Page 61 of The Gingerbread Bakery
Annie winced and Mac thought she must be so tired of Christmas shopping at this point. He had dragged her to every shop, mall, and Christmas fair within a fifty-mile radius, all just so he could spend more time with her.
‘I’m so sorry, Hazel. I completely forgot, but we’re about done here anyway, right, Mac?’ she said, her eyes pleading with him as though he might reveal to Hazel everything they'd been up to for the past month.
‘We're all set here,’ he said, giving Annie a smile he hoped showed no hard feelings. He got it. Their temporary bubble had burst. Fun was over.
‘Oh, good!’ Hazel said with a relieved smile. ‘Because Logan’s on his way, too.’
Annie was looking more uncomfortable by the minute as though she'd been caught doing something she shouldn’t have. It kinda sucked to be the thing she shouldn’t have been doing.
‘I have to get going anyway,’ he said, grabbing his jacket and sliding out from the booth.
‘You don't have to go,’ she said, but he did. Annie didn't want to explain this temporary thing to her friends, and he didn't want to force her hand. There was really no need to. Why explain a thing that was ending?
‘No, I really should go, but thanks for breakfast,’ he said. ‘Have fun shopping.’
‘Yeah, okay,’ she said, her gaze holding his even as Hazel slid into the booth beside her.
‘Oh, my gosh,’ Hazel said as he walked away. ‘What on Earth were you doing here with Mac Sullivan?’
Mac paused on his way to the door, dying to hear Annie's answer.
‘We kind of bumped into each other,’ Annie said.
‘Wow! I'm surprised you even talked to him.’
‘Why would you be surprised about that?’ Annie asked, and Mac strained to hear the rest of the conversation over the clang of dishes and conversation around him.
‘Well, you never liked him,’ he heard Hazel say and, even though he already knew that, it still stung to hear, especially now that so much had changed. ‘You always said he was overrated.’
Mac nearly laughed out loud. That certainly sounded like something Annie would say.
‘Turns out maybe he’s not so bad,’ Annie said. It wasn’t exactly a declaration of love, but it was something, being not so bad. Maybe that was all he was going to get.
‘But I’m so glad you're home.’ Mac glanced back one more time to see Annie’s arm slung around Hazel’s shoulder, the two girls’ heads tipped together. Her people were back. Maybe Annie didn't need him anymore.
Maybe that was for the best. He needed to start his life. He needed to get out of here before he ended up pouring pints at his dad’s pub for the rest of his life and never figuring out what he actually wanted.
It was time to move on.
From Annie. From Dream Harbor.
Mac needed to go.
* * *
‘There's Logan,’ Hazel said, waving him over to Annie and Mac’s table, except it wasn’t hers and Mac’s table anymore because he had left and she had let him. She didn’t feel good about that, but she had been caught totally off-guard by Hazel. She’d completely forgotten her friend had come home yesterday. They’d been texting all month, of course, but somehow the days had gotten away from her. It was like her two worlds collided and suddenly she was back in reality. The reality in which she and her friends had never once hung out with Mac and his friends. She could tell by the look on his face that he had no idea who Hazel was, despite the fact that they had all gone to school together for the past four years, because guys like Mac didn’t notice girls like Hazel and Annie.
But he had noticed her. And it was nice, and shelikedhim now.
What the hell had she done?
‘Hey,’ Logan said, plopping into the seat across from them.
‘You’re back! How was the cruise?’ Annie asked, pushing her confusion about Mac aside. Now was not the time to sort that out. She was finally reunited with her two favorite people in the world.
Logan grimaced ‘Well, it was far too long to be trapped on a ship with several thousand senior citizens.’
The sunburn across his nose and cheeks had started to peel and his normally brown hair had taken on golden highlights.
