“Did you tell him that?”
“No,” I said, holding in a moan at the first bite. Tyler was talented with his hands, that wasn’t a question.
“Because you’re like your father. Feelings scare you. They scared the shit out of him too. But once he gave in…” She motioned behind her to the dining room. “That marriage was one for the ages. All that love, a beautiful child.” She reached over to squeeze my hand. “But he had to stop beingestúpidofirst.” She pushed off the chair and leaned in to plant a kiss on the top of my head. “Finish the pie. I’ll take the cookies inside. Think about it.”
“Abuela,” I called out to her. “You were right. I was mean, and you don’t even know how mean, but how can I make up for all of that? What if it’s too late?”
She turned on her orthopedic shoe, lifting her tiny shoulder.
“It’s only too late when you don’t do anything at all.”
SEVENTEEN
TYLER
“She’s cute.” Eli pushed my phone at me, tapping on the screen. “DM her and see what happens.”
I took it back with a groan. A root canal was more exciting and promising than searching for someone to date on an app. After the wedding, assured I was totally over Amy and her dick of a husband but confused as hell over Olivia, in a weak moment I let him download the stupid dating app he’d been pushing on me for months.
I scrolled along her profile. She was cute and seemed normal. While I appreciated the boldness of some of the women on this app, actually noting that they were looking to get pregnant in a year was extra pressure I couldn’t handle.
But her hair was blonde and short, without any thick, dark chocolate waves. Since the night of Donnie’s wedding, I’d become obsessed with Olivia’s hair—or allowed myself to call it an obsession after all these years of fixating on it. Every time I pictured sifting my fingers in the silky strands and pulling her in for a kiss, my dick twitched in my pants.
“Why are you making this so difficult?” Eli sighed. “For fuck’s sake, just pick one. Maybe have a little dinner or a drink if you don’t want to overextend yourself or even get laid. Just get back in the game. You aren’t proposing marriage. You’ve been less tense lately, but maybe this will finally get rid of that perpetual scowl you always have.”
I doubled it since now my game only mattered with one person.
After spending the night with Olivia, none of these girls compared. There were some beautiful women on this app, but as I browsed through, none of them caught my eye because none of them were Olivia.
A sigh of relief ran through me when I didn’t find her as I swiped through all the eligible women that matched my profile. But why would she be on this app anyway? Men had flocked to Olivia for as long as I could remember. She could date a hundred guys with the crook of her finger if she wanted to.
The thought made me sick enough to throw my phone down onto the counter.
“Tyler,” Tegan called with a panicked voice as she rushed to the back. “We need some help at the counter. There’s a big line.”
“A big line is good. Why do you look so freaked out about it?” Eli asked, snickering as he looked over at me.
“It is, but it’s out the door.”
My jaw dropped when I jogged to the front, and sure enough, the line was so long I couldn’t tell where it ended. We had a healthy stream of customers throughout the day, but this was something I’d never seen and wasn’t in the least bit prepared for.
“They’re all ordering the same thing—chocolate cream pie,” Tegan whispered over my shoulder. “Most of them are getting extra cookies or pastries, but we sold out of the four you had in the display and already have orders for twenty more. I don’t even know what kind of timing to give any of them.”
“It’s okay, T. Weird but okay.” Chocolate cream pie becoming such a hot item was strange. Sometimes we’d get increased demand on certain seasonal things during the year, but I couldn’t explain this.
“Do you think I could pick it up by the weekend?” An excited customer asked Staci, one of my cashiers. “I’ve been dreaming about it ever since I saw it on Instagram.”
No. It couldn’t be.
I ran to the back to grab my phone off the counter and headed straight to Olivia’s Instagram page. I’d been looking—or stalking—on and off but hadn’t checked in a couple of days. Her last post was a slice of chocolate cream pie on a fancy dish with the bakery tagged as the location.
Today, foodies, I decided to do something different. I’ve taken you with me to a ton of restaurants, but what is better than dessert from the local bakery? I’ve always thought of chocolate cream pie as the unsung hero of desserts, and from Hey, Batter on Sunrise Highway, it’s a delicacy. With its flaky crust and rich chocolate slathered with whipped cream, this baker knows exactly what he’s doing—making his customers beg for more.
A smile tugged at my mouth as I heard it all in Olivia’s voice. The post was dated yesterday evening and already had over ten thousand likes. I’d have to make a giant restock order and was looking at a long night of baking, but this was an amazing opportunity I never thought I’d ever get and couldn’t pass up. We earned the occasional social media recommendation when someone posted a birthday cake or pie on a holiday that would attract a few extra customers, but never had a demand this high or this quick.
Still, I’d make it work. And if they were buying additional items, I could keep them coming back.
Olivia Sanchez was full of surprises.
