Chapter 3

While he worked, Dakota watched the clock, hoping his assistant would manage to be on time. He hated the idea of closing the shop for the brief period he had to make the delivery. However, she had proven herself reliable since the date he hired her so he shoved concern aside and let the decadent scents calm his rattled nerves. Baking was literally a way of life for him. For some people, escape came in the form of alcohol or books or binge watching TV shows. Dakota preferred toiling away in the kitchen mixing eggs and flour and sugar, amongst other things, finding the art of making cookies and whatnot to be relaxing.

And there was definitely a sense of hot in making treats for the ones he loved. He was always sending boxes upstate to his mother and out west to his sister and her brood. The townsfolk of Dorchester Bay, the little hole in the wall he called home, seemed to have taken a shine to his offerings as well.