Page 2 of A Soldier's Destiny
Chapter 1
Willow Haven, Florida – Present Day
The buzz from the Fitbit on her wrist reminded her it was time to open the bakery. As she took one last look around the now immaculate kitchen area, Aurora “Rori” Prince, flipped the from closed to open and unlocked the door to let in the small group of people lined up along the sidewalk.
Her second favorite part of the day was about to start, the first was creating the treats that brought her friends and neighbors into Prince’s Patisserie. When she’d opened the bakery a bit over a year ago she had hoped it would do well. With a Walmart just outside of town it had made it a gamble. But her little slice of Paris on Main Street had exceeded all of her expectations.
It wasn’t how she’d expected to use her culinary certificates from theCordon Bleu, but that one night in Paris had changed everything.
Everything.
Rori had planned to make Paris her home after she graduated. She’d had grand plans of opening a little shop and growing old with Jim. But in mere moments on the horror-filled evening, she lost everyone she loved. Devastated. Alone. She’d been broken mentally and physically. It took much longer to heal than she’d imagined, and when the doctors finally discharged her from the hospital, she’d come back to Willow Haven. Paris was no longer the place of her dreams. That one night had transformed it into a never-ending nightmare that played on repeat whenever she closed her eyes.
Willow Haven hadn’t offered her the comfort she’d hoped to find. The house was too empty, too full of memories of her parents. The ache of never seeing them again, never hugging her mom too long and too tight, never again hearing the quiet laughter her parents had shared tore open the wounds that had just started to heal. They were gone.
Then there was Jim’s loss which was even more devastating. They had their whole lives ahead of them. First graduation and then dinner with everyone she loved. The night had been filled to overflowing with joy. She’d felt like the fairy princess her parents had named her after. Then Jim proposed adding the ganache to the cake. But seconds later the gunfire started, and he was gone too. All of them stolen by fanatical terrorists who’d wreaked havoc throughout Paris.
The chime over the bakery door pulled her from her reverie.
“Morning, Rori.” She looked up to see Lily Barrett come through the door and smiled. It was impossible not to. One look at the very pregnant Lily in her pajamas and fuzzy slippers was all it took to start her day with a wide smile.
“Hey, Lily. How are you feeling? I can’t believe you just don’t call me to bring you whatever you want. Should you even be driving?”
“I’m fine. The doc says the baby will be here in two weeks. I’m taking him at his word. Alex and I tried for so long. We never thought it would happen. Now that it has, I’m terrified I’ll be a shitty mom.”
“You will not. You’ve been blessed with this baby. I’ve seen you with Chloe’s girls, you’re great with them. It’s just new mother nerves.”
“Probably. Thank you. You’re a blessing and so is this bakery. I don’t know what I would have done to satisfy my cravings without you. Alex tells everyone I’m not really pregnant just stockpiling eclairs.” Lily giggled and rubbed her protruding baby belly.
Rori laughed too. Alex and Lily had been through their own hell and back. They deserved to have some happy now. “I don’t think that’s possible. Maybe you should ask him if he’s going to give birth to a croissant.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“Do you want your usual?”
“Umm, maybe make it four eclairs today…”
Rori turned back to give Lily a look with the open bakery box in her hand. “Four? Maybe I should make it a half dozen just in case?”
Lily’s cheeks turned a little pink, but she nodded with a sigh. “Am I that bad?”
“No, you’re pregnant. I was only teasing. But it is the first time you said four.”
“I know. But they’re so fucking good. I could probably eat a dozen.”
“I bet once you have the baby you’ll never eat an éclair again.”
“Oh, I’ll take that bet. No way am I giving these suckers up.”
“We’ll see. Did you want anything for Alex?”
“Yeah, two croissants for him, and a few of the macarons for Chloe. She’s coming over to help me finish putting together the baby’s room.”
“Sounds like a wonderful morning.”
“It would be better with coffee. It’s the one thing that has been fucking killing me. Chloe said it doesn’t taste good when you’re pregnant. I think she’s telling me that to make me feel better. How the fuck could coffee not taste good?”
“I threw in a couple of extra eclairs for later,” Rori said with a wink as she handed over the little pink cardboard box tied with a black bow. Pink and black were the signature colors of Prince’s. It reminded her of the happier times in Paris, and she needed to hold on to those otherwise it was all just blood and death. It would be too easy to let that night turn her into a bitter person, but her parents and Jim wouldn’t have wanted that.
