“What do you need us to do?” Joshua asked.
“I’m going to need one of you to make a run to Snoqualt for foodstuff and craft supplies. One of you will need to man the front, since Elise is going to be in the back doing decorating with me, and two of you will be mixing and baking. Who’s good for what jobs?” she asked.
Chance hadn’t realized how disappointed he’d get when he couldn’t see Josie. He’d worked hard to get her to purchase Sweet Dreams Desserts, but now that she was here, he resented all the time she spent working. He had to figure out a way for her to get more free time. What’s more, all this work couldn’t be good for her back.
The number of cars in the parking lot surprised him when he pulled in. But then he remembered Betty mentioning something about the school carnival and Josie explaining the need for all the extra hours. When he went into the shop, it pleased him to see that someone besides Elise and Josie was manning the front, so that meant she’d finally hired on extra help. At least he was happy, until he realized it was Joshua Parker. Granted, Joshua was a good friend of Sam’s, but he still was one of the most eligible bachelors in Fate Harbor, so what was he doing working for Josie? What’s more, he had a job. Chance stood in line behind five others, and as he waited his turn, Dane Johansen came out carrying a tray of cupcakes to add to the display case.
What the hell was going on?
Dane saw him and gave a nod before he made his way back to the kitchen.
Sick of waiting in line, Chance beelined for the back. He found Ian Ransom mixing batter and Dane picking up more cupcakes from Elise and Josie. It took everything he had not to ask what in the hell was going on, but then Ian shot him a sly grin. Thank God he did, because it enabled Chance to keep his shit together when he realized they were all yanking his chain.
Josie was looking pretty tired, and come to think of it, so was Elise.
“Hey Gentlemen! It looks like you have a handle on this. Do you mind if I take my two best girls over to Hart’s for a break?”
Ian’s face broke into a warm smile. “I think that would be an excellent idea, Chance. It’s good to see you.” Chance turned to Dane, who nodded in agreement.
While Elise and Josie cleaned up and provided instructions to their helpers, Chance texted Sam to meet over at the diner. By the time the drinks arrived at the table, Sam walked through the door. Chance had some fun with his friend explaining how Josie had a new team of helpers over at the bakery, and Elise caught on and enjoyed torturing Sam as well.
Watching Sam simmer, Josie finally put a stop to it. “Don’t worry, Sam. Apparently, Betty has put the word out that the three of us are an item, and she told those guys they were to keep their hands to themselves.”
She put Sam immediately at ease, but Chance noticed that Josie still looked a little uncomfortable about the whole situation.
Jace approached the table, a big smile on his face. “Josie, my savior!” He leaned across the table and kissed Josie on the cheek, and then winked at Elise. “How are you enjoying carnival week?” he asked.
“I’m wiped out, mentally and physically, and I’m almost out of inventory,” Josie said with a laugh up at the big man. Chance liked how Josie got along with everyone in Fate Harbor. He didn’t like all the kissing and the hugs from the different men, but he did like that she felt so at home in the small town he considered his home.
“Dinner’s on the house for the ladies,” Jace offered. “I suggest the grilled halibut. I was going to bring some over this afternoon and tomorrow, anyway. I know what you’re going through, believe me. Gotta run.” Chance watched him head back to the kitchen.
“It looks like you’re doing good enough business to hire a helper,” Chance said.
“Right now, any extra profits are going to my sisters. I want to make sure they have everything they need for their first year. They were talking about getting jobs, but I don’t want them to put their scholarships at risk.”
Elise just rolled her eyes behind Josie’s back.
“Zee, didn’t you and Betty figure all this out before you moved here?”
“Yeah, we did.”
“Aren’t you doing a lot better than you anticipated?” Chance motioned Lola over and they all placed their orders.
“Yeah, the shop is doing a lot better, especially with the deal I worked with the Harts. But I just want to make sure that the girls are covered. I might not send them all the money. Some of it I’m putting into a rainy day fund.”
“Honey, you’re working a lot of hours,” Chance began.
“Chance, how the hell do you know so damn much about my business? Did Betty and Butch tell you about my finances?”
Uh-oh, I’d better figure out how to back out of this, and fast.
“Josie, don’t you remember telling us how surprised you were at the good luck you were having?” Sam asked innocently. Now Chance remembered why this whole threesome thing was such a great idea. “You had said that with the Hart’s business, it was almost an extra twenty percent more profit than you anticipated,” Sam continued smoothly.
“You could use more than one day off a week, Josie,” Elise chimed in. “What’s more, when people get a load of the cake you’re doing for the firehouse, you’re going to get another stream of business coming in, mark my words.”
“What cake?” Chance asked, glad to change the subject. Josie looked over at him. There was a glimmer in her eye, and he realized that she was only allowing the subject to be changed for now. They would be coming back to how he knew so much about her finances.
Chance stifled a grin. She was never going to let him get away with anything. Life was going to be so much fun.
After walking Elise and Josie back to the bakery, Chance drove over to Betty and Butch’s. He wanted to talk to Betty about her putting the word out that Josie was taken. It was fine by him, but he was worried that it might be too much too soon for Josie. When he got to the house, he found Butch puttering on the motor home.
“Hi, son.” Chance smiled at the greeting. It never failed to warm his heart to be considered this man’s son. “If you’re looking for Betty, she won’t be back until probably midnight. She and Yolanda went over to the Indian Casino.” Butch and Chance grinned. Betty loved her nickel slots.
“Yeah, I was looking for her, but I’m thinking I might have found a better deal.”
“Well, I do have some of that Belgian beer that you like over here in the cooler.” Butch handed him a bottle and they sat down in the patio chairs and stared out over the yard into the trees.
“Anything in particular on your mind?” Butch asked.
“I guess I’m wondering how you’re taking to the idea of the three of us getting together,” Chance stated baldly.
“Yep, that’s what I thought was on your mind.” Butch sat back in his chair and took another sip of his beer. “You know, I didn’t like this beer when you first started bringing it over. Now, more often than not, it’s what I choose to drink. I’ve always tried to keep an open mind, Chance, and I don’t mean to close it now, especially when it’s about people I love.” Butch leaned over and grasped Chance’s hand, as he often had when Chance had been a child.
“I talked to Betty about this. She really thinks that the three of you complete one another, like missing pieces to a puzzle. She’s the smartest person I know, Chance. All I know is that if three people I love like my own can find happiness together, then I want that for them. I’m also thankful that we live in a community that embraces this lifestyle.”
Chance went to take another sip of beer, but had to put it down, knowing that he was too choked up to swallow.
“Now, how about putting some of your fancy education to work and see if you can help me figure out how to make the table stop sticking in the motor home.” Chance laughed and followed his foster father into the motor home. The conversation stayed with him far into the night, and he wondered what part of the puzzle he provided to the two people he loved.
Chapter 1
7
Josie had never been so happy to turn the sign to “Closed” before. The school carnival started in just a half hour, and she was looking forward to a long bath. She’d already posted another sign on her door stating that Sweet Dreams Desserts would be closed tomorrow. It was the first Saturday that the bakery had been closed in the eleven weeks she’d been open. She and Elise were due a two-day weekend after the week they’d put in. When she opened the door to leave and start upstairs to her apartment, she was met by a wall of men. Four uniformed firefighters smiled down at her.
“Are you ready to go, Josie?” Dane asked.
“What?”
“We have to be at the booth in fifteen minutes. Did you want to ride in the fire truck with Eric, Joshua, and Ian, or in the car with me?”
“Seriously, Dane, what are you talking about? I have a date with my bathtub and a bed.” She was met by dismayed and stunned expressions.
“But you have to be there! People are going to want you to cut your cake. Ever since we brought it to the booth this morning, they’ve all been talking about it and you. I thought Elise told you,” Eric said.
“Guys, the baker from Snoqualt never showed up at your booth, now did he?” Josie asked.
“Yeah, well, his cake never kicked ass like yours does.”
Josie frowned up at them. She’d already told Sam and Chance she was too tired to go over to their house, even though they said they would just let her bathe and go to bed. But the publicity for her shop was too good to pass up.
“Okay, let me go change.”
After two hours, Dane thought to bring her a stool to sit on. Josie was thankful that she’s worn her brace and not a corset. She’d already taken twelve orders for custom-made cakes. Just another half hour, and then she could cut the cake and go home.
Sam and Chance unexpectedly marched up to the booth just as she sat on the stool. She’d never seen them so mad. Eric and Ian were out giving fire truck rides, and Joshua was in the dunking booth. Sam strode up to Dane and grabbed him by his arm and yanked him behind the booth, while Chance stormed up to her.
“What in the hell are you doing sitting on this stool, when you promised us you would be resting?” He whispered so the kids wouldn’t hear, but at the same time it was as if he was yelling at her. Josie hated that. It reminded her of her childhood, and she shrunk back.
Chance looked stunned at her reaction. “Zee, you can’t be scared of me.” He gently grasped her upper arms, “You know I would never hurt you, don’t you, Zee?” She nodded her head, hypnotized by his blue eyes.
“Explain to me why you’re here. Explain to me why you continued to exhaust yourself past the point that was necessary, to the point that you’re now probably in pain! Was it to help these guys?” He growled again, but this time Josie heard the hurt in his voice, and she reached up to stroke his cheek.
“Of course not. If I was going to spend time with anyone, it would have been you and Sam. I love spending time with you two. But this was to promote the business.” She reached into her jeans pocket and showed him pieces of paper. “See, these are appointments to make specialty cakes like the fire truck!”
He looked down at her in dawning comprehension. “How many appointments do you have?”
“I have twelve, do you believe it?” Josie knew she was acting giddy, but she just couldn’t help herself.
“That’s great, Zee. Now we’re taking you home.” She looked around, and then saw Sam and Dane walking around from the back of the booth. Dane was brushing his hair with his hand and straightening his shirt. He walked over to her.
“Josie, you should have told us about your back! We wouldn’t have kept you standing this long. We could have gotten the appointments for you,” he said sheepishly.
“Dane, what are you talking about? You were right, I needed to be here.” She watched as his eyes cut over to Sam.
“I’m really sorry. We’ll make it up to you next week, I promise. Um, I’m going over to relieve Joshua from the dunking tank.” He quickly walked away.
“How tired are you? How much do you hurt?” Sam asked abruptly.
“I think with all the orders she got, our girl is walking on air,” Chance answered. Josie watched as a slow, satisfied smile made its way across Sam’s face.
“Well, that does my heart a world of good.” Sam walked over and stood beside Josie, while Chance pivoted to get on her other side. Then they each took an arm and led Josie out of the booth.
“Wait! I have to stay until the cake is cut!” she protested.
“We heard about the cake cutting ceremony from Lola over at Hart’s Diner. That’s how we found out you were here instead of at home resting. You don’t have to do it, the other bakery owner never did.”
“Sam’s right, you don’t,” Chance said firmly.
They walked swiftly off the school grounds. The only concession they made for her was modifying their steps so that they matched her smaller stride. When they got to Sam’s truck, Sam picked her up and put her in the backseat, and Chance immediately crawled in back with her. Sam went around to the front. Chance fastened her seat belt and then his. It was a couple of minutes before Josie realized they were on the road to their house.
“Guys, you said you were taking me home.”
“We are, to our home,” Sam said. It seemed like he was in a bad mood. Then Josie replayed the events at the school grounds.
“Sam! Did you hit Dane?”
“Yes,” Sam answered succinctly. “And I’d do it again. How dare he put you in a position where you’d be in such pain.”
“He didn’t do anything. I’m the one who ultimately made the decision to stand in that booth today.”
“What do you mean, stand?” Sam demanded. “You were sitting on that stool.”
“I was standing most of the time, they just got me the stool the last half hour,” she explained.
“Goddammit. Standing’s even worse than sitting on a stool without a back. What was he thinking?”
“He didn’t know. Dammit, don’t blame him, blame me. I’m a big girl,” she muttered.
The truck stopped. They both must have misheard her, thinking she’d said “Boy, am I a big girl,” because Sam flung open her door.
“Zee, I told you not to poke the tiger,” Chance cautioned.
“I’ll say whatever the hell I want,” she said. Sam reached in to pick her up.
“Stop it, I can walk.”
Sam must have caught on she was pissed. “Fine, let me help you, you’re hurting.”
“Yes, my back hurts a little, but what’s really hurting is my sense of pride.” She allowed Sam to help her onto the driveway and assist her up the stairs. She might be pissed, but she wasn’t stupid.
“We need to dial it back a bit,” Chance said. “Both of you.”
Chance hid a grin as a pair of brown eyes and a pair of green eyes glared at him. “Josie, do you need medicine? Heat? Ice?”
“No, it’s calmed down.”
“Let’s see if we can get Mr. Booth to do the same, shall we?” He took Josie’s hand and held it as he led her down the hall to his bedroom. It still smelled faintly of fresh paint. When they got to the room, Sam turned on every light. A smile bloomed on Josie’s face. Sam had told Chance about what that asshole ex-boyfriend had said about having sex with the lights out. Good to see his brother still knew how to score some points with their girl.
“This room looks different, what happened to it?”
“I wanted something big enough for the three of us, so I had it re-done.”
She looked around, fascinated.
“That’s what happens when you have more money than God.” Sam laughed.
“Why were you so mad, Sam? You didn’t have to hit Dane.” Josie gave him a hurt and mad look.
He speared his fingers through his dark hair. “It kills me anytime I see you in pain. I just want to be there to take it away from you. Then to think that Dane was misusing you made me crazy.”
Chance kept his mouth shut and prayed Sam would say the right thing.
“What about when you wore the heels?” Sam asked.
“I was stupid, I grant you that. Chance told me about you chopping wood. Should I always assume you’re an imbecile?” she asked him.
Chance managed not to laugh.
“Uhhhm, I would prefer it if you didn’t,” Sam said delicately.
“How about if I assume you are an intelligent human being who can sometimes be an idiot and that you could really use someone to lean on from time to time?” she asked softly.
Chance watched the slow smile that crossed his partner’s face. Sam walked up to Josie and took her into his arms. “Can I assume that you are a beautiful, outrageously smart, kind, and occasionally misguided woman who might consent to lean on me from time to time?” he whispered against her temple.
“I would really, really like that.”
“What about Chance, should we let him in on this?” Sam asked.
She turned in Sam’s arms and held out her hand for Chance. “What about it, Chance? Can you admit to wanting to lean on us from time to time?”
“Absolutely. Hell, I’ll even admit to being a kind and outrageously smart individual.”
“And a smartass,” Sam said.
“Yeah, I’ll cop to that too,” Chance agreed. “I’ll cop to the sky being green if I can somehow talk you out of your clothes. It’s been a long day, I think it’s night-night time.”
Josie rolled her eyes and looked over at Sam. “Does he ever stop?”
Theirs To Treasure: Happily Ever After (Fate Harbor Book 1) Page 13