Page 24 of Playing for Keeps
“Come in.”
The door inched open, and Skye stuck one side of her body into the room. “You okay?”
After leaving the bakery early for the first time in forever, Caroline fell into the warm comfort of her bed and binge watched cake decorating videos.
Unfortunately, the distraction wasn’t helping tonight. Her thoughts kept wandering to Justin and the flowers he’d sent. All twenty-four dozen of them. At least she didn’t have to see them or smell them anymore. Not thinking about them had been a lot harder at the bakery.
“I’m fine.” Caroline sat up in bed, letting the blanket bunch in her lap. “How was it after I left?”
Skye stepped into the room and bent one leg to sit on the edge of the bed. “It was busy but good. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
There wasn’t any doubt that Skye could handle the bakery alone, but the Christmas crowds were coming, and soon they’d all be drowning in icing and sprinkles. “The Burrows are starting next week. They just got back from visiting their grandkids in Arizona.”
Skye chuckled. “I wonder how they’re handling the weather change.”
“Mrs. Burrows said Arizona sucked the life out of her. I mean, it’s the beginning of December. Surely, it’s not sweltering there.”
Caroline had never been to Arizona or any other state really. Her home was in Redemption Ridge, and her family had never been able to leave the farm to take vacations.
She hadn’t even gotten the chance to fly out and see Justin in Miami before they fell apart. She’d bought the plane ticket but never actually took the trip.
Skye rolled her shoulders, stretching out the ache that followed them home from long shifts. “I’m glad they’re back. The Tree Lighting Ceremony is this Friday, and you remember what happened last year.”
Who could forget? A herd of about thirty kids had taken over the bakery, rubbing their sticky hands on the display cases and cleaning out their entire cupcake inventory. “We’ll be better prepared this year. Everything has been so popular since Alicia moved here.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but I need a day to recover after each of the major downtown events,” Skye confessed.
“I’ll make sure you’re not on the schedule for the mornings after the big ones,” Caroline promised.
Skye’s phone dinged, and she leaned to the side to pull it out of her back pocket. Her eyes widened as she read the notification. “Uh-oh.”
“What?” Caroline pinched the bridge of her nose, praying whatever followed theuh-ohwas minor.
Skye held up a finger. “One second.” Her eyes tracked back and forth over the screen as she read. “Ugh. This is not good.”
“What?” Caroline repeated, crawling on her hands and knees over to where Skye perched on the side of the bed.
A post with a photo of Caroline closing the bakery door with Justin standing behind her filled the screen. One of the women who’d chased him into the shop must have taken it after she all but tossed them out.
Rumor on the Ridge: Justin McKinnon is back intown, and it looks like he’s already gotten caught up with Caroline Taylor at The Cakery. They were spotted canoodling in the shop after hours. Maybe we should start calling it The Fakery. Everyone knows Donut Haven is better.
“Ugh! What? How dare they call my bakery The Fakery!”
She’d barely gotten the words out of her mouth when the full weight of the post hit her. Her hands covered her mouth as she gasped. “My family is going to see this!”
Skye’s eyes squinted as she reached for Caroline’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. This is awful. You worked so hard to keep that relationship a secret.”
Caroline’s heart ran off in a high-speed chase. She’d finally told her mom about the relationship with Justin after he’d walked out of her life, but her dad and brothers probably didn’t know.
Now, they would, and none of them would take the news well. Justin’s dad had moved a few years ago, but he still liked to cause problems for her family whenever he got the chance. They might have forgotten Chuck had a son, but the news would be right in front of them now that Rumor on the Ridge had gotten wind of it.
Granted, most people had come to Caroline and Justin’s defense in the comments, but plenty of people were eager to get in on the juicy gossip.
Her family didn’t know about the relationship.They would only know he’d been at the bakery with her. Still, they’d worry about her being anywhere with Chuck’s son, even though she was pushing thirty and knew how to handle tough situations.
Mostly. She still hadn’t figured out what to do about Justin sharing the same zip code as her. Now, she didn’t have much choice but to face the music.
Skye swiped up, revealing dozens of comments on the neighborhood gossip page. “Oh no. Someone is saying you were dating Conner just last week and implying that this must have been why the two of you broke up.”
