Chapter 1The bell over the door jingled just as Emery Halloran stuck his head in the standing freezer in the back of the bakery.
He inwardly groaned. He’d forgotten to flip over the CLOSED sign and lock the door. Twisting his wrist to look at his watch, he caught the time. Ten after two. It was Wednesday, the sixth of December. He closed at two every Wednesday, which any locals of Sutter’s Bay would know, of course. Glad Tidings Bakery had been open for two years now. Emery had been idiotic enough to decide to open a bakery during the COVID pandemic. Somehow, he’d made it to his two-year anniversary.
“Hello? Anyone here?”
Emery closed the freezer, wiped his hands on the apron around his waist, and stepped through the swinging door into the front of the bakery.
“Sorry, we’re closed.”
T
