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“That’s the great thing about a small town.” He turned his head to his friend. “Lara, this is Aidyn, one of my teammates.”
“Hi, Aidyn, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Lara. Tate says you bake the best cookies he’s ever tasted and since he wouldn’t share with me, I asked him to stop on the way home to pick up more.”
She tsked and shook her head. “It’s not nice to not share.”
Tate shrugged and grinned. His cheeks tinted a cute pink. “That’s why we’re here. I’m buying for the house tonight. What do you have left? We’ll bring something back for everyone.”
She chuckled. “I have four banana nut muffins. A half dozen sugar cookies and one apple pie left.”
“We’ll take it.”
“All of it?”
“Yep. What we don’t eat tonight, we’ll have for breakfast.”
She pulled a bakery bag from the holder under the counter and opened it. They watched her work, and it made her nervous, but she’d done this a million times before. After filling the bag, she pulled the pie from the case behind her and set it in the pie box and folded in the corners. She laid it on the counter before them, then pulled her phone out and used the calculator.
“You left far too much money this morning, and I’m adding this to what I’ll owe you for the security system.”
“Lara...”
“You gentlemen have a fantastic night now.”
Tate grinned broadly, and Aidyn laughed. “We’ve been dismissed, Tate.”
“I guess we have.” He picked up the bag of goodies and Aidyn picked up the pie and they walked toward the door. She’d have to stop watching him walk away. One day. Not today, though. She earned this nice little show.
Just as she was staring at his backside, before she could register what was happening, she was looking at his front. Her eyes snapped up to see his eyes watching her. He chuckled, then winked at her before stepping out the door.
He. Winked. At. Her.
Her breathing came in spurts, and she took in several deep breaths. Watching out the window until his truck pulled away from the parking lot, she finally felt as though her legs would carry her to the door. She twisted the lock and tugged on the chain to the open sign and began straightening chairs around the tables. Then she picked up the empty trays from her glass case and carried them to the kitchen to start baking for tomorrow.
Today, her major sales came from cookies and breads. So, she’d make half again what she’d made for today and see if that would carry her through.
A knock on her back door halted her movements, and her heart rate sped up. She listened for another knock or any sound and silently chastised herself for not wearing her weapon as she’d told her father she would do. Another knock sounded, this time louder, and she tiptoed to the back door. The BRR wouldn’t knock. She felt stupid thinking they would.
Her phone vibrated, and she pulled it from her pocket to see a text from Shianne.
“I’m at your back door.”
She quickly twisted the locks and pulled the door open. The instant she saw Shianne’s face, she gasped.
“God, I was scared.”
“I told you it was me.”
“I know, but I guess my mind was stuck on it being someone tricking me.”
She grabbed Shianne and hugged her tightly to her.
Shianne whispered. “It’s okay Lara. I don’t blame you for being scared. It’ll take some time.”
She pulled back and huffed out a big breath. “Whew. I guess fear, added to exhaustion, made me overreact. I’m sorry.”
Shianne laughed and pulled her into the kitchen. She halted, twisted the lock in the door, then continued into the bakery to show her friend the empty cases.
