Chapter 1
“Here you are, sir,” Molly Wilkins said to her customer at the bakery, handing him his food. The previous day, he’d requested a lemon cake to give his wife for her birthday.
The man took one look at the cake and said, “Oh, yeah – my wife will love this! Thank you and have a wonderful morning.”
Molly smiled. “You, too.”
As the man walked out, Molly’s boss, Alice, came out to talk to her. “Molly, a word?” she asked, gesturing for Molly to join her in the back.
“What’s up?” she asked her boss, leaning against one of the metal counters with a grip on the edge.
“So, we have a new hire coming in the morning, and since you’re my best employee, I want to assign you as her trainer.”
Molly stood up straight as soon as the words came out. Molly was a social butterfly, so if there was one thing she loved about this job, it was the opportunity to make new friends.
“Oh, sure!” Molly said enthusiastically. “What’s her name?”
“Her name is Young-Mi Kwon; she emigrated from South Korea six months ago. Do you think you’ll be up for the task?”
“Certainly; I can’t wait to start.” Molly rubbed her palms together in anticipation for her new task.
Outside the front of the shop, Kwon Young-Mi eased her silver Hyundai into park in the spot directly in front of the entrance. The song she’d been listening to was nearing its last chorus, so Young-Mi let it finish before she got out.
Young-Mi stepped out with her purse, locked the door with her key fob, and quickly glanced at her watch. It was 10:12 in the morning, about fifteen minutes before the start of her shift here at Millie’s Bakery. She was very relieved at this, as she’d gotten turned around three times trying to find the right place.
When she walked into the shop, Young-Mi was immediately met with the aroma of freshly baked cake and the clanging sound of metal in the distance. She initially didn’t see anybody behind the counter, but five seconds later, an older woman came into view from the back.
“Oh, hello!” the woman greeted her. “Are you our new hire, Young-Mi Kwon?”
“Yes, I’m Kwon Young-Mi,” she replied with a quick bow. “I hope I’m not too early.”
“Oh, no problem; the earlier, the better! I’m Alice, the head manager here. Come with me and I’ll introduce you to your trainer.”
Young-Mi followed Alice into the back of the shop, where a girl about her age was busy frosting cupcakes.
When she sensed somebody coming up behind her, Molly stopped what she was doing to see who it was. It was Alice, and she had a girl in tow whom she assumed was Young-Mi. She was thin and petite, and her jet-black hair had been done up in long, braided pigtails.
“Young-Mi, this is Molly,” Alice introduced. “She’s going to be showing you the ropes today. Molly, meet Young-Mi.”
“Hi, nice to meet you,” Molly greeted, shaking Young-Mi’s hand. In return, Young-Mi bowed before her new coworker. “Welcome to the team!”
“Thank you,” Young-Mi said with a shy smile.
Molly spent a good chunk of her shift with Young-Mi by her side as she taught her how things worked at Millie’s, and by clock-out time at two, they’d become close enough to be friends.
“So, I’m about to head out now,” Molly told the trainee, “but it was very nice working with you.”
“You, too,” Young-Mi returned. “Want my number to chat?”
“Absolutely; I was thinking the same thing.”
Upon jotting down Young-Mi’s number on a spare napkin, folding it, and putting it in her purse, Molly said goodbye to Alice and her other coworkers and left the building. Before she went home, she stopped by her parents’ house to pick up her ten-month-old daughter Emma.
“Molly, you’re just in time,” Mrs. Wilkins said after she answered the door. “Emma’s trying to walk!”
Molly stepped inside to see Mr. Wilkins sitting on the floor with his legs spread apart, while Emma was attempting to take her first steps.
“Come to Grampy, Emmers!” he coaxed, clapping his hands in encouragement. “Come here!”
Emma pulled herself up from her sitting position and tried to move her right leg forward, but she stumbled and fell back down. This made her start crying in frustration.
“Aw, you’re okay!” Molly said, picking Emma up to comfort her. Then, she put her back down and urged her to try again. “Come to Mommy; you can do it!”
Mrs. Wilkins came up behind Emma and took her hands as she made her second attempt. When Mrs. Wilkins let go, Emma slowly placed her left leg in front, then her right. She made it all the way to where Molly was sitting, before stumbling again.
“Good job, Em; you did it!” Molly cheered.
Molly and her parents went back and forth, taking turns to be Emma’s target, for the next fifteen minutes before Molly decided she ought to get home.
Molly and Emma made it home just in time for the bus to drop off Emma’s kindergartener brother Gavin. Molly watched as the door opened, and out popped Gavin and the neighbor kids, one of them being his best friend Brycen.
“Hi, Ms. Wilkins,” Brycen said flirtatiously when he saw Molly. This was a daily occurrence, as Brycen had a big crush on her.
“Brycen, I’m old enough to be your mother,” Molly scolded. “Nice try, kiddo.”
“Aw, man!” Brycen swung his fist in the air to show his frustration before trotting off to his own home.
Once the three of them were inside, Molly dished out snacks for both kids and decided to plop down on the couch and give Young-Mi a ring. After five or six rings, the call went to voicemail, so she left a message.
“Hey, this is Molly from work. Give me a call back on this number; let’s chat!”
It was only then that Molly realized, through making sure the number she’d called was the same as the one on paper, she’d accidentally misdialed, transposing the last two digits. Who had she called, then?
