Chapter Text
Prologue
Some things are better than chocolate…
Lena Luthor is a sweetheart. Her friends and neighbors all think so. While she enjoys her quiet life running the town bake shop in Midvale, Maine, she wonders if there could be more. After losing the love of her life four years prior in a plane crash, Lena thinks she’s ready to navigate the dicey dating waters once again. However, you can’t always pick who your heart latches on to. When Kara Danvers, the beautiful young sister of her lost love, returns to town, Lena finds her interest piqued in a manner she wasn’t prepared for.
As secrets are uncovered, Lena and Kara must figure out how to navigate the difficult terrain of their multi-faceted relationship. Especially when something much deeper seems to be bubbling between them.
Chapter 1
There’s just something about chocolate.
It’s enough to cause a person to abandon the rest of the world in favor of complete immersion in the power of it’s taste. Few things in life compare. Lena Luthor knew this as clearly as she knew the sun was going to rise the next day. It was an inarguably fact of life.
She concentrated, biting her bottom lip, as she folded the ribbons of dark chocolate in the pan once, twice, and a final time before sampling her work with her index finder. She closed her eyes in surrender. Perfection. Next, she checked the thermometer in the pan. An even ninety-one degrees.
Showtime.
One by one, she bathed each truffle in the dark chocolate coating before rolling it in cocoa powder that would offer a nice contrast to the amaretto in the ruffle. Finally, she placed the last truffle on the wire rack with a light twist of her wrist. She set the timer and took her spot on top of the stepladder nestled in the kitchen’s corner and waited in anticipation for the required twelve minutes to creep by.
She felt good about things this time. She’d used a tad too much heavy cream in the ganache on the last go-round, and a little hint of coconut she’d added this time might be the missing link to bridge the flavors.
The kitchen was quiet while she waited, the morning just getting started. Distantly, she heard the bell in the front of the shop, but ignored it. She checked the clock again, it was time. Biting slowly into the truffle, she closed her eyes and allowed he flavors to play in her mouth as she assessed. It was closer this time. She was on to something, but the recipe wasn’t quite there yet. Damn it. Just a hint too sweet. It lacked balance.
The bell. A second time.
Where was Leslie? With an exaggerated sigh she abandoned her project and made her way from the kitchen to the front of the bakeshop.
Mr. Carr, one of the regulars, scowled deeply at her. “Well, it sure took you long enough.” It was nothing new. Sort of his thing. He harasses her daily and she smiled through it. The man was pushing eighty-five and pretended to hate the world. The problem was he didn’t and everyone knew it.
“Good morning, Mr. Carr. Sorry about the wait. Just taking care of a few things in the back. Your usual?”
Mr. Carr eyed the display case suspiciously.
“What are those?”
She followed his gaze. “Caramel apple cinnamon rolls. Made with cream cheese frosting. My father’s recipe.”
He studied her skeptically. It was rare for him to deviate from his standard blueberry muffin. He was a staunch creature of habit. “Are they fresh?”
“Made this very morning.”
He rolled his eyes as if he couldn’t stand another minute of her. It was part of his charm. “I’ll take two and a cup of joe. Regular, not decaf.” He scowled deeper. “Don’t think you think you should write it down, for heaven’s sake?”
She grinned patiently, “Two cinnamon rolls and a cup of coffee. I think I got it.”
“Good thing you can bake or people would run this place into the ground. Your father never used to keep his customers waiting. Where’s Louise?” He scanned the area behind the counter for any glimpse.
“Around here somewhere, I hope.” Louise, her elderly employee, was MIA but happened to be the one person Mr. Carr seemed to tolerate. Which meant he was hot for her.
Lena prepared his order as she did every morning, and as he headed off to his regular table by the window, she turned to her next customers, a young couple smiling brightly, a toddler at their sides. In fact, one of the most adorable toddlers she’d ever seen. “Morning, guys. Welcome to Flour Child. What can I get for you?”
“Well, you’ve already sold us on the cinnamon rolls, I think,” the man said. “And an orange raspberry muffin too. The lady at the inn said we have to try those.”
Lena nodded knowingly as she rang them up.
“That’s Alice. She’s a fan.”
The wife smiled. “She insisted we stop by. Said you had pastries sent by god himself. The best in Midvale.”
“Well, Alice leans toward hyperbole, but they are pretty good. You’ll have to let me know what you think.”
“Are you the owner?”
Lena nodded. “I am.”
“It’s a cute little place. So much character.”
Lena looked around, taking in the baker shop thought new eyes. Checkered tablecloths, lots of framed art, photos from over the years. “Thanks. My father opened the place not long after I was born.” She pointed to Flour Child’s logo on the wall affectionately zeroing in on the little girl with the halo of flowers in her hair. “And that’s me, my dad’s retired now, but he’s left us all his great recipes, and hopefully, I’ve added a few decent new ones.” She handed them their plates. “Enjoy and come back and see us.”
“We definitely will.” The family picked out one of the five tables in the shop and sat down to enjoy their breakfast. As she wiped down the counters, Lena’s gaze drifted back to the couple and she watched as they fed the toddler, encouraging her to taste the cinnamon roll and laughing when she grinned back at them in lip-smacking approval. She couldn’t help but wonder it that’s how she and Alex would have laughed with their child, if they’d had one. With so much warmth and adoration. She’d like to think so.
She shook herself out it.
Alex’s commuter plane had gone down four years ago.
Actually, four years, two months, and a handful of days, but somehow it didn’t seem that way. It felt like yesterday that Alex was teasing her or whispering sweetly in her each morning.
It was easier now, thinking about Alex. But it was moments like these that Lena wondered if she’d ever get a chance at a family or her own someday. She wanted that. Kids, someone to share it all with, the whole deal. And other than the debut of her first two gray hairs, the ones she’d hastily plucked from head that morning, it seemed she was still capable of having them.
She sat on the stool.
Time was marching on, and sometimes she felt like it marching on without her. Thirty-two years old still young…kinda. She wandered back into the kitchen and did what she always did when something was on her mind. “What do you think, Alexandra? Is it time for me to get back on the horse?”
Silence. As there always was when she talked to Alex.
But there were times when she felt Alex’s presence in her life; she was sure of it. The number eight had a way of showing up a lot, and she suspected strongly that Alex’s had something to do with it. It has been her favorite number if for nothing else than the Magic Eight Ball she consulted for all important life decisions.
“Sorry I’m late.” Cat young rushed into the kitchen and began putting on her apron, pulling Lena abruptly from her thoughts. “Bless her heart; my next-door neighbor didn’t know how to program her cable box. One sandwich short of a picnic, that one. I had to step in and help out and…” She paused and shot Lena a curious glance. “What is it, sugar? You look like you just solved the mystery of life for all of us.”
“Cat.” Lena turned to her best friend and employee thoughtfully. “I think I might be ready to start dating again.”
Cat’s eyes widened in Supreme delight and she shook Lena’s hand eagerly. “Well, hallelujah. It’s like a hug from little baby’s Jesus in here.” Cat’s Southern sass was out in full force today. “What may I ask, brought this on?”
“I don’t know. There was the cutest little family in the shop earlier, and I watched them and thought, yeah, I want that. And I do. I think I’m ready to take that step.”
Cat clapped her hands once. “Well, who’s it going to be? Who’s the lucky girl you’ve got your eye on?”
Lena was at a loss. She didn’t have her eye on anybody. In all honesty, Alex had been the only woman she’d ever been with, and they’d been a couple since high school. The concept of dating all was a little foreign to her.
Then there was the little matter of living in a small town.
The lesbian-to-Lena-ratio was crazy small. There was Celia the librarian, but she was at least twenty years older. Savanna and Trish were both great, but, well, they were a couple already. That left Samantha Arias, who she’d gone to high school with. Sam had never quite forgiven her for taking Alex off the market and still seemed to have it out for Lena to this day. Sam was definitely not a prospect. In fact, Sam should be avoided at all costs. Sam was lesbian Satan. “I think I’m going to have to broaden my horizons. Maybe look beyond the borders of Midvale.
Cat did a little hop. “Sugar, I know just the person to call. My friend Susan lives two towns over and knows absolutely anyone who is worth knowing. I’ll put a call in to her, and we’ll have more lesbians than you can shake a stick at lining up for you.”
Lena’s face went how and she felt all sorts of reluctance. “You know what? This whole thing sounds a little too crazy. Bad idea. Are we sure I should be doing this? I think I should rewind.”
“Don’t you dare back out now. This it progress.” Cat took a step forward, her eyes steely in almost scary determination. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to for you to utter these adorably tentative words you said earlier? Since God was a baby, that’s how long. Now stand up straight and be strong.”
Lena stood tall for no other reason than because Cat said to and she was a little frightening in this moment. “Strong. Got it. Working on it. A little.”
Seriously, who was she kidding?
“Sorry I disappeared on you, Lee.” Leslie puttered in carrying a brown paper sack. Saved by the bell! Or the little old lady who worked for her. “The used bookstore next door was having a sale, and I scurried in to pick up one of their old recipe books. I knew you wouldn’t miss me.”
“What, had to beat the crazy crowd?” Cat deadpanned because there wouldn’t have been one.
“I had to beat old Mrs. Bleakerson is what I had to do. She’s getting on in years, but she’s aggressive when it comes to her marinades. I’m stronger though.”
Lena smiled because Mrs. Bleakerson was sixty-one and still nine years younger than Louise herself.
Switching gears, Lena turned to Cat. “Do you think you can close for me? It’s Wednesday, so I need to stop by the cemetery and still have time to freshen up before my dinner at Gibson’s tonight. You know try to look presentable. Lose the flour glaze.”
“I suppose you could twist my arm if you threw in a few of those truffles on the house.”
Lena followed her gaze to the latest batch. “Help yourself. You always do anyway.”
“This is a fact. So Gibson’s, huh? What’s the occasion?”
“Alex’s little sister, Kara, is coming home for a bit. It’s kind of a major deal. She hasn’t been back since, well…the funeral.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. It’ll be nice for Eliza and Jeremiah to get to spend time with her.” In actuality, Lena knew it was that and more. Her mother- and father-in-law would pull out all the stops to celebrate Kara’s homecoming. They’d already closed down the clinic for the day, rented out Gibson’s restaurant that night, and were hosting the immediate family—which still included her—for a celebratory dinner in Kara’s honor.
Kara Danvers.
While part of Lena wanted to smack Kara on the back of the head for staying away for so long, the other part of her was genuinely excited to see her again.
“So what do we know about the mysterious younger Danvers?” Cat nibbled on a truffle. “These are amazing, Lee.”
“Thanks.” She considered the question, reminding herself that Cat hadn’t grown up in Midvale “Kara? Oh, she’s—“
“As wild as they come. Or at least she used to be,” Leslie supplied dryly. “Gave her parents fits when she was in high school, dropped out of college with only one year left, and ran off to make movies, skittering about the country. It about broke both doctors’ hearts. They wanted her to go into medicine like the rest of them. Friendly kid though. You couldn’t help by forgive whatever trouble she was so darn sweet and charming. Could grin her eat out of anything.”
Lena tilted her head and tried to explain things another way. “She went through a rebellious patch in high school, that’s all. But the Kara I remember was good at heart, a rascally little kid that would follow Alex and me around incessantly. I used to babysit her back when I was fifteen, sixteen. That would have made her ten, I guess. We’d read books together for hours until she fell asleep.” Lena felt that wistful lump of nostalgia in her throat for a time when everything felt simpler, lighter. Like nothing bad could ever happen to any of them.
But Kara’s growing up years hadn’t been so easy. It had been hard for her with Alex as an older sister. Alex got straight A’s, broke school records on the soccer field p, and followed her parents’ rules to a tee. And with the bar set so high, Kara simply didn’t measure up. After a while, she purposefully stopped trying.she lived life on her own terms, and that often made waves in Danvers household.
“So she and Alex were close?” Cat popped her fourth truffle.
“Um, mostly, yeah, especially in their younger years. But once Kara went off to college, they drifted a bit. She took Alex's death incredibly hard and pretty much shut everyone out. We haven’t seen her much.”
“I hope I get to meet this person. She sounds intriguing.”
Lena picked up her messenger bag as she prepared to leave. “I’m sure you will, Cat.” She paused for a moment. “You know what? I’m just glad she’s coming home. It’s time.”
Lena’s house was pretty. That was a good word for it. But old and in desperate need is some repair. It was on her to-do list in addition, of course, to learning how to fix up a house. Maybe that would happen after she figured out a way to manufacture more time in the day and you know, learn to fly.
She fumbled in her bag for her keys and subsequently struggled with the front door that always managed to stick. A daily battle. At least her arms got a workout. She suppressed a cheer when the door finally gave in after she rammed it like a goat. In unfortunate news, the force of the impact caused one of the decorative shutters on the house to fall decidedly on one side. It clung to life, but seemed sad now, hanging their so crookedly. She felt sorry for it and herself, as it was yet another repair to deal with.
Lena had purchased the home three years prior, having gotten it for a steal when the elderly owner moved in with her son’s family. It was the first major purchase she’d made in her own since Alex, and it had been just what she was looking for. Tall, mature trees, friendly neighbors, and the perfect amount of space cozy up in. She’d taken the modest two story with the cute blue shutter and made it her own over time, it was comfortable, simple, home. She was rather proud of her little place, even if it was falling apart.
Once inside, she fed her beta fish, appropriately named Rover, and watched him celebrate with three laps around the tank. “Nice form, Rover. Seriously. Those Olympic scouts aren’t gonna know what hit ‘em.” That’s when her phone vibrated in voice mail notification. She studied the screen curiously. How had she missed the call? Because you were busy masquerading as one of the Billy Goats Gruff, she reminded herself.
The singular voice mail was her father, who now lived at Midvale, Maine Manor, a retirement home a couple of miles up the road. She listened to his voice as she perused the contents of her closet for a passable outfit for the evenings’s festivities.
“Hey there, Lee, I got your message about the dinner tonight. Don’t worry about stopping by. I’ve had a gray but very tiring day and will probably just turn in early anyway.”
She paused and looked down at the phone. It wasn’t often she went a whole twenty-four hours without stopping by to visit her dad. He’s been in better health lately, but the congestive heart failure he suffered from seemed to affect him more in spurts. She expected a rough few days ahead in exchange for the good ones he’d experienced so far this week.
While she wanted to call him back to make sure he’d eaten well and received his daily medication on time, the clock on the wall reminded her she was dangerously close to arriving late for dinner, a crime her time-conscious in-laws, the dueling Dr. Danvers, would frown upon despite their adoration for her. To make it up to her dad, she’d stop off and see him for lunch the next day, maybe bring him a snack or two from the bake shop. That always seemed to perk him up.
Lena tackled her closet, spending the next ten minutes trying on upward of seven different outfits all with the same devastating result. Too tight. Okay, how had this happened? She’d weighed an even hundred and twenty-two pounds since the age of fifteen when she’d first hit puberty. Blinking back a frustrated tear or two, she stepped onto her scale in her bathroom, her mouth falling open at the news.
Six pounds.
She’d gained six pounds in addition to the two gray hairs.
Wonderful.
Now on a fact-finding mission of horror, Lena turned next to the mirror. She studied the lines up close, and what she found theirs made her want to just curl up into a little ball and abandon the evening all together. Just as she suspected, the early signs of crows feet. At least when she smiled just wide enough. She blew out a defeated breath. She was getting old and far and there was nothing she could do about it. Okay, so maybe she was indulging her dramatic side a little. She was allowed in such a moment.
Gathering her courage, she swallowed solemnly and shook herself out of the downward spiral. No more time for this. Downward spiraling would have to take five.
Instead, plan B.
She shimmied into her loosest pair of dark blue jeans and capped it off with a white dress shirt, and simple heels. Less is more when the going’s rough. Plus, she was going to see family p, who love you no matter what, right? There was no one she needed to impress.