Page 1 of Falling for the Enemy

Chapter One

AVA

“Here we go!” Isla practically sang the words. Her pink apron matched the color in her cheeks, and the sky was a periwinkle blue behind the bakery. She smiled and winked at Luke, who stood nearby looking incredibly dashing in the three-piece suit he’d donned for the occasion. He wore a pink tie to go with the theme. Isla leaned over with the comically big scissors and snipped the ribbon.

A big cheer went up from the crowd. It seemed everyone in Whisper Cove was there for the bakery’s grand opening. My sister had gone through a million bakery names, some fun, some cheesy, but in the end, she’d settled on everyone’s favorite: Isla’s Bakery.

“This brings back a childhood memory,” Rachel said. I was standing next to Luke’s sister, Rachel, and his sweet grandmother, Hazel.

“What’s that, dear?” Hazel asked.

“I mean, it wasn’t a ribbon cutting—but similar. It was the christening of the new Rothschild yacht.” Rachel turned to me to explain. “It was as big as a city, but I remember they had these delicious French cookies in the shape of the yacht.”

“Rachel, dearest,” Hazel said as she took out a linen handkerchief and patted her nose, “your privilege is showing.”

I turned to hide my smile. Rachel, like her brothers, had grown up in a sumptuous world of great wealth. Hazel, on the other hand, had married into it. Not that Hazel didn’t have her Rothschild-esque moments, but she was far more down to earth than her granddaughter. The two women had moved to the city to be closer to Luke and to be farther away from Luke’s controlling mother. I’d never met the woman, but Isla always had some colorful (and not in a rainbow-y way) things to say about her.

Rachel looked down at her jeans. “I think I’m doing pretty well. These jeans are straight off the rack.”

Hazel leaned forward on her cane and smiled at me. “I think she has a way to go.”

I smiled. I wasn’t in the habit of stepping between grandmother and granddaughter. “It was so sweet of both of you to come to the opening.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Rachel said. “Isla is like the sister I never had. You’re all so lucky to have each other. And my brother is smitten.” We all looked at Luke. He stood by and watched with a gigantic, pride-filled smile as Isla addressed the crowd.

“He looks fantastic in a suit,” I noted.

“He sure does.” Hazel’s own proud smile followed.

“This morning I’ve made almond and chocolate croissants—they’re on the house,” Isla added. Another cheer sent some of the birds flying from the surrounding trees.

Aria and Dex made their way over to me. “Can’t believe it’s finally open,” Aria said.

“I can’t believe the transformation. That derelict old building now looks like something out of a fairy tale.” Dex looked intimidatingly big and tough, but he was kind and he adoredmy sister. He and Luke had become like protective big brothers to the rest of us. As children, we’d chatted and giggled and wondered what it would be like to have a brother in the family. The imagined scenarios were not always pleasant. Now we knew what it was like, and it turned out it wasn’t so bad. No frogs in our beds or grime in the tub or empty milk cartons set back in the fridge.

Layla and Ella joined us to round out the sister team. Layla wore pink for the occasion. She would be working full time for Isla. There’d been a bit of a battle about what time Layla would start her workday. Isla would get to the bakery at three to bake breads and finish pastries and cakes. It was too much work for one person, so she planned to hire an assistant. She’d expected Layla to arrive at six, so they could open at seven, but Layla frowned at the notion of getting out of bed while it was still dark outside. They compromised so that Layla would start at six-thirty. Ella and I worried that the early start time was going to be a source of contention between Isla and Layla, but hopefully it would all work out.

“I guess our breakfast hour won’t be as rushed,” Dex said. The competition between the café and bakery was something we’d all discussed quietly, without Isla. Aria owned Whisper Cove Café, one of the most popular eating places in town. Dex worked in the kitchen. He was a marvelous cook, and so far, working together had not disrupted their romantic relationship. Just like Luke and Isla, Dex and Aria were wholly suited for each other. I would love to find someone who was my absolute, undeniable match, but it didn’t seem to be in the cards for me. Admittedly, I fell out of love a lot faster than I fell into love. My sisters liked to tease me, saying that I’d left a long string of broken hearts around the world, but they exaggerated. It was a short string at most.

“This couldn’t have gone better,” Ella noted. Ella is our middle sister. She, too, had recently met her soulmate (if such a thing existed). Rhett Lockwood was a wealthy tech entrepreneur who decided to leave behind the fast-paced business world and join a slower, quiet pace of life. And you didn’t get any slower or quieter than Whisper Cove. As much as I loved my hometown, I was the sister with the adventurous spirit. I’ve been to many corners of the world researching flora and fauna in various ecosystems. My last adventure took me to Egypt, where the team tested the bacterial content in the Nile river. Somehow, we all managed to come down with an unexplained fever that, frankly, had us all a little scared. The research team was taken care of at an Egyptian hospital and then put on a plane home. I was glad to be back in our cozy cottage on the coast. I’d been through more than my share of harrowing experiences abroad, but a mystery illness was the scariest thing I’d experienced. In fact, it scared me right into a big life change. The local university had offered me a position in zooarchaeology before I left for Egypt, but I wasn’t ready to set down roots at that time. This time they had an opening in the botany department. They’d received a large grant for the study of fungi, and mycology was my area of expertise. It was as if the job was made for me, and after the disaster in Egypt, I found it too good to pass up.

“Layla,” Isla called from inside the shop where everyone had crammed in to get their free croissant.

Ella smiled at Layla. “The boss is calling.”

Layla sighed. “I guess this is it.” She marched toward the bakery door as if on a mission.

“I give them a month,” Ella said.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I said. “Layla was really glad to give notice at the pharmacy.” I looked at Aria. “What do you say, oh wise elder of the group?” Aria had been tasked with finishingraising her four younger sisters when our grandmother died. We still went to her for advice.

Aria shook her head lightly. “Not too sure. Layla is kind of a stinker when it comes to being told what to do.”

“True.” I sensed there was something else on her mind, and I knew what it was. “How are you feeling about what Dex said? Breakfast is kind of a big thing in the café.”

“I think it’ll work out all right. It’s just going to take some adjusting. I know this town so well. I know that Mabel and Stan come every Wednesday and Saturday for pancakes and eggs. I know June, Nelly and Char come in every Monday for Dex’s quiche. The onlyunpredictableseason is summer, when the town is overrun with visitors. The rest of the year I know precisely how much produce and how many eggs to order. Dex and I know exactly how much prep to do for each day, but now some of my regulars will sometimes decide to eat a pastry for breakfast and skip the café. Like I said—it’s going to be an adjustment.” She smiled at me. “Speaking of adjustment—major adjustment at that—how is the new job at the university?”

“Actually, it’s great. I have undergraduate lectures three times a week, but mostly I’m working with a small group of grad students on classifying fungi.”

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