Page 98 of Fire and Icing

“There’s nothing much to tell—about him.”

I attempt to veer Syd away from the topic of the hot, tenderhearted fireman who took me by surprise and hijacked my heart. Wait. What? No. He surprised me, that’s all—in the best of ways.

I launch into a rundown of each contest category, adding extra emotion when I share about Vanessa showing up and nearly getting us kicked off the show.

“You can’t tell anyone any of this. My NDA is clear that I can’t talk about certain things. I trust you, though.”

“You better. I’m your best friend.”

“We’ve never had a secret between us,” I say with a smile.

Syd opens the fridge and stands there a second too long, like she forgot what she went there for. She turns back around with an awkward look on her face.

“Syd …” I begin.

“Festival’s coming up,” she says, but her voice lacks its usual snap. “We should probably get a plan in place. I’m thinking cake pops. But that feels so mundane and overdone. What do you think?”

“The festival? That came out of left field.”

“We have to plan at some point.”

“I just got out of a week of planning desserts on the fly. Give me a few days, okay?”

“Sure. Sure.”

Jolene pops her head through the swinging door. “We’ve got a little bit of a rush, can one of you come out front?”

Syd and I drop what we’re doing to serve customers. The rest of the day Syd busies herself with tasks that keep me from asking her what’s up. Her seeming avoidance is my answer.

When I get back to Gran’s, I’m more tired than usual. The cumulative emotions of the week at the contest and the pace of a day running the bakery have taken their toll. Dustin’s on shift. He won’t be home tonight.

I miss him—the sound of his voice, all his smiles, the way he settles me with his steady and buoyant presence, the unspoken conversations we so easily exchange with a mere glance. This is not good.

I pour myself a cup of after-dinner tea and stroll into the front room with another cup for Gran.

She leads with, “So, how are things with your fake boyfriend?”

I nearly spill the cup all over her. “Gran!”

“What? I call it like I see it. I wasn’t born yesterday … or even the day before that. You would have told me if you had started dating again. Though, I had my hopes for you with Dustin. He’s just the type you ought to seriously consider. He’s the perfect balance for you. And I believe you’d do him some good too.”

“But you told June that Dustin was my boyfriend.”

“A woman can dream,” she sighs. “Besides, June needed to believe you’re dating. So does all of Waterford. And who knows, maybe after this all dies down, you actually will be.”

“I don’t think so,” I say, not wanting to get her hopes up.

“Never say never, dear.”

“Gran.” I take a sip of my tea and sit on the couch.

“Is that all you have to say for yourself? Gran, Gran, Gran? I want details.”

“Okay. Yes. We were faking. Are … were … I don’t know. We started because of those rules for the contest. And Syd had this wild idea. Dustin just happened to be in the shop when shesuggested I come up with a boyfriend so I could enter. He was so instantly willing. I don’t really know how I ended up saying yes to this insanity. But then … well … He just started showing up for me. He surprised me. And over the past week, it felt real, like we were truly a team.”

Gran’s eyes twinkle. “Sometimes, pretending leads to something real, dear.”

“I probably have a case of overexposure. Dustin was there for me when I was under pressure. I’m still reeling from all the week's excitement.”

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