by Ellis, Eliza
“A few dozen cupcakes and…” Susie picked up the laptop and scrolled to the order page. “Yup, a few dozen cupcakes and some specialty bread. Then another order of your famous donuts—have you entered them into the statewide contest yet? You need to get more eyes and tongues on them.”
Kat cringed. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Susie rolled her eyes. “We’re talking major publicity, Kat. Your creations are incredible! You have a real talent for creating unique flavors. Get your entry in, STAT. If you want feedback, you need to get yourself out there.”
Get herself out there. Kat nodded. She had to do it again. Even if she failed over and over. Kat groaned. Being in Susie’s kitchen was safer, but her boss gave an order and she’d do it. “Okay, I’ll get that entry in today. What else?”
“Yep, the donuts were the last thing. Drew told me he has several working crews he wants to feed for the next several months, so it looks like a standing order. That’s going to be a lot of money.”
Kat snatched the tablet out of Susie’s hands, and her eyes widened at the dollar amount.
Susie grinned. “Oh, yeah. See that? With the profits we’ll be making the next few months, I think we’ll have enough money to expand the shop. Now you can’t go and start your own business because we’ll be competing. That wouldn’t be fair, would it?”
Kat curled in on herself at Susie’s pointed look. “No?”
Susie laughed and wrapped an arm around Kat’s shoulders. “I’m just messing with you. Of course you have to start your own place! This city can support the two of us, especially on this side of town. And with all the recipes I see you making, there’s enough variety to go around.”
Kat gave Susie a sly look. “Have you been peeking into my recipe journal?”
“Guilty as charged. I’ve been curious about what you’ve been cooking up.”
“Well…Drew did mention helping me get the empty unit I saw over on Twenty-Second Street.”
“Ooh! Fancy part of town. You’ll have clientele lining up around the block.”
“I hope so. I don’t know though.”
Susie’s brows angled up. “Why not? Other than cheating on his girlfriend, what’s not to like?”
Kat smarted. “Susie!”
“Well, it was with you. The two of you in business together seems natural.”
“The last time it seemed natural, I got taken for a ride. Remember Marcus?”
“Yeah, I remember that loser. And that was a different case. He’s different than Drew, I can sense it.”
Kat’s phone buzzed inside her back pocket. She’d gotten an alert. When her face fell, Susie leaned over her shoulder.
“You get text messages from the city?”
Kat shook her head. “No. The real estate agent who’s representing the property on Twenty-Second Street. I called him last night on a whim. Something Drew had said. It’s under contract.”
Susie hugged Kat. “Oh, Katrina, I’m so sorry. But chin up! That won’t be the only place available. A better one will open up soon. Just have faith.”
Kat needed hope before she could have faith. And hope had died with the text message.
“I wonder who bought it?” Susie asked.
Kat shot a quick message to the real estate agent who texted back the name of an investment firm. Kat’s grip on her phone tightened.
“What?” Susie asked.
She shook from anger. “Marcus bought it.”
“Marcus? I thought he left town with his tail between his legs.”
Kat shook her head. “Drew and I saw him the other day at the men’s suit store. Guess he decided to stick around.”
Another brick wall.
Chapter 11
“You think you can make me look like a fool!” Parker yelled. Drew ducked underneath the hotel slipper hurled at his face. “How dare you!”
She’d been silent the whole drive back to the hotel. Now that they were inside her room, she unleashed her fury.
She had a right to be angry. They were still engaged, and Drew had almost cheated on her. The more the C word bounced around in his head, the tighter his stomach coiled, making him want to hurl. This wasn’t like him. At all. He’d always been faithful to his girlfriends. He respected women too much not to end things and walk away.
He just couldn’t see or think of anyone else when he looked at Kat. He wanted to tell her everything that happened since he’d been away. Talk about her life and dream with her. But he couldn’t. Not with that ring around Parker’s finger.
“Have you forgotten what I’ve sacrificed to be with you?” Parker yelled.
“No, because you remind me every day!” Drew shot back.
“I was there for you!”
“I know!”
“And you can’t even be there for me! You want your ring back?” She snatched the engagement ring off her finger. “Here!” She launched it at him, hitting him square in the chest.
Drew didn’t bother picking it up or seeing where it landed. He just stared at Parker as sobs racked her body. He’d never seen her this unhinged, and he was the cause of it. His chest tightened uncomfortably and fissures stripped across his heart.
“Parker…” He went to her and gathered her in his arms as she sobbed.
“I’m so tired,” she wailed.
The job. It was stressing her out. He didn’t help by momentarily allowing himself to be distracted by Katrina. How had he let that happen? He hadn’t seen her in so many years. Kat was right: they didn’t know each other.
Except, she hadn’t been much different than what he’d remembered. A little less adventurous, and maybe less talkative, but he figured that’s because she didn’t know him either.
But she still wore his necklace. And there was no mistaking the attraction in her eyes moments before he almost kissed her. He’d felt it too: the instantaneous shock. The jolt of need when he had first laid eyes on her for the second time. The night before he moved away, he had promised to always be hers. No matter what happened in their lives, he would only love and marry her. When he was older, he’d come back and find her.
He wanted to laugh at the words he’d spoken as an eight-year-old. He’d been so passionate back then. So naive. Yet, he did return home. He was drawn to this place, and it probably had a lot to do with Kat.
In Guam, he had found a new friend in Zache. Their families were transferred to Germany about the same time. It was there they entered the military right out of high school.
They had joined the Marines with ideas of being the best and toughest of soldiers. Several tours in Afghanistan later, Zache had gone out on a mission in place of Drew, and his truck hit an IED. Zache came home in pieces.
Drew could barely forgive himself. He’d been honorably discharged, and then his life went downhill. Only one other time in his life did he have a friend he would’ve died for, and that was Kat. But a childhood love was foolish, his father had once said. He couldn’t possibly know he was meant for someone at that age. Brains were still being developed. Maturity hadn’t been reached.
But Drew had disagreed. Kat had meant as much to him back then as Zache had been the brother he’d never had. When he met Parker, he thought he had a second chance at finding a friend, someone he could trust and depend on. And then he fell in love with her. Marrying his best friend sounded amazing.
He couldn’t just marry his best friend. Not with something like this between them. First it was the depression Drew had experienced from his death. And now it was Kat and the familiar feelings she stirred in him whenever they were together. He couldn’t ignore them. If he and Parker were ever going to make a home here in Springfield, they would probably see Kat all the time. If he didn’t squash these feelings now, they would overtake him, and he’d do something even worse to Parker.
And hurt Kat too.
“Parker, I’m so sorry…” He sat them on the bed and rocked her, smoothing her hair away from her face as she cried into his shirt.
; “I’m never going to be enough, am I?” She looked up at him with a tearstained face. “You need more than I can give.”
“No. No, that’s not true.”
She wiped her red nose on the back of her arm. “What does she have that I don’t? What can she give you that I can’t?”
Questions he had to ask his soul.
Parker smirked and leaned back. She gently pushed his arms away. “She cried a lot after you had left. When she thought I wasn’t looking, she would be clutching that half-heart necklace. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that she still wears it.” Parker sighed and wiped her cheeks with her hands. “I knew she was in love with you then. And trust me”—Parker met his gaze—“if I’d known you were her Drew, I never would’ve gotten involved with you.”
“I’m…I’m not her Drew.”
“Aren’t you, though? And…and maybe I should’ve been more clear about what I wanted from this relationship. I didn’t…I thought that maybe…”
Her phone rang. She quickly moved to her purse sitting on the dresser. “It’s the company!” She answered the phone. “Parker,” she said in a business-like tone, devoid of any emotion.
Her eyes got big, and the most exuberant expression Drew had ever seen lit up her face. She looked happier now than when he had proposed. Drew pushed down the uncomfortable churn in his gut.
Eyes clear and nose way less red, Parker’s back straightened and she showcased her warrior smile. “Thank you. Thank you, sir. I understand. Yes. Yes, I will see you in a couple of weeks. Absolutely. Okay, goodbye,” she said in the same tone, despite looking like she was ready to shout from the roof. She calmly ended the call and then squealed.
She ran over to Drew and flung herself in his arms. “I got it! I got it! I’m president! Oh, Andrew!” She planted her lips on his and kissed him passionately.
Drew kissed her back for all the times he hadn’t been there for her and the time he had almost kissed Kat. He felt his heart breaking the longer their lips remained fixed, although he wasn’t sure who it broke for: Parker or Kat? Softly, she pulled back and stared into his eyes. Confusion swirled in her round depths.
“Congratulations, Parker,” he whispered. “No one deserves it more than you, and I mean that. I know you’ve been working hard and how stressed out you’ve been about this deal.”
She sat beside him. “I have been incredibly stressed, and I’ve unnecessarily taken it out on you.”
“No, don’t apologize. I’m the one who should be sorry. I looked at another woman, and…and that’s not me at all.”
She smiled sadly. “She was there first.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Parker…”
She laid her hands on Drew’s chest. “Look, Andrew…I…I know I haven’t exactly been the easiest person to be with these last few months. I understand if…if you’re looking elsewhere for attention—”
“Parker, I’m not looking!”
She studied his eyes and then nodded, appearing satisfied. “Okay. Well, I’d like to propose a change.”
“Okay?” Drew tentatively asked.
“How about counseling? I still want to marry you.”
“Even though you threw your ring at me?”
Her eyes went to the ceiling. “I was angry. And I know I need to work on that, before you say anything.”
He wasn’t going to say that. She had a right to her anger. He’d almost kissed Katrina, and the thought wouldn’t go away—how he still wanted to actually feel her lips against his.
“What do you think about what I’ve said?”
Drew nodded. “I’d like to work on it, too. Counseling? When are we going to fit it in?”
Parker’s phone buzzed and her gaze landed on it. “How about we try to get a couple of sessions in with anybody while we’re in town? Maybe we can get some exercises to work on.” She went to her phone and read the screen. Her lips angled down to one side.
“What is it,” Drew asked, keeping his annoyance to a minimum.
“They want me in London tomorrow,” Parker whispered.
“Already?” Drew’s voice elevated. Parker shrank back. “Well, there goes counseling.”
Parker rushed to his side. “Looks like it’s only to discuss a few things in person.”
“They can’t pick up a telephone?”
Parker shrugged. “I’m thinking they don’t want any misunderstandings and want to keep this close.” Her thumb swiped the screen. “It’s only for a few days. I’ll be back in time for the wedding.” She grinned up at him.
“What wedding? Who’s going to put it together?”
She bit her lip and walked slowly away. Drew held his breath. The woman they had counted on was the one person Parker probably didn’t want to think about right now.
Parker sighed and faced him. “Okay, okay. I’ll make up with Kat and ask her. She’s probably the only person who can do it at the last minute.” Her eyes hardened. “But you have to promise not to spend any more time with her than you need to. Only for wedding stuff.”
Drew placed a hand over his heart. “Promise.” And he meant it.
He hoped.
Chapter 12
Kat turned from setting the oven timer at the knock on the kitchen door in Susie’s bakery. Parker peeked her head in. Kat stiffened and blinked. Parker had ignored her apology texts and wouldn’t return her phone calls.
Now she was here at the bakery?
Parker shot her a lopsided smile. “Hi. Can I come in?”
Kat wiped her hands on her apron. “Of course. Parker—”
She put up a hand. “No, let me start. I…”
Kat felt rooted to her spot. She didn’t know if she was supposed to hug her friend or stand here and take whatever judgment Parker had for her.
“Drew and I made up yesterday.”
“I’m so sorry,” Kat blurted. “I didn’t mean for anything to happen.”
“Well, technically nothing did. And I haven’t said anything to anybody about it.”
Kat let out a shaky breath. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’ve been feeling so guilty about it and the business to Susie…”
“Well, that’s kind of why I’m here. It’s back on. The wedding and everything.”
“It…it is?”
“Yeah. We both decided to give it another go, as they’d say in the UK.” She grinned from ear to ear. “So if you don’t mind giving another tasting to Drew, that would be great.”
Kat’s brows bushed. She hadn’t expected to ever see Parker again, let alone hear her ask to bake their wedding cake.—a second time. Did Drew say something to convince her to come back? Was it Parker’s idea?
“Okay,” Kat said with a nod. “Um, sure. But you don’t want to taste the cake?”
“I trust him. And I’m not going to have time. I have to catch a plane in a couple of hours. I figured I’d stop here on my way to the airport.”
“A plane? You’re leaving?” Kat started forward. “Where are you going? What about the wedding? It’s not just the cake you need but the flowers and—”
Parker put up both hands and leaned back. “Whoa! Calm down. Everything is under control. I’ll be back in time for it.” She did her best impersonation of a bunny hop. “I got the job!” She grabbed Kat’s hands and squeezed them tight. “I made president of the international division! Senior leadership wants me in London early tomorrow morning to discuss the particulars.”
Kat hugged her friend. “Parker, that’s amazing. It’s what you’ve always wanted.”
Parker laughed and hugged her back. “Yeah, to be president of something and lord it over people.”
Kat leaned back and gave her friend an encouraging smile. “You’ll definitely be good at it.”
Parker wagged her brows. “I certainly hope so. Anyway, it’s a big step for me, and I can’t screw it up. Drew’s a little miffed that I’ll be going out of town, but I think I took care of that.”
“How?”
Kat didn’t share her enthusiasm. The last time she was alone with Drew, it had almost cost her two friends. And Parker was in town. But now that she was going to be a whole ocean away? Guilt made it difficult to trust herself.
“I don’t know, Parker. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Parker’s suspicious gaze studied her. “Because you’re too attracted to my man to keep your hands to yourself?” She was always blunt. “Or because you think Drew will stray?”
“Neither,” Kat said firmly. “I don’t want to cause any more trouble than I already have. You should probably find someone else. I could make a few calls and give you a recommendation.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “It’s water under the bridge.” She eyed Kat’s neck and lifted her necklace. “Even though you were first, Drew wants to marry me.” She let the necklace fall back, the cold metal stinging Kat’s skin.
“Of course he does,” Kat said in a shaky whisper.
“Drew and I had a nice talk and a really nice evening”—she smiled deviously—“and he has my complete trust. We’ve decided to go to counseling. Well, he’ll go since I’ll be out of town. He needs it more than me anyway. That’ll help us out a lot.”
“That sounds wonderful!” Kat forced her tone to be more enthusiastic than she felt. She was still hung up on what kind of evening Parker had implied she had had with Drew. That meant Kat really was a distraction from the stress. He hadn’t meant anything he’d said.
She hadn’t slept a wink, thanks to that almost-kiss. Her mind plagued her with Drew’s smile, his lips, his strong arms offering comfort and support. When before she didn’t want to hurt Parker, now all she wanted was to kiss her fiancé.
Ugh, she was a terrible person.
“It is. Anyway, Drew will pick the cake—he knows what I’ll like—and I’ve already picked the venue, so you don’t have to worry about that. I went online and saw some flowers to throw around, and it’ll be nice and pretty. You’ll just have to order them and pick them up and everything. Now Drew can’t say I wasn’t involved. See, I’m trying!” She gave an accomplished grin.