“Situation!” Junie called as she exited her office, an old blanket and a couple of clean towels tucked under one arm as she reached for the back door again.
Working as fast as she could, she made a little shelter bed behind the dumpster, out of the wind. “You stay warm, okay? Now you can sleep,” she whispered, crouching down low. “I’ll bring you more food later. But you can’t stay. I mean it.”
The puppy thumped his tail once, slow and hopeful, those big eyes locked on her like she was the best thing he’d ever seen.
Junie sighed as she straightened up, brushing flour from her apron. A reluctant smile tugged at her lips anyway.
Don’t get attached. You can’t keep him.
Now, time for some well-earned shuteye.
When she turned, Kenzie stood in the doorway watching. She had a smug look on her face and was shaking her head.
“What, I can’t be nice to animals, now?”
“You know this is just going to be trouble. If the health inspectors or even a customer complains about a dog in the bakery, they’ll shut you down.”
“That’s not going to happen. I’m just being a nice person.”
“Right. That’s the way it always starts.”
Junie slipped back inside, her body heavy with exhaustion, but she couldn’t resist one last glance over her shoulder before heading to the cot. Kenzie stood at the open back door, smiling like a fool and waving at the little dog.
Junie cleared her throat.
Kenzie whipped around, guilt written all over her face. “I was just… waving at a friend I saw on the street.” She quickly closed the door and marched toward the front of the shop. “I’m needed up front.”
Junie bit back a smile. Yeah, right. Kenzie was just as big a sucker for a needy animal as she was.
She couldn’t wait to tell Tanner about the puppy. Nobody knew better than her how soft that big, tough man was when it came to taking in strays.
With a tired sigh, she climbed onto the cot in her tiny office and curled up under the blanket. The faint sound of Poppy and Kenzie chatting up front drifted through the doorway as her eyes grew heavy. A small, secret smile lingered on her lips even as sleep pulled her under.
CHAPTER FIVE
Tanner’s knuckles whitened around the steering wheel as the truck ate up another mile of highway toward town. The familiar scent of leather seats and faint chokecherry from yesterday’s bakery bag on the passenger seat filled the cab, but it did nothing to settle the restless knot in his chest.
He’d been wasting time the entire seven years he’d been back in Wilder when it came to Junie Morgan. It had only taken a few months for him to realize she wasn’t a kid anymore. And not much more than that to figure out he wanted her for his own.
She wasn’t just Kenzie’s best friend. Not anymore. It wasn’t even him looking out for her. Being simply protective of her had ended a long time ago, too. He just hadn’t wanted to admit it. Releasing a slow breath, he rolled his shoulders, trying to shake off the tension.
As of today, I’m done holding back.
He was turning up the heat. It should come as no surprise to her. They’d been dancing around this for years, ever since he came back to Wilder. At first, it had felt wrong as hell—thinking of her as anything more than the girl he’d always looked out for like family. That part had twisted him up something fierce.
He could still see Junie at six years old, all pigtails and big, curious eyes, trailing after him with Kenzie like two determined little shadows.
Back then, romance had never once crossed his mind. Not even a flicker. Now his chest ached at just the thought of her in a whole new way. Tanner flexed his fingers on the worn leather, warm beneath his palms as another mile of sunbaked highway rolled past.
Those long letters and late-night texts they’d exchanged all through his rodeo years proved it. Page after page, message after message, he’d watched her bloom into a beautiful young woman right in front of his eyes. His chest tightened at the memory, a sharp, unwelcome pull he didn’t want to examine too closely.
It had taken real work to keep her locked away in that safe little box in his head as the girl he counseled, the trusted friend. The one who could call him at two in the morning with tears in her voice and know he’d always pick up, no questions asked.
He swallowed hard, jaw flexing as the truck ate up another stretch of road. She’d dated other boys. God knew he’d had plenty of women over the years.
He’d damn near fallen off his horse–something he hadn’t done since his last rodeo–when the truth had slammed into him like a kick to the ribs, knocking the air straight out of his lungs. Junie needed to behis.
Parking his truck, he sauntered up to the door and gripped the handle to Bread & Batter, the bakery she owned. Closing his eyes, he steeled himself.
