Hope in Bellingham

2018

Hope in Bellingham

Hi, my name is Anna Edwards. Most people call me “A”, and I’m 29 years old. I own my father’s bakery. My father passed away when I was in high school. He was a single father. My mother passed away in a car accident, when I was five years old. It’s been pretty rough here lately, without my parents. I really need them at times like this. I also have a sister, her name is Sadie. Sadie is five years younger than me. She lives in North Carolina with her own family. She decided to move away and start a new life after our father passed. I hardly see her anymore, but we do keep in touch. I took over my father’s bakery, “Johnny’s Bakery.” Back in my father’s day, it was the most popular bakery in Bellingham. Here recently it’s slowly been going down. I have tried my best to make the best out of the bakery. I’m nearly broke, because of how much money I have put into this bakery. So my life has slowly been going down hill.

Today was a just a normal day for me. I woke up and got ready for work at the bakery. I left my apartment. I arrived to the bakery and it was just like any other day. We were running a little slow, and the same regular people come in everyday. But today something was different, we had a new customer. A tall man walked in, he was wearing a suit and tie. He was a sharp man, he had brown slick backed hair, and was wearing sunglasses. He walked near me and asked for a coffee. I immediately went to make his coffee for him. I wanted to make it perfect. I gave him his coffee, and he asked for my name. “My name is Matthew. What’s your name?” I responded with “My name is Anna, nice to meet you.” He took a drink of his coffee, and had a disgusted look on his face. He started to cough. “I’m sorry, is it bad?” I asked. “No, no it’s fantastic.” He replied. I think he was just saying that to make me feel better. I was so embarrassed, usually I get a lot of compliments on my coffee in the mornings. “Well it was nice meeting you.” Matthew said as he walked away. The rest of the day went on, and I finally closed the bakery. I made it back to my apartment, and realized how lonely I was. I was so unhappy, I had no family around here whatsoever.

The next day, I went into work. I had actually put on makeup today just incase maybe Matthew decided to come back for my horrible coffee. A few customers had come and gone. Then finally, I couldn’t believe it. Matthew walked into the bakery. He took his sunglasses off, and gave me a little smirk. “Oh your back.” I said. He smiled and ordered a croissant. “You know this may be my new favorite spot.” As he was smirking. “Yeah, well not for very much longer.” I replied, with a disappointed look. “Oh well, why is that?” He looked concerned. “This was my father’s bakery, and I took over. And it’s slowly been going down, it’s not the same without him here.” I looked down, and tears started to fill up in my eyes. I was trying so hard to hold them back. He looked at me, and said “Is there anything I can do to help? Really I would love to help.” I gave him a forced smile and said “No, it’s okay. I can handle it, but thank you.” He looked at his watch, and then looked at me. “Well I better get to work, I’m going to be late. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I responded “Bye Matthew.” He walked out of the door. The day went by very slowly. I closed down the bakery, and locked up. I got in my car, and the roads were icy from the rain earlier during the day. I started my car not knowing my life would soon be at a sudden and critical change. I started to drive down the road. It was very difficult to see. I remember seeing was a snow removal truck. The truck lost control and swerved into my lane. I tried to swerve and overcorrected. Flipping my car several times, I don’t remember much after that.

I was in a coma for a week, I remember waking up and seeing my sister. My sister came from North Carolina immediately after she heard about what happened. She frantically told the nurse I was awake. “Hi, Anna how are you feeling?” I couldn’t put into words how I was feeling. She reached over and gave me a hug. “Oh, I’ve missed you Anna.” She said as tears came down her face. And then someone else knocked on the door. I couldn’t believe it. It was Matthew, he came walking through the door. Matthew had flowers in his hand. I was actually so excited to see him. “Hello, how are you doing?” Matthew said. I replied, “I’m feeling okay. I got some broken bones, but other than that I think I’m fine. My sister chimed in and said “You know you were in a coma for a week, Anna.” My eyes widened, I was shocked to hear that. I had no clue, and I was just ready to get back to the bakery. So as I layed there, we talked. Matthew said “Sadie, can I speak with you for a minute outside.” They walked out of the room, leaving the door cracked. I could make out some of the words they were saying. I could hear Matthew talking. “I can take care of her that’s not problem. You have your family to take care of back home. I can handle it I promise, Sadie.” So they talked a good thirty minutes. They both came back into the room. “Okay A, Matthew is going to look after you for a little while until you get better.” At first I was upset my sister was leaving me here with him, but then I realized how much he genuinely cares. He insisted on taking after me. He took time out of his day to come see me, that is huge. My sister and I said our goodbyes to each other. She left and then it was just Matthew and I. We both got to know each other some more, we talked about ourselves all night.

The next day, the doctor had came in, and updated us on everything that was going on. They told me I would be able to check out in about a week. All was well, I just have a few broken bones. “Okay, Anna I am going to run a few errands. I’ll be back in a few.” Matthew told me. “Okay, I’ll see you soon.” I replied. “Oh, can I use the bakery keys.” He asked. I had a confused look on my face. “Sure, can I ask why?” I said. “Don’t worry it’s a surprise, I promise.” He walked out, and I couldn’t help but to wonder what he was going to do. I’m not going to lie, I was nervous and anxious to see what he had up his sleeve. For the next week he stopped by the bakery everyday. The doctors decided to push back when they were going to release me. I was confused on why he insisted on stopping by the bakery. Maybe he opened it everyday? Matthew finally made it back from the bakery. We talked for awhile, and then crashed.

It’s already been a month already. Matthew and I were patiently sitting in the hospital room, waiting for some news. The doctor finally walked in. “I’ve got great news for you.” The doctor said. I sat up in my bed. “You are released to go home, everything is looking good.” And then he went on about how to take care of myself, with all the broken bones. Matthew and I were so ready to get out of here. I checked out and gathered all my things. Matthew took me home, and he immediately started to take care of me. “I’ll stay with you for awhile, until you get better.” We watched Christmas movies and drank hot chocolate. Bonding with him made me feel so much better. I love spending time with him. It was late so we both crashed on the couch.

The next morning, I woke up and Matthew wasn’t there. I got up to see where he was. “Matthew?” I got no response. So I walked in the kitchen to make some coffee. And there he was looking so good. He was cooking me breakfast. “Oh Matthew, you didn’t have to do all this.” As I was smiling so hard. So we ate breakfast, and all was well. I thought to myself “Wow, I’m falling for this man.”

Later, while sitting on the couch Matthew leaned over, and kissed my forehead. “I have a surprise for you.” Matthew said. “What is it?” I responded. “I’ll show you, come on.” So he grabbed a blindfold, and walked me out to the car. “What is this Matthew?” I said in concern. “Your going to love it.” He said excitedly. The car finally stopped, and he got out of the car. He came over to my door and opened it for me. I stood up, and he slowly started walking me towards the big surprise. “Ok, take off the blindfold A.” I took the blindfold off, and my heart instantly dropped. I was speechless. It was my father’s bakery, he remodeled it. It had everything new. He truly was a blessing sent from God. We went inside to check it out, and it was breathtaking. I loved it.

After that, we spent the day there. And the business was already even better than it was before. I was so thankful. Finally, my father’s bakery was back on top. Matthew and I were doing life together, and it felt so right. He truly is a blessing, and the love of my life.