by Robyn Neeley
Brandon’s phone rang and he let go of her hand way too soon. “This could be the painters.” He grabbed his phone and headed into the living room.
Seconds later, Abby could hear him welcoming whomever it was home. Her hand flew to her mouth. Oh, God. What if it was Jason? She wasn’t ready to fess up to Brandon’s best friend about what she’d done. Not when she and Brandon were starting to really connect.
Or were they? His suggesting they take things up a notch had surprised her, but then he’d shared his reasoning—to make her baby’s father jealous. Was that really his main motivation, or was he feeling the same spark that currently pulsed through her?
She turned on the faucet again and squirted some dish soap onto her plate, deciding to wash the dishes. It was the least she could do after he’d made such a scrumptious breakfast. Soaping a plate, she thought about what they’d be doing tonight.
And it was going to be very old Hollywood romantic. The town had the most charming, historic theater in the center of Main Street that showed classic films during the week. She’d checked yesterday and they were playing Casablanca—one of her absolute favorites.
She remembered him mentioning that he loved Italian food, so they’d have dinner at a quaint restaurant the next town over before the movie started.
Spending time in the old theater was one of her favorite pastimes; she simply couldn’t wait to share it with Brandon.
That is, if she finished everything she needed to do today. It was jam-packed with pie making and then hosting the kids for the career exploration program. She’d already planned to bake witch and spider cupcakes with the budding bakers and had purchased the ingredients and supplies last week. Emma said it would be fine to use the Sugar Spoon kitchen.
Hearing Brandon’s footsteps, she spun around. “Everything okay?”
“I think so.” He raked his hand through his hair, his expression not so convincing. “It was Caitlin.”
Abby’s stomach churned at that news. Brandon’s former fling was back in town? “She’s home from Paris?”
“Evidently.” He sat down. “And she wants me to meet her at the Star Lite for lunch.”
“Oh. Are you going?” She really shouldn’t have asked that question, but she’d rather know if the answer was yes.
“I told her I would.” He grabbed his keys off the table. “Can I take you home?”
“That’s not necessary. The walk will do me good.”
“Okay, I’m going to jump into the shower. Here, you’ll need this to get into the inn.” He stood, handing her the tiny silver key.
“Thanks.” Abby folded her fingers over it. “I’ll only drop the groceries off.”
“Stay as long as you need. I’ll see you tonight.” He gave her ponytail a gentle tug and disappeared out the kitchen. Minutes later, she heard running water.
Abby headed back to his bedroom to retrieve her boots and coat, anxiety taking over her earlier good mood and kicking it to the curb. Why did Caitlin have to return? Couldn’t she have stayed away a few months longer or relocated to Paris for that matter?
Would Brandon still want to go through with their dates now that Caitlin was back in the picture?
* * *
Brandon waited in the corner booth at the Star Lite, strumming his fingers on the table. He hadn’t seen Caitlin since the morning after the Final Fling event when she’d called him every name in the book and vowed he’d regret ending things with her. That was one Labor Day Weekend to forget.
A few days later, he learned from Jason that she’d taken off to Paris for some French culinary course.
He didn’t blame her for being upset with him. He’d admit it: he’d confused their good time for something more. He couldn’t remember exactly what caused him to end things with her, but it’d been the right thing to do. Caitlin was hot and the sex had been great, but she wasn’t the one. He needed to be with someone more compatible and who had similar goals to his.
Reaching for the strawberry shake Betty had dropped down minutes earlier, he took a sip and thought of Abby, his beautiful business partner who always smelled like a delicious strawberry.
Last night’s date had been something special, and this morning was pretty cool, too. He’d never made breakfast for a woman before, besides his ex-wife. He loved the way he and Abby could just spend time together talking and laughing while stargazing or eating a home-cooked meal. What would it be like to make her breakfast every morning before work? His heart skipped at that thought.
They hadn’t done much talking about the baby’s father and that was really okay with him. Eventually he’d have to make good on his word and help her make whomever it was jealous. He’d been close to asking her if it was in fact the veterinarian she’d dated last summer, but then he remembered it wasn’t Abby but Jason who’d told him about the guy. He’d wait until she brought him up.
“Hey, handsome.” Betty sauntered up to the table, order pad in hand. “How was your date last night?”
“It was awesome.” He grinned back, suspecting she wanted juicier details since she’d orchestrated his win. “We had a nice time on the lake—stargazing. It was a gorgeous night for it.”
“Why, Brandon, I didn’t know you were such a romantic.” Flipping over her order pad, she clicked her pen. “What can I get you for lunch, Don Juan?”
He chuckled and asked for a hot roast beef sandwich with a side order of fries.
“Um . . . how about a fresh garden salad and some fruit?”
He cocked his head and met her gaze. “Why, Betty, what are you trying to say?”
Her smile grew wider by the second. “I’m just looking out for that trim six-pack you’re covering up.”
“This is about what I agreed to do for you, isn’t it?”
“Maybe,” she said coyly before snapping her gum. “But after Monday, you can eat whatever you want.”
“Care to tell me why I’ll be dieting until then?”
“Let’s just say, you are going to make this Christmas really special for all the ladies in this town.”
His eyebrow raised. Betty was certainly good at drawing out the suspense; he’d give her that. “Is it legal?”
She let out a hearty laugh. “Just be at the animal shelter on May Street this Monday at four p.m.” She turned to leave, but spun around. “Oh, and don’t do anything to ruin that perfect six-pack you’re sporting. We need it.”
“Well, please add a tuna sandwich to that order.” He paused and added, “Hold the fries.”
“You got it, sugar.”
He shook his head but couldn’t help but laugh. The fact that Betty—and pretty much every woman in this town—had gotten a good look at his abs was entirely his fault. Maybe next summer he should try being a little more modest during his runs and put on a shirt.
What on earth would he be doing for her that would involve Christmas, kittens, and his abs? He was afraid to find out, but he’d do it because Brandon Swift was a man of his word, and last night’s date had definitely been worth whatever humiliating thing he’d gotten himself into.
Maybe he could figure out a way to involve Abby and make a date out of it. Get her under some mistletoe.
He didn’t even want to think about Christmas yet when he had a Halloween party to finish planning. He’d talked to a DJ friend of Mitch’s earlier this week to spin the tunes. It was coming together nicely. Abby was eager to try out some recipes for that night and had probably already stocked the kitchen this morning with everything she’d need to cater the party.
Taste the Magic. It really was the perfect name for the catering company, and he couldn’t be happier for both Abby and Emma. He loved that Abby had confided in him about her always wanting to start a business and also how nervous she was to go through with it.
She wouldn’t fail—not with him by her side. That’s exactly where he wanted to be. Besides her motivating him to go after his dreams, her entrepreneurial spirit was contagious. It made her sexy as hell.
Glancing at his watch, he hoped Caitlin would get here soon. She’d sounded so desperate on the phone to meet in person. She probably wanted to tell him off one last time. Whatever she had to say, he’d let her get it off her chest, and then he’d apologize for leading her on last summer. It was the right thing to do.
They’d had some fun, but that’s all it was. It had never been serious. He knew that now.
Picking up his straw wrapper, he twirled it around his fingers. He wanted more, and he was pretty sure he wanted something along the lines of what he was feeling for Abby.
“But that’s not real.” He broke his straw paper in half. She’s having another man’s baby and could possibly still be in love with the chump.
“What’s not real?”
Brandon looked up to see Caitlin smiling down on him. At least she was in a good mood. The pretty brunette was dressed more conservatively than he’d ever seen, wearing a red coat, her long wavy hair flowing down on both sides.
“Hi. Welcome home.” He started to slide out of the booth, but she motioned for him to stay seated.
“It’s good to be back. How are you, Brandon?” She continued to stand, not making any move to sit down.
“I’m good. Real good.” Was she not planning on joining him for lunch? If that was the case, he’d get out of here a whole lot sooner. He leaned back and added, “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I bought the inn on the south end of the lake.”
“I did hear that news. What inspired you to do that?”
A beautiful redhead whom he enjoyed cooking breakfast for this morning. “Just ready to do something new. I’m still working on my novel, too.”
“Wow. You’ve been busy. You must be so excited.”
“I am.” He chuckled and reached for his shake. “Though I hear the inn’s haunted.”
“Well, I’m sure the Stevens girls can help you there. Perform an exorcism or séance or something.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s probably one of their dead relatives, anyway.”
Brandon knew that snide remark came from the fact that there wasn’t any love lost between Caitlin and Emma. They’d been rivals since high school, and the story he’d heard from Jason was they’d dated the same guy. That guy had helped him take a drunk Caitlin out of the fairgrounds last summer when she had attempted to stir up trouble between Emma and Jason.
She began to unbutton her coat. “There’s something I need to discuss with you.”
Oh, boy. Here it comes. He had no doubt that she was going to lay into him for dumping her. Settling further into the booth, he surrendered to the fact that he probably wasn’t leaving the Star Lite anytime soon. “Have a seat. I’m all ears.”
“Well, I think we’ll start with your eyes.” She peeled off her pretty red coat and his jaw dropped.
Either Caitlin had eaten a lot of éclairs during her time in Paris or her little round belly sticking out from her sweater—coupled with her eagerness to talk to him—might mean he was in trouble.
Chapter 15
Abby flew through the bakery’s kitchen trying to get her mind off this morning’s turn of events. If only Brandon hadn’t checked his phone. Why did Caitlin want to have lunch with him?
Did she want Brandon back? Abby bit her lip a little too hard while contemplating that answer. Of course she did. The day after Abby’s name had appeared in Brandon’s Batter Up cake batter, Caitlin had stormed into the bakery pretty much declaring that the fight for him was on.
Abby remembered how it all went down as if it were yesterday. Brandon had sauntered into the bakery during Emma’s Monday night magic ritual and tried to sweet-talk her into performing the Batter Up spell on him. When his charm didn’t work, he’d forked over cold hard cash.
Emma had been tight on funds that week, so she did it. He’d been so confident that he’d see Caitlin’s name in the batter that he was going to snap a selfie with it and show it to her before he proposed. When Emma tilted the bowl and Abby’s name appeared in pink cursive writing, it had been a toss-up between who was more mortified by that news—Brandon or Abby.
While Brandon had bolted for the exit, Abby had declared that she had no intentions in getting between whatever was going on with him and Caitlin and that the batter was absolutely, one hundred percent wrong this time. It didn’t matter that Emma had a perfect record when it came to predicting true love—all marriages and no divorces. Brandon was not Abby’s soul mate.
Shortly after that night, Brandon had done the oddest thing. He ended whatever he’d been doing with Caitlin and started coming around the bakery, sending compliments Abby’s way. It was only a couple weeks later that they started hooking up.
Now that Caitlin was back, was this lunch date her attempt to start fighting for him?
“This can’t be happening.” Abby twisted the industrial-size flour container and measured what she needed for the pie crust.
“What can’t be happening?” Emma sauntered into the kitchen and slid on her pink apron. Her cousin looked stylish in a pretty lavender dress and matching flats.
“Oh, nothing.” Abby sighed and started to cut the butter she needed for the dough into small cubes. She waved the knife in the air and then let it come down, spearing a cube. “Okay. Possibly everything.”
“Why don’t you put down the knife, and we’ll talk. Did you and Brandon have a fight?”
Abby laughed sarcastically. “If only. That I could deal with. No, last night was amazing. He planned the most romantic date I’ve ever been on in my life.”
“Really?”
“Yeah . . . His plan . . . our plan . . . whosever plan it was, it was working.” Abby sighed. A few days earlier, she’d filled Emma in on Brandon’s proposition to help make her baby’s father jealous while getting him off the hook in having to date all the bachelorettes in this town.
Emma had loved his idea, believing that what he’d suggested was exactly what Abby needed to show Brandon just how good they were together.
Abby appreciated that Emma was so supportive and wasn’t quick to judge her for the horrible mistake she’d made in casting the reverse attraction spell on Brandon in the first place. Her cousin would always be by her side the way Abby had been for her when Caitlin revealed to the whole town that Jason was going to expose Batter Up night.
That wasn’t exactly his intention, but Caitlin had snatched a story he’d written and called him out on it in front of Emma and all their friends. Luckily, everything worked out the way it was supposed to in the end for Emma and Jason. Would Caitlin spin her web of crazy to get Brandon back? Abby was all but certain of it.
“So, what did you and Brandon do on this romantic date?” Emma asked, jarring Abby out of her thoughts.
“He borrowed Mitch’s boat, and we stargazed and talked while docked in front of the inn. It was the perfect place to spend the evening. I learned so much about him that I never knew.”
“That sounds awesome.”
“It was.” Abby nodded in agreement.
“Then why are you assaulting my butter?”
Abby glanced down at the chopped butter pieces. She may as well tell her cousin. Caitlin would parade around town soon enough. “Your high school nemesis has returned and is having lunch with Brandon at the Star Lite at this very moment.”
Emma’s forehead wrinkled at that news. “When did Caitlin get back?”
“Who knows? She called Brandon this morning and asked if he’d meet her for lunch.” Abby picked up her knife and went back to slicing the butter. “He practically bolted into the shower this morning to go get ready for his date.” That admission caused her to miss the butter and strike the counter with her blade.
“Let me do that,” Emma offered and finished what Abby had started. “So, let’s look on the bright side.”
“Which is?”
“Well, first you had a great time with him.”
“Yeah, it was nice.”
“Hmmm . . . judging that you were in Brandon’s cottage this morning to wi
tness him getting Caitlin’s call, I’m guessing it was more than nice.” She lifted an eyebrow. “Was it more than nice?”
That got a sarcastic giggle because Abby knew what Emma was implying. “We did not have sex.” She leaned against the counter and straightened her legs, looking down at her brown flats. “He carried me in from the boat and put me to bed. I woke up alone and found him in front of the stove.” She sighed, adding, “Making me spooky pancakes.”
“Spooky pancakes.” Emma chuckled. “He’s definitely a keeper.”
“I don’t know if he’ll ever be doing it for me again. Not if he’s having lunch dates with his ex.”
“Let’s get something straight.” It was Emma’s turn to wave the knife in the air to reinforce her point. “Caitlin was not an ex. She was merely a distraction.”
“He was ready to propose to her!”
“Because he was being stupid. Jason knew Brandon wasn’t really going to go through with it even if he’d purchased a ring.”
“Really, Jason said that?”
“Yes, and he also told me that Brandon knew deep down she wasn’t the one, and I’m sure he knew it even before he saw your name in the batter.”
“Maybe.” Abby wasn’t so convinced.
“So, let’s stop talking about her and finish our conversation about your dates. When’s the next one?”
“Tonight. We’re going to dinner and then the movies, and he did suggest that we should take our PDA up a notch on camera.” She quickly added, “But I think he only suggested it because he thinks I’m in love with the baby’s father and wants to help me get him back.”
Emma began rolling out the dough. “Um . . . you are in love with your baby’s father, aren’t you?”
In love with Brandon. Was she headed in that direction? If she was perfectly honest, she’d already arrived to that conclusion and was setting up camp, waiting for him to get there and feel the same way about her. “I think so.”
“Then let Brandon help you get him back.” She winked.
