The Bakery

When Amy Cobalt walked into the kitchen of the bakery she worked at on Thursday morning, she was surprised to find herself face-to-face with a three-foot-tall garden gnome.

The gnome, who’d been placed on one of the counters, wore brown pants tucked into a pair of black boots with gold buckles, a teal shirt, and a red pointy hat. His small black eyes crinkled from the everlasting smile peeking out between his white beard and mustache. He rested his hands on his belly, the fingers laced together.

Amy assumed her boss Lila had left him there, though a garden gnome didn’t really seem like her style. Lila wasn’t particularly fond of kitsch, and the gnome felt out of place at a bakery whose aesthetic was all clean lines and muted colors.

Unsure of what to do with him, Amy took a photo of the gnome and texted it to Lila.

Cute, she wrote. Where do you want me to put him?

Amy hoped Lila would see the text before her staycation officially began. Needing some time off, Lila had left Amy in charge of the bakery, making it clear that she wouldn’t be reachable for the next week, unless it was an absolute emergency.

For now, Amy decided to leave Norman in the kitchen. He could keep her company until her coworker Charlotte arrived to work the front counter.

“Who’s this?” Charlotte asked when got there and spotted the gnome.

“No idea, he was here when I opened this morning,” Amy said, pulling a chocolate pecan pie from one of the ovens and replacing it with a cherry lattice. “I figured Lila left him.”

“He’s so cute!” Charlotte pulled out her phone and took a selfie with him. “We should put him out on the sidewalk with the sandwich board.”

Amy wasn’t so sure, voicing her reserve about him not really matching the shop, but Charlotte insisted.

“If he starts scaring away the customers we’ll bring him back in,” she said in a tone that suggested she couldn’t imagine anyone being scared by the gnome.

It turned out Charlotte was right. In fact, the gnome was a bit of a hit; several people stopped to take photos with him on their way in and out of the shop.

“See?” Charlotte said with a grin, after a third customer gushed about how adorable the gnome was. “People love him.”

Worried he would get stolen, Charlotte brought the gnome back inside before the end of the day, setting him in a corner near the door.

“Are you okay to lock up?” Amy asked Charlotte, who nodded with a salute.

***

The next morning, Amy saw that Charlotte had moved the gnome back into the kitchen. This time he was standing at the kitchen island, where several dozen cookies had been laid out on cooling racks.

Amy raised an eyebrow, wondering how late Charlotte had stayed the night before. She took a bite of one of the cookies; it was oatmeal chocolate chip walnut and possibly one of the best cookies Amy had ever tasted. She texted Charlotte, These cookies are so good!! adding an emoji of a little drooling face.

After stocking some of the cookies into the front counter display, Amy brought the gnome outside and set him next to the sandwich board, adding the day’s specials — including Charlotte’s cookies — to it.

Not long after, Freddy, who worked at the bakery alternate days as Charlotte, arrived.

“What’s with the gnome?” he asked, pulling on his apron.

“Lila left him here before her trip,” Amy replied. “Charlotte decided he should welcome in the customers.”

“Huh,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Doesn’t really seem like her thing.”

“That’s what I thought,” Amy said with a shrug. She handed him a cookie. “Try that.”

Freddy did as he was told, his eyes lighting up. “Wow, did you make these?”

“No, Charlotte did,” Amy said. “Last night, after closing.”

“Really?” Freddy sounded even more surprised than he did about the gnome. “Guess she’s been practicing.”

***

The following morning, Amy was late to the bakery, where Charlotte was waiting for her to unlock the front door. Once inside, they found the gnome in the kitchen, this time standing next to several pies topped with a very tasty-looking crumble.

“I guess Freddy was feeling inspired,” Amy mused.

Before Charlotte could ask what she meant, the bell above the door jingled, alerting them to their first customer of the day.

“Great, that’s the guy who ordered the birthday cake,” Charlotte said. “He’s an hour early. How fast can you frost?”

Charlotte went to deal with the customer while Amy speed-frosted the fortunately simple cake.

After sending the customer on his way, Amy cut a slice from one of the pies Freddy had left out. She examined the filling before taking a bite. She’d correctly guessed it was apple and pear, but she wasn’t expecting cheddar cheese in the crust.

She cut another slice and handed it to Charlotte before bringing the gnome outside once again and adding the pie to the specials board.

***

Each morning for the next few days, when Amy arrived at the bakery, she was greeted by a new treat waiting on the kitchen island, where the gnome always stood as if presenting them. On Sunday it was maple blondies with bacon crumbles; on Monday, tiramisu macarons; on Tuesday, raspberry crumble bars.

Amy didn’t know what had gotten into Charlotte and Freddy, but she wasn’t complaining, and the customers certainly weren’t. They sold out of each of these new concoctions each day and had already gotten DMs on Instagram asking when they’d be restocking.

***

On Wednesday, while Amy and Charlotte were each having one of the vanilla cupcakes with strawberry basil buttercream frosting they’d found that morning, Freddy stopped into the shop.

“My class got canceled,” he explained. “Did we sell all those raspberry bars yesterday?”

“Yep,” Amy said, then nodded at Charlotte. “Maybe this one can make some more.”

Looking mystified, Charlotte opened her mouth to say something, but Freddy said, “Can I get one of those then? They look really good.”

He was looking at the cupcake in Amy’s hand.

She laughed and said, “I mean, you’d know, right?”

Freddy stared at her, clearly not knowing.

“Because you made them?”

“The cupcakes?” Freddy asked, baffled. “I didn’t make those.”

“Okay…” Amy said. She didn’t get the joke at all. “Just like you didn’t make the macarons or those pies.”

“Well, yeah,” Freddy said. “I didn’t make those.”

Amy looked questioningly at Charlotte, who put up her hands.

“Don’t look at me,” she said. “I didn’t make those raspberry bars, either.” She looked as though she just remembered something. “Oh, is that why you texted me about cookies the other day?”

“This is a joke, right?” Amy asked, her voice rising. “You guys are messing with me?”

They both just looked at her.

“Have either of you made anything in the past week?” she asked. They exchanged nervous glances and shook their heads.

The bell over the door rang just then. Amy looked over to see Lila approaching them.

“Hello,” Lila said in a singsongy voice, and before anyone could respond, asked, “Question — why is there a creepy-ass gnome sitting outside the shop?”

Amy frowned, wondering what the hell was going on. “If you think he’s so creepy why’d you leave him here?”

“What are you talking about?” Lila sounded confused. “I didn’t bring that thing here.”

“What are you talking about?” Amy asked, just as confused. “He was sitting in the kitchen when I got here Monday morning.”

“Yeah, I’m not really a gnome person,” Lila said. She looked at Charlotte and Freddy. “Did one of you bring it?”

“No,” they said in unison.

Amy felt like she was losing her mind. Was this some big prank Lila, Charlotte, and Freddy were all in on?

“Okay, so if none of you brought the gnome and none of you made all that stuff, who the hell did?”

“Um,” Charlotte said suddenly, staring at the front window. “Was that gnome always winking? And waving?”

Amy and the others followed Charlotte’s gaze. The gnome, which had been facing the street, and who’d always had both eyes wide open and hands clasped together, was now indeed winking motionlessly at them through the window, one arm raised in an unmoving wave.