Page 2 of The Gingerbread Bakery
‘Not complicated,’ Annie cut in. ‘We don’t have any history at all.’
Mac flinched at that, something like sadness or regret flickering in his eyes. But Annie didn’t dwell on it. She couldn’t. Not if she wanted to keep her sanity. She pushed a smile onto her face and turned back to Jeanie.
‘Nothing is complicated. In fact, it’s all quite simple. Two of the people we all love most in the world are getting married. And we,’ Annie gestured to the table of friends in front of her. ‘Are going to make sure it’s the best wedding weekend ever.’
‘Good,’ said Logan. ‘Because Mac is here as one ofmygroomsmen. Some of us have put second grade behind us.’
Annie was getting nauseous from all the words she was swallowing, but she did it. For her friends. For the sake of this wedding, she would not say that it went far beyond second grade for her. ‘Of course,’ she said instead. ‘Mac’s your friend. I get it.’ She raised her glass of orange juice and everyone joined in.
‘To Logan and Jeanie.’
‘Cheers!’
Everyone clinked their plastic, juice glasses together, and Annie was relieved to see the smile back on Jeanie’s face and a slightly less murderous expression on Logan’s. Phew. Wedding-crisis number one averted. Sure, she was the one who started it, but at least she’d fixed it.
No thanks to Mac.
Her gaze flicked back across the table to where he sat, laughing with Bennett and Kira. It didn’t help matters that he was still as infuriatingly handsome as he had been in high school. Not that she would have admitted it at the time.
She’d never been friends with Mac. They’d never made sense together.
It was exactly what she’d told him eleven years ago.
But Mac had never been good at listening.
ChapterTwo
Then
Mac wandered aimlessly through the stalls at the Dream Harbor Christmas market. There was just under a month until Christmas and he needed a gift for his mom. Agoodgift. And this seemed like as good a place to shop as any. They set up the market every year after the tree-lighting festival, but Mac hadn’t been since he was a kid.
He was determined to get his mom a real present this year. At nineteen, he figured he could no longer get away with crappy, homemade gifts. Even though his mom still insisted on hanging that wonky reindeer-ornament he made her in kindergarten and would probably do the same if he made her an equally deformed ornament right now. It was time he leveled up his gift-giving game.
Unfortunately, aimless wandering seemed to be all he was doing lately. Six months out of high school and he was still stuck in this stupid town, still living in his childhood bedroom, still without any plan for his future. Or a plan for next week, even. Mac was adrift.
He stopped at The Pumpkin Spice Café stand and was greeted with a big smile from Dot, the owner.
‘Hello there, Macaulay. Merry Christmas.’
There were very few people who could get away with using his full, objectively terrible, name. And Dot was one of them. Dot had always been kind to him even when he didn’t deserve it.
‘Hey, Dot.’
‘What can I get you?’ she asked, her enormous jingle-bell earrings tinkling merrily with the movement of her head.
‘How about a hot chocolate?’
‘Extra marshmallows?’
‘Please.’
As soon as she handed him the red to-go cup overflowing with marshmallows and a candy cane hooked on the side, he felt completely absurd. This was a child’s drink. And Mac was trying desperately to figure out how to be a grown-ass man.
Unfortunately, it was very hard to feel grown up when your mother was still the one doing your laundry.
He needed to move out. To move away. He was feeling increasingly suffocated by this town and their preconceived notions about him.
‘Thanks, Dot,’ he muttered, taking his ridiculous drink with him, suddenly grateful that all his friends were away at school and wouldn’t see him carrying this sugary confection around.
