Page 33 of Playing for Keeps
“Alicia had to leave, but I’ll have whatever she was having.”
12
JUSTIN
Justin pulled the collar of his coat up against the frigid morning wind as he tracked across the square to The Cakery. He had the day off and planned to spend every minute doing whatever he could to make Caroline acknowledge him.
Justin glanced through the bakery window and spotted Caroline talking to a customer at the counter. Even at the early hour, she was nothing less than a ray of sunshine.
Caroline looked up as he entered, and her cheery greeting didn’t waver as she said, “Good morning! Welcome to The Cakery. What kind of sugar rush could I get you today?”
“Good morning. Caroline, I’d love a cup of your best coffee and whatever you’d recommend from this amazing display.” He never took his gaze from her.
“Skye! Go dig one of yesterday’s cinnamon rolls out of that donation box.”
When she’d bagged the treat, she passed it to Justin at the register and rang up the total.
Justin pulled out his wallet, trying and failing to keep his hands from shaking. Being around Caroline jump-started his adrenaline every time. “I’m ready to help out with anything. What can I do today?”
She paused with the money hanging over the till. “Nothing. I’m working.”
“Perfect. Let me help.”
She stared at him without blinking until a new customer entered the shop behind him. “Um. The back room is a hot mess, and maybe you could put the angels on the angel tree.” She pointed to a flocked Christmas tree in the corner of the bakery.
“As you wish.”
She jerked her chin toward the back of the store. “When you’re finished, it’ll be time to clean the bathrooms.”
Caroline was punishing him, but her scare tactics weren’t going to work. The Cakery meant a lot to her, and it was hard not to admire her dedication.
After Caroline’s short instruction, he shed his coat and got to work moving boxes in the stock room. Every box was labeled in Caroline’s roundedwriting to match shelves with the same labels. Imagining Caroline or one of the other young workers carrying the boxes to the shelves didn’t sit well with him. Was she doing this stuff on her own plus the baking, customer service, and running the business?
After about half an hour of moving boxes to their homes on the shelves, the door to the stock room opened. It was ridiculous how Justin’s heart rate kicked up at the possibility of seeing Caroline every time.
Instead of Caroline, Skye stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. “Hey, Heartbreaker.”
Great. That nickname was going to follow him for eternity. “Hey. Am I doing this right?”
Skye propped her hands on her hips and looked up at the wall of shelves. “Yep. Looks good. Caroline gets a little itchy when the stock room is messy, but the Christmas rush doesn’t leave much time to work back here.” Skye glanced from the shelves to Justin, giving him a once-over. “Why are you here?”
Leave it to Skye to cut to the chase. She was the only one who’d known about the secret relationship between him and Caroline, and maybe Skye was the ticket to figuring out how to get back in Caroline’s good graces. “Caroline wouldn’t let me call her?—”
“No, I mean why did you move back here? We know it’s not because you missed your dad, and I heard your grandparents passed away. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks.” He picked up the next box and moved it to its place on the shelf. “I always planned to move back whenever my career ended. I thought it would end on my own terms, but life had other plans. My official retirement was set for next year, but earlier suited me just fine.”
“Really? So, did you think about what it would be like to confront Caroline again? You had to know she’d still be here.”
Justin propped his hands on his hips to match Skye’s stance. “Yep. I kind of assumed she’d be married with kids by now too.”
Wow. Saying that horrifying truth out loud had his stomach revolting.
“You’re not wrong,” Skye said. “She’s been proposed to twice before, and she just broke up with another guy because she thought he was getting close to popping the question.”
Justin’s skin heated all over. He shouldn’t be surprised that men wanted to marry Caroline. How could he have ever thought he had a chance with her?
Skye’s eyes narrowed. “Would that have bothered you if she’d said yes to any of those men?”
