Theo grumbled as he unlocked the back door of the shop. Black umbrella, long black coat with the collar up, sunglasses, and a hat helped him deflect the last few rays of daylight so that he could safely reach the store in time for the reporter's call.
One of these days he's going to get the cops called on him, but that would be a bridge to cross when he came to it.
Stepping into the back room of the bakery, Theo locked the door behind him and headed for the office. Taking his first steps through the kitchen, a loud clang caught him off guard.
"What was that?" Theo asked, raising his voice for anyone in the bakery to hear him.
"Sorry!" A light voice called from under the counter. A head of straight brown hair and a smear of freckled popped up and gave Theo a sheepish smile.
"Bea," Theo said, composing himself again. "It's alright, just a little startled. What are you doing down there anyway?"
"Well..." Bea ducked down again and pulled up an armful of specialty baking pans, setting them on the counter in a clanking heap. "I was looking for a pan to make Miss Maggie's Madeleines."
"I'm afraid I am unfamiliar," Theo said, removing his hat, glasses, and coat as he spoke, hanging them on the hook just inside his office door.
Beatrice began sorting the pile of pans on the counter, spreading them all out to have a better look.
"Miss Maggie was Grandpa's neighbor growing up, and Madeleines are little cakes baked in a pan to make them look like, well, they look like seashells to me but I suppose I should be calling them little flueted cakes." She finishes sorting the pans and frowned, not finding the one she wanted. "Miss Maggie made the best, or so I'm told. Her recipe holds up at least."
"And you need a special pan for the design?" Theo asked.
"Right. And maybe some cute sauce containers. I thought I'd make them with a chocolate ganache for dipping." Bea blushed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Hm, maybe I didn't buy a Madeline pan," Theo said. "But I thought I bought one of everything the store had."
"I'll keep looking," Bea said, opening a new cabinet. "I still don't know where exactly every item is yet, but I'll get the hang of it."
The phone began to ring, and Theo's expression fell.
"Drat." Theo waved a hand and stepped inside his office. "Feel free to rearrange any of the supplies, it's your kitchen, after all. Miss head baker."
His only reply was the rattling of more pans.
Theo sat at his wooden desk in his leather chair, sighing at the ringing phone as he picked it up.
"Danton Bakery, this is Theo Danton," he answered.
"Mr. Danton, I'm so glad I caught you." The familiar voice of the reporter from yesterday came through the line clearly, hushed office sounds murmuring in the background.
"Of course, of course," Theo obliged, trying not to sound too bored already. "Beatrice was kind enough to speak to you on my behalf yesterday, I do apologize that I was otherwise occupied. She did make me aware of your call today though."
"Completely understandable Mr. Danton," the reporter said. "If I can just ask a few more questions to finish my article, it should be in the paper soon."
"Certainly, what can I do for you?" Theo glanced out the open office door, smiling as he watched Bea try another cabinet, growing flustered when it opened to boxes of paper supplies and not baking pans.
"What inspired you to open a bakery?" he asked.
Human blood, Theo thought.
"Sweets are a reason in their own right, are they not?" Theo asked. "They make me happy, and they make other people happy. What better use of my time than that?"
The reporter chuckled. "Well put, Mr. Danton. Well put. I noticed the signs yesterday about the blood donations in exchange for baked goods," the reporter said. "Do you feel you can make a significant increase in the current blood shortage? And a follow up question, do you think such a new business will have a difficult time giving away goods and still managing to turn a profit to stay open?"
Right. The blood shortage.
"We can only hope to have takers for the blood donation deal," Theo said. "I understand the unorthodox nature of it, but plain and simple it's an exchange of goods. Baked items for one donated unit of blood. No strings attached, and we feel that any profit loss on our end will be made up by the sales of our head baker's extraordinary creations. Whether we can make any dent in the blood shortage, only time will tell."
"One more question, Mr. Danton," the reporter said. "I have your full name for print, but what is the full name of your baker?"
"My baker's name?" Theo asked. "Of course, it's-"
Crash! An explosion of metal hitting metal rained down from a cabinet over Beatrice, she squealed as the pans fell around her.
"Mr. Danton? What was that, is everything okay?"
"I'm afraid I need to go, there has been a minor incident. Good day, sir, and we look forward to the article."
Theo hung the phone back on the receiver and rushed to the doorway of his office.
"Beatrice! Are you alright?"
Crouched on the ground with her arms over her head and her eyes shut tight, Bea gently peeled back an eyelid and looked at Theo.
"I think so," she said.
Theo walked over to help her stand up again. "Maybe I should get you a step stool."
"I didn't think I was that short." Bea laughed nervously. "Maybe this place was built for giants."
A knock on the back door distracted them both.
"I'll get it," Theo said.
"I should clean this up," Bea said, looking at the mess around her.
Theo walked to the door, pulling it open to find Mason. The last rays of sunlight had disappeared, and Mason was perfectly unharmed standing behind the bakery.
"Evening, Theo," Mason said, stepping through the doorway. "So, how did we do yesterday?"
Theo closed the door behind Mason and the pair of vampires walked through the kitchen and toward the office.
"Evenin' there, Bea," Mason nodded to the baker.
"Hello, Mason," Bea answered, still collecting pans.
"I've got the totals here." Theo sat at his desk, waking up his computer and typing in his password.
"Good lord, you type like that?" Mason asked, watching Theo's slow progress across the keyboard using only his two index fingers.
Theo scowled. "They didn't have these when..." he looked out of the office door to the human baker. "When I was a kid."
Mason laughed, covering it by turning it into a cough. "Right. Well, you'd better take a class or something, 'cause these aren't going away."
Theo sighed. "I know, just get over here and take a look."
Mason walked behind the desk, looking over Theo's shoulder at the spreadsheet and whistling.
"We're not in the black yet, by any means, but it's a much better start than I could have predicted," Theo said.
"I'd say a lot of it had to do with my sparkling personality yesterday," Mason said.
"Or the free samples," Theo muttered.
Mason rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, the free samples."
Mason stood back, crossing his arms over his chest and looking pointedly at Theo. "Now, here's the real question. How much blood?"
Theo's face darkened. "None."
"Aw, cheer up," Mason said, patting Theo on the back. "It's a strange concept for sure, but maybe it just needs time. Any ideas how to promote it?"
A knock at the back door had both vampires turning their heads. "Sounds like the gang's all here. I'll get it."
Theo sighed, looking down at his computer screen again. From a business standpoint it was a good first day, but he couldn't forget the purpose for which he opened this in the first place.
A moment later, Mason walked in with Edith in tow. A cigarette between two of the old nurse's fingers and a folded up newspaper tucked under her arm.
"Er, Edith," Theo said. "I don't think we can have lit cigarettes in the bakery."
Edith sighed, taking a long drag to finish it off and turning around to flick the butt in the sink. "Spoil sport."
Theo's fingers made their way to his aching temples as his tired eyes flicked to Mason, who shrugged.
"Kids, can't tell 'em anything," Mason said.
Edith ignored her great uncle and flipped open her newspaper, licking her thumb to turn the first page.
"Let's just get back to your question," Theo sighed. "How to advertise the blood donations."
"Have you done anything besides the signs in the store?" Mason asked.
"No, but that reporter from yesterday called. He's running an article on the bakery and he did ask about that. Hopefully that draws interest," Theo answered.
"Have you thought about a blood drive?" Edith asked, still reading her paper.
"Advertise a blood drive day?" Theo asked. "That could work, I suppose."
"Or you could tag yourself onto an existing drive," Mason added. "Let someone else do all the hard work, that's what I say."
"How would we do that?" Theo asked. "Then none of the blood would come our way."
"Mason has a point, actually," Edith said, actually looking up from her paper this time. "I could contact the gals down at the blood bank and see if they have any events coming up. They usually have snacks for donors and I bet they'd be glad to accept cookies from the bakery."
"So we just give them cookies?" Theo asked. "How does that help?"
Edith rolled her eyes. "Put a sticker on the cookie wrapper. The name of the bakery and a few words about how we take donations for free goodies."
"Oh, yeah," Mason said. "That could work."
"It's worth a shot," Theo said. "Edith, can you find out if there are any events we can do that with?"
"I'm on it, boss," she said, eyes already back down on her paper.
"We'll have to order stickers," Theo said. "I can call the printer who did our takeout boxes."
"Let's see if Bea is up for making them on top of her baking duties here," Mason said.
"Right, good idea," Theo said, standing from his desk. The three of them walked into the kitchen and Edith veered for a table where she could sit and read her paper.
"Shoot, it's opening time," Theo said. "The sun is down."
"I'll get it," Mason said, jogging to the front door.
"Thank you, Mason," Theo said, turning to the back of the building where Bea was in the kitchen. A buttery scent filled the air and Bea was pulling a batch of tarts from one of the ovens.
"It smells wonderful back here," Theo said.
Bea looked up from her tray, wiping her hands on her apron with a smile. "I found the pan! The madeleines are in the oven as we speak."
"Great job," Theo said, looking to the nearly filed case at the counter nearby. "I still can't believe how quick you are with all this."
Bea laughed. "What can I say, baking is in my blood."
Theo cleared his throat. "Right, right. So, Mason, Edith, and I were talking. Do you think you would be up for making an extra large batch of cookies to hand out at a blood drive? You wouldn't be required to be there, just to make them. A promotion, of sorts."
Beatrice looked thoughtful for a moment." Yes, no problem. I'll make the dough the night before and freeze it, I've got the perfect recipe. When is the drive?"
"We're finding that out," Theo said, turning to see Edith reading her paper. "Er, soon. I'll let you know when we find out. Soon. I hope."
Bea nodded, and then the beeping of a timer went off.
"My madeleines!" She went to the oven in question and pulled the door open, the buttery scent filled the kitchen, a hint of lemon mixing with the sweet aroma.
Theo watched as Bea cooled them and popped them out of the pan, one by one. The did look like little seashells.
The bell over the door chimed, signaling a customer.
"Hello there, beautiful, what can we get you?" Mason's distinct voice could be heard from the front.
Theo groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I had better go handle that, before Mason says the wrong thing to a customer. Again."
Bea giggled. "Good luck with that."
Theo glanced once more at the golden madeleines on the cooling rack and thought about the blood drive.
Maybe this could still work after all. With a little faith, and the right baker.
Miss Maggie's Madeleines
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup butter
Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Butter and flour the madeleine molds and set aside.
Heat butter until just melted and bring it off the heat. Beat eggs, vanilla, and salt at high speed (if using mixer) until light and fluffy. While still beating, gradually add sugar until mix is thick and pale and ribbons form from the beaters when lifted from the bowl.
Sift flour into mixture 1/3 at a time, folding as you go. Fold in the lemon zest and add the butter to the edges of the mixing bowl, folding quickly to incorporate. Spoon the finished batter into the molds. Makes roughly 12 madeleines.
Bake 14-17 minutes or until cakes are golden and springy. Loosen the madeleines with a knife and cool them with fluted side up, dusting with sugar while still warm.