I Only Have Pies for You (Pumpkin Spice Life 1)

“He never showed any signs of it before?” Alaric asked softly.

“No,” she snickered. “He always encouraged me on my career path.” The old hurts made her chest ache. “We celebrated our successes together. I thought he understood how important my dreams were to me.”

“Sounds like we both had the rug pulled out from underneath us. I’m sorry that happened to you. Better you found out before you were married.”

“I tell myself that.” She sniffed. “Enough deep conversations. You promised me entertainment.”

“So I did.” He cleared his throat and offered his arm. Taking it, she allowed him to guide her out to his truck.

“How was work today?” she asked once they were inside.

“Busy. This time of year, everyone wants something custom for a gift.”

“That makes sense. Are you working on anything exciting?”

“I am making a really nice table. It’s not too often I get to

do any intricate carving, but they wanted to do a modern take on an antique table their parents own. It’s been a fun challenge making sure it looks like it belongs with the original while keeping it updated enough to be called modern.”

“It amazes me what you can do with wood. How did you even start?”

“Well, it helps that my father is a carpenter like his father before him. Wood always spoke to me, though. I was whittling by the time I was ten.”

It was all too easy to imagine baby Alaric on a wrap-around porch rocking back and forth in an old wooden rocker.

“You continue to get more interesting with time.”

“Naw, you’re just not accustomed to country living yet. This is par for the course.”

“I don’t believe anything about you is typical.”

“You keep complimenting me, and I might blush,” he drawled, thickening his accent.

“Tempt me with a challenge.” She leaned against the center console.

“Takes a lot to make me blush, city girl.”

“Hmmm. We’ll see, hero.”

They lapsed into a comfortable silence as the music drifted over the radio station.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed most things take place in the community center,” he said as they pulled into the sparse parking lot. “It’ll get more crowded as people get in from work. I wanted to give us a chance to actually talk to people. Have you noticed a difference?”

“I’ve been getting good mornings and waves when I run into the folks you’ve introduced me to. It’s a lot more than I had before.” She shrugged. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. I don’t have a problem giving it more time. If my ads are doing their thing, I’ll have people in for the grand opening regardless of if they know me personally or not. At the least, friends and family of my new hires, I’m working on acquiring.”

“How are the interviews going?”

“Slow.” She distorted her voice like a movie in slow motion.

“They always are.” Opening his door, he climbed down and hurried around to her side. She’d gotten used to his manners. The second their hands met, something tightened low in her belly. I will not screw up the one close friendship I’m developing. Ignoring the embers of desire, she kept her feet planted firmly in the friend zone.

“I hope you brought an empty stomach,” he said as they approached the brick building.

She patted her belly playfully. “I had a light lunch to prepare.”

Stepping through the front doors, they were greeted with the insanely mouth-watering aroma of food. Walking down the hall and into one of the side doors, she was impressed by the crowded room. Nearly all of the space was taken up with local businesses. Signs and banners above the tables proudly displayed the names and slogans of local shops. The established dates were slightly intimidating. Some of them dated back to the sixties and fifties. Family businesses.

“Should we go savory or sweet?” Alaric asked.