Full Moon Bliss: a Heavan's End Kitchen Witch story

“Well that should do it” Daphne wiped her hands on her apron with a smile.She loved the day before the full moon. She always had so much energy and felt so at peace with the world.The smell of spices filled her kitchen as she sang softly along to her random play list as she swayed her hips and scored her fourth batch of rosemary and lavender bread of the day. She was up early this morning to bake extra for the Saturday morning rush, she also had a couple of cakes to finish up and an order for 4 pies. With summer coming to an end everyone seems to be excited for the first bearable weekend in months. Living in Heaven’s End was a choice for sure, but Daphne’s love for the old bakery she grew up visiting every summer when she came to stay with her grandmother brought her back here. When the bakery closed, she knew she had to have it, so she worked, saved, and poured herself into both of her jobs to be able to buy it. She opened her doors 5 years ago and it has been a dream ever since. Lucky for her, her grandmother had also been the town’s witchy lady, so Daphne’s particular vibe was accepted and in most cases celebrated. Yes, she had the one off tourist who wanted to ask about her grandmother and the rumors around her life, but for the most part people embraced the haint paint blue on her ceilings in the entry way and the bundle of sage and rosemary at the door. Daphne glanced at the clock on the wall when her watch buzzed. Right on time. She needed to get the next batch of bread ready to proof and start rolling out her cinnamon rolls before Lizzy, her assistant, came in for the morning shift. As she slid the scoured bread to the side and started putting the next batch into pans, a small mew came from the back door as a pair of green eyes looked at her through the dark window. “Well good morning to you too.” she smiled as she opened the door and stepped out onto the small patio. “I see you have had a wonderful adventure-filled evening as usual.” The small black cat purred as Daphne leaned down to gently scratch behind her ears. Luna, a stray cat that Daphne sort of adopted a year ago, would always come around to check things out, get something to eat, and sit with Daphne while she had a quick cup of coffee and watched the sun rise. “Give me two minutes and we will have breakfast, little moon child.” A small nudge against her calf was the only ok Daphne needed. Luna jumped up onto the window ledge to watch Daphne finish up in the kitchen through the window, her tail flipping back and forth as she lounged and patiently waited. Daphne quickly finished prepping the last of the 10 batches of bread she had been working on, pulled out the dough for her cinnamon rolls, and set the coffee pot to brew fresh coffee. While the coffee brewed, she went to the small closet next to the stairs up to her apartment above the bakery and pulled out a can of wet food for Luna. With coffee in hand and ready to feed her little friend, Daphne walked back onto the small patio. She loved her little bakery with her small back yard. She had small benches and tables sitting around the yard with fresh herbs and a few vegetables in pots scattered for harvesting purposes. She also had a mature apple tree that she would pick from for some of her world famous, or at least county famous apple turnovers that she sold out of every weekend. The apartment above wasn’t huge by any stretch, but it had a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and her library/office that she absolutely loved. When she bought the bakery she kept the light green painted walls with exposed wood beam ceiling with its rich honey colored wood floors. The apartment above was painted a light blue to bring some brightness during the colder months. The only thing she really changed from the public part of her home was the color on the ceiling on the porch. The day she signed the contract on the building, she went to the local hardware store and bought the haint paint blue that her grandmother always kept on her porch. The owner smiled and said “You must be the other Mitchum cousin.” Daphne and her cousin Matt had both moved back here after their grandmother had passed away. Matt’s mother lived close by, but didn’t want to move away from her business so, when they were deciding how to split the estate they agreed that Caleb would get the house and Daphne could have the money to buy her bakery outright. Caleb was a contractor, and did very well for himself. He even helped Daphne with the repairs on the building and getting everything up to code to be able to open the bakery. As she finished her cup of coffee, Daphne looked at her watch. It was getting close to six in the morning and she needed to start getting things ready to be put into the cabinets before the early birds started showing up. She scratched Luna behind the ears, “Ok pretty girl, I need to get back to it.” The black cat purred and nuzzled her hand as she walked back into the kitchen, and put her apron back on. About an hour later the front door bell jingled happily and she smiled as Lizzy bustled into the kitchen looking a little frazzled. “Another long night?” she asked. “I was finishing up the marketing for the fall season. I just need you to be ready for a packed house every Thursday night through November. We will be hosting the local book club and the leader of the club has requested your rose hip tea biscuits and apple turnovers for the group.” Daphne’s smile grew wider, “I think I can manage for twenty extra a week. Did she like the idea of themed tea and coffee for the meetings?” “Oh my god she loved it. She already has a few ideas, but are you sure you are going to be able to come up with ideas the day before?” “Have you met me? I can make coffee in my sleep, I already do actually.” she laughed. Lizzy put her bag and laptop case down on the bench next to the back door and pulled her apron off the hook above. “I also plan on doing some light market research today if we have the time.” Lizzy wasn’t just her assistant, she was also the person Daphne turned to for all of her marketing and business needs. Lizzy was a brilliant marketing specialist who just so happened to fall in love with Heaven's End a year ago and decided to make it her home. Now she and Daphne run the Sugar and Sage bakery together. Lizzy does do some freelance work here and there, but her main focus is the bakery. With Heaven’s End being a main stop on the east coast for people headed up to Salem, they get a lot of tourists year round, but fall is their time to shine, and Lizzy puts in extra work for the locals so they don’t feel left out of the fun. “That sounds perfect, I can cover up front for a bit if need be. It will be busy, but I am sure I have things prepped well enough for the breakfast crowd, I just have to get the pies to Mrs. Blake before this afternoon. She ordered four for her ladies’ tea tomorrow morning. Trisha will also be in to pick up the cake for her daughter’s birthday in a couple of hours, but I almost have it done, I just need to finish the decorating.” “I can work at the counter after I get the morning rush taken care of. Speaking of the morning rush, would you like me to help get the cinnamon rolls done?” “I think I am covered on that, but if you would like, you can start the coffee, and get the tea service set up. I will have the cinnamon rolls out and the scones plated to go in the cabinet in just a few minutes." Daphne said as she started to stack scones onto a platter before she started the filling for a strawberry pie. When the cake was frosted and the pies were boxed and ready to go, Daphne left her kitchen to check in with Lizzy, she saw the seating area in the garden area fill up with familiar faces and she gave small waves as she worked. The locals loved to stop by and have coffee and a scone for breakfast on Saturdays before the farmers market. Lizzy worked as a barista when she was in school, so making coffees and teas was second nature to her. When Daphne got to the front she placed another tray of cinnamon rolls in the glass case at the counter as a very tall, very striking man walked through her door. His eyes were a brilliant blue that made the sky itself jealous, and hair that was trimmed short on the side and a little longer on top almost like a military cut that was a couple of weeks past a refresh. He wore a faded pair of jeans and a light jacket over a plane black shirt. Daphne could almost hear the thud of his boots over the conversations at the tables in the bakery as he walked to the counter. “Good morning, and welcome to Sugar and Sage, what can I get for you?” Daphne smiled at him. “Ms. Mitchum?” “Yes?” Daphne said with a smile, most people knew her family and some sent out of towners to her for small spell work like protection charms and luck talismans. Things she can pull together quickly from her store of supplies in her office. “I am Caleb Weston, I was told to speak with you, and give you this.” Caleb pulled a small coin out of his pocket. Daphne took it from his hand and almost dropped it immediately when she recognized the symbol etched into the metal. Her grandmother had told her about it during her lessons while learning what she called ‘the craft’. “Hey Lizzy,” she said with a look of worry on her face,”I need to take care of something. If Trishia comes in, the cake is in the back.” “Sure thing, is everything ok?” “I am sure everything is fine.” That was a lie, that coin told Daphne that her perfect life was about to get a whole lot less perfect. “Mr. Weston, please follow me.”