Page 19 of This Moment

“The commotion was Kian Carter came into the bakery and is speaking to Ashtyn and Jayme.”

Katherine’s eyes went wide. “Shut up! And Kian is actually speaking to Jayme?”

Shrugging, I said, “I’m not sure. He asked for something to eat, so I offered to make him a chicken salad sandwich.”

Setting her purse down, Katherine turned and grabbed an apron.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Looking at me, she said, “That’s right, you wouldn’t know about the Kian and Jayme drama.”

With a shake of my head, I cut two slices of the bread. “Nope.”

“Oh, Cadie, it was a juicy piece of gossip once upon a time! You see, Jayme and Kian were an item in high school. Nearly all of high school. Then, when they graduated, Kian broke up with her. Said he needed to concentrate on college and then law school. Well, the truth was, he found out that Jayme had been cheating on him with his….”

Her voice trailed off, so I looked up from where I put the chicken salad onto the bread. She stood there staring at me. I may not want people gossiping about me, but I was all here for the story of Kian and Jayme. I raised a brow.

“I knew you were into gossip!” Katherine said with a giggle.

“I am not into gossip,” I lied.

With a roll of her eyes, Katherine said, “Whatever. Jayme was cheating on Kian with his best friend!”

“Oh, wow,” I said, cutting the sandwich and placing it onto a chip plate.

Katherine reached for the sandwich. “I’ll take this out while you get his drink. I am dying to see what is happening out there right now.”

Before I could remind her she was off work, and Kian didn’t want to eat out there, she dashed out of the kitchen. I sighed, washed my hands, and headed back out front to get Kian’s coffee and water.

Kian was still standing at the front with Jayme talking a mile a minute as he wore a pained expression.

“I’ve got your sandwich!” Katherine called out.

Kian quickly moved around Jayme. “Wonderful! Thank you, Katherine. I’ll just take this and head on back to Opal’s office.”

The disappointment on all three women’s faces nearly had me laughing. As he walked by, he looked at me and motioned toward the back. I nodded and followed him with his drinks.

Kian slid onto a stool and ate at one of the tables on the pastry side of the kitchen; well out of eyeshot if anyone were to look back into the kitchen.

I set the drinks down. “One black coffee and water for you.”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

“Didn’t want to catch up with your friends?”

He had been about to take a bite of his sandwich and paused. Then he laughed. “They’re hardly friends. The one who came up to me was my old girlfriend. We dated through almost all of high school. I had this whole plan about how we would go to college, and before I went to law school, I wasgoing to ask her to marry me.”

“What happened?” I asked, wanting to hear it from him rather than Katherine.

“Found out she was cheating on me with my best friend.”

“I’m so sorry. That must have been hard.”

He chewed and nodded his head.

“Are you still friends with the guy?”

“Nah,” he said as he wiped his mouth. “I don’t even know where he is. His family moved from Moose Village not long after we graduated high school.”

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