Chapter1
Mary Johanna Bennett should have known something was wrong the second she turned onto Main Street and spotted all the cars parked outside Debbiecakes.
At eight-thirty on a Monday morning.
The Monday after the bachelor auction.
The entire town of Sheraton Beach appeared to be operating on caffeine, sugar, and gossip.
“Lord, give me strength,” Johanna muttered beneath her breath as she eased a red Mini Cooper into a parking space along the cobblestone curb.
The ocean breeze drifted through the cracked window, carrying the familiar scent of saltwater and cinnamon. Seagulls circled overhead while tourists strolled the sidewalks clutching shopping bags from the boutique shops lining Main Street.
Sheraton Beach looked beautiful this morning.
Golden sunlight bounced off storefront windows and glimmered against the Atlantic in the distance. Hanging flower baskets swayed gently from black iron lampposts while soft jazz music drifted from a nearby café.
Usually, this town soothed her.
Today, however, Sheraton Beach felt downright dangerous.
Because every person in town appeared to have awakened with one mission in mind: talk about the bachelor auction. And unfortunately for her, they also wanted to talk about firefighter Braxton “Blaze” Carter.
Johanna closed her eyes briefly and rested her forehead against the steering wheel.
She still couldn’t believe her girlfriends had played her like that.
Not just one of them. All of them.
Her phone buzzed in the cupholder. Already suspicious, Johanna grabbed it and scrolled through the incoming text messages, fully expecting nonsense from the Saltwater Sisters.
MILAN:We saved your life.
Johanna snorted.
TASHA:Girl, stop acting mad. That man looked at you like you were dessert.
NIA:Everybody saw it.
LEIGH:Also, social media is eating y’all UP.
Johanna immediately dropped the phone onto the passenger seat like it had overheated.
Nope. She wasn’t opening social media. Not today, and possibly not ever again if the women of Sheraton Beach planned to keep discussing her love life like a public service announcement.
Drawing in a steadying breath, she stepped from the car and smoothed her cream-colored blouse against her jeans. The ocean wind lifted several curls from the puff gathered at the top of her head, and she pushed them back while making her way toward Debbiecakes.
The second she opened the bakery door, warmth wrapped around her along with the heavenly scents of butter, vanilla, and brown sugar. The smell alone could probably qualify as therapy.
Unfortunately, not even Debbiecakes could fix what she was dealing with.
Conversations buzzed through the bakery beneath soft old-school R&B playing overhead. Women crowded around marble café tables clutching coffee cups while glass display cases sparkled beneath warm lighting.
Debra Beaumont moved through the gourmet cupcake bakery greeting customers in a fitted blush-colored jumpsuit and heels that appeared entirely too expensive to be standinganywhere near frosting.
“Morning, sweetie,” Debra called warmly the second she spotted Johanna. “You survived.”
Johanna narrowed her eyes. “Barely.”
