Page 101 of Sweet Somethings

"I think it explains why Martha is such an unhappy person."

"I guess everyone has a story, don't they?"

"They do. What did your grandfather say?"

"That he hasn't spoken to Cecelia in years."

"She said the same thing; that even when they cross paths, they just look at each other and then someone looks away."

"Word for word, he told me the exact same thing."

"So they're both super aware of each other. We have to get them together."

"We put out the invitation. They have to do the rest." He could see the impatience in her eyes. "I know you want the best for them, but love happens between two people—not four."

She smiled at that. "I know that, but we can give them a little push."

"We've already done that."

"Hang on one second," she said, moving to the table to hand out some more desserts.

As she did so, his gaze moved toward the door, and he saw his grandfather walk into the room, along with his friend Max, who wheeled in next to him.

As Max fell into conversation with a woman, Vincent moved a few feet away, his gaze sweeping the room. He saw Roman and gave him a short nod, then continued looking around the hall.

"Your grandfather is here," Juliette said with excitement, moving next to him. "One down, one to go." She grabbed his hand. "Wait, there's Cecelia. She just came in with Martha. Our plan is working."

He smiled. "Calm down. Nothing has happened yet. They just walked in."

"The hardest part was getting them both here."

"I'm not sure that was the most difficult part."

"You're right. How do we get them to talk to each other? Maybe you could go over and get your grandfather and walk him over to Cecelia."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," he said dryly. "Just give it a few minutes."

She waited for about thirty seconds, then said, "I can't just do nothing. Watch my table and hand out desserts to whoever wants them. There's no money involved. It's all free. You can do it."

He knew he could do it; he just didn't want to. But Juliette was already walking away. He moved behind her table and almost immediately was deluged with people wanting desserts. Sara gave him a hand when he had to go looking through plastic bins for more cookies, but otherwise he was on his own.

At one point, he saw Juliette talking to Cecelia, then he lost track of her.

"What's this?" Doug asked, approaching the table with an attractive redhead. "You're working desserts now, Roman?"

"Just holding down the fort for Juliette."

"So things must be going well there," Doug said, a knowing gleam in his eyes.

"Who's your friend?" he asked, ignoring Doug's comment.

"This is Valerie Marks—Roman Prescott."

"Nice to meet you," she said, extending her hand.

"You, too," he replied.

"Valerie is in public relations," Doug added. "She's going to help me with my campaign."

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