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Lin smiled faintly. “That bad?”
I picked up a bowl of dough and started whisking in eggs. “It was normal. I dropped off cookies and got out of there.”
“Yeah? Because you look flustered.”
“I’m catering food for the entire town tomorrow night. My future may very well depend on getting a single cupcake just right. Think about it.” I set down the whisk, planting my palms on the counter. “One bite tomorrow may be all it takes for someone to develop confidence in me. If they believe in my cooking, they’ll believe in my dream. Right?” That’s how it happened for my mom, at least. She kept making bagels for anything she could around town until a tourist happened to try one and asked who made them. A few days later he had pushed her to start her own shop. He funded everything and she gave him a small cut of the profits.
“Hey,” Lin reached out and gave my hand a squeeze. “Even if tomorrow doesn’t change your life, you’ve still got a lot of road ahead. Okay? Some people have to crash into the bushes and get a few flat tires before they reach the promised land.”
“I don’t want car trouble,” I muttered. No. I wanted my own little fairytale. I wanted the kind of story that started with “once upon a time.” I wanted to live the sort of moments that would make other women sigh and clutch their chests with both hands–to make them wonder if maybe love is all anybody really needs. Was that so much to ask?
Sure, maybe some cynical people would say it was way too much to ask. They’d say people didn’t get their happy endings. The real world is cruel, and it doesn’t care. But me? I didn’t see the harm in hope. So I was damn well going to keep on hoping with all my heart, and nobody could stop me.
There was a knock at the door. I jumped, then stuck my palm out toward Lin and bulged my eyes. “Don’t answer that,” I hissed.
She frowned. “What? Why?”
“It could be him,” I added, still whispering.
“So? Did you poison his cookie or something?”
I took a steadying breath. Relax, dork. Even if it was him, so what? The worst that could happen was he’d growl at me or look at me like I was crazy again.
“Stay there,” I said, jabbing a finger when Lin moved to follow me to the door.
I opened the door to find Molly standing there with her hands clutched in front of her. She twisted her body from side to side restlessly, big puppy eyes pointed up at me from behind her dark curls. She was painfully cute. I wasn’t sure how parents managed to ever say no to these little things.
“Hi,” I said. I stuck my head out to look from side to side. “Where is your dad?”
“He’s yelling at the filing cabinet for not letting his key work right now.”
“Does he know you’re here?”
She lowered those big eyes for just a second, but then looked back up at me hopefully. “No, but you said we’re not strangers anymore. Can I come in and play?”
I grinned. “Um, I think we should probably take you back to your daddy. Your dad,” I corrected. I did not have a daddy kink. I was just talking normally to a kid the way adults did.
“Aww.” Molly stuck out her lower lip, pouting with expertise.
“Wait,” I said. “How did you know where I live?”
“Daddy asked Uncle Zack and Uncle Zack told him. Apartment three,” she said, holding up her small fingers. “I can count to one hundred,” she added with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows. “I looked both ways before I crossed the street. People here drive slow, don’t they? Do you have more cookies in there? It smells yummy.”
“Okay, speed racer. Let’s slow it down for a minute. How about I give you a muffin and we walk back over together?”
“You don’t wanna play with me?” she asked, bringing back the pout.
“We can play ‘I spy’ on the walk over. How’s that?”
“Okay!”
I heard two loud voices calling Molly’s name when I crossed the street with Molly’s hand in mine and stepped up to the front porch of the inn. She gave me a significant look, like she knew she was probably about to be in trouble. She consoled herself with another big bite of the blueberry muffin in her hand.
I stepped inside with Molly and tried to gently pull my hand from hers. I honestly thought about making a run for it now that I knew she was back, but the muffin would probably give me away. I cleared my throat. “Excuse me?” I tried.
“Daddy says I can be super loud,” Molly said, noting that the men still hadn’t heard me. “DADDY!”
Her shriek was so sudden and so powerful that I forgot to breathe for a few seconds. I gave her a look, as if seeing her for the first time. “How did that sound come out of you?”
