Her jaw clenched, and she balled her hands.
“Garrett Andrews isn’t a hotshot.” She didn’t need some egotistical lawyer, no matter how gorgeous, treating her as a convenience. “He’s a jerk.”
When Garrett told her he’d call after he left town, she’d believed him. Why wouldn’t she when they’d had so much fun together while he was visiting his sister over Christmas? But he’d lied the same as the shed seller. Two important data points she would remember in the future.
Trust needed to be earned, not given freely.
“He ghosted me.” Saying the words left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Not because she’d suffered a heartbreak. Oh, being ghosted stung, but mainly because he’d made her feel as if she hadn’t measured up somehow. She hated thinking she wasn’t enough.
“If Callie didn’t mention her three brothers, I’d have no idea if he was alive or dead.” Taryn flexed her fingers. She wouldn’t let the man affect her.
Jayden added more banana walnut muffins to the case. “Run a search on him.”
Taryn cringed. “Too stalkerish for me.”
His mouth quirked. “Did you ask his younger sister about him?”
“Nope. And I won’t,” Taryn blurted.
“Callie still doesn’t know you went out?”
“You’re the only one who knows.” Taryn straightened the menu cards on the counter. “I’d only look foolish mentioning it now, given what happened.”
Jayden shook his head. “The way he wanted Callie to have all the attention after she announced her engagement made him seem like a nice guy.”
“I fell for it, too. I wish I’d never met him.”
“Just because Garrett turned out to be a jerk doesn’t mean you should paint all men the same.”
Taryn raised her chin. “Have I treated you or the employees differently since December?”
“No.”
“Customers?”
“Nope, but you didn’t want to date the new paramedic Rachelle introduced you to.”
“He was attractive, but he only wanted free baked goods.”
“Possibly, but he works with a construction crew on his days off. Go out with him so he can help you.”
That appealed to Taryn for a nanosecond. “I would never use someone that way. Besides, I only have a few days to rebuild the booth. I couldn’t squeeze in a date, too. But no worries. I’ll figure it out.”
Jayden made room for more blueberry muffins. “That means you’ll do all the work yourself and not sleep for a week. That’s what happened with theNutcracker-themed window.”
Taryn placed her hand over her heart. “That Christmas window was a masterpiece.”
He nodded. “If everyone, including you, hadn’t helped redo Callie’s doggy daycare window, the bakery would have won for the second year in a row.”
“No regrets.” The First Avenue Business Association sponsored an annual Christmas window contest. That night, no one had been competing when people came together to decorate Wags and Tails’s window in a way none of them would forget. “Callie deserved to win. Hers turned out so special, but the gloves are off for the fair’s booth decorating contest. Lawson’s Bakery has never won, and this is our year to pull off what my grandparents and parents couldn’t.”
Jayden didn’t appear convinced. “You’ll exhaust yourself.”
She shrugged. “You know what every baker who works the early shift says.”
“Sleep is overrated,” they said in unison and then laughed.
