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bakery’s financier. However, now that she planned to stay in Charleston for a while to oversee Bernice’s rehabilitation, she thought that she might decide to take more of an active role.
    If Jamie would allow her, she would learn to bake. One didn’t have to know how to cook in order to bake, did one? If so, Toots was in a heap of trouble. She was not known for her culinary skills. Indeed, her cooking was an absolute disaster.
    â€œWhat are you doing up so early? I thought you’d sleep in for a change. I wanted to have breakfast ready for you girls before I left. Lucy came in early this morning. She’s really becoming a great assistant. We’re lucky to have her.”
    Jamie had hired Lucy a few months ago to assist her at the bakery. She’d turned out to be an excellent baker and, from what Toots understood, a great friend to Jamie. They were close in age and Lucy had no family to speak of. Their closeness pleased Toots immensely as Jamie had no family, either, since her grandmother had passed away a few years ago. They’d all taken Jamie under their wings, especially Bernice, and now Jamie was becoming a part of their little family. Toots didn’t believe it took shared bloodlines to form a family. Sophie, Mavis, Ida and, of course, Bernice were the only family, besides Abby and Chris, she had left. Adding Jamie, and now Lucy, was even better. The more the merrier.
    â€œOh, you know me. I’m up with the chickens. Sleep is simply a waste of time as far as I’m concerned,” Toots said as she scooped liberal amounts of sugar into her cup. She removed the half-and-half from the refrigerator and filled her coffee cup. Sophie always teased her, asking if she wanted a little coffee with her cream and sugar.
    Jamie laughed. “I agree, though there are times when I relish the thought of staying in bed all day.”
    Toots grinned. “Well, I suppose it would depend on who is lying next to you.”
    Both women laughed heartily.
    â€œOnly you, Toots. But you do have a point. I just don’t have time for a boyfriend at this point in my life. Maybe later,” Jamie added before taking two red and white checkered oven mitts from the countertop and slipping them on her hands. She opened the oven door, filling the kitchen with the savory scent of cinnamon.
    Toots eyed the baking sheet as Jamie removed it from the oven. “Smells yummy. What is it?”
    â€œCinnamon rolls,” Jamie said. “Better than those at the mall. Guaranteed.”
    â€œI’m sure,” Toots acknowledged.
    â€œGive me a minute, and I’ll ice one for you,” Jamie said over her shoulder. She removed a bright yellow bowl from the refrigerator. With a large spoon, she dropped sizable globs of thick cream-colored icing on top of the rolls, their warmth causing the icing to spill over the sides and in between the flaky layers of golden crust.
    Toots removed a stack of small dessert plates from the cupboard and forks from the drawer. She held her plate out to Jamie, who forked a cinnamon roll onto it. Not bothering with the fork, Toots didn’t waste any time delving into the sugary sweet roll. She closed her eyes, a slight smile lifting the edge of her mouth. When she’d consumed every last bite, she held her plate out for another. “As usual, you were right. This sure as hell beats those sticky-ass buns in the mall. I think we should add this to the menu at the bakery.”
    Jamie placed another roll on Toots’s plate. “Good. I was hoping you would say that. Since we’ve expanded into coffees, too, customers have been asking for a sweet roll. I know we have all kinds of baked goods, but a cinnamon roll and a hot cup of coffee would appeal to the vast majority, don’t you think?”
    Jamie removed the rest of the rolls from the baking sheet, placing them on a gleaming red platter. Toots was about to take a third when Jamie stopped her. “Let