Joy’s eyes met Lauren’s for a microsecond before Lauren turned her back on her, her attention solely on her phone. A vibration trembled through Joy’s chest, but she didn’t say anything. She’d gotten off work at the library that afternoon, and she’d come over to Lauren’s to help her prep for Supper Club that evening.
Bessie had already arrived, and she currently bent to get a perfectly browned and baked loaf of bread out of the oven. She gazed at it with such adoration that Joy wondered if she’d ever loved anything as much as Bessie loved baking.
“Looks amazing, Bess,” she said. “I love the smell of freshly baked bread.”
“There’s nothing like it, is there?” Bessie brushed the top of the bread with melted butter in quick, professional strokes of a pastry brush. Then she dropped big chunks
