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Instantly, a profusion of scents wrapped around them. Baking breads, sweet icings, and tempting delights. Crista inhaled unconsciously and felt her sweet tooth awaken with a vengeance.
Johnny had always kept her supplied with sweets. For the past year, she hadn’t had to buy so much as a loaf of bread because of his generosity. Payment for betraying her? A guilty conscience?
Betrayal and anger began to burn brighter inside her. It made her chest ache with the knowledge that Dawg had dealt with this most of his life.
“Crista. ” Johnny’s voice greeted her with an edge of concern as she stepped into what had once been an open living room and dining room. It now held display cases of profuse sweets and breads.
There were other customers. Johnny had a steady clientele that kept him busy through the day.
He stepped away from the register cabinet, a frown pulling at his brow, as he glanced at Dawg behind her.
“Natches said you had left town. ” His gaze was filled with concern. “Is everything okay?”
He gripped her hands before kissing her cheek. Reacting normally was the hardest thing Crista had ever done. She wanted to rage; she wanted to cry. For all his problems with the Mackay family, she had always enjoyed Johnny’s company.
“Everything’s fine, Johnny. Natches misunderstood a slight argument Dawg and I had. Nothing to be worried about. But I have been missing my banana nut bread. Do you have any made?”
Johnny glanced over her shoulder once again, his gaze flickering with indecision.
Crista glanced back. Dawg hadn’t taken off his dark glasses, and he looked mean enough to bite nails in half. She butted her elbow into his tight abs with a warning look.
Customers were watching the scene curiously, a spate of whispers breaking out as Dawg looked down at her and rubbed at his hard stomach almost absently.
“I always have your bread, Crista. ” Johnny’s voice could have held nerves, anger, or fear. It was hard to tell.
He turned and moved back to the main display case. Lifting the hinged glass door to the long case, Johnny grabbed a wax liner, lifted a small loaf of banana nut bread from the case, and pushed it quickly into a white wax bag he used for the breads.
“Here you go,” he said, moving to the register, his expression emotionless, his gaze flickering between Crista and Dawg. “Anything else?” His gaze lingered on Dawg, and Crista swore she saw hatred glittering in the depths then.
“I tried to tell her she could get the bread somewhere else. ” Dawg spoke up then, his tone taunting. “It’s a nice place you have here, Johnny. Real nice. I’m glad to see your little court battle paid off. ”
The money and land they had won during the estate battle with Dawg had evidently paid for the store.
“Dawg,” Crista chided, hating the need to maintain a semblance of compassion toward Johnny.
She could feel the animosity that began to thicken between the two men. She pulled some money quickly from her purse to pay for the bread, wanting only to get out of there, to breathe without the stench of Johnny’s betrayal choking her.
Johnny held his hand up, forestalling the payment, his gaze hardening as he stared back at her.
“For old times. ” He smiled tightly. “But please, call before coming back. I’ll make certain I have my assistant working that day. I don’t need Dawg in my shop, if you don’t mind. ”
Behind her, Dawg clicked his tongue mockingly. “Johnny, we’re family, man. Surely I’m allowed in the store after paying for it? I can’t believe you’d be so coldhearted. ”
This was Dawg at his most taunting. This, Crista had seen before. He was pushing Johnny, trying to make him angry, trying to make him strike out.
Johnny stared back at her instead. “Call first, Crista,” he reminded her. “I’m sure you understand the reasons why. ”
The customers milling around the store were watching in interest now, the gossip mill gearing up for a spate of talk that would go on for months.
“I understand, Johnny. ” She kept her voice soft, but inside, she ached. And she felt her anger beginning to build.
This store Johnny took such pride in. The big house his mother had built, their airs and certainty of their place in society had been bought with the pain of Dawg’s childhood. They had added to his father’s cruelty to Dawg and exacerbated memories that haunted Dawg even now.
Crista stared at the loaf of bread in her hand, then back at Johnny. Her expression tightened as she laid it back on the counter.
“On second thought, Johnny, I think I don’t need this after all. ”
Surprise filled his gaze as he looked at the sheathed loaf of bread, then back at Crista.
