“Sure. I’ll see you soon.”
Ashley rinsed the bowl of frosting and placed it in the dishwasher. With quick hands, she wiped the counters and carried the powdered sugar and food coloring across to the pantry. By the time the muffins were ready, the kitchen was much tidier.
She slid the lemon zest muffins out of the oven and inhaled their tangy sweetness. Tess’ customers would love them. They would be perfect with a cup of coffee or eaten on their own. She quickly arranged them on a plate and took them into the café.
“Ashley?”
Her smile disappeared. This couldn’t be happening. She hadn’t planned on seeing Matthew until tomorrow. The chance of running into him in town had to be slim at best, but here he was.
She turned toward him and tried to smile. “Hi.”
“What are you doing here?”
His stunned expression would have been comforting if she knew he was pleased to see her. But after coming and going from his life so often, she didn’t know where she stood with him.
“I flew in from New York a couple of hours ago.”
“Table four needs a refill of coffee.” Tess, God bless her little cotton socks, came to her rescue. She handed Ashley a coffeepot and nodded at the far side of the room. “Take two muffins with you. There weren’t any left when Mr. and Mrs. Searle arrived.”
Ashley kept her gaze focused on Tess’ customers. Once the man and woman were gratefully munching on the muffins and sipping hot coffee, Ashley left their table. By the time she made it to the front counter, her coffeepot was empty. Matthew was sitting at a table with his family, looking even more confused.
Tess touched her arm. “I didn’t know Matthew would be here,” she whispered.
“It doesn’t matter. I had to see him sometime.”
“But that time was supposed to be tomorrow.” Tess looked at her watch. “I’m closing in ten minutes. If you want to finish now and talk to him, I’ll be okay.”
Ashley shook her head. “I’ll stay with you. Logan wouldn’t be impressed if he knew I’d left you on your own.”
A deep male voice cleared his throat.
Sean stood in front of her, a worried frown on his face. “It’s my fault. I saw Logan after you arrived. He said you were helping Tess at Angel Wings Café, so I suggested we have hot chocolate here.”
Ashley looked at the Gray family. Catherine smiled and waved. Toby was enjoying a banana and Amy was staring daggers at her husband. Matthew was heading toward them.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter. My brother has been like a bear—”
Matthew poked his brother in the back. “I can speak for myself.”
Sean pulled out his wallet. “I’ll pay our bill.”
With Tess helping Sean, Ashley couldn’t think of anything to say to Matthew.
“How long are you staying in Bozeman?” he asked.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “For a while. I was going to call you tomorrow…to explain why I’m here.”
Another man stood in line to pay his bill.
Ashley moved away from the counter, hoping Matthew followed her. She wiped her hands on her apron and tried to calm her racing heart.“I accepted the job at theBozeman Chronicle. I start working with Logan and his team on Monday.”
Matthew’s frown tied her stomach in knots. She’d made a mistake. A big mistake. She’d let him down once too often, and now it was too late to do anything about it.
She looked at the front counter. With the café closing soon, more people were waiting to pay their bill. “I need to help Tess. I’m sorry. I should have called you when I realized that I…”
A siren sounded from outside. Ashley looked through the front window, expecting to see a fire engine racing down the street.
