Page 23 of The Gingerbread Bakery
‘I still think it would have made more sense for us to split up,’ Annie grumbled, jumping down from the truck.
‘You asked for my help, so you’re getting it,’ Mac said with a sweep of his hands, like he was some kind of prize in a game show.
Annie scowled. ‘Whatever. Let’s just go in and find Estelle. She's probably at one of her classes and forgot to let everybody know.’
Annie strode across the parking lot to the front doors of the Dream Harbor YMCA with Mac trailing along behind her. She really didn't know what had possessed her to include him in this little search. For the three years since he’d been back in town, she’d done everything in her power to avoid time alone with him. She’d been busy, she’d been uninterested, she’d been down-right mean. Anything to protect herself from him. And look at her now, spending the morning with Mac like it was fine, like they werefriends.
But when she went out to her car and that damn gas light was on, she didn't have much of a choice. Right?
Right. She needed to find Logan's grandmother, and fast, because she had plenty of other things on her to-do list and no time to do them. She rubbed the spot on the back of her neck that tightened up when she was stressed. The last few weeks had put a giant baseball-sized knot there. She dug her fingers in, trying in vain to loosen it up.
‘What’s the matter with your neck?’ Mac asked as they went through the automatic doors. The lobby of the Y smelled like sneakers and cleaning solution.
‘Nothing’s wrong with my neck and, if somethingwaswrong with my neck, it would not be any of your business.’
‘My mistake,’ Mac said. ‘I thought you told Logan we would be friends for the weekend. And friends check in with each other.’
Annie bit back a scoff. ‘I told Logan I would be on my best behavior. I said absolutely nothing about being your friend.’
She ignored the flicker of hurt on Mac’s face and continued her power walk to the front desk. She didn’t have time for Mac’s feelings. Just like he had never had time for hers.
‘Hello,’ she said in her friendliest voice. ‘We are here for the seniors’ aerobics class.’
The woman behind the desk had a short-cropped haircut that Annie wished she could pull off and a look that said she was not in the mood to deal with anyone’s antics.
‘That class is for members sixty-five and older,’ she said, glancing over Annie's shoulder at where Mac was standing, not even trying to look elderly. So much for being helpful.
‘Oh, of course!’ Annie said, scrambling for another idea. She wasn’t expecting such high security at the Y. ‘We are actually here to?—’
‘We’re here for a membership,’ Mac interjected. ‘And maybe some information on classes that would be more age-appropriate for us.’ He flashed the woman behind the desk his most dazzling smile. It made Annie want to punch him in the face, but surprisingly it worked on the no-nonsense Y employee.
‘In that case,’ she said, no longer speaking to Annie, ‘let me get you some forms.’
She hustled into the back office to round up the paperwork and Annie turned to glare at Mac.
‘Now what are we going to do?’
Mac shrugged. ‘Apparently get a gym membership,’ he said.
‘That’s the last thing I want,’ Annie said, causing his mouth to tip into a smile.
‘How about you sneak off to the pool area and I will keep our new friend busy with plenty of membership questions,’ he whispered, giving Annie’s shoulder a gentle nudge. She was about to argue but that was actually a good idea. She hurried off to the pool before the woman returned with clipboards and pens, glancing only once over her shoulder at where Mac was now explaining that Annie had to take off but that he was very interested in the Platinum package.
Annie was dismayed to find a goofy smile on her face. Why did he have to be so charming? She shook her head, getting rid of that thought and barreled her way into the pool area. It was warm and muggy inside and smelled strongly of chlorine. At the far end of the pool, a small group of older women were bouncing up and down in the water, an energetic playlist pumping through the speakers. No one paid Annie any mind, so she hurried across the puddled tiles to where Iris was perched on the edge of the pool.
‘Annie’s here!’ Carol called as she jumped up and down in the water. ‘Did you bring us after-class snacks?’
The women turned to Annie, looking up at her with hopeful eyes. ‘Sorry, ladies, not today. I’ve come on bridesmaid business, not bakery business.’
While the women looked disappointed at her lack of baked goods, they perked up at the mention of bridesmaid duties.
‘How is the wedding preparation going?’ Janet asked. ‘Have you seen the dress? What does the barn look like? Isitactuallyready? Are we going to be freezing our butts off tomorrow?’
Annie shook her head. ‘You won't freeze. The barn looks amazing. The dress is beautiful but… Have any of you seen Estelle this morning?’
The women looked at each other with varying degrees of shock and dismay on their faces.
‘Estelle! You’re looking for Estelle?’
