The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor, #5)

by Laurie Gilmore

Everyone clinked their plastic, juice glasses together, and Annie was relieved to see the smile back on Jeanie’s face and a slightly less murderous expression on Logan’s. Phew. Wedding-crisis number one averted. Sure, she was the one who started it, but at least she’d fixed it. No thanks to Mac.

Girl why would he need to help? You truly started it and caused a scene 😹

suddenly, he was very eager to hang out with the girl he’d always thought he didn’t really like.

Annie caught him looking and narrowed her eyes. Christ, that woman was never going to let it go. How long did he have to repent for sins committed when he was nineteen?

Hell hath no fury like a scorned woman 😹

‘She’s killing it,’ Mac said with a quiet laugh. ‘She did a great job in here.’ ‘Yeah, man. She’s been working really hard.’ The pride in Bennett’s voice was obvious. It made Mac think of how he’d talk about Annie’s bakery, if she would let him. How he sometimes did when she wasn’t around. She’d come so far from the little table at the Christmas market eleven years ago.

Awwwww Mac is already in love 😹

but all he really saw was Annie. Story of his life since he moved back here. Annie was all he ever saw.

now he was stuck here, forced to admire her in all her Annie-ness, and just pretend like it wasn’t slowly killing him.

‘So that’s why I don't feed my geckos crickets.’ Annie blinked. ‘What was that?’ she asked. She’d totally not been listening to whatever her dance partner had been going on about. In fact, she wasn’t even sure she caught his name. ‘Crickets,’ he repeated. ‘They give off a weird smell, so I prefer to feed my gecko pellets only.’

How dare you not let the gecko have a delicacy such as crickets!!! WE MUST RIOT

Mac blew into his hands again. Annie watched him with a small smile. ‘You’re cold?’ ‘Not too bad.’ ‘Why do guys do that?’ ‘Do what?’ ‘Pretend they’re never cold. Do they revoke your man card if you admit to being chilly?’

‘Eyelashes?! That’s what you noticed about me? My eyelashes?’ ‘Yep.’ Annie grinned and he couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Wow, there I was spending all that time in the weight room, and I could have just batted my lashes.’ ‘Truly.’

‘Come on, Mac! Be cool.’ Hayden, the boldest of the group, tried to step in front of him. ‘I haven’t been cool in years. And you know I can’t give them back.’ ‘In Quebec they can drink at eighteen.’ ‘Then go to Quebec to drink.’ ‘Mac…’ ‘Next time, don’t try to use a fake ID at a pub filled with people who’ve known you since you wet your pants during the annual Christmas pageant.’

‘I really think you’ll like this one,’ Jacob was saying, even as Mac was trying to inch his way to the door. ‘It's a second-chance romance. Very angsty. I think it's really your type of story.’

This was getting ridiculous. He scrubbed his face dry with the towel and then handed her his extra toothbrush. Annie was horrified at the thought of him watching her brush her teeth. That was one intimacy too far. She could not allow Mac to watch her brush and spit! He clearly sensed her hesitation, flashed her one more smile and left the bathroom. ‘I’ll give you a minute,’ he said from the bedroom. Annie closed the door with a sigh of relief. Why was she being so weird about this?

Literally.. NO ONE is making a big deal but you? Annie gurl get your shit together.

What was it about making grown men cry that was so damn satisfying?

‘And I know that a part of you wants to forgive me but you’re too damn stubborn to do it.’

‘But lucky for you, I’m just as stubborn. And I haven’t given up yet. Your little admission earlier today gave me even more motivation. I’m not nineteen anymore, Annie, and I don’t leave women unsatisfied.’

‘Want to hang out tomorrow?’ ‘Definitely,’ she breathed as his lips brushed against hers. ‘Cool.’ Very cool. He kissed her and he tasted like chocolate and crushes and like the best December of her life.

‘I’ll take them,’ he said, and Annie’s gaze snapped to his. ‘You’ll take them?’ ‘Yeah, I’ve been meaning to get a pet anyway.’ ‘You have not,’ said Annie. Mac crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Do you want to put the kittens in the snow?’ ‘No, of course not.’ ‘Okay, then let me take my kittens in peace.’

‘See? Very pretty.’ He wiggled his toes some more and Annie ran a finger up the arch of his foot. Mac squealed and pulled his foot back. ‘You’re ticklish!’ Annie exclaimed like she had revealed some deep dark secret, but she liked learning new things about Mac. ‘Of course I’m ticklish on my feet! Who isn’t? And let’s just pretend I never made that noise.’ Annie shook her head, laughter bubbling out of her. ‘Oh no, I’m going to remember that high-pitch squeak for the rest of my life.’ ‘Shoot.’ Mac put his head in his hands. ‘That plan really backfired.’ ‘And what plan was that? To seduce me with your pretty feet?’ He looked up at her with a wicked grin. ‘That was exactly my plan,’ he said. ‘Until you foiled it with those sneaky fingers.’

Daisy was incredibly talented. And a teensy bit cursed. Or at least according to the town she was. Annie happened to know, as did everyone else, that Daisy had not only an ex-husband but an ex-fiancé. It didn't help matters that the last three weddings she’d provided flowers for led to marriages that had ended within a year. ‘Are people still refusing to use your shop for weddings?’ Kira asked. The three of them had moved on to the next table and were arranging tall white candles around the pine boughs and flowers. Daisy let out another exhausted sigh. ‘It’s been only funerals for me for the past six months and frankly not enough people are dying around here.’

Daisy gave her a weak smile. ‘Well, I do appreciate you recommending me to Jeanie.’ If Annie could help the fools in this town see that Daisy was talented and in no way responsible for the end of other people’s marriages, then she was happy to do it. ‘Of course! Your flower arrangements are the best. It’s silly to waste them on dead people.’ A laugh burst from Kira's lips at that remark and all three women were quickly giggling again.

‘I thought we could go to my place first and get the kittens settled in. It’s closer,’ he said, getting into the truck. It was a stupid excuse and made no sense, but Annie found herself agreeing. The kittens needed settling. Obviously. They’d had a traumatic few days. She needed to go back to Mac’s for the kittens’ sake.

Annie focused on petting them and not thinking about everything else she wanted to do with Mac in this shiny new kitchen. She was fifty-fifty on wanting to bake something and wanting to tear his clothes off with her teeth. Maybe they had time for both?

Mac gasped her name in her hair, against her neck, his body moving with hers. She held on tight, loving the feel of him, firm and hot and strong on top of her. Inside of her. She knew she could never regret this moment. It was too perfect. Mac was too perfect. She didn’t want to let him go.

‘Okay, postcards it is,’ he agreed, kissing her deeper until she was moaning again, her hands clinging to his shoulders. ‘What about other guys?’ he said, coming up for air. ‘You can see as many other guys as you’d like,’ Annie said with a smile. ‘Noted,’ he said dryly, and Annie laughed.

The Annie he’d known all those years ago was gone. This Annie wasn’t his anymore. This was the Annie he’d hurt. Now he had to figure out how to live in the same town as her and not lose his mind pining after her. Because while Annie wasn’t his anymore, he would always be hers

‘Love is a funny thing,’ the mayor went on. ‘It's not always big or loud or over the top. Most of the time, it’s quiet and unassuming. It’s a shared cup of coffee on a rainy day or reading side by side together every night. It’s finding the person who gets you. The person who will have your back through it all. ‘Your person,’ he added with a smile. ‘And since we all know that you found that in each other, let’s move on to the vows and get this party started.’

I promise to never limit the number of chickens you can have.’ Logan laughed between his tears at that one and so did Mac. That was love. Unlimited chickens.

She looked tired but happy as she watched Archer slow-dance with Olive. ‘That's adorable,’ Daisy said, looking at them spinning in circles, Olive perched on Archer’s feet. Iris nodded. ‘That's how they get you.’ ‘Well, if that didn’t do it, the roast chicken definitely would have. It was so tender I wanted to cry,’ Annie said, making the other women burst out laughing again. ‘The man knows how to cook,’ Iris said, ‘that’s for sure.’

‘You want anything?’ he asked Iris, leaning down to kiss her. ‘Well, all this talk about hot chocolate…’ Archer sighed but the little smile on his face betrayed him. He loved every minute of it. ‘I’ll get you one.’ ‘Extra marshmallows, please. It’s for the baby.’ Archer laughed and pressed another kiss to her lips before straightening. ‘Of course. For the baby.’

‘So, what do you think of me now?’ he asked. Annie was looking at him again, her expression tender. ‘I think you’re my person. I think you're someone I can trust and love. And I think you look really freaking cute with kittens piled on top of you.’

‘So,’ she said, snuggling in tight, her hands over his heart. ‘What do you think of me now?’ That was an easy one. ‘I think you’re the love of my life.’