She hunched her shoulders and sipped the coffee. She really needed to figure out a way to budget beans from The Beanery into her life. The grounds in a tub from the grocery store couldn’t hold a candle to the magic Grant Ward worked. At least she managed one cup of the good stuff a day. The sludge they passed off as coffee at the station might as well be tar. She cleared her throat. “I don’t understand why he’s surprised.”
“I wouldn’t say surprised. He wasn’t going to ask you. I pushed him into it. I really didn’t think you’d have a problem. I mean, you’re the two unmarried members of the wedding party, it just makes sense.”
Serena had said something along those lines last night. “And we’re still going to end up sitting together from what Serena said last night. So what’s the trouble?”
Micah frowned. “Are you really never going to date him? We’re coming up on three years. That’s a lot of flirting for nothing to come of it.”
Gloria winced. They thought she was a tease. “I wasn’t flirting. I was talking. But maybe it’s best if I don’t come by so often.”
“Maybe it is.” Micah stood with his coffee and shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Me, too.” Gloria drained her mug and snatched the bag of donuts off the table before striding through the door back to her cruiser. At least she wasn’t going to end up needing to walk in the biting wind that had just picked up to work off too many pastries. Her stomach was twisted into so many knots she couldn’t eat if her life depended on it.
3
Jonah ran a knife around the edge of the cake pan and flipped it onto a cooling rack. With an expert twist, he lifted the pan off and inspected the layer. Not bad, if he said so himself. He peeled the parchment paper off the top and tossed it toward the trash can, smiling when it went in. Eight other layers joined this one to make three each of three different sizes. They were spread on the counter, cooling. He pressed fists into the small of his back and groaned. That was enough for today.
The cakes needed to cool completely before he could put them in the fridge. Since the shop wasn’t open today—and wasn’t that weird, being closed on a Saturday?—he’d cleaned everything while the cakes baked. Maybe he’d go for a walk.
Jonah checked that he had the key and his cell, made sure the ovens were off, and pulled the bakery door closed behind him before heading north toward town. It was cold—maybe the walk wasn’t such a good idea—but at least it wasn’t snowing. Yet. He tugged his black watch cap down over his ears and shoved his hands further into his pockets.
His boots crunched on the frozen sidewalk as he strode along. What was he doing? He should be back at the bakery with a cup of coffee and his book. Or he could go home and find some way to help with wedding preparations. Two days out, there should be plenty to do. Of course, the cake and other pastries he’d worked on all day were his part.
At Main Street he paused, checked for traffic, and hurried across the street. The lights in Page Turner’s, the local bookstore, glowed yellow through the plate glass window. They were a beacon, drawing him closer, promising warmth. He didn’t need another book. His siblings had all gotten him at least one for Christmas...but you couldn’t really have too many books, could you?
He pulled open the door and the cheery jingle of bells seemed to welcome him. Jonah tugged off his cap and shoved it in the pocket of his coat before running a hand through his hair. That pretty girl—Kenia—wasn’t behind the front desk. His heart sank and he frowned. Had he come here hoping to see her? That was...unexpected.
Unzipping his coat, he wiped his feet on the mat and sauntered between the shelves, letting his hand trail along the spines of the books as he browsed. Toward the back of the store he paused. She was up on a ladder, sliding books into place on the top shelves. She was wearing a sweater and a plaid skirt that brushed her knees and somehow she managed to look both scholarly and feminine at the same time.
He cleared his throat. “Hi.”
Kenia turned, one hand gripping the ladder. “Oh.” Her eyes brightened. “Hi. Jonah, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Back for more?”
“I had a little break at the bakery—we’re closed, but I’m working on a wedding cake—thought I’d go for a walk. Ended up here.”
Her eyebrows lifted and a smile flirted with the corner of her mouth. “Can I help you find something?”
“I don’t want to interrupt. Just thought I’d say hi. I can poke around on my own.”
Kenia looked at the stack of books balanced on the rung of the ladder in front of her then back at him. “I’ll be done in a few. I’ll come find you.”
He smiled and gave a short nod before turning and heading down another aisle of books. By the time she found him, he had a cookbook he’d been considering for a while now, the latest in a thriller series he and his brothers both enjoyed, and two first-in-series mysteries that sounded good.
“Guess you didn’t need my help after all.”
Jonah tapped the mysteries. “These any good?”
“People seem to like them.”
He nodded. It wasn’t a ringing personal endorsement, but maybe she wasn’t a mystery reader. They weren’t for everyone. Ruth couldn’t abide them. She was romance and nothing but romance. He’d thought that was the case for women generally until he’d met Ursula. That girl could put away sci-fi books with the best of them. And it was unlikely she’d ever read anything that hinted of romance. “Got any recommendations?”
Kenia eyed the stack of books in his arms and nodded. “Come with me.”
Jonah followed, trying not to notice the way her skirt swished around her knees. It wasn’t as if she was trying to walk provocatively. He could—would—be a gentleman. Besides, she was probably too young for him. He’d be thirty-three before long and she had to be...younger.
She stopped in front of the thrillers and pulled a book from the bottom shelf. “Have you read this series?”
“No.” Jonah took the book and flipped to the back to read the blurb. Hmm. He added it to the pile.
Kenia laughed. “That was easy.”
“How old are you?” He cringed. “Sorry. Sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to ask women that.”
“Yeah. I have a sister. I know better. Forget it.”
“No...I don’t think so. Now I’m curious. Why do you ask?”
Heat warmed his face and he cast around for a plausible explanation. “Just wondering.”
“Nope. Don’t buy it.”
He cleared his throat. “I’m nearly thirty-three. I was wondering how close—or far apart—in age we were.”
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” She rested her fingers briefly on his arm and grinned. “Twenty-eight.”
“You look a lot younger.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
He nodded. “It’s how I meant it. So, you read thrillers?”
“I read books. Any kind. I think it’d probably be a bad idea to work in a book store if you didn’t love the merchandise.”
That made sense. It was why he had to be around food. He’d tried, for a while, to find a career that wasn’t in the kitchen. That hadn’t worked well. At all. The bakery was good. But he missed the fast pace of dinner service in a busy restaurant. All the ingredients and smells mixing together. The texture. The color. Something itched between his shoulders, but he knew from experience no amount of scratching would make it go away.
“What else do you like?” Kenia nodded at his stack.
“This pretty much covers it. I can put up with sci-fi and fantasy if it’s recommended by one of my brothers, but otherwise.” Jonah shrugged. “Not really my thing.”
“Hm. What have you read?”
He squinted and came up with a couple of titles Micah had foisted on him over the last year.
Kenia grinned. “Those are good ones. You liked them?”
“Th
ey were okay.”
“I have one or two others you should try sometime. When you finish with that pile, come see me again and I’ll hook you up.”
Had she winked? Her eyelid had flickered, but maybe that was a muscle spasm. Gloria had him so twisted up, he wasn’t sure he’d recognize flirting if it came with sirens and a flashing light. Besides, it wasn’t reasonable to assume a pretty girl like Kenia would see anything in him. Was it? But what if she did? If things were really and truly never going anywhere with Gloria—and that seemed to be the case—then...what did he have to lose? “Are you busy Monday night?”
“New Year’s Eve?”
“That was dumb. Of course you are. I don’t know what I was thinking.” He clutched the books closer to his chest and started to turn. “I should get back to the bakery.”
“Wait. I’m not doing anything important. Ben and Evelyn Kujak—do you know them?—they’re having a party out at their place. My brother Grady and his wife and I think Alaina and Cameron will be there. Whole lot of couples. I was going to tag along because it beat hanging out with my parents, but I could be persuaded to change my plans. Easily.”
“Would you want to come to my brother’s wedding? I’m a groomsman, so you’d have to sit alone during the ceremony. Or you could just come to the reception?”
“Won’t you be up at the head table?”
Jonah shook his head. “They aren’t doing that. Just a couple’s table. Everyone else will be spread around. So I can just let Micah know I have a date and it’ll be fine. I can promise the desserts are going to taste good. And they got L’Aubergine to cater, so I’m guessing dinner will be fantastic, too.”
“Count me in. That sounds like fun.”
He grinned and let out a breath. “If you don’t mind coming a little early, I can pick you up?”
“Even better.”
Jonah mentally scrolled through the day’s activities. He was going to leave the cake in the fridge at the bakery as long as possible, but it still needed to be set up at the country club before the ceremony. He just wouldn’t have time to do it otherwise. Unless he took Morgan Taylor, the chef/owner of L’Aubergine, up on her offer to handle it. No. It was the cake. He’d do it himself. “Maybe four thirty?”
“I can do that. What time’s the wedding?”
“Seven. It’s dressy. I’ll be in a tux, obviously, but I think some of the guys attending will probably wear them anyway.” Jonah walked with Kenia toward the front of the store and set his books down on the counter. “Can I get your number, just in case?”
Laughter danced in her eyes and she held out her hand.
Jonah dug his phone out of his pocket, swiped it on and tapped for a new contact before handing it to her.
Kenia’s fingers flew on the screen and, after a moment, her skirt pocket chimed. She handed back his phone with a grin. “And now I have yours. I texted my phone.”
He nodded and set his credit card on top of the books. “I’m actually not dreading this wedding now.”
She chuckled and rang up his purchase. “I’ll take that as a compliment, too.”
“It’s how I meant it.” He smiled and reached for his card and the bag of books. “Thanks. I’ll see you Monday.” Jonah bundled back up before stepping out into the cold. A few brave snowflakes were trying to fall, but the fact that he had a date kept him warm all the way back to the bakery.
Jonah escorted Gloria into the reception hall when their names were called. He glanced around for Kenia. She’d said she didn’t mind finding their table and waiting there for him. The logistics of being in the wedding party and having a date who wasn’t hadn’t occurred to him, but the worst should be over now. “I’m going to go find my date. You’re good, right?”
Gloria nodded. “Of course.”
Jonah grinned and strode across the empty dance floor toward Kenia. She looked amazing. He needed to come up with a better adjective though. He’d used that one twice already. “Hey. Sorry.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“I think I’m done for the evening now. So that’s something.” He pulled out his chair and sat, surreptitiously wiping damp palms on his legs.
“It was a lovely wedding. And did you see who’s here?” Kenia nodded toward the tables where Serena had seated her parents and Hollywood friends. “It’s like a page out of a magazine.”
Jonah chuckled. “I’ll admit to having been a little star struck myself, though talking to them, they seem pretty normal.”
“No way.”
“It’s true.” He shrugged. “Micah says they’re good people, but they kept the wedding smaller to limit who they could invite. And that’s part of why they got married here instead of L.A. Serena didn’t want the big circus. For a while, I figured they’d elope.”
“Really? Could you do that? Elope?”
Jonah considered for a minute. “I don’t see why not, under the right circumstances. Weddings are for making promises to one another and to God. The party isn’t really necessary. Not that there’s anything wrong with having the party, if you’re sane about it.”
“Define sane.”
He looked around the silver and gold classic Hollywood themed space and pursed his lips. “Have a budget. Stick to it. That sort of thing. Micah wanted to pay for the reception, but Serena’s parents insisted.”
“Technically, that’s their prerogative.”
“True. But—” Jonah broke off as Gloria pulled out a chair at the table and set the place card with her name on it in front of her plate. “Hey.”
Gloria’s tight smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Hi. I guess they figured since we knew each other we should sit at the same table.”
Awkward. Jonah shifted in his seat. What was his brother thinking? “Have you met Kenia Akers? Kenia, this is Gloria Sinclair.”
“You look really familiar. Do you shop at Page Turners?” Kenia shook Gloria’s hand.
“I’ve been in a time or two, but you’ve probably seen me on patrol. I’m a cop?”
“Oh! That’s it. It’s nice to meet you. Don’t you go to Grace, too?”
Gloria waggled a hand from side to side. “Sometimes. Sometimes I go to Arcadia Valley Community. Sometimes I’m working.”
“Hey, Gloria. You look so lovely in that dress.” Ursula, dragging Malachi by the hand, hurried to the table and dropped their name cards by two plates. Her gaze drifted to Jonah, then to Kenia, and back to Jonah. “Hi Jonah, looking dapper.”
Jonah chuckled and stood as his sister-in-law took a seat. “I assume Mal’s told you how nice you look?”
Ursula grinned and fluttered her eyelashes at her husband. “He has.”
“Do you know Kenia?” Jonah stretched his arm around the back of Kenia’s chair. “Kenia, this is my other brother, Malachi, and his wife, Ursula.”
“Sure, hi. We’ve met at church a few times.”
“And the bookstore.” Malachi grinned. “I spend entirely too much money in there.”
Kenia shook her head. “No such thing as too many books.”
Everyone at the table laughed.
“You won’t get many arguments from our family.” Jonah brushed Kenia’s shoulder with his fingertips. He looked across at his brother. “Did you see who else they put at our table? Are Ruth and Corban here, too?”
Malachi nodded. “They’re working their way over. Ruth is putting up several of the Hollywood folks who came out, so she wanted to stop by and say hello, make sure they were taken care of. You know how she is.”
Jonah nodded. Their sister was born to be an innkeeper. She enjoyed having people come in and out of her home, loved having the chance to chat and serve them. It would be interesting to see how she managed when the baby came. Last he’d heard, Ruth and Corban were closing for the month of April. That should give them a chance to settle in, at least a little, with the baby. After that? It was probably good he and his brothers were all close enough to pitch in when needed.
Ruth and Corban dropped th
eir place cards on the table and Ruth eased into her seat with a groan.
“You okay, hon? Can I get you something?” Corban rested his hand on Ruth’s shoulder, his face apprehensive.
“I’m fine. It’s just a long time to stand in heels when you’re five months pregnant.” Ruth smiled. “Hi, Kenia. Did I know you were coming?”
Kenia glanced at Jonah and lifted her eyebrows.
“I think I mentioned it on Sunday.” Jonah’s hand curved around Kenia’s shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a grimace flit across Gloria’s face. Was she not feeling well? That was the third time since she sat down.
The minister stood and tapped his water glass for attention. “Let’s go ahead and bless the meal. Please bow your heads with me.”
His prayer was brief, focused on the meal and the blessings of friendship and sharing in the celebration of a couple committed to God and to one another. After he closed, quiet music filled the room and servers in black and white began filtering through the room with trays. Everyone’s place card listed their entree selection, so it was a relatively quick process to get everyone served.
Quiet conversation floated around the table. Kenia had plenty to say. She was definitely more talkative than Jonah had anticipated. It was nice. And, with the exception of Gloria, who still looked like she might be ill, Kenia was getting along well. If anything came of this date, it was good to know his siblings liked her. In a family as close as his, that mattered. A lot.
When the dishes had been put away and Micah and Serena had floated through their first dance, couples started to fill the empty space in the middle of the room.
Jonah glanced at Ruth. “I’m trying to picture Mom and Dad at a wedding with dancing.”
Ruth laughed. “I’ve been trying to do that since Serena first mentioned the plan. At least there’s no alcohol. I know that was a big issue with her family. Even this morning they were trying to get her to change her mind. They didn’t think people would have a good time without it. Particularly on New Year’s Eve.”
“Did they decide on sparkling cider or sparkling grape juice for the midnight toast?” Jonah didn’t particularly care which one. He liked them both.
Donuts & Daydreams: An Arcadia Valley Romance (Baxter Family Bakery Book 4) Page 3