Jazzy sniffed too. Something was burning. She jumped up and whirled around. Smoke seeped through the oven door. “Oh my goodness! I forgot the wildflowers I was drying for flower hair crowns to celebrate Sarah’s launch party.”
Sarah wrote children’s books, and she’d just released a new story calledThe Magic Flower Crown, and Sarah was having an arts and crafts session with the kids at Ye Old Book Nook in the town square this week to launch her new release.
Grabbing a tea towel, Jazzy yanked open the oven to an acrid blast of burnt flowers roasting on the cookie sheet. She’d dried them the night beforebut stuck them back in the oven when she’d set out the ingredients for cookies, thinking she’d be baking outside over a campfire. When she preheated the oven, the flowers had slipped her mind.
Now the flowers were on fire. The pan much too hot for the doubled-up tea towel. She could feel the heat radiating from her fingers.
The smoke alarm went off, emitting a relentless high-pitched shriek. Sabrina yowled and fled the room.
Charlie went for the fire extinguisher she kept mounted on the wall beside the fridge and fumbled to remove the plastic clip.
“Hot! Hot!” Jazzy yelped and dropped the flaming flowers into the sink.
Charlie jumped into action, spraying the fire with the extinguisher, and dousing it in white, foamy stuff.
Jazzy ran the cold water and stuck her singed fingers underneath the faucet. “Ouch, ouch.”
The smoke detector screamed at them.
Charlie grabbed a broom and poked the detector with a handle until he’d dislodged the battery and it fell silent. He stared at Jazzy, wide-eyed. “Well, that was dramatic.”
“I should have checked the oven before I turned on the preheat.”
“Always a wise policy.”
“You were a quick draw with that fire extinguisher.”
“I dated a firefighter once. He made me learn how to use them. I’m glad he did.”
“Bryan, right?”
“Yes.” Charlie sighed. “It smells like him in here now, charred and smoky.”
“I thought you hated the way his job made him smell.”
“You know how nostalgic I can get.” Charlie grinned at her. “Scents trigger memories and I’m remembering what it felt like to have Bryan toss me over his shoulder and carry me upstairs. Remind me again why I broke up with him?”
“You had nothing in common beyond the great sex.”
“Oh yeah. Why was I so picky?”
Jazzy playfully swatted his shoulder. “Back to the present, Cheek. We got a major mess here.”
“Minor setback. Let’s get this place cleaned.”
Once they’d thrown out the burnt flowers, wiped away the fire extinguisher spray, and reinstalled batteries in the smoke detector, they turned their attention back to cookie baking. This time without the music. They needed full focus on baking.
Jazzy didn’t own a mixer, so they stirred the batter by hand.
“After this, I can skip the gym today. My arm is about to fall off,” Charlie complained good-naturedly.
“Since when do you hit the gym?” Jazzy asked.
“Well, I’m not starting today. Here.” He gave her the mixing bowl and wooden spoon. “Your turn to build biceps.”
“Do you think this is how Roan bulked up? High-intensity baking?”
“Honey, no. That man wrangles horses for aliving. His physique is from manual labor. But I’m impressed you noticed his biceps. It’s been far too long since you’ve dated. Glad to see it. I worried you were still pining for Danny.”