A Sugar Summer

Chapter 31

Callie awoke with a bundle of nerves sitting on her stomach. Her excitement for everyone to arrive kept her from falling back asleep even though the sun was barely above the horizon. With a groan, Callie tossed an arm over her eyes and prayed the time would pass quickly.

A muffled clatter downstairs alerted Callie to someone else's presence and seeing as she was too wound up to get any more rest, she bounced off her bed and pattered out of her room. She stretched her arms over her head as she wandered into the kitchen where her grandmother was already fluttering around. Her eyes glanced at the clock to see the glowing green numbers in the dim room. It was just after six thirty in the morning. 

"Grams? It's early." Callie released around a yawn.

"Did I wake you? The pan slipped from my hand." Grams spared her granddaughter a sheepish smile. The woman's excitement for guests seemed to be uncontainable too.

"I was up." Callie waved her concern away as she glanced over what the woman was up to. The kitchen island was cluttered with their large jars designated for flour and sugar, a smaller jar of baking powder and salt, a few sticks of butter, a carton of milk and a tray of eggs.

"Pancakes?" Callie guessed as she walked over to the faucet to wash her hands and get to helping. Grams gave her a hum of confirmation as she plucked a large mixing bowl from a bottom cupboard. Listening to the birds wake with the day outside their kitchen window, the two set to measuring and mixing the ingredients together.

"I think your family needs to go into the candle business." Callie's attention was stolen from the heaping plate of pancakes she was flipping the newest batch onto, to the movement in the hallway. Beck walked in, scratching the back of his head and smiling sleepily at his curly haired girlfriend clad in an apron with some flour dusted across her nose. He approached her after she set the pan back on the stove, raising a gentle finger to brush away the powdered grain from her face.

"Good morning Beck. Sleep alright?" Grams smiled warmly over at him as she finished cutting up some fresh watermelon slices.

"Yes Beth. Thanks." Beck returned a genuine smile before leaning own to quickly peck Callie's hair.

"What's this about candles?" Callie cast him an amused grin as she poured out the last of the batter onto the pan and waited by the stove for it to start bubbling around the edges.

"Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking how nice it is to wake up to the smell of breakfast food. You and Beth should see if you can somehow bottle or recreate what comes out of your kitchen so those not blessed with amazing food skills can still enjoy these aromas." Beck half collapsed into one of the dining room chairs. Over the past two weeks, Callie found it extremely amusing to witness the sleepy, very relaxed side of Beck. While he was still tired, Callie heard him talk more around this time compared to the rest of the day.

"So we should make candles then?" Grams entered the amusing, imaginative conversation. Beck nodded, not taking his eyes off of Callie's back as she flipped the pancakes.

"People wouldn't fall asleep with lit candles though, so how are they going to wake up to the smells?" Callie threw out the flaw in Beck's latest idea.

He stayed quiet as he thought to himself and Callie smirked wider as she watched him try to solve the problem with a groggy mind. She swayed back to the table and tossed the last of pancakes onto the steaming pile in the middle of the table before abandoning the pan on the cooler side of the stove. She fixed up her grandmother's tea the way she liked it, Beck's coffee, and poured herself a glass of juice before settling down at the table just as Grams passed out the plates.

"Then we should make one of those automatic scent sprayer things. Except, it's not motion that sets the freshener off. It would be like an alarm clock. Set it for just before you wake up, and poof. Awake to the nice, home cooked breakfast scent." Beck nodded to himself in accomplishment at having solved the dilemma.