Page 34 of Dreaming About Forever

Hello, rock-hard bicep.

Nice way to step over a professional boundary, Alicia.

“I heard.” He looked down at her with a sly grin. “You got my full backstory tonight.”

“I could have just asked one of these ladies for your background check. They probably know your Social Security number,” Alicia joked.

“I wouldn’t put it past them.”

Alicia glanced up at him as they walked toward the truck. The night was quiet, and the single street light near the parking lot cast a dim glow over his face.

There were some things she still didn’t know about him. Like, why he’d left the Marines, and the injury the ladies had mentioned but glossed over.

Vicci held up her phone and waved it in the air. “Can we stop by The Cakery? Caroline said they have the raspberry macarons I like, and they’re fresh.”

Jordan looked to Alicia and raised a brow. “It’s up to you.”

Alicia shrugged. She’d heard quite a bit about Jordan’s sister, and she was still riding the bubbling happiness of the evening with the church ladies.

“Sounds good to me.”

13

ALICIA

The town of Redemption Ridge was straight out of a Christmas postcard. Every streetlight had a lit-up Christmas decoration on it, lights were strung from every storefront, and a huge Christmas tree adorned a small square in the center of town.

Alicia’s boots crunched the light layer of snow on the sidewalk as she followed alongside Jordan and his mom toward The Cakery. The big pink name on the old brick building was impossible to miss, and the handwritten sign out front promised, “Every bite is happiness.”

She glanced at Jordan and caught him looking back at her with an amused smirk. “What?”

“You look like a kid in a candy store,” he said.

“I’m about to be a kid in a bakery. Don’t judge me.”

Jordan held up his hands. “I’m learning my lesson when it comes to judging you.”

Good. That was progress. At least he wasn’t treating her like a pampered princess or acting like she was made of glass anymore. Though he still told her to “Buckle up, buttercup” every time they got in the truck.

Oddly enough, earning his respect was important to her, and she wasn’t going to get it if she didn’t show him she could do things on her own.

Jordan opened the door to The Cakery, and the cheery bell above the door chimed. He stepped to the side for Alicia and his mom to enter first.

The warm spice scent tingled in Alicia’s nose, and the display case caught her attention.

Please have sugar-free. Please have sugar-free.

A pretty woman with dark hair piled into a messy bun on top of her head stepped out from a room behind the counter. “Welcome to The… Jordan!”

The woman who had to be his sister, Caroline, darted from behind the counter and launched herself into his arms.

Jordan lifted his sister off her feet as his strong arms wrapped around her. “Hey, sis.”

The pang in Alicia’s chest was bittersweet. Jordan’s stone walls crumbled around his little sister, but Alicia missed her own sister. They’d always been close, but they’d never greeted each other with an embrace, even after months apart.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” Caroline said as she pulled out of the hug. “But I really need your help.”

Jordan grinned. “At your service.”

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