Junie couldn’t breathe. The air felt too thick, pressing in on her chest.
She mumbled a shaky thank-you to the doctor, muttered something about needing coffee, and walked out of the waiting room on legs that didn’t feel like her own.
She never went back in.
She never left the scrapbook.
She never told Tanner she had been there at all.
By the time she reached her car in the hospital parking lot, the tears wouldn’t stop. She pulled Nibbles tight against her chest, burying her face in his worn, familiar fur.
“He doesn’t feel the same way,” she whispered, voice cracking. Her mother had been right to leave her with her father. “He doesn’t love me, and he never will.”
And for the first time, Junie let herself truly believe it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Present day, seven years later…
Junie was one slow blink away from curling up on the flour-dusted floor and sleeping right there among the mixing bowls.
What had she been thinking? Oh yeah, she’d been thinking that the cute couple who’d practically floated into her shop this morning had needed her help. No wonder they were drifting on a cloud of joy. They had just decided to get married. Not months from now, but that very day. How could anyone turn them down?
Obviously, she couldn’t. She seriously needed to work on developing that skill.
Instead, here she was, at two frickin’ o’clock in the morning, trying to complete orders she’d put off to help them. Why was it so hard for her to turn people away? There was the real possibility she wouldn’t get everything done. What if everyone stopped coming to her bakery to buy her treats because she didn’t have any?
She’d tellthemto say no to that couple and see if they could’vedone it. Then she’d have the last laugh because they would have taken one look into the eyes of that sweet young couple and completely lost their minds, just like she had.
She should have finished with this order hours ago. Would have been done but for that cake. Sayingnohad never been her strong suit. But starting today, she was going to learn how.
Right, but then you’d have felt like crap all day for being selfish.
She smiled to herself, the memory cutting through the thick fog of her exhaustion. They’d been so excited, practically bouncing as they described every detail of the ceremony they wanted for their impromptu wedding.
She didn’t regret it. Not even a little. Every bride deserved the wedding cake of their dreams. “Oh, that’s the ugliest cake I’ve ever seen, but it will be fine,” said no bride ever. At least not on her watch. She didn’t even try to fight it. That dream cake was happening for them, simple as that.
She’d lost track of time, carefully piping a thin crumb coat over each tier until the surface was perfectly smooth. Then came her favorite part—smoothing on layer after layer of her signature Swiss-meringue buttercream, chasing every bubble and ridge until the edges were razor sharp and the whole cake looked almost too beautiful to eat.
Only then did she let herself sink into the best part: piping delicate lace patterns, tiny rosettes, and intricate scrollwork across every inch. Hours disappeared as she worked, completely lost in the rhythm of the piping bag and the quiet satisfaction of creating something this special for them.
She could still see the bride’s face when she’d come by to pick it up. Her jaw had dropped the minute she saw the cake, eyes going wide before happy tears spilled down her cheeks. Warmth had spread through Junie’s chest. In that moment, she’d known all the time and effort was worth it.
But no good deed went unpunished, and now she was payingthe price. Exhausted and so far behind on the orders it wasn’t funny, she’d be lucky to be finished before it was time to open.
“That’s it, Junie Morgan,” she told herself. “That wedding cake was the last time you’re putting yourself in a bind like this. From now on, you’re going to say no. Your needs are just as valuable as anyone else’s. You’re going to be tough and just say no.”
Right. Because toughness is what you’re known for.
And why was it that when that voice in her head scolded her like that, it sounded just like Tanner Daniels was speaking? That was all the proof she needed that she was losing her mind.
She’d read somewhere that extreme lack of sleep could lead to delirium. That had to be it because that was a Daddy’s voice she was hearing, and Tanner was not her Daddy, and she didn’t think he ever would be.
Still, it was nice to pretend… as she stood in the warm glow of Bread & Batter’s kitchen at two o’clock in the morning.
Who was she kidding? Wiping her forehead with the back of her wrist, she let out a tired sigh. If Tanner couldn’t be her Daddy, it sure would be nice if someone could. Trouble was, there wasn’t anyone else she wanted.
In her dreams, Tanner would push through the back door, take one look at her running herself ragged, and growl in that low, no-nonsense voice, “That’s enough, Juniper Kate. You’re done for the night.”
