Salt lifted his head from where he’d parked himself in front of the ovens like a furry hall monitor.Pepper sprawled nearby, belly up, paws twitching in his sleep.
“Good news,” Jessa said without looking up from piping royal icing onto a gingerbread roof.“The catering order for the Chamber of Commerce called back.”
I braced myself.“Good news like they’re canceling?”
“Good news like they want two more houses.”
I laughed, a sound that came out a little wild.“Fantastic.”
“You sound thrilled,” Owen said, sliding trays into the cooling rack.
“I am,” I said.“Thrilled.Ecstatic.Over the moon.”
Marcy shot me a look.“Belle.”
“I’m fine,” I said quickly.Too quickly.“I’ve got this.”
Because I had to.
That was the thing.I didn’t have another option.
Every gingerbread house was a calculation now.Every cookie order was a tiny step closer to safety.If I just kept going—kept baking, kept selling, kept smiling—I could fix this.I could clean up my dad’s mess without dragging anyone else into it.
That was the rule I lived by.
Don’t ask for help.Don’t make it someone else’s problem.
The bell over the front door jingled, and my spine stiffened out of habit.
Then I relaxed.
Saint stood in the doorway, a paper cup in each hand, snow dusting his shoulders like he belonged there.Pepper was on his feet instantly, tail wagging like a metronome.
“Well,” Saint said, stepping inside.“This place smells even better today.”
I wiped my hands on my apron and forced my mouth into a smile that didn’t take much forcing at all.“You’re back, and it’s only Thursday.”
“Told you I would be.”
“On Friday,” I countered.
Saint shrugged.
Marcy leaned over the counter.“If you’re here to order more custom work, get in line.”
Saint grinned.“Just here to deliver caffeine.Thought I would check in, too, and see how you guys were doing.”He set one cup in front of me.“Hazelnut latte.Extra foam.”
I stared at it.“You remembered.”
He shrugged.“Not too hard to remember, doll.”
I laughed softly and took a sip.The warmth hit my bloodstream like mercy.“You might be my new favorite person.”
“Second time you’ve said that.Be careful, or I might start believing you,” he said.
I felt it again.That pull, like gravity had shifted just enough to notice.He wasn’t flirting exactly.He wasn’t pushing.He was just… there.Solid.Calm.Like nothing rattled him.
It made me feel unsteady in the best and worst way.
