Page 99 of After All

She nodded.

He reached out and took her by the upper arms. “You’re a part of that in this town. You’re the one who gets people together and turns up the music and tells the jokes.”

She felt her heart trip a little. “And I make the cakes.”

“And you make the cakes,” he said with a nod. “Do you remember what you told me on St. Patrick’s Day?”

“That you were the best sex I’d ever had handcuffed on the hood of a police car?” she asked.

His eyes heated slightly but he shook his head. “You told me that your grandma had thrown you birthday parties when you were little—up until you were eight and she passed away.”

Peyton swallowed hard. Yeah, she’d told him that. What the hell had been the deal on St. Patty’s Day? She hadn’t even been drunk. But she’d lain down on the backseat of his squad car, and spilled her guts.

“And you told me that you’d missed them after she was gone. You told me that having that special day, when someone went out of their way to make you feel important and surround you with all of your favorite things, is what made you love parties. And that when you were fourteen, you started throwing birthday parties for yourself.” Scott pulled her closer. “And now you love throwing parties for other people and making them feel special.”

She nodded.

“That’s important stuff. How many times has someone asked you for something basic—a plate of cookies or a simple chocolate cake—and you’ve talked them into something bigger, something amazing that was absolutely perfect?”

“Well, that’s just good salesmanship,” Peyton told him. “Always try to upsell the customer.”

Scott shook his head. “You do it because you want them to make it special. Even a good old garden club meeting,” he said, reminding her of Emma and the club meeting that had tickled her so much that she’d sent Peyton flowers. “What else did you do besides the cookies for that?”

“The dirt cups with the gummy worms,” Peyton said.

“And what else?”

“Nothing.” But she focused on his chin instead of his eyes.

He squeezed her arms. “What else?”

She sighed. “She wasn’t sure what all they were going to do, so I suggested they play a game where they had to guess the flower by its scent while they were blindfolded.”

Scott’s mouth curled at the corner. “What else?”

“And they met on her patio, so I just suggested she use watering cans for vases as centerpieces and she give them each a caterpillar kit as a gift.”

“A caterpillar kit?”

Peyton felt her cheeks heat but she nodded. “You can buy these kits online. They ship you five caterpillars and everything you need to raise them into butterflies. So they can all raise them and then release them into their gardens.”

Scott was quiet for a long moment. Peyton finally peeked up at him through her eyelashes. He was staring at her.

“What?” she asked. “They thought it was amazing.”

“Because itisamazing,” he said.

She felt her smile start. “Yeah?”

“Are you kidding?Yes.”

“But it’s just butterflies. And cookies. And parties.” She lifted a shoulder. “I just always thought I’d do something more…important.”

Scott lifted a hand and brushed her hair back. “Peyton, making people happy is important. And you… God, you make people happy.”

There was a sincerity in his eyes and his tone that made Peyton’s heart thump.

“So, you’ll still like me if I’m not a nurse?” she asked.

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