Page 71 of Building What's Meant to Be

My lips are bee-stung and I don’t mind. It’s cheaper and better than lip fillers.

As the days pass, I get to know Camellia and Louella Belle, but she’s mostly busy at ladyboss headquarters.

Bess pops in and gives an update, saying that Mae is very pregnant. I’d like to say working at the bakery gets easier. Butmaybe now I’m just distracted and intimidated because Rhondy signs me up to help in the kitchen.

On Wednesday, I add cayenne to a batch of muffins instead of cinnamon, have to scrap it, and start over. Story of my life lately.

On Thursday, I bake a plastic spoon into a tin of banana bread...and I forgot to peel them. Don’t ask.

Then on Friday, I mistook Celsius for Fahrenheit on the scones recipe I was following.

More than anything, I want to prove myself, but I just don’t feel like I fit in. The ladybosses are best friends, and I realize I don’t have any. I arrange the scones on a tray and they look more like giant wads of chewing gum than something edible when Mae walks in. Well, more like waddles.

She gives the scones the expected look of disgust then turns her attention to me. I get a glare. No surprise there.

“Listen, I want to talk.”

I offer an open smile, the kind Rhondy sometimes wears yet brace my hand on the display case. “Okay,” I say, thankful the counter is between us because, given the look on her face, I wouldn’t put it past her to take a swing.

“Tinsley, you have something very special to me in your hands. Do not, under any circumstances, break my brother’s heart.”

“No, of course not. But Aiden’s reputation suggests he’s the heartbreaker.”

“Exactly. His is untried. Not calloused by the trials of a real relationship.”

“Truth be told, mine isn’t either. I had superficial relationships or ones I made up,” I say, alluding to the one with Taylor.

Mae rocks back slightly. “Still, if you so much as scratch Aiden’s heart with those nails of yours—”

“These nails?” I hold them up in a reverse position of surrender. They’re not dirty, but they’re chipped and no longer manicured. In fact, looking at my palms, those have callouses.

“Oh. Well...”

“Isn’t it usually the brother that makes these threats?”

“Tinsley, I am the big protective brother and I’m concerned about whatever the two of you think you’re doing.”

I nod. “Understandably. I don’t have the greatest track record. But—” I sink back slightly and blink slowly.

“Oh,” she repeats as if not expecting me to acquiesce. She studies me for a long moment. “Oh, wow. You have heart eyes.”

“Hmm?” I ask, feeling a little punch drunk and disoriented like the bees after Bubba released the smoke into the air.

As if laying down her weapons, Mae retreats. “I’ll have to get confirmation, but this is huge. Well, just be careful. Be good to each other.”

“Of course.” And because I don’t want to do anything that would make me have to face her wrath.

The bells on the door jingle with her exit at the same time the kitchen timer beeps. I open the double swinging doors with heart windows and release a cloud of smoke.

Waving my hands, I’m thankful there aren’t any swarms of bees—swatting them can prompt stings...and that Mae is gone because she’d definitely have something to say about this smoky snafu.

This is the part in the movie when the baker realizes she’s in over her head. I’m terrified that I’m about to burn down the bakery with a batch of brownies in the oven.

“What do I do?”

I can’t call Sienna or my siblings to help. I’m trying to avoid my parents. But there is Aiden. He’s confident, charming, and capable. He can talk anyone into almost anything, but can he get rid of the smoky evidence and a burned pan?

I call him and shout, “I need you!”

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