Page 81 of All Dressed Up

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Will smiled down at the picture on his phone screen, condensation from the iced coffee dripping on his other hand. He must have looked down at the photo a hundred, strike that, a thousand times since it was taken last night.

He enlarged the picture with his finger and thumb until he could see the six perfect pink letters in the creamy beige batter that spelled outRachel.

His soul mate.

Abby had just about lost it when a full name appeared in the batter. She’d explained to him that until that moment, she’d only been able to cast the first letter of a first name.

That explanation came with a lot of squealing, and wouldn’t you know, her water broke. Brandon rushed to her side and took her straight to the hospital.

This morning, Betty at the Star Lite gave Will the 411 that Abby had given birth to a healthy baby boy. Zachary Swift made his arrival as the newest resident to Buttermilk Falls at a whopping 12 pounds.

Will didn’t know a lot—really anything—about babies, but that was about the weight of one of his mother’s Thanksgiving turkeys.

He glanced down the street at the Buttermilk Blooms’ pale blue awning. He didn’t need a spell in cake batter to tell him Rachel was his soul mate, but he was relieved to get the confirmation. Another name would have destroyed him.

Reaching the shop, the glass door suddenly flew open and Rachel stepped out. His pulse quickened at the sight of her in a sleeveless black dress and matching dark shades. “Hey.”

“Oh, hey.” Her lips turned up, and she raised her sunglasses to rest on her head. “I was just headed out for some caffeine.”

Her smile was a good sign. “I can save you a trip,” he said, handing the drink over. “One mocha iced coffee just like you like it.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.” There were a lot of things he wanted to do today, and bringing her coffee was only the beginning.

“Thank you.” She took a sip. “Just what I needed.”

What he needed was to tell her exactly how he felt before he lost his nerve.

“Would you like to take a walk?” he asked. “Maybe grab a bench in the park.”

“Sure. I’d like that,” she said.

They crossed the street in silence, his pulse racing. Man, he was nervous. He didn’t want to do or say the wrong thing. “Let’s sit over there.” He led the way to the bench that he’d often sat on and ate his lunch.

He draped his arm across the back of the bench. Soaking in her pretty blue eyes, he lost all thoughts. “Um...” Before he could get anything out, a brown station wagon pulled up in front of Buttermilk Blooms, engine sputtering. They watched as Jesse got out of the car and opened up the trunk.

“Looks like your star employee has arrived,” he said flatly.

“I sent him to a greenhouse this morning to pick up some orchids. I’m experimenting for Emma’s flower arrangements.”

He cocked his head. “I recognize that car.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, it’s a classic Buick. My dad put a new engine in it when I was fifteen. He showed me how to do it.” He shook his head. “Figures it was that jackass’s car. Sounds like it’s on its last leg.” He turned to face Rachel. “Did you hear about Abby?” he asked.

She nodded. “I did. The phone’s been ringing off the hook all morning for congratulations bouquets.” She lifted an eyebrow. “I hear you were at the Sugar Spoon last night.”

“From who?”

“Emma stopped by the shop.”

So that’s where Emma took off to in such a hurry. “Did she get her dress?”

Rachel’s gaze met his. “She did,” was all she said.

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