Page 112 of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store
Two Months Later
‘Happy Friendsgiving!’ Jeanie opened the door to the old farmhouse, her arms wide. Noah was immediately hit with the smell of sage and onions, cinnamon and ginger. His stomach grumbled. Hazel hadn’t let him eat more than a bowl of cereal this morning and the half a bag of marshmallows he’d scarfed on the way over. Although to be fair, they’d been busy with other things. Several other things that started with applying for a bank loan and ended with Hazel spread out on her kitchen table in nothing but her panties. So maybe he hadn’t just eaten cereal and marshmallows...
‘Hey, Jeanie.’ Noah let himself be enveloped in a hug by Jeanie, quickly putting aside his memories of the morning.
‘Welcome back, Noah!’ She gave him a squeeze and then moved on to Hazel.
‘Thanks for having us,’ Hazel said from inside Jeanie’s arms.
‘I’m so glad we decided to do this.’ Jeanie took the bags from Noah filled with wine and the rest of the bags of marshmallows Hazel brought to add to the yams, and ushered them inside. ‘It’s such a busy time of year, I’m just happy we could all get together.’
Noah decided not to point out that they all saw each other almost every day, especially now that he was back and full time at Mac’s for the season. They were constantly in and out of each other’s shops, but he knew Jeanie was excited to host her first official Friendsgiving, so he bit his tongue and followed her inside. It was warm and welcoming with a fire crackling in the hearth in the living room right off the hall. Jeanie and Logan had strung together several tables that stretched from the dining room into the living room. Candles and gourds ran down the center, creating a tablescape he was sure his mother would love.
His six weeks at home had been long and tough at times, but mostly for his sister. He’d had a blast playing with his nieces and going out with the crew on the new lobster boat. He even spent time going over his rental-property plans with his dad.
And talking with Hazel every night certainly helped. But with Rachel cleared by her doctor to be upright again, Noah was back in Dream Harbor. At least for now. He was taking Hazel home with him in three days and he was a ball of nervous energy about her meeting the family. But excited nervous and not dreading-it nervous so he was taking that as progress.
‘Oh, look who decided to finally show up!’ Annie emerged from the kitchen, wine glass in hand.
‘We’re not late.’ Hazel glanced at her watch. ‘Well, we’re notthatlate.’ A blush rose up her cheeks and Noah grinned, knowing she was thinking about exactly why they were late.
‘Gross, guys. I mean, really,’ Annie said, also expertly reading Hazel’s expression.
Hazel rolled her eyes, ready with a retort when a random man followed Annie into the entryway.
‘Um ... hi,’ Noah said, taking Hazel’s attention from Annie to the man standing uncomfortably behind her.
‘Oh, this is Trent.’
‘Trent?’ Hazel’s voice rose incredulously.
‘Hey, nice to meet you...’
‘You brought a date to Friendsgiving?’ Hazel asked.
‘She sure did,’ Mac answered from where he sat glowering in the corner of the living room. Noah hadn’t even seen him over there. Trent shifted on his feet. Poor bastard.
Annie ignored Mac and turned back to Hazel. ‘Trent is a new friend. It just seemed nice to invite him.’
Jeanie hustled out of the kitchen with several trays of cheese and crackers in her hands. ‘And the more the merrier,’ she said, eyebrows raised like she was communicating a very important message to him and Hazel. A message about how no one was to ruin her Friendsgiving with drama.
‘Hmm.’ Hazel’s little noise of disapproval was all she contributed to the conversation.
‘Well, it’s nice to meet you, Trent.’ Noah stuck out his hand and the man breathed a small sigh of relief. ‘How’d you meet Annie?’
‘I tried her cookies and I just had to have more.’
Hazel choked on nothing, sputtering and coughing. Noah patted her back, biting down on his own laughter. He may or may not have heard Mac grumble something about staying the hell away from Annie’s cookies, but it was hard to hear over Trent’s backpedaling.
‘Uh ... from her bakery. Chocolate chip. I went to buy some and we got to talking. That’s ... uh ... what I meant.’
Noah chuckled. ‘Yeah, she’s the best.’ He winked at Annie and she smacked him playfully on the arm.
‘Gee, thanks. Okay, now that we’re all introduced, let’s move on to having a nice day.’
More grumbling from Mac’s corner.
Logan was the next to emerge from the kitchen and Noah was starting to wonder how many more people were hidden in there. His friend was wearing an apron with a giant turkey on it.
