“For good luck,” she says.
Maisie grins. “It is for love luck.”
Charlotte blushes again. “Oh.”
Maisie hands it to her like it is a sacred object. “You can keep it.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte says softly.
Her eyes meet mine with something warm in them.
She glances at the time and stands reluctantly. “I should get going. I still have festival calls.”
“Of course,” I say, even though I want her to stay another hour.
Maisie waves enthusiastically. “Bye, Charlotte!”
“Bye, sweet girl,” she says, smiling at her. Then she looks back at me. “See you later?”
I nod. “Yes. Later.”
She gives a soft smile, holds the cookie carefully, and walks out of the bakery.
As soon as the door closes, Maisie turns to me.
“She likes you,” she says.
I swallow. “Maisie.”
“She does,” she repeats, confident. “And you like her.”
“I… think she is very nice.”
“That means you like her,” she says, slow and sure, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
I rub my forehead. “You cannot just decide these things.”
She shrugs. “I decided.”
Of course she did.
And the worst part is… she is not wrong.
Not even close.
Chapter 4
Charlotte
I tellmyself I’m not going to the bakery today.
I say it out loud as I get ready, once again as I grab my bag.
And then I walk directly to the bakery because apparently my legs have no respect for boundaries. It’s not even subtle. I turn left at the corner like my body is programmed to do it, and there it is: Spice Spice Baby, with its door slightly open and warm air drifting out like it expects me.
Maisie spots me the second I step inside.
“Charlotte!” She barrels toward me with the energy of a child who has never known exhaustion. “Daddy said you weren’t coming today.”
