Page 88 of Sweet Somethings

"Are things not going as well with Roman as you hoped?"

"They're going better than I hoped. That's the problem. I don't know what I'm going to do when it ends."

"Maybe it won't end."

She wanted to be the optimist who could believe that, but she was having trouble getting there. Fortunately, Sara's attention was drawn to Tim, a tall, skinny man who greeted her with a hug.

"Do you remember Juliette from the movie festival?" Sara asked.

Tim nodded. "Nice to see you again."

"You, too. You look a lot different tonight."

"I was happy to leave Rhett Butler behind."

"Looks like the boats are getting ready to start," Sara interrupted. "Let's get a good spot on the pier."

"You two go ahead," she said. "I'm going to keep an eye out for Roman."

"See you later," Sara said, as Tim put his arm around her waist, and they walked off together.

There were certainly a lot of couples out tonight, she thought, as she wandered through the crowd, feeling a little too single. She shouldn't be surprised. Love was in the air. And she was doing her best to contribute to that love with her Wish cookies. She'd already had a couple of people stop by the bakery to tell her that they'd gotten a date for Valentine's Day after making their wish on her cookies.

She liked that her father's tradition was continuing, and she enjoyed being part of other people's happiness. But she was starting to wonder if she should have wished for something for herself while baking some of those cookies.

As she wandered down the path, she saw Roman coming in her direction, and just like that, her pensive mood brightened up.

He smiled when he saw her, and she couldn’t help thinking that he smiled a lot more these days. He talked more, too. Maybe he was starting to feel like he fit in as well.

Any thought of not kissing him hello vanished, as he grabbed her hands and pulled her in for a warm, lingering kiss that told her he was as happy to see her as she was to see him.

"I'm so glad you came," she said, a little breathless from his kiss.

"I'm so glad you're here."

"I guess we're both pretty happy right now."

He grinned. "I guess we are." He tipped his head down the path. "I saw an empty bench back that way. Want to check it out? Get away from the crowds?"

"Sure." She followed him over to the wooden bench that was farther away from the start of the parade but had a perfect view of the water. "This is great."

He put his arm around her shoulders, and she couldn't help but snuggle up next to him.

"How did today's baking bonanza go?" he asked.

"Very well. I'm keeping up—barely. But the next three days will be crazy. I just got an order today for a Valentine's Day wedding cake."

"What? Valentine's Day is Tuesday. It's Friday. Who decides to order a wedding cake four days out? I hope you said no."

"I never say no," she confessed with a sigh. "It's so romantic. The couple was going to get married in the spring, but her father is ill, and she doesn't want to wait that long. So they decided to do it on Valentine's Day in her parents' backyard."

"How big is this cake supposed to be?"

"Big enough to feed about forty people. So probably three good-sized layers. I can do it," she said, trying to infuse some confidence into her voice. "I have to do it."

He moved a little away from her, dislodging her head from his shoulder.

"Hey, I was just getting comfortable," she protested.

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