That’s exactly how the fire department found them a few minutes later, both covered in flour, laughing uncontrollably, with the smoke detector still screaming overhead.
“Everything okay here?” Bob, the fire chief, stood in the doorway. He glanced at Cora, and his eyebrows shot up. “Cora? Didn’t know you were back in town.” He turned to his team with a knowing smile. “False alarm, boys. Cora’s home.”
Cora’s laughter died in an instant. “Excuse me?”
Jack stepped forward, trying not to chuckle at how fast her mood had flipped. “Bob, this was all me. Cora was an innocent bystander.”
Bob looked skeptical. “You sure about that? Because this”—he gestured to the chaotic kitchen—“has Lolly’s granddaughter written all over it. No offense.”
Cora shot daggers at Bob, gripping the rolling pin tighter. “I was asleep, Bob.”
Once the fire department was satisfied they weren’t about to burn down the place, Bob left with a wink and a promise to share the story with half the town by morning.
“So, Chef Chaos.” Cora turned to Jack, twirling the rolling pin between her hands and throwing out the same nicknamehe’d used with her. “Care to explain why you’re redecorating my kitchen with flour at four-thirty in the morning and not at home in your cute little cottage where you have yourvery own kitchen?”
Jack ran a hand through his hair, sending more flour into the air. “I needed inspiration. I was trying to recreate Lolly’s special biscuit recipe. Not her regular ones. The ones she made for special occasions.”
Cora’s face softened. “I know the ones. She sent me a batch the week before she died. Said they were to remind me she loved me.”
He swallowed the lump in his throat. “She had this secret ingredient, but she never told me what it was. I thought...I don’t know, that figuring it out would help save the café.”
Cora stepped closer and brushed flour off his cheek. “That’s really sweet. Misguided and arson-adjacent, but sweet.”
Jack laughed, though it came out rougher than he intended. “Yeah, didn’t do much good, though. I’m no closer to figuring it out, and now I owe you a new kitchen towel. And probably a new kitchen.”
Her lips curved into a smile, and it did dangerous things to his pulse.
“All you had to do was ask.”
He blinked. “Wait . . . what?”
She leaned in, her voice low and teasing. “The secret ingredient. All you had to do was ask.”
His heart did a little tap dance in his chest as he leaned in, close enough that their noses nearly brushed. “All right, Cora Lockwood, I’m asking. What’s Lolly’s secret ingredient?”
Her eyes sparkled with amusement and something else he couldn’t put his finger on.
“You know,” she said with a shy smile. “I’ve always believed it’s better to show than tell.”
His mouth went dry. “Show, huh?”
Cora’s gaze dropped to his flour-covered boots, then slowly traveled back up, and he struggled not to squirm as her grin went from shy to saucy.
“Why don’t you make us some coffee? I’ll meet you back down here in half an hour.”
“Half an hour?” he blurted out, maybe a little too eagerly.
She was already halfway up the stairs, but she paused long enough to throw a playful glance over her shoulder. “Better make it an hour. You’ve got some cleaning up to do.”
As she disappeared, he stood there in the middle of the flour-dusted kitchen, covered in smoke and biscuit dough, grinning like an absolute idiot.
Chapter Twenty
Cora stumbled down the stairs, her feet crammed into hiking boots she hadn’t worn since high school. The kitchen, where a flour bomb had detonated an hour ago, was now suspiciously spotless. Jack stood at the counter, two steaming mugs of coffee in hand, looking far too relaxed for someone who’d nearly set the place on fire.
“Thanks for cleaning up,” she said, accepting the coffee with a grateful sigh. One sip, and an involuntary moan escaped her. “Okay, you’re forgiven for the attempted arson. This coffee is magical.”
Jack gave a quick bow. “I aim to please.”
