Page 32 of The Gingerbread Bakery
Annie rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever. And you’re not his best man. Noah is.’
‘Fine. As one of his lesser groomsmen, it is still within my duties to find his grandmother.’
‘Keep your voice down,’ Annie hissed. ‘We don’t need the whole town knowing she’s missing.’
‘And why is that exactly?’ It seemed to Mac that the more people who knew, the quicker they would find her.
Annie sighed like it should be obvious. ‘Because then it will get back to Jeanie and Logan, and instead of spending the day before their wedding relaxing, they’ll spend it being stressed out. And that is not what we bridal-party people are shooting for. Got it?’
Mac shrugged. He still thought Annie was taking her bridesmaid duties a bit too seriously, but he did want his friend to have a good wedding weekend. He leaned in closer to Annie. For Logan’s sake.
‘Fine. We’ll keep it a secret,’ he whispered.
He couldn’t help his smug smile when Annie shivered at his nearness. She could deny it all she wanted but her body always gave her away.
‘Right. Good.’ Annie’s voice was breathy and low, and it hit Mac then, the reason why she never wanted to spend time alone with him. It was way too hard to pretend they hated each other this way. His smug smile grew.
They were still standing way too close when Jack emerged from the back room wearing a red bow tie, a Christmas vest covered in reindeer and with not a hair out of place. Mac was glad they hadn’t gone to school together because he probably would have teased him and then he’d have to be apologizing right now.
But, as it was, Jack gave them both a big smile.
‘Well, hello! What brings you two here?’ His gaze flicked between the two of them and Annie hastily backed away from Mac.
‘We’re looking for Estelle, actually,’ Mac said, and Annie shot him a look for blowing their cover, but how else were they ever going to find this woman if they didn’t ask?
‘We heard she was here earlier, and we had a quick question for her,’ Annie added with a polite smile.
‘Hmm.’ Jack frowned. ‘I only got in an hour ago, so I’m not sure if she’s still here, but I know she has some family staying with us for the wedding, so it’s possible.’
‘Can you tell us the room numbers? For her relatives?’ Annie asked.
‘Well… I probably shouldn’t…’ While Jack weighed the moral implications of giving out guests’ room numbers, the doors opened with a gust of wind and a man carrying a large load of firewood stomped his feet on the welcome mats.
‘Oh, there’s Gabriel.’ A furious blush worked its way up Jack’s cheeks and Gabriel’s name came out on a breathy exhale. ‘Maybe he’s seen Estelle.’ Jack hustled over to the man with the firewood and Mac knew he looked the exact same way every time he hurried somewhere for a chance to be near Annie. Jack had it bad for this guy and Mac could totally relate.
While they stood waiting for Jack to return with some answers, another man emerged from the back room.
‘Hello,’ Annie said, obviously curious about this newcomer.
‘Hello,’ the man said with a shy smile. ‘I’m just waiting for Jack.’
‘Are you a new employee here?’
‘Architect, actually.’
‘Really? How interesting! Are they doing work on the inn?’ Annie leaned closer, her elbows on the counter of the check-in desk.
‘That’s what we're discussing,’ the man said. He was soft-spoken with dark-rimmed glasses, and frankly Mac didn’t love the way Annie was looking at him.
‘I'm Annie Andrews. I own the bakery in town,’ she said, sticking her hand out to shake. ‘Welcome to Dream Harbor.’
‘Elliot,’ he said, shaking Annie's hand. ‘It's nice to meet you.’
Annie held onto his hand for a beat too long. She glanced at Mac before she said, ‘Are you free tomorrow night, Elliot?’
Mac bit so hard on his tongue to stop himself from protesting that he drew blood. Was Annie actually asking someone out in front of him? This was a new low, and one that he couldnothandle.
‘I… uh…’ The man blushed to the tips of his ears as he stammered, ‘I’m attending a wedding.’
