I shaped another loaf, working extra fast to burn off the nerves. Flour dusted my shirt and clung to the ridges on my hands.
The next batch of rolls came out perfect, but even that didn't shake the feeling.
The SUV sat still. No movement. Just the slow, rhythmic haze of exhaust melting against the dawn.
Why were they parked here?
The regulars started to trickle in as the sky shifted from gray to pale yellow.
Maeve called me back to reality by flinging a towel at my shoulder. "Heads up, baby cousin. If you burn another tray, you'll owe me a week of cleaning the bathrooms."
She was a whole week older than me.
Still, I kept one eye on the window.
Maeve slammed a tray onto the counter. "You want to stalk the enemy, at least do it with more bread in your hands."
I shot her a half-smile. "Noted."
She snorted, not unkindly. "Just don't scare off the paying customers. They're the only ones keeping this place from turning into a haunted house."
Caden and I snorted together.This bakery will outlast everyone, even if the ghosts have to keep the ovens running.
I settled behind a mountain of crusty loaves, blocking myself from Maeve's view, and watched the developers through smeared glass while the scent of cinnamon finally overcame traitor-mint in the air.
The bell over the door chimed, and a rush of cold air swept through.
In the middle of it stood a woman. Not one of the regulars, that much was obvious. She paused just inside the threshold, taking in the bakery with a careful sweep, like she wanted to memorize every color, every smell.
Short and soft, with a glow that made her look sort of unreal in the pale light. Curvy, yeah, but there was a steadiness about how she planted her feet, how she held her head high. Her hair, thick and dark, was pulled back in a ponytail.
Her scent, God, that scent. Caden almost knocked me to the floor, lunging at it. Underneath the vanilla and sugar and yeast, there she was. Heat slammed through me so fast I gripped the prep table to steady myself. I told myself it was shock, recognition, but the truth was uglier. I wanted her. Immediately. Completely. Just like before.
No question, it was her. The woman from the party. That night still burned behind my eyes, even years later.
Absinthe and Everclear, that had been the combo. College party, music too loud, and enough green haze in the air to make bad ideas look like genius. She'd been the only one in the room who understood what it was to be invisible and still impossible to ignore. Just for one night, I'd let myself forget everything, family, duty, secrets, and we'd vanished together. No last names, no baggage, just touch and warmth and a half-drunk promise to see what happened next.
Except next never came. The Hollow Order had already been sniffing around. A Hunter was spotted in Laurel Gap, and my family was boxed up and on the road before sunrise, just a few short months after the party.
Maeve spotted her first. Typical. "Morning, honey," she sang out, already working her best southern hospitality. "Are you here for breakfast, or just to case the cinnamon roll situation?"
The woman laughed, low and warm. "Little of both, but mostly breakfast. My girls, they're ruthless. If I come home without something good, I might get locked out."
"Oh, I know those types," Maeve said. She winked at the woman as if they'd been co-conspirators for years. "What can I set you up with?"
The brunette's gaze flickedtoward the display, gaze running over every item with deep concentration. She didn't look nervous, just focused. Maybe a little too practiced at hiding nerves, but who wasn't, these days?
She tapped the glass, then smiled at Maeve. "That cheese Danish, please. And the spicy cinnamon rolls."
Maeve beamed like she'd found a lost relative. "Anything else?"
The order grew, a couple iced cookies, four sausage rolls "for the carnivores at home, not me", a multigrain loaf if Maeve had it. Nothing fussy. She sounded like someone who'd stood in a hundred bakery lines and already knew what she wanted.
All the while, I stayed behind the baking rack, pretending to stack trays but really just watching her.
Talk to her!
I ignored my dragon as the woman, whose name I'd never even learned, didn't even glance my way.
