Page 4 of The Gingerbread Bakery
It was quite possibly the best cookie he’d ever had. Spicy and sweet with just the right amount of crunch.
‘Damn, Annie. This is delicious.’
She beamed and he nearly choked on his cookie. For thirteen years, she’d looked at him like he was at best an inconvenience and at worst an enemy, and now she wassmilingat him. It was disorienting, to say the least. Which was probably why he said what he said next.
‘We should hang out later.’
Annie’s smile dropped and her brow furrowed in confusion. ‘We’ve never hung out.’
He shrugged, trying to feign casualness, even though now his heart was thumping at an alarming rate as though hecaredif Annie wanted to hang out with him.
‘I know, but no one’s home for the holiday break yet. We might as well keep each other company, right?’ God, he hoped that didn’t sound as desperate as he suddenly felt.
Annie’s lips twisted to the side as she considered his offer. ‘Well, Loganison that cruise with his grandparents and Hazel’s not back from her semester studying abroad yet… so I guess we could… do something…’ She seemed as confused by his suggestion as he was, but he couldn’t turn back now.
‘Great, let’s meet at the diner at eight.’
A small frown played on Annie’s lips even as she agreed. ‘Okay, yeah. The diner at eight.’
‘Perfect. See you then, Annabelle.’
‘Don’t call me that!’ she yelled after him as he walked away. He waved over his shoulder and strode off before she could take back her agreement to see him later.
Because, suddenly, he was very eager to hang out with the girl he’d always thought he didn’t really like.
ChapterThree
Now
The rehearsal was a bigger deal than Mac was expecting. He’d left the pub in Amber’s capable hands for the night and had shown up to The Christmas Tree Farm right on time to find a nervous-looking Logan getting ready to walk down the aisle they’d set up through the center of the newly renovated barn.
‘Hey, here he is,’ Noah said, giving Mac a hearty pat on the back when he joined the group of groomsmen.
‘Sorry, I’m late.’ Mac tossed his coat over the closest chair.
‘You’re fine,’ Logan said. ‘They’re still figuring things out over there.’ He gestured to where Jeanie was surrounded by her bridesmaids, all animatedly talking about timing and music and procession order.
Annie caught him looking and narrowed her eyes.
Christ, that woman was never going to let it go. Howlong did he have to repent for sins committed when he was nineteen?
He winked at her just to see her cheeks redden in anger before she tore her attention away from him and redirected it to Kira who was explaining how things would look on the big day. He had to hand it to Kira; it already looked amazing in the old barn. The fact that it had a roof was a big improvement, but she’d really transformed the whole space. It was large enough to have rows of white chairs leading up to the makeshift altar on one half, and then tables and chairs for the reception on the other.
There was still a lot to be done before Sunday, but it looked good. Of course, if Mac ever got married, he’d much rather just go to the courthouse. Judging by the slightly ill look on Logan’s face, he felt the same way.
‘Excited?’ Mac asked him.
‘To be married to Jeanie? Yes. To stand up in front of everyone? No.’
Mac laughed. ‘Just don’t say the wrong name and you’ll be fine.’
Logan looked at him in horror. ‘Why would you even say that?’
‘I was joking! It’s going to be fine!’
‘You’re going to do great,’ Noah chimed in. ‘It’s just a few words to recite.’
‘Says the man who eloped,’ Logan grumbled.
