Page 37 of Sweet on You
“Some of us care, you know,” Maddie said. Despite the cheeky words, her tone was playful and she was grinning from ear to ear, her tongue pushing through the gap in her smile where she had lost a baby tooth last week.
Lydia’s eyes brightened and turned to me. “That’s an amazing idea,” she said. “Ronnie, could you? I mean, your gym is only a few doors down and Callie said you’re training Lex anyway. You could take Maddie for a couple of hours and the two of you could pick a cake for us.” She leaned in with a fake loud whisper, “But no Frozen themed cakes!”
“Aw, come on!” Maddie whined, still smiling.
Cam poked Maddie’s nose. “At your wedding someday, you can have an Elsa cake.”
She seemed to accept that answer, because she turned to me, clasping her hands and pleading. “Please, Aunt Ronnie?” Her big, brown eyes looked up at me in the exact way she knew would tug at my heart strings. She was worse than Penny upstairs.
Inwardly, I groaned. “Of course I can help out,” I said. “But Callie is way better at this stuff than me, you know.”
“She’s already helping me with centerpieces and flowers and seating arrangements,” Lydia said. “I’d feel bad adding yet another favor to her list.”
I forced a smile. “Okay, I’ll do it.” At the very least, it would put Lex and me in the same room again. Even if it was with Maddie.
Maddie jumped up and down. “Yay!”
“Can I get you something this morning before I take off?”
“Two coffees with room,” Lydia said.
“And a hot cocoa and chocolate chip muffin, please!” Maddie chirped.
Cam cleared his throat. “Little Bear… you can have one. Either the hot cocoa and we go get a real breakfast. Or you can have the chocolate chip muffin and a glass of milk.”
I smiled at my brother. He was such a damn good dad. Watching him with Maddie almost made me think I could do that, too.Almost.
To her credit, Maddie didn’t protest at all. She pushed her lips out in thought before saying, “Chocolate chip muffin and a milk, please.”
“Good choice,” Lana said and bounced back to pour the coffees while I grabbed a muffin out of the glass case.
“You’re lucky,” I said. “That’s our last one.”
After I handed them their treats and coffee, Lydia, Cam, and Maddie waved as they headed out the door, and a man came downstairs yawning, tucking his shirt into his jeans. “When the hell did Lex get a dog?” he asked, covering his yawn with the back of his hand.
“That’s my dog,” I said, waving.
He blinked at me a few times, clearly confused, before he looked at his wife.
“This is Ronnie,” she said. “And you owe her big time because she covered for us whenyouoverslept this morning.” She swatted at his butt with the back of a spatula. “We had one job—to make life easier for Lex—and you failed miserably.”
“I couldn’t help it,” he said. “Lex’s bed is so comfortable.” He glanced at me, hitching his thumb over his shoulder toward the stairs. “Have you slept in that thing yet?”
“Um, no.” I felt my cheeks go hot and quickly ducked my head, hoping neither of them saw it.
“Hot damn. It was like sleeping on a cloud.”
“How was Penny?” I asked. “My dog. Was he being good?”
“He was awesome. I came out of the shower and he and Frost were curled up on the couch together.”
I knew Penny and Frost got along well, but hearing that sent tingles spiraling down my torso to my belly. Like somehow, if our pets got along, maybe Lex and I could potentially be together. I sighed and covered my smile with my palm.
“Babe, can you take over the register?” Lana asked. Though, it really wasn’t much of a question. “I’m sure Ronnie needs to get going.”
I glanced at my phone. I had some time before I needed to head out. But still, it would be nice to have a little downtime before I started my own work day.
“No problem,” Tony said, stepping beside me to the register, even though no one was waiting to order. Lana and I had handled the rush and now everyone seemed to be sitting quietly, enjoying their pastries and coffees.
