Page 50 of Accidentally in Love

She didn’t miss a beat and laughed. “Oh, girl, we have A LOT to talk about. What does the big grump want?”

“Bacon, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel.”

She hung up without a second word, and I got back to work on making dough.

I found another bowl and started preparing the dough for snickerdoodles. I went into the pantry, gathered all the ingredients, and set them down on the counter. I searched the cabinets for my hand mixer, but I had no idea where Gemma unpacked it. Had she unpacked it? I could beat the butter and sugars by hand, but my hand was already killing me from making the other dough.

I shot a text off to my sister.

ME: Where’s my hand mixer???

GEM: Your what? Why are you texting me soooo early?

ME: My hand mixer! The Beater!!

GEM:…

GEM: Yeah, I don’t know what you’re talking about.

ME: MY EGG BEATER! You’re not getting any Christmas cookies if you don’t tell me.

GEM: I don’t know! Did we forget to pack it?

ME: GEM!!!

Sometimes I forgot how forgetful my sister was. Nolan didn’t have a hand mixer. That meant I had to go back to my apartment to ensure I didn’t forget anything else. Pregnancy brain was no joke.

A knock on the front door prevented me from tearing my hair out. It also must have alerted Nolan because I heard thunderous footsteps from upstairs. Nolan stood in the kitchen with sweatpants on, no shirt, and a serious case of bedhead.

His scowl turned to concern when he saw me standing in the kitchen, gripping my hair in frustration. He pulled me into his arms. “Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked.

Nolan used to only call me ‘baby’ during sex. Maybe it was just my hormones, but hearing him call me that now made my heart flip over in my chest.

“I can’t find my hand mixer. And Lizzie’s at the door,” I said in between tears.

He pulled away with an unsure look, but then he walked over to the front door and let Lizzie inside. I sprinted up the stairs and went into the guest room. I started tearing up the boxes we brought up here yesterday, but my hand mixer was nowhere in sight. Eventually, Nolan came to get me. He had fixed his hair and put on a shirt.

“Avs, come on, why don’t you eat something first?” he suggested and kneeled on the carpet next to me. The tears continued to fall.

“I can’t make snickerdoodles if I don’t have my hand mixer!” I cried.

I could tell he was trying not to laugh. This shouldn’t be such a big deal that I was crying over not being able to find a kitchen appliance. He gently wiped my tears away. “Let’s eat the bagels Lizzie brought over, and then we can figure it out, okay? I’ll even go to the apartment for you.”

“Okay,” I blubbered.

He gave me a reassuring smile.

“I’m being ridiculous right now, aren’t I?”

He cringed, but Nolan was a smart man and didn’t answer that. Instead, he put a hand on my bump. “You need to eat something.”

“I ate a granola bar.”

“You need more, okay?”

I nodded and wiped my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”