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Now Maggie smirked at British.
Sliding the box onto the counter, Vonna took a step back and rubbed her hands together. For a half second British thought her mother-in-law was in pain, but the excited smile spreading across her medium-brown skin told her something else. It annoyed British every time someone told her how much Christian had looked like his father. British saw Christian every time she looked at Vonna.
“British, dear.” Vonna stepped up to the counter and reached across the marble slate to pat British’s hand. “It’s been five years. It’s about time someone, anyone, catches your attention.”
British pulled her arm away, surprised at Vonna’s statement. Her shoulders slumped as relief washed over her. “Maggie is speaking out of turn,” she explained. “I gave her no information.”
“But she did blush,” Maggie interjected.
“Why are you even working here?” British half teased. “Don’t you have the world to dazzle via social media?”
Maggie snarled and snatched her rag away. “Fine. Whatever. My job here is done.”
Once Maggie stepped away to wipe off a silver-topped table in the corner, Vonna raised her left brow and, wordlessly, Tiffani took the box away. “Now that we’re alone,” Vonna began, “what’s going on?”
British glanced to her left and right. The Cupcakery was full but not jam-packed as if there were a new cupcake debut today. There were enough couples at the tabletop and at the bar. When she glanced back up at Vonna, British shook her head. “Please don’t tell me you and Tiffani are on the same page about this.”
“Sweetheart,” Vonna said with a sigh, “I know you’ve tried your hand at dating.”
“Failed dating,” British blurted out. “Wait, how’d you know?”
Vonna shrugged her shoulders. “I get my fresh ingredients all around Four Points. People will tell me anything for one of my famous cupcakes when they bring their deliveries here. By the way, what do you think?” She nodded her head at the empty wrapper on British’s plate.
“Delicious, as expected.”
“It just needs a name, just like you need a man,” Vonna continued. “You’ve been alone too long.”
“I’m not alone,” British argued. “I have you, Tiff and my family.”
“That’s not enough.”
“I have my students,” she boasted. “They keep me pretty busy.”
With a skeptical eye, Vonna nodded. “Woman cannot live by the livelihood of children alone.”
“Vonna.”
Ignoring her, Vonna continued, tapping her shor
t-manicured finger on British’s wedding ring. “Do you think Christian would want you sitting around here for this long, pining away for him?”
British wrung her hands together. The rock scraped against her palm, leaving her with an ache. Christian, being diagnosed with hydrotropic cardiomyopathy early on in life, had always made British reassure him she’d move on. His enlarged heart limited their time together. She’d said she would. When the time was right.
British’s heart swelled at the mention of his name out loud. When he first passed away, her heart would seize and tears would flow. British looked away in shame for not crying right now. Did this mean she was she forgetting him now? “I hear you, Vonna,” mumbled British.
“I don’t think you do. No one says you have to get married. Maybe a good roll in the hay?”
“Vonna!” British gasped.
“Whatever. But if what Maggie says comes to fruition, I’d like to meet this man at the dance in a few weeks. I promised the school board I’d donate cupcakes for the middle school soiree.”
Her mother-in-law pushed away from the counter before British had a chance to deny what Maggie had said. “I promise you, Vonna, if and when I meet the second most perfect guy in the world, I’ll introduce him to you.”
The silver bells over the front door jingled. British kept her back turned but knew a man must have walked through the door as Maggie swayed against the tabletop with a “Lord Sweet Jesus” sigh. Tiffani cursed when the contents of the box her mother had brought out spilled. Even Vonna straightened and smoothed down the front of her apron.
British smiled and turned to excuse herself when a pink to-go box brushed her wrist. For some unknown reason she apologized then glanced up, only to find herself looking up at none other than Donovan Ravens.
Chapter 3
