He sucked in a breath as he pulled up in front of Hallie’s house. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all sentimental on you.” He glanced over at her as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
Oh, no. He made her cry? Why did knowing that make his gut twist?
She shook her head. “Don’t be sorry. Thank you for sharing that. And thanks for the ride.”
“You’re welcome,” he said softly, forcing himself not to look over at her as she let herself out of the car.
But he did turn to watch her hurry across the grass and take the porch steps two at a time. Only after she’d slipped inside the house without looking back did he pull away from the curb.
What had compelled him to open up just now? He hadn’t allowed himself to let down his guard since Sabrina left. Especially to a woman.
A beautiful woman at that.
He couldn’t let it happen again.
The next day, Hallie sat on a stool at her kitchen’s center island, sketching a maple leaf on a piece of white paper to recreate on her pumpkin spice cookies for the Autumn Festival. A few more potential designs fanned out around her on the counter.
Thanks to Christian, she could finally focus on preparing for the two-day event. By early evening, she’d decided on all the bakes to have on hand. She planned to offer a few kinds of cookies, as well as cupcakes and her favorite fall sweet bread flavors. Since most of her larger products were special ordered by her clients, she’d have only a handful of generic cakes on hand to sell by the slice. But her portfolio was up-to-date with her best products to showcase her abilities.
While she sketched, her thoughts turned to Christian, as they often had since their car ride chat the day before. He didn’t have to stop. The fact that he did spoke of a kindness that would’ve surprised her if he hadn’t willingly taken over her website. She couldn’t let his generosity go to waste, even if he’d brushed off her attempts at a thank-you offering.
Plus, baking for him would give her an excuse to see him again, though she refused to analyze what that desire meant. But what to make him? He hadn’t exactly been helpful when she’d tried to gauge his preferences.
“It smells amazing in here,” Kendall said, entering the kitchen through the swinging door. “Like baked Nutella in a cupcake. Mmmm.”
Hallie laughed without glancing up from her sketch. “Chocolate and hazelnut—two foods that always go together.”
“We’ll never need air fresheners while you’re living here.” Kendall’s keys jingled as she thumped them on the counter. Sheeased her backpack off her shoulders, setting it flat onto a stool on her way to investigate the culprits of the aforementioned aroma. All two dozen freshly decorated cupcakes were set out on multiple cooling racks next to the stove, waiting to be boxed and delivered. “Look at the cute little bears! Who’re these for?”
“The Pattersons down the street are having a gender reveal party tonight.” Finally satisfied with her maple leaf, Hallie stacked it on top of another design before gathering the rest in a neat pile. “I’m delivering them in a bit.”
She’d modified her original chocolate-hazelnut cupcakes to accommodate the French vanilla cream—dyed blue for the announcement—piped into the middle. She’d geeked out a little when Kristin and Troy came to her with a sealed envelope containing the sex of their baby. Until sometime after seven o’clock tonight, sheand the ultrasound tech were the only people who knew the Pattersons were having a boy.
“That’s fun.” Kendall retrieved a glass container full of some kind of leftovers from the fridge. Pulling off the lid, she stuck the whole thing in the microwave and the appliance whirred to life.
“What’re your plans for tonight?” Hallie asked, crouching in front of the cupboard next to the oven while Kendall filled a glass of water from the tap.
“I have a big test on Friday, so I plan to lock myself in my room with my textbook and notecards. Why did I go to grad school again?”
Hallie paused in folding the first box to shoot a humorous glance at her friend. “Because you’re super smart and love school.”
“Somehow, I don’t think that’s it.”
Hallie set the first folded box on the counter and picked up the second. “Do you need me to grab some reinforcement snacks after I deliver these?”
“No thanks. I stocked up on caffeine yesterday to get me through.” The microwave timer beeped, and Kendall headed over to check her dinner. Steam rose from the broth slopping against the side.
“Text me if you change your mind.” Hallie began placing the cupcakes inside the assembled boxes. “You have mail, by the way.”
Kendall set her dinner on the counter. “What is it?”
“Something forwarded from my parents,” Hallie said, tugging off her plastic gloves before thumbing through the pile of mail on the counter until she found the mentioned item.
Kendall took the oversized envelope from her, turning it over and breaking the seal. She slid out another, this one the size of a standard letter. Scowling at the front of it, she crumpled it into a ball and delivered it to the recycling bin underneath the kitchen sink.
“With that reaction, I don’t need to ask who it’s from,” Hallie said, stacking the two cupcake boxes on top of each other. “This is the second letter in a month. She obviously wants to talk to you. Aren’t you at least a little curious about what she has to say after all this time?”
“No,” Kendall said emphatically, plopping back onto her stool. “I haven’t heard one word from my mother since I came to live with your family in ninth grade. A few letters aren’t going to make up for that. The woman is dead to me. It doesn’t matter what she has to say.”
