Hometown Hope: A Small Town Romance Anthology

by Zoe York

  Oh. Yeah. Damn.

  He let go of her, gave Noah and Brynn—who Cori had completely forgotten about—a brief wave and then sauntered out of the pie shop, joined his mother in front of the shop, turned back and gave her a wink, and then sauntered on down the sidewalk.

  Cori lifted her hand to her lips as she watched him go.

  Sprinkles, indeed.

  Chapter 6

  In possibly the strangest moment of their relationship, Cori sighed and told Ava, “I’m sorry, but no. I can’t authorize this purchase.”

  Ava set her cup down with a thunk. “I need stuff.”

  “I can’t sign off on buying a new oven right now,” Cori said, wondering who she was becoming. She never said things like no and can’t afford. “For three reasons.”

  She put a plate down in front of each of her sisters.

  “What’s this?” Brynn asked.

  “S’mores pie,” Cori told her with a smile. She’d never made it before, but it had been easy and had turned out perfectly.

  “Are you trying to rub this baking thing I can’t do in my face?” Ava asked, even as she picked up her fork and drug it through the toasted marshmallows on top of the chocolatey pie and lifted it to her lips.

  “I’m really not,” Cori said, “But I have some ideas for our menu. Adding easy, new pies. If we’re talking about different promotions, like the sweetie pies, we could do kids’ pies too. This and a peanut butter and jelly pie, for instance.”

  Okay, they hadn’t been talking about different promotions, and no one had mentioned the sweetie pies since Cori had the first day in the shop. Ava was completely consumed with learning to bake—when she wasn’t on her computer and/or phone conducting Carmichael Enterprises business—and Brynn was working on making colorful cushions for the chairs in the shop. Making them because they couldn’t afford to buy them or pay someone else to do it. Her genius-IQ sister had picked up sewing faster than her CEO sister was picking up whisking, but needles and thread were more than a little outside of Brynn’s area of expertise, so it was slow going.

  “When kids like eating somewhere, they talk their parents into going. Look at the burger chains with the toys in the kids’ meals and the pizza places that have the games and stuff. Kids can get their parents in the door. And they’re a cute way to expand the idea of a pie shop.”

  Cori stopped rambling as she watched Ava set her fork down and sigh. “I can’t even do cherry.”

  “You’ll get better,” Cori assured her. She was seventy percent sure that was true. There were very few things that Ava couldn’t do if she set her mind to it, but she was turning out to be completely terrible at pies. She didn’t have the patience and she wasn’t focused. She was always trying to do three other things at once, and Cori very much doubted if Ava’s mind was on pies even when she was in the kitchen. And the more she messed up, the more frustrated she got and the less patience she had. Clearly, cooking and baking weren’t going to be the fun, stress reliever for Ava that they were for Cori.

  “I didn’t even know you can toast marshmallows in the oven,” Ava said, taking another bite of the marshmallows on her pie.

  “Well, it’s even easier if you have a blowtorch,” Cori said with a grin.

  Ava’s eyes went wide. “A blowtorch?”

  Cori nodded. “Yep.”

  “Where did you find a blowtorch in Bliss?” Brynn asked.

  “I brought it with me,” Cori said with a shrug. At her sister’s amazed looks, she added, “You never know when you might need to make crème brulee.” But it was kind of true. The top of the brulee was the hardest. She could use the broiler, but it wasn’t as good as with a blowtorch.

  Plus, blowtorches were more fun.

  “See, I need tools,” Ava said.

  “Do you even know how to use a blowtorch?” Brynn asked around a bite of chocolate and graham cracker.

  “Well, no. But I can’t get better without proper…stuff,” Ava said, with an uncharacteristic inability to find a more eloquent word.

  “Ava, I mean with this all the love in my heart,” Cori said. “But the problem with the pies is not the oven or the lack of tools and stuff.”

  Ava frowned and opened her mouth. Then she shut it and nodded. “I know.”

  Cori smiled at her good-at-everything sister. Well, her good-at-almost-everything sister. She hadn’t liked the fact that Evan had shown that insight into Ava’s personality. But that was more because she was stupidly jealous and that had seemed like a connection between them. She didn’t want them to have a connection. There. She’d admitted it. But truthfully, that part of Ava’s personality was obvious. To everyone.

  “What are the other reasons not to buy a new oven?” Brynn asked. “I assume number one is because it won’t make a difference in quality.” Brynn just grinned as Ava stuck her tongue out at her.

  Cori knew there were several CEOs around the country, maybe even the world, who would be shocked that classy, cool Ava Carmichael had ever stuck her tongue out at someone. Especially while wearing cut-off sweatpants and licking chocolate pie off of her index finger.

  “Reason number two is that we don’t have enough business to justify the need for an industrial oven. Which goes with reason number three—we have no money,” Cori said.

  “Sometimes you have to invest in the business to increase revenue, right?” Brynn asked.

  Ava nodded. “Sure. With a solid business plan, we should be able to justify some purchases.”

  Cori nodded and leaned back. “Sure. But we don’t have a business plan.” And neither sister had said, “that’s brilliant!” to Cori’s idea for kid-friendly pies. She hadn’t even told them she thought they should make them smaller, kid-sized, and called them “kiddie pies” to go along with the “sweetie pies.”

  “We’ll write one,” Ava said.

  Cori swallowed her sip of coffee and shook her head, trying not to show that even the mention of Evan’s name, made her heart flutter. She wasn’t the type to just sit around and want something. When she had an urge, of any kind really, she just went for it. So this thinking longingly about something, or someone, was very strange. She supposed there was a good lesson in there somewhere. Maybe wanting something she couldn’t have would be character building or something.

  “Not ‘we’,” she said to Ava. “You’re not supposed to help with the business side of things. Dad put it in his note. But I don’t need help anyway,” Cori said. “It doesn’t take long to add zero to zero. I have time to learn all about business plans.” Which was, apparently, part of this whole crazy plan—for them to all learn things.

  “Zero?” Brynn asked.

  “Almost literally,” Cori said. She leaned her elbows on the table. “We have six hundred dollars in the bank account and we owe on a loan and we haven’t brought in any new money.”

  “A loan?” Ava had just run her finger through a bit of chocolate and paused with it partway to her mouth. “Dad took out a loan?”

  Cori shrugged. “Yep. Went to the bank yesterday to go over everything.”

  Ava put her finger down without licking it, a sure sign of shock.

  “Rudy Carmichael, one of the richest men in the country, took out a loan from a bank in Bliss, Kansas for a pie shop that’s basically a hole in the wall?”

  Cori nodded. She had to admit she was just as surprised, but for some reason…she liked it. It made things more complicated. They had to make the business profitable by the end of the year, and they weren’t just starting from zero—they were in the negatives. But she liked that Rudy hadn’t blown into town and started throwing money around. There was no Rudy Carmichael Memorial Sports Complex or a wing on a building or a street named after him. And yeah, even his own business was a hole in the wall. She liked that no one had known he was rich.

  It surprised her, but she liked that too. It had been eighteen years since Rudy had surprised her in a good way. She’d been eleven and he’d given her a pair of purple boots she’d mention
ed liking when they’d walked past them in a store window on Fifth Avenue. He’d turned her into the store and bought them then and there. She’d worn them nonstop for almost three weeks.

  She’d given up hoping for another pair of purple boots—literal or figurative ones—but she had to admit that the pie shop was beginning to feel that way.

  “We need to come up with about 10K,” Cori said. “We owe five on the loan, then to pay for supplies and advertising and stuff. And of course electric…and all the eggs and sugar we keep going through.”

  Ava rolled her eyes.

  “I’ve got a woman making valances for the front windows, but we need to pay for the material and her time,” Cori went on.

  “You’ve got a woman making us valances?” Ava asked.

  Cori shrugged. “Walter’s wife’s sister. She’s pretty inexpensive but not free.”

  Ava almost looked impressed. “How did you pay for the paint and stuff? I assumed you’d used the account.”

  “I applied for a business credit card online,” Cori said. “I fudged and used my own bank account on the application even though we’re not supposed to be spending our own money on the business. I figure we’re not spending it. We’re charging it and will pay it off with pie shop profit.”

  Ava’s look of admiration grew.

  “Fudging? Like when you kissed Evan?” Brynn asked. “Since kissing isn’t really dating.”

  If it wasn’t for the glint of mischief in Brynn’s eyes, Cori would have been more irritated, but she really did like the little bits of spunk in her sister. Cori looked at Ava. She’d told Ava about pretending to be her for Evan’s mom and Holly, but she hadn’t shared the kissing part.

  “You kissed Evan?” Ava asked. “When? Where?” Her voice grew panicked as she sat up straighter. “Cori! You can’t do that! If I don’t have a steady boyfriend for six months we’re screwed. And I don’t know if you cheating with my boyfriend will be great for business.”

  “Calm down,” Cori said. “Everyone thought it was you. It was at the shop with his mom.”

  “Oh.” Ava deflated slightly. She frowned. “What kind of kiss?”

  Cori swallowed as the memory of the kiss played in her mind. She felt like she’d just rubbed hot sauce on her lips—tingly and hot.

  And maybe dropped it on her nipples. And a little lower.

  “It was hot,” Brynn supplied when Cori didn’t answer right away.

  Ava groaned. “It was?”

  “Very,” Brynn confirmed. “His hand in her hair, her clutching his shirt, tiptoes, tongues—the whole thing. And everyone thought so. Noah did this ‘damn’ thing under his breath.”

  “Hey, yeah, you and Noah are hanging out a lot,” Cori commented. “Is he date-boy number one?”

  “No,” Brynn said quickly. “Those aren’t dates.”

  Cori lifted an eyebrow.

  “And,” Brynn added, “don’t try to distract me from you and Evan.”

  “So, Noah distracts you,” Cori said.

  But Brynn shook her head. “Nice try. Let’s talk about how you practically climbed Evan in the middle of the pie shop.”

  “I did not.” But her protest was weak.

  “Well, crap,” Ava interjected.

  “What? They all thought it was you,” Cori insisted. “I promise Brynn and Evan were the only two who knew it was me.”

  “And Noah,” Brynn added.

  “Yes, Noah. Brynn’s new best friend who she is not dating even though she sees him almost every day and he’s doing stuff like painting and finishing chairs and tables, and even stitched the edges of some cushions the other day.”

  Brynn frowned. “How did you know that? No one was there.”

  “I noticed the Band-Aids on the tips of his fingers. He’s a mechanic, good with his hands, I’m sure.” She waggled her eyebrows, loving Brynn’s slight blush. “The only reason he’d need Band-Aids is if he’s using little tiny needles that he’s not used to.”

  Brynn rolled her eyes. “He’s a mechanic. He scrapes his knuckles and pinches his fingers all the time.”

  “No way does ex-Marine, mechanic extraordinaire Noah, use Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Band-Aids. Like the ones you bought the other day.” Cori grinned as Brynn shifted on her chair.

  “They were the only ones they had at the grocery store the other day,” Brynn said.

  “Did you kiss his fingers better when you put the Band-Aids on?” Cori asked.

  Ava laughed. “I haven’t minded having Noah around,” she said, adding to the teasing. “That guys looks very nice without a shirt while sanding and sawing and pounding.”

  The same CEOs who would have been shocked by her sticking out her tongue, would have probably fallen over, hearing Ava say pounding in a tone that clearly didn’t mean nails.

  Brynn’s face was bright red—she was the only one of the triplets who blushed—and she said through gritted teeth, “Cori kissed the hell out of your boyfriend in front of his mom.”

  Ava’s frowned. “Oh yeah. Dammit, Cori.”

  “What? I totally pulled it off,” Cori said. “Everyone thinks you’re crazy about each other. You’re welcome.”

  “But now I have to kiss him like that,” Ava exclaimed.

  And Cori’s stomach tightened. Well…crap.

  “If you kiss like that in public, obviously you’re all over each other in private. We have to keep up the hot and horny thing now,” Ava said.

  “I don’t know if I’d say horny,” Cori protested.

  “I would,” Brynn said cheerfully, obviously happy to have the conversation off of Noah and his half-naked pounding.

  Ava shoved her pie away, hardly touched but for the marshmallows and two tastes of chocolate. “Dammit.”

  “It’s not like I set you up to have to eat broccoli every day or something,” Cori said, annoyed. Though she wasn’t sure if it was because Ava would be kissing Evan, at least in public—which meant Cori might have to see it—or if it was because Ava didn’t want to.

  Which was stupid.

  “But I like broccoli,” Ava said.

  “You don’t like Evan?” Cori asked, actually feeling offended. She did not want Ava to kiss Evan. She did not want Ava to want to kiss Evan. But regardless of the kissing, Evan Stone was very likeable.

  Ava blew out a breath. “Sure. I like Evan. Evan’s fine. He’s certainly easier to get along with than Parker.” She scowled briefly.

  “You don’t like Parker?” Brynn asked. “He’s growly but seems…nice.” Though she said the last word as if that wasn’t quite the right word.

  Ava snorted. “Nice? Um, no. I saw someone ask for sugar the other day. When he found out they were going to put it in their tea, he took it away.”

  “The sugar?” Brynn asked.

  “The tea. The whole glass.”

  Brynn’s eyes were wide, but Cori grinned. “Hey, that can only be good for our business, right? The only other food place in town.”

  Ava suddenly slumped back. “I wouldn’t call us that.”

  “You’ll get the hang of the pie,” Cori said. “I promise.”

  “We’re not really known for food though,” Ava said.

  “Um, pie shop. Baked is in our title.” Though it still didn’t sound so much as the eating kind of baked as the smoking kind of baked.

  “Dad’s pies sucked,” Ava said. “No one came for the food. Parker told me. The pies were bad, he undercharged, it was all just…like he ran away from home and found the most opposite thing he could do.”

  “Like make bad business decisions?” Cori asked.

  But Ava didn’t smile. “Yeah. It was like he left New York and his success and hard work and just…stopped. Stopped working, stopped planning and strategizing and…trying.”

  “Evan makes it sound like he was happy though,” Cori said. It was puzzling. But things just didn’t always make sense and go according to plan. She’d learned that away from New York. Maybe that was part of what Ava needed to learn.


  “Yeah,” Ava nodded, clearly thinking. “I guess Parker does too.”

  “Noah too,” Brynn added softly.

  “But we don’t have the luxury of not working or strategizing,” Cori said, fully aware that those were not words she typically used.

  Her sisters were aware too. And seemed slightly amused by it. And maybe a little worried. Well, they weren’t the only ones. But Ava wanted to buy an oven and Brynn wanted to just spend all day ‘painting’, i.e., watching Noah’s naked, tattooed arms and shoulders, and Cori wanted…well, a photo booth and heart-shaped pie pans. But first she needed to get them out of debt and a positive bank balance.

  She rubbed her middle finger on the center of her forehead and then caught Ava doing the same thing.

  “Okay, business plan. New menu items—”

  Ava’s phone rang and Cori sighed. Ava never didn’t take a call. She glanced at the screen. “I can’t handle more or new,” she said, getting to her feet. “Hell, I can’t handle what I have. Let me work on that.”

  “But we have to start bringing in—”

  “I have to take this,” Ava said. “It’s my eight o’clock call.”

  She picked the phone up as Brynn said, “Crap, it’s already eight? I need to check in with Jeffrey.” Jeffrey was one of the scientists in Brynn’s lab who was keeping her updated on what they were doing.

  Ava was already up from the table and headed toward the room off the main living room that she’d designated as her office.

  “Go ahead,” Cori told Brynn. “We’ll talk later.”

  Brynn leaned over as she came around the table and gave Cori a quick hug. “We’ll make it work.”

  “Well, at least Noah’s working for a currency we can afford,” Cori teased, squeezing her.

  “What’s that?” Brynn asked, straightening.

  “Time with you. And the view of you in shorts on a ladder.”

  Brynn blushed again, but didn’t deny it.

  “You’re sure you’re not dating him?” Cori asked.

  The tattooed ex-Marine mechanic wasn’t the nerdy scientist type Cori would have thought of for Brynn, but he was hot and could definitely take care of the head-in-the-clouds, or rather head-in-the-microscope, Brynn. And he seemed a little enamored. Brynn deserved enamored. And hot.