Page 10 of The Gingerbread Bakery
Annie laughed. ‘Damn, girl.’
‘I know.’
‘Iwould carry the man's baby for a meal like this every night,’ Bennett said from Annie’s other side, and Iris burst out laughing again.
Archer winked at Bennett and the girls laughed even harder.
‘What’s so funny over there?’ Mayor Kelly asked from across the table.
‘Oh, we’re just discussing what we would do for Archer in exchange for this food every night,’ Annie said with a smile, and the mayor’s eyebrows rose above his glasses.
‘So, Pete, do you have the ceremony ready for Sunday?’ Estelle asked, changing the subject before the mayor could weigh in. Which was probably for the best.
‘Mostly. I want to get a few more thoughts from the bride and groom, but I think I'm ready to go.’
‘You're going to do great, Dad,’ Hazel said, patting him on the back from her seat beside him.
‘It's going to be lovely, I’m sure,’ Estelle said, and then turned her attention to Jeanie who was seated at the next table. ‘Jeanie!’ she called. ‘Have you given any thought to what you're wearing on the wedding night?’
Annie could see the furious blush on Logan's face from across the room. She and Iris descended into more giggles.
‘Um, not really,’ Jeanie said.
Estelle smiled. ‘Okay, very good. I have just the thing.’
‘Well, that's ominous,’ Annie whispered and Iris agreed.
‘I don’t think I want to know.’
The evening went on with more drinks and food and laughter. Archer had outdone himself and Annie couldn’t imagine how Sunday’s meal would be any better, but she knew it would be.
‘We should probably test out the dance floor,’ Noah said, coming up beside Hazel and putting out a hand to her.
‘We probably should.’ Hazel smiled up at him and Annie couldn't help the small pang she felt anytime she was around her friends lately. She loved them all, and she was so happy that they had each found their person. But, when everyone had their person, it really emphasized the fact that she didn't.
She could feel Mac’s eyes on her from the other table as more and more guests got up to dance. She didn't allow herself to look at him. Instead, she very gratefully accepted an offer from Jeanie’s cousin when he asked her to dance.
The music was slow and romantic, and Annie had had enough wine to feel pleasantly warm. She couldn’t help but think that, if she had been dancing with someone she cared about, the moment would have been quite lovely.
Hazel’s head rested on Noah’s shoulder as they danced, Iris and Archer couldn’t take their eyes off each other, and Kira had taken a break from her hosting duties to dance with Bennett. Her laughter filled up the room when he dipped her. And never mind Jeanie and Logan. Annie wasn’t sure their feet even touched the ground as they danced, whispering quietly to each other in their own little world. They were all so happy, so settled. And in a group of couples, Annie had quickly become the only single left.
Well, and Mac.
She really needed to get more friends.
‘So that’s why I don't feed my geckos crickets.’
Annie blinked.
‘What was that?’ she asked. She’d totally not been listening to whatever her dance partner had been going on about. In fact, she wasn’t even sure she caught his name.
‘Crickets,’ he repeated. ‘They give off a weird smell, so I prefer to feed my gecko pellets only.’
Annie stared at him in horror before she remembered to be polite. ‘Of course, that makes sense,’ she said, forcing a smile on her face. ‘Well, thank you so much for the dance.’ She pulled away, even though the song was not over. She’d had enough cricket talk for one evening.
As she made her way across the dance floor and away from gecko guy, she caught Mac following her with his gaze. He still sat at the table chatting with Henry and Mayor Kelly, but his eyes were on her.
She needed to get out of here. She needed a break from all of it, from Mac, from the happy couples, from the insanely romantic wedding Kira had planned. It was all too much.
