2
Harper
I flipbetween the page on my clipboard and the racks where we keep special orders once they are finished. I was tasked with making five hundred cupcakes of all flavors, a large sheet cake, and two hundred of our famous cookies, all for Betsy Sweet’s ninetieth birthday party this weekend. No matter how small or large an order is, I take great pride in making sure each and every order is flawless.
Satisfied the order is ready, I hang the sheet on the rack. I’ll be delivering these to the community center myself tomorrow, for the party that will be sure to draw attendance from practically everyone in the small town of Sweet Valley, Tennessee. Betsy is one of the sweetest women in this town. She might be a feisty old grandmother, but she’s a pillar of our community, just the same. With her birthday looming, I can only wonder if Nathan, her grandson, who I grew up with and had the largest crush on in high school, will return. He left after we graduated from high school ten years ago, and hasn’t been back since. I know his absence bothers her; she’s made it well known on many occasions when she’s been in here having her coffee and treat for the day.
My family's bakery, Nothing Bundt Dessert, has been in Sweet Valley for three generations. My grandparents started it when they settled here, then handed it down to my parents when they were ready to take it over, and now I’m the proud owner of it. I took it over a lot sooner than I ever anticipated when my mother suffered a stroke about eight years ago, but we made it work, and here I am, running a business I am incredibly proud of.
The bells over the front door ring as the door is pushed open, and I head for the counter, ready to help whoever has come in for an afternoon treat. The breath in my lungs whooshes out when I catch a glimpse of the man striding up to the display case. The one and only Nathan Bailey. Damn, does he look amazing. Tan skin, muscular—but not bodybuilder bulges—well-manicured hair that he probably pays more than I make in a year to get to look like that.
“Hi, how can I help you today?” I ask, doing my best to keep my drooling under wraps. I can’t tell if he recognizes me or not, so I keep the fact that I remember him to myself.
“Hi, I’ll take a large coffee, black, and one of the chocolate chip mini bundt cakes,” he says, flashing me his megawatt smile. I’m sure if he recognized me, he’d have said something by now, which he hasn’t, so I go about grabbing his bundt cake.
“Did you want your coffee for here or to go?” I ask before turning to grab a cup.
“To go, please,” he says, ever the polite gentleman.
I grab the large to-go cup and fill it to the top, adding a sipper lid. I take his items to the cash register, placing them both down on the counter for him before ringing up his purchase. “That will be ten thirty-five,” I tell him, and he hands me a ten and five.
“Thanks, keep the change,” he says, winking at me as he picks up the coffee and bag with his bundt cake in it.
“Thank you,” I call out, adding the change to the tip jar on the counter. Once he leaves the shop, I lean back on the counter behind me and place a hand on my chest. My heart is galloping as if I’d just run a marathon, not served a hot guy some cake and coffee.
“I’m back!” my cousin slash best friend, and only full-time employee, Lacey, calls from the back where she’s come in from. She rounds the corner and finds me still standing against the counter with my hand against my heart. “Why do you look like you’ve just seen a ghost?” she asks, coming to stand in front of me.
I shake my head, clearing out all the things that are rolling through it at a million miles a minute. “Nathan,” I whisper.
“He’s back?” she screeches in question.
“Yes, just came in and got a coffee and cake,” I tell her.
“And…” she asks, rolling her hand in a motion for me to continue.
“And nothing. I don’t think he recognized me. If he did, he didn’t say so, and I didn’t say anything to him to indicate that I knew who he was and that it was a big freaking deal that he is back in town after ten years.”
“I guess Betsy finally wore him down, huh,” Lacey muses.
“I guess so. She was talking about it just the other day. Said she was going to go home and give him the biggest guilt trip she could.”
“Was he hot?” she asks.
I instantly feel my cheeks burn from the way my skin blushes. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Lacey chuckles.
“He was sex on legs,” I confirm. “Perfect hair, perfectly fitted jeans with a polo that showed off his muscular arms, and tanned skin. I definitely had some not-so-appropriate thoughts go through my mind during the few minutes he was in here,” I confess.
“Did he have a ring on his finger or anyone with him?” she asks.
“Nope, and the last time I stalked him online, there was no mention of a significant other in his life; plus, I don’t think Betsy would let that piece of knowledge go until she told everyone in this town.”
“True,” Lacey agrees. “Well, then I say it’s time to take your shot. If he’s back in town, that means he’ll be at Betsy’s party tomorrow. You can track him down and make sure he knows just who you are,” she says.
“Yeah, not going to happen. He’s Mr. California, and I’m not. I’ve got a life here, and he’s never looked back,” I tell her. “Plus, a silly crush in high school doesn’t mean that we’re meant to be together.”
“You’ll never know if you don’t try! Look at everything you’ve tried just since taking the bakery over, and how well all of those shots have gone. There isn’t any reason that you can’t take the same kind of shots in your personal life.”
“We’ll see,” I tell her, mainly to get her off the topic of anything happening between Nathan and me.