Chapter 1

Gemma had a great life living in Malta. Big, loving family, lots of friends to meet for drinks after work, and of course a beautiful place to live. Gorgeous smooth brunette hair framed her pretty face and bright eyes. 135 pounds of pleasant curves that loved to have fun and joke around.

So it came as a surprise one day when her grandmother pulled her aside and told her of her plans. "Gemma, I need to retire. Youre my oldest granddaughter and you are so smart. I'd like for you to take over the bakery."

The bakery? The bakery her grandmother poured her heart and soul into, the business that had sustained their family through thick and thin, the community's daily bread.

"Wow, grandma, really? I mean, I know a little how you run things, but theres so much I dont know."

"Dont worry, Gemma, in time I'll teach you everything! What do you say? Quit your waitressing job and take over for me!" Gemma didnt have to think long about it. She much preferred being in the warm, cozy bakery than the noisy restaurant filled with pesky, demanding tourists.

"It would be an honor, grandma."

After talking it over with the rest of the family and giving no notice to the restaurant, 23 year old Gemma became a bakers apprentice. She started as soon as she could the next day. She pulled back her long hair into a bun like her grandma, and started learning from the beginning how to make the crusty sourdough so well known to every Maltese.

They started at 3 in the morning. How to keep the sourdough yeast alive and happy, how to measure the ingredients swiftly by weight, how to operate the giant mixers until the dough was perfection, and how to shape the dough into round attractive loaves for baking. Her grandmother didn't let her screw up even once, but patiently redirected every close call for chaos. Her first batch turned out perfectly, except for one loaf that got smashed coming out of the oven.

"Ah, well," her grandmother said. "That one is for tasting." They had baked all those loaves in time to open by 9am. While an assistant tended to customers, Gemma took a break with her little smashed loaf of bread. After all that work and finally sitting down, she was suddenly starving! With a plate of olive oil, she sat down and began tearing into her bread. Dipping a hunk into the oil, she crunched the bread between her teeth. She opened her phone to see a text from her pal, Andre.

"How goes your first day 💛 ??"

"So good! Having my first loaf now, and it's perfect!" She sent a picture.

"Haha, where did the other half go?"

"Haha... it got smashed... plus I need some fuel for the rest of today!" They joked back and forth while she happily munched away until before she knew it, she was down to her last hunk of bread. Her eyes widened a little when she realized she had eaten an entire loaf. She chose not to tell Andre that fact.

"Well, I gotta get back. See u after work?"

"Sounds good! Bring me something you made!!"

She grabbed the last hunk, mopped up the last of the oil, and after a sigh and pat on her belly, rejoined her grandmother for a lesson in making Maltese cakes, honey rings, and canollis.