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We were not getting married.
A lot of people were, but we were not them.
Ivy was pregnant with her and Kai’s second child and their first son. Holley and Seb were engaged and planning on getting married in the fall, and Saylor was warning Dylan that if he ever proposed to her, she was going to string him up by a bowtie on the clock in the town square.
The fact I was the only person who knew she was no longer taking contraceptives? Well.
London and Oli were talking about trying for a baby of their own, and her son was officially part of the White Peak soccer team. Don’t come for me, I don’t know their name, okay?
Tori had finally agreed to give it up and move in with Colton as long as he turned the spare bedroom into an office for her. One that had a lock. It seemed reasonable.
As for Kinsley and Josh… Well. I smiled as I watched my brother twirl his new bride around the dancefloor of Bronco’s. I’d laughed when they told me that was where their reception was going to be, but at the same time, where else? That bar held a piece of all our hearts, and it was just perfect.
My parents were even here.
I’d say that was the real miracle, but it was the fact the seniors were all here and hadn’t caused any trouble yet. Although we had been forced to tell Mabel she couldn’t bring a duck as her date.
The best part was that I knew the one thing that nobody else except my brother and new sister-in-law did: Kinsley was six weeks pregnant. Her champagne was non-alcoholic. I’d done a sneaky switch on their bottle this morning when I’d brought the cake.
And oh, what a cake it was. It was my proudest creation yet, and I got a little fission of excitement every time I looked at it. Because while life had changed for all my friends, it had for me, too.
Thanks to Maverick’s commissioning of my recipes, I was now somewhat of a little culinary-slash-literary sensation. I’d had to hire another baker at Queen of Tarts so I could attend all his book launches, and he’d networked me among his peers. I had no idea how many authors needed legitimate recipes for their books, especially mystery authors who wrote the most adorable, murderous stories. I was working on one recipe at any given time, and I was having the creative time of my life.
Not to mention that him crediting me had increased my business. I had people traveling out of town just to pick up cupcakes and cookies, and I had more occasion cake orders than I could handle along with the regular orders of the store.
And oh, I loved baking, but apparently, I also loved cake decorating.
I’d also just received the text I’d been waiting on.
“Nice switch this morning.” Maverick’s arms slipped around my body.
“I’m sorry?” I whispered back.
“The bottle. Should I practice being called Uncle Mav now or later?”
I nudged him with my elbow. “Shh. It’s a secret.”
“Good thing nobody else saw you.” He kissed my cheek. “She looks beautiful, huh?”
I smiled at Kinsley as she kissed my brother, and something truly warmed inside me. “She does. I never thought I’d see the day he’d actually marry her.”
He chuckled, having heard Colton’s speech about how long Josh had been in love with her. “Things have a funny way of working out, huh?”
I dipped my chin. They really, really did.
“Hey, what aren’t you telling me? Oh, you aren’t, too, are you?”
“No!” I laughed, turning into his hold. “Come with me a moment.” I took his hand and led him through the tables and outside into the parking lot. It was so cool out here, and I shivered as the air hit me.
Mav shrugged off his tuxedo jacket and draped it over my shoulders. He’d done the same thing the night of our first kiss, and I smiled at the memory.
“What is it?” he asked, rubbing my arms to warm me up.
“Um.” I looked up at him. “You know how I’ve been working on all the other bespoke recipes for authors?”
“Sure. You’ve been doing a couple a week, right?”
“Yeah. Um, well, I’ve saved all that money.”
He frowned. “Okay?”
“And I didn’t want to say anything incase it didn’t work out.” I shifted uncomfortably, tangling my fingers together in front of me. “Because, well, you know.”
“No.” His shoulders shook with a light laugh. “Not at all.”
“Oh, my God. Stop it. Okay, um.” I flattened my hands against my stomach. “Last week, I went to Mile Point.”
“The town nearby? Where Millie is from?”
My new baker. “Uh-huh. It’s a bit bigger than White Peak and, uh, the owner of the old railway café has been trying to get a buyer for it for a while, but it was pretty run down and needed some renovations.”
