Chapter Twelve

Sarah's phone made a muffled DING sound to let her know that she had an email or text and she set down the Lemon-Lavender batter she was working on to pick it up. It was an email from Children Everywhere Inc. and the subject line read: Status change. Sarah was afraid to look. A few weeks ago, she had signed up to be notified of any news pertaining to Bao and Mulu Alem, but this was the first email she'd received.
"We are happy to share news of Mulu Alem. A couple in Toronto have just passed the preliminary stages of our investigation and are on their way to Ethiopia to meet the young boy they hope to include in their growing family. Another happy ending in the making for Children Everywhere!"

Sarah's stomach turned and she realized that she had that queazy feeling in her gut that always signaled a crying jag. "Shit" she thought, I am a crazy single lady loon who falls in love with a kid on the internet and imagines that I could be his mother. The only saving grace, she realized, was that she had not yet shared any of this news with Miriam. For the millionth time in her life, Sarah acknowledged that she had a serious and embarrassing medical condition called "Premature Sharing." She made a mental note to hold onto the private details of her life until they were no longer tenuous. Whether good news or bad, Sarah had a tendency to over-share and share too soon. She had discussed this often with Dr. Lingstrom, and Dr. L's theory was that it was a direct reaction to Miriam's policy of "Necessary Honesty." Since Sarah's mother shared only the information that she absolutely had to share, and even then she shared as few details as possible, Sarah had become a woman who had very few secrets.

In a few hours, Sarah would go to the computer and look at Mulu Alem's sweet face and bid him farewell and a safe journey towards his new life. She would send good thoughts out into the universe to      safeguard and protect the child who, she imagined, could have been her son. In the meantime, after a short break letting her tears fall into a cup of peppermint tea, she did what she always did to calm herself down, she resumed her baking.

Happily, discovering new combinations of ingredients for cupcakes had never lost its appeal for Sarah. She still often woke up having dreamt of a new combo in her sleep. Last night's dreams were filled with lavender fields and lemons. After an early morning trip to the local farmer's market, she began experimenting. After she got the first batch in the oven, the delicate scents of lavender and lemon permeated the air. When the doorbell rang, Sarah knew exactly who it was. Her next door neighbor always stopped by on his way to work in the morning on the days Sarah was road-testing new ingredients. He had a bloodhound's nose when it came to sweets.

"Hey Brad. As always, your nose has impeccable taste."

"Don't tell me. Definitely lemon. Lemon- Basil?"

"Close ....but no cigar. Lemon-Lavender. Aren't you late for work? Another hot date last night?"

"Nope. You'll be happy to hear that I've actually been up and productive for hours. Early conference call and I'm starving. Is it lunchtime yet?"

"This must be the part of the conversation where I invite you in to sample my wares."

"Said the spider to the fly."

Sarah laughed and motioned for Brad to sit down at the kitchen table. "You are so much more spidery than I am!"

"Spidery? Should we add that to the contemporary lexicon like sexting and bromance?"

"Speaking of bromances, how is that cute friend of yours, Steven, doing?"

"And once again you have wounded my fragile male ego. I stupidly introduce you to my perfect friend Steven and you become infatuated with him and I become the proverbial chopped liver."

"Funny. Your Jewish is showing. And, for the record, I am actually not infatuated with Steven. I tend to prefer my men more flawed, fragile egos and all."

And so the usual mildly flirtatious banter was off and running. Sarah forgot how much she missed this fun and frivolous distraction. Brad was not someone she would ever be attracted to romantically, but since she'd gotten to know him as her charmingly goofy and always hungry neighbor, he had grown on her. Nevertheless, she was always glad that she was his friend rather than his lover because he went through those incredibly quickly. In fact, she loved to tease him about his "playboy tendencies."

Brad had actually been married for about fifteen years to a woman named Lizette. Her real name was Elizabeth but she changed it to Lizette after college when she got a job as an intern at a famous fashion maagazine. That story always amused Sarah. She thought that information alone should have been a red flag for Brad, but men think with their eyes ( and other--lower- organs) and not their brains where romance is concerned. Sarah had never met Lizette but she'd seen photos of her and she was the kind of woman who made other women feel like they needed a diet and a makeover. Preferably yesterday. Sarah loved to tease Brad that his taste in women showed  a serious lack of imagination. His usual retort was that at least he was playing the game unlike Sarah who sat watching it from the sidelines. There was too much truth in that to make it seem funny.

Sarah actually enjoyed Brad's company, but he was also an uncannily talented taste-tester. Without fail, if Brad gave a new recipe the thumbs up, it became a top seller at Sarah's Sweet Cakes. Even when the combination of flavors seemed too odd or sophisticated to appeal to the average cupcake eater, if Brad raved about it, it sold. He called her the "Cupcake Whisperer," and she returned the compliment by calling him her "Taste Bud Buddy."

"I'm betting that these overtake Cinnamon Extreme Cream as your number three top seller."

"Seriously? That would surprise me but you are never wrong."

"Could I get that in writing?"

"Let me be more specific. You are never wrong about cupcakes!"

"Someday, you will learn to appreciate me for more than my taste buds. In the meantime, I will just feel tawdry and used."

"Get out of here so we can both get something done today!"

"Ok Miss Subtlety, I'm out of here." Brad was almost out the door when he paused and turned around.
"Are you still a Josh Groban fan?"

"Do you really need to ask. His cds play so much at the shop that customers  ask me if I own any other music!"

"Look, this is not a date, but someone at work gave me two tickets to his concert next week and I cannot honestly think of anyone who would enjoy it more than you."

Sarah ran up and gave Brad a giant hug.

"And I take it thats a yes?"

"Yes! Yes, yes yes! Is it at the Pembrook Outdoor Theater?"

"I think it is."

"Great! Then I'll be in charge of a picnic dinner."

"Perfect. Can we have lemon-lavender cupcakes for dessert?"

"Your wish is my command."

"Be careful. Be very careful. I watched way too many reruns of  'I Dream of Jeannie.' "

Sarah smiled and pushed him out the door. "Life is strange," she thought. "I woke up dreaming of lavender and lemon, got an email that ended my wishful thoughts of a little boy in Ethiopia and ended up with a not-a-date with Brad to see dreamy Josh Groban. Life is a dream!"