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“True.” We continued to walk with the warm sparkles swirling around us. When we got to the split in the walkway that would lead us to either the council building or toward the bakery, whatever had been walking with us jingled quietly before it squeezed us gently, and then it was gone. Beau and I stood there and watched as the trail of sparkles moved on toward the opposite direction we were going.

“That just happened, right?” Beau asked. “You heard that?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Like jingle bells?”

“Okay, it wasn’t just me.”

“Nope.”

“And it squeezed us and gave us a hug?” I nodded again. “All right. I’m glad I’m not imagining things.”

“You’re not,” I said. “Come on. We have to finish the baking, and then I think you need to go home and lie down. Or maybe you should just do that anyway?”

Beau sighed. “I’m feeling better. I will go home early though. I didn’t make a list of everything I planned on baking for today, so I need to go and do that before I go get Cooper.”

I looked over at Beau. “Maybe you should leave Cooper where he’s at for a bit and just go home and rest. He’s happy playing at the childcare center. Maybe ask Evan to take him down to you? Or I can. We both know you won’t get a whole lot accomplished with him running around at the house and you having to chase after him to figure out what he’s getting into.”

Beau made a face. “I didn’t think about that. Roman won’t be home early enough to get him. I’m not sure when Evan will be done for the day.”

“You forget,” I said. “My mate is on the same team as Ev. I’ll just ask Vaughn.”

I tugged Beau with me as I reached out to Vaughn.

“Vaughn? Are you busy?”

“I’m never too busy for you, little mate. Are you all right?”

That man was the sweetest. “Yeah. I had a question though. Beau wasn’t feeling the best. He’s fine, and so is the baby, but the baby decided now was the time to turn. And with him being so large, Beau was in a bit of pain. I took him to the doctor, and everything’s fine. But he’s tired.”

“That’s good. Do I need to get someone to go get Roman?”

“No. But Beau was curious when Evan would be finished for the day. He wants to go home and rest, but Cooper is in the childcare center, and Roman won’t be back in time to get him.”

“We’ll be finished around three. Do you want me to have Evan call his brother? Or stop by?”

I looked over at Beau, who pulled the back door open to the bakery. “Do you want Evan to stop by or call so you can talk to him? Vaughn said they’d be finished around three.”

“Either works. Ev might have plans and won’t be able to pick Cooper up anyway. But even so, I could still go home and take a nap and come back and get Cooper. It’s not that big of a deal now that I think about it.”

I nodded. “He said either. But then he said he would just go home and take a nap and then come back and get Cooper, so I’m not sure. Maybe just don’t even mention it to Evan?”

“Whatever you want, cutie. I’ll be leaving around that time as well. Will you still be at the bakery?”

“No. I’ll be home. We’re really not going to be here too much longer.”

“All right. Just let me know when you get home safe, all right?”

“I will. It’s cold out, so I’m probably going to use magic to get home, but I’ll still reach out. I love you,” I told him.

“Love you too.”

I looked over at Beau. “All right. I don’t think he’s going to tell Evan now because you said you would just come back and get him.”

“It’s probably better. Ev loves Cooper as much as Cooper loves his uncle. But Cooper is good at Ev’s house for maybe fifteen minutes before he’s bored. I must be more tired than I thought because I should have thought about just coming back for him after I take a nap. That makes the most sense.” Beau pushed his hand out toward one of the prep tables, and it was suddenly filled with dozens of cookies.

“What else were you planning? Can I help?”

“We need the cupcakes and muffins still, but we also need the rest of the cinnamon rolls.”