Page 24 of Three Days of Holiday

The only bakery in town had a large glass window, taking up the entire front wall of the establishment. As I approached the front door, the well-lit space inside beamed with delight. Two bright-faced bakery workers leaned over a metal counter listening intently to whomever spoke with them.

It was obvious the chatter was exciting from the hand motions each woman made on occasion before sharing a quick glance at one another. I’d been able to watch the exchange for less than a minute as I approached, but it was still painfully obvious when the bakery came to a complete quiet standstill as I opened the door.

“Afternoon, ladies,” I said, as the bell above the door jangled.

The two women who had once been so engrossed in conversation both turned in my direction and leveled me with the look I couldn’t place.

My smile faltered, and I paused in the doorway. Thebakery wasn’t busy, so why the lackluster greeting. Two people sat close together on the couch next to a fake fireplace and one patron sat across from the counter, her back to me. Her long brown hair stopped at the middle of her back.

Did I have something in my teeth?

Something written on my forehead?

I took a cautious step further into the bakery, letting the door close behind me. The place smelled of freshly baked cookies and reminded me of holidays at my grandmother’s house before my father commercialized the farm. It was the perfect scent of fall and Christmas on the East Coast.

The taller of the two bakery employees cast a glance across the walkway. “This the guy?”

The patron I hadn’t been able to place two seconds earlier turned. Her mouth hung open in question with the most glorious glare anyone ever set their eyes upon.

Holly nodded.

In slow motion, as if we were in a movie, I smiled back at her, taking a few scant seconds to appreciate the raw beauty. She wasn’t wearing makeup, but her eyes were rimmed in red.

Why?

Had she caught a cold since I last saw her?

Did something happen?

“Holly,” I began, taking a step in her direction.

She held a hand out in front of her as if to stop me. It only made me remember the last time she held an open palm in my direction and placed it against my chest. The way her fingers clutched at the material of my shirt. The hopeless expression in her eyes.

“What are you doing here, Will?” she asked and allowed her mouth to hang back open in shock again. It was cute.

Was I not allowed in the bakery? “I came to order coffee for my crew. We’ll probably pull an all-nighter.” It was a yearly tradition. We stayed up all night working on the details so we arrived at the exhibition hall first thing in the morning ready to go on the day of the event.

The blonde behind the counter scoffed, and the noise drew the attention of the couple on the couch. All eyes were on me when she spoke. “Like I’d ever serve one of your kind.”

“My kind?”

The woman spoke again after crossing her arms against her chest, covering up the name Anessa embroidered into her bright pink apron. “Yes, liars, cheats… scoundrels.”

What the hell?

“Have I offended you somehow?” I asked the woman, but my gaze found Holly.

Her eyes were wide, and she dragged up a hand to cover her mouth.

“Vonnie, get me the day olds.”

The woman who stood next to her made a mad dash for the space behind the counter. Two swinging metal doors clattered back and forth as she pushed through them.

It only took ten seconds for her to return, but it was the longest ten seconds of my life as I stared off against the two women—one I wanted nothing more than to kiss again and the other who slightly terrified me.

She narrowed her eyes into such a thin slit I worriedshe couldn’t see out of them. Holly stayed in her seat, her head shaking back and forth slowly. I swear the air thickened.

“No, I don’t need any baked goods,” I said, ripping my attention from Holly. “Only coffee. In one of those big to-go thermoses if you have it.”

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