we can get started on sorting out what you need.”
He swept his hand and gestured in front of them, allowing them to pass through the narrow aisle. Once the three of them had passed through an unseen door to their right, Kaida was amazed even further by the large, shiny, top of the line stoves in front of her. They were nothing like the small wood stove they had at home. She leaned toward Eilaen and loudly whispered, “I think I have died and gone to some kind of baker’s heaven!”
Eilaen stifled a laugh as she leaned over and whispered in return. “I don’t think you know how to whisper, Kai.”
Ginkom cleared his throat to avoid interrupting the halflings, who clearly found themselves entertaining. “Now, Ms. Kaida. Please describe your needs for me. It will help me serve you best and allow us to pick out the items necessary.”
“I need a freezing case, two stove and oven combination things, and a huge sink. I would prefer it if everything matched. Oh, and whatever else you think I might have a use for, I guess, just in case I missed anything. We’re starting from nothing. Literally,” Kaida replied, looking at her list, rattling off what she thought Ginkom’s shop would have.
The gnome stood by and listened patiently as she explained her predicament and how the kitchen in the bakery was having to be completely refurbished. When she’d finished her excited rambling, she stood and fidgeted watching as he rubbed his chin for a moment. He appeared to be lost in thought. Standing still a moment more, he tapped his chin three times before his face lit up. “Aha! I have it. Follow me, please. Right this way. Please mind the cables stretched across the floor. Don’t want to trip over those.”
Kaida and Eilaen followed Ginkom as he sped off towards the corner in the back, where the large kitchen appliances were located. Every time Kaida thought she couldn’t be more impressed by the equipment being shown to them, Ginkom would walk them by another row of even more impressive appliances. After what felt like hours, the girls were finally done picking out their purchases for the bakery, as well as having snagged a few things to upgrade the farmhouse. After handing Ginkom their coins and setting up a delivery day for the following Friday, Kaida looped her arm in Eilaen’s, skipping happily as they went to their next stop.
By the time they had arrived back at the farm, everything on Kaida’s list had been selected, bought, and scheduled to be delivered the next week to the bakery, with the exception of the shiny new stove and the large upstairs heater that Eilaen had purchased from The Gnomish Goods. With the sky growing darker by the minute and both halflings exhausted from their extensive shopping, they each wandered on over to one of their neighbor’s houses to invite them over for supper. By the time Kaida and Jareth entered into the house, Eilaen and Ms. Kestrel had already been at work in the kitchen, and dinner was almost done. The warmth of the house combined with the delicious aroma filling the air, was enough to calm Kaida’s mind down from the swirl of thoughts that filled it.
“We’re in the kitchen, slaving away, my dears!” Ms. Kestrel shouted after Kaida had announced their arrival.
Kaida kicked off her boots as Jareth hung his scarf and hat up on the hook closest to the door. A loud, hungry noise erupted from Kaida’s stomach, causing Jareth to laugh. His laughter, being infectious as always, caused Kaida to begin to laugh with him. By the time they reached the kitchen to see Ms. Kestrel and Eilaen, they both had tears streaming down their faces and were clutching their sides, their stomachs hurting from laughing so hard.
“Wh-what are you making for di-dinner, Ellie?” Kaida asked between gasps.
Ms. Kestrel looked at the halfling in front of her and shook her head. “Kaida, you are a sight. We leave the two of you alone for a few moments, and you come inside looking like you’ve been bit by a tickle bug.”
Eilaen rolled her eyes at the sight of them, before shaking her head. She instructed Jareth to grab cups and cutlery for everyone and put them on the table. He’d finished setting the table right as Kaida had decided what she was going to whip up for dessert. In a flash, she put it all together and popped it into the oven. It didn’t take long for the aroma of the chocolate and hazelnut she used inside a thick, flakey pastry dough to begin filling the air.
The four of them sat comfortably around the table, and Kaida filled their friends in on their adventure, as well as their success at The Gnomish Goods. After she finished, she looked at Jareth. “Do you know who would be the best for the construction work for the remodel? The floor is atrocious and the walls are in deep need of some help in some sections. Oh, and I need painters. Oh! And someone who can build and put in counters and an island. Oh, and I need a plumber, Oh, and-” she rambled off through her list only to be cut off by Jareth.
“Whoa, whoa. Take a breath, Kai. Yes, I know exactly who you need to contact for help with everything you need but you’ve gotta chill. You’re going to run yourself ragged just speaking about what needs to be done. If you don’t pace yourself, you won’t be able to do what needs doing,” he said gently. Ms. Kestrel and Eilaen nodded in agreement.
Kaida made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a laugh, nodding. “You’re right. I know you are. I’m just so extremely excited that we’re finally doing this. All of the feelings are just building, and building, and building. I feel like my insides are going to explode!”
Before anyone was able to respond to her, Kaida gasped and leapt out of her seat, screaming about her almost forgotten pastries and bolted towards the kitchen. Moments later, a loud sigh of relief was heard before she hollered out that all was well and nothing had been burnt. The three remaining at the table sat still, anticipation filling the air as they waited on her to reappear. When she did, she carried a large platter stacked high with the chocolate hazelnut pastries and Kaida could practically sense their excitement at dessert.
“Okay. Where were we? Oh yeah. Okay. So, my plans for the bakery. Wait, you guys dig in, but be careful. They’re hot! Anyways, like I was saying. Oh traps. Wait. I forgot the hot cocoa. One moment,” Kaida rambled, trying to reclaim her train of thought but instead only rambling in circles. Eilaen was fond of referring to it as “Kai chasing mice.”
When she brought out the hot cocoa, she’d been able to mostly organize her thoughts and began to explain her overall vision for the bakery. By the time Ms. Kestrel and Jareth left for the night, Kaida felt calmer about the things she needed to do before they’d even be able to think about opening. When the door closed as they left, she released a long breath.
After saying goodnight to Eilaen, she nimbly climbed the stairs, two at a time despite her friend’s pleas to be careful, visions of her new project running through her head. Though there was plenty of work to be done, Kaida knew that every moment of it would be worth it. Sleep came easily, her visions continuing in her dreams, even well after she’d fallen asleep.
Four
Two days later, Kaida found herself in front of the bakery once again. She could feel the smile on her face growing wider thanks to the frost left by the cold wind blowing across her face. The wind was blowing so fiercely it was throwing leftover snow into the air as it whipped around her. She took a deep breath in, closing her eyes. The crisp air caused her lungs to ache, but as she stood there with stars shining in her eyes, she saw her vision come to life.
Looking through the window, she could picture her fellow townsfolk as they sat circled around the tables. She could hear them laughing as they drank their hot cocoa and munched on their choice of cookies or flakey pastries. She could already smell the rich aroma of chocolate, nutmeg, and peppermint mocha as fresh cookies and cakes baked in the ovens, the kitchen door swinging open causing the scents in the air to stir around. The clattering of mugs and teacups as they were placed on saucers was so loud in her mind that she swore it was actually occurring inside the building she stood in front of.
The distant sound of heavy footsteps crunching through the snow pulled Kaida out of her head. Blinking rapidly, she looked over to see a dwarf moving towards her. Abruptly, he came to a stop in front of her, shoving his thick hands into his pockets and furrowing his brows. “Are you Kaida or are you Eilaen?” his gruff voice asked, his words rough and gravely.
She looked up at him. He wasn’t much taller than she was, just enough to where for her to have to tilt her face up, and he smelled of wood shavings, iron, and coal. His face was barely visible, save for two patches on each side where his thick, bushy, reddish-brown beard didn’t meet his lower lashes. His nose was wide, but not long. His eyes were the loveliest shade of yellow-green Kaida had ever seen and the thick brows that sat directly above them matched his beard. There was something peculiar about this dwarf that drew her in. He made her feel safe, which was a strange thought since she’d never met him before. Though his body language suggested he was a no-nonsense kind of dwarf, she had a gut feeling that she could trust him.
“Oh! Hullo. I’m Kaida. Pleased to meet ya. And you are…?” Kaida cheerily replied, her voice trailing off at the end of her greeting.
“Name’s Elkhean. Heard ya was lookin’ for someone to do some work around a new bakery,” he replied, his tone a touch softer, his body relaxing a smidge.
“Why yes! I am. I was just coming in for the day. I have some deliveries that are supposed to be making an appearance today, and I wanted to make sure they didn’t sit on the wet ground for too long.” Kaida smiled at the dwarf as she reached into her pocket for the keys Eilaen had given her.
Kaida slid the key into the lock and twisted it until she heard the soft click of the mechanism inside unlocking. The door took two shoves to open, the frame now swollen from the moisture in the air.
“Need to fix that,” Elkhean stated as he walked through the doorway, jotting it down in a small notebook he pulled from his pocket.
As the two of them entered the bakery, Kaida nervously watched as he looked around, seeming to inspect every inch of the bakery, writing notes with each observation. He stepped around the room slowly, trying not to miss a single spot in the entire lobby. After he seemed satisfied, he looked back at Kaida. “Kitchen’s through this door?” he asked before walking through it, not bothering to wait for her confirmation.
Kaida walked through the door a few steps behind him, stopping when she heard him whistle. She winced at the realization that this remodel was going to be a lot more costly than she initially realized. She carefully stepped further into the kitchen, taking care not to distract him or draw any unnecessary attention to herself. She watched as he shuffled, squatted, stretched, and leaned. She listened as he made noises that ranged from “hms” and “mhms” to grunts of disapproval and clucks of his tongue. After what seemed like forever, she finally found the nerve to stand next to him where he was planted in the middle of the room.
“So, erm. Mr. Elkhean, sir. What’s the, uh, problem?” Kaida’s words came out timidly. She could tell by the way he refused to meet her eyes that the news was going to be painful and she knew it would be better if it was given to her straight rather than him skirting around the problematic areas to spare her feelings.
“Well, Ms. Kaida. There’s good news an’ bad news. What would ya like first?” Elkhean asked.
Kaida winced. “The... The bad news, I guess?” Uncertainty filled her words, and it was obvious he noticed.
“Okay. Well, Ms. Kaida, I’m not in the business o’ sugar coatin’ the bad news. This place? It’s a disaster. It’s a wreck. I don’t know how long it was left empty, but time has done quite a bit o’ damage to it. Repairs ain’t gonna be easy or cheap. In fact, you’re lookin’ at two, maybe three months o’ work here.” He waited for a few moments for Kaida to process the news before continuing. “Good news is, I can do it all for ya. Floors, walls, counters, cabinets, paintin’, plumbin’. Ev’ry bit o’ it. Can even build a chimney and fireplace in the front for ya should ya want it.”
Shocked wasn’t even the word Kaida would have used to describe how she felt. “All… All of it? You can do all of it?” The words barely made their way off of her tongue.
“Yes’m. All o’ it. Well, me and my crew o’ dwarves. S’long as ya don’t mind me bringin’ in helpers. They’re included in the cost, not added in as extras,” the dwarf replied, nervously shifting from one foot to the other.
“Okay.” Kaida took a deep breath, slowly exhaled it before smiling. She turned to look at him. “Mr. Elkhean, would you like to come for dinner so that you can meet my business partner slash best friend? We can eat and discuss costs and other matters over some hot food rather than standing in this freezing building.”
