"I'm a baker."
"Baker?" he asks, surprise evident in his voice.
"Yeah, you know. I make cakes, cupcakes, pastries, cookies."
He chuckles. "I knew I liked you. It just so happens that I like all of those things." Before I can comment, he asks, "What bakery do you work at? Violet mentioned that you all were from Whiskey Run."
I probably shouldn't give so much of my information out to somebody I just met, but obviously, if he knows I'm from Whiskey Run, it wouldn't be hard to find the one bakery in the town. "I work at Sugar Glaze Bakery.”
He repeats the name of the bakery. "What is your most favorite dessert to make? The one you like the most?"
I don't even have to think about it. "Cherry pie."
"I love cherry pie," he says. "And apple pie, and cookies, and cake." I just have to laugh.
We talk for a few minutes, and just as I'm getting comfortable with him, I start to feel on edge. I've told myself that I wasn't going to do this again, and already, I've fallen under his spell so easily. The deep, warm sound of his voice is almost soothing to me, and it freaks me out just a little. Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, "Hey, I have to go."
He doesn't seem surprised or upset. I hate to admit that that bothers me a little. "Sure. How’s your ankle though? I was worried about you.”
He was worried about me. I suck in a breath. “Good. It’s fine. Not even swollen.”
“Good. You should probably still ice it, though. So can we talk again?"
"Sure," I tell him, even though I’m not going to hold my breath. I’m sure he’s going to be traveling to another event soon, and he’ll forget all about me.
"Have a good night, Becca. I'll be seeing you soon." He hangs up, and I lean my head back on the couch. For the first time in a long time, I seem to have forgotten Thomas, and that's a good feeling.
I’m almost too worked up to sleep, but I have to be at work at four o'clock the next morning. It seems as if I barely get my eyes closed and then I'm having to get up again.
When I get to the bakery, the girls and I are all working to get everything ready for the day. We have a few special orders and special events that are coming up, so Emery, Tara, and I are all in the bakery at once. Emery gave April the day off.
Tara is preparing dough and looks at Emery and me. "I hate that I missed it last night. I bet April was so happy, wasn't she?"
"She was thrilled, and she had no idea. I can't believe that we were all able to keep it a secret. It was perfect, actually." I can feel Emery staring a hole in me, and I almost want to beg her not to say anything to Tara. As soon as she does, Tara is not going to let me live it down.
I start to think that the moment has passed, but Emery opens her mouth. "Becca wouldn't even talk to the perfect rebound guy last night. His name is Lucas Granger. I mean, even his name is sexy."
Tara looks at me in interest. "You found a rebound guy? I told you that's the way to go."
I hold my hands up, shaking my head side to side. "I'm not interested, Tara."
She shrugs her shoulders. "I'm not saying you have to get married. I'm just saying, you know, get busy. Have some fun, have a few orgasms."
She starts to laugh at her own joke, and Emery laughs too. "In all seriousness, you do need to have some fun."
Tara throws her hands up and looks at me. "Yeah, have some fun and have some orgasms." As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she looks behind me, and her mouth drops open. "Oh, my gosh. I'm so sorry."
I can feel my face heat, knowing that there's a customer at the counter that probably just heard what Tara said to me.
I turn, and my mouth drops when I see the cowboy standing there. "Lucas?" That's right, Lucas Granger is standing at the counter with his hat in his hand, watching me.
Tara is looking between us. "Wait, what? This is the rebound guy?" she says, pointing at Lucas. I'm so embarrassed. I want the ground to open up and swallow me whole. You can always depend on Tara to just say it like it is.
I try to ignore her and look at Lucas. "What are you doing here?"
He's smiling. "I heard you had good cherry pie."
Without missing a beat, Tara reaches into the display case and pulls out a slice of cherry pie, handing it to me with a fork wrapped in a napkin. "Here you go, he wants a piece of your cherry pie."