Tender Hearts E-Book

Morgan Utley

• Herausgeber: Next Chapter
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

A collection of three sweet romance novels by Morgan Utley, now available in one volume!
The Bakery Booking: Rosie's life revolves around school and working at her mother's bakery, until a charming customer walks in and captures her attention. As their paths continue to cross, Rosie can't help but fall for him - even though he's getting married. With her heart on the line, she's left to decide if she can continue to help bake his wedding cake or if she needs to walk away from love altogether.
The Prince's Pursuit: Jane is a hardworking young woman who takes care of her family after her father's death. When the Prince of Armany announces his search for a wife, Jane devises a plan to avoid being interviewed. However, her plan fails, and she is taken to the palace. Despite her unwillingness to participate, Jane must go through the interview process. Lonely and missing her family, she confides in her ladies' maid and writes letters to her mother, unaware that her life is about to change forever.
The Second Chance: Peyton has been struggling to cope with her grief after losing her husband at a young age. In therapy, she meets Noah, the nephew of her therapist, and immediately feels drawn to him. However, Peyton is hesitant to pursue a new relationship, feeling guilty about moving on from her late husband. With Noah's charming demeanor and twinkling eyes, Peyton must decide whether to open her heart to love once more.

Leseprobe

TENDER HEARTS

A CLEAN & WHOLESOME ROMANCE NOVEL COLLECTION

MORGAN UTLEY

CONTENTS

The Bakery Booking

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

The Prince's Pursuit

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

The Second Chance

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Epilogue

About the Author

Copyright (C) 2023 Morgan Utley

Layout design and Copyright (C) 2023 by Next Chapter

Published 2023 by Next Chapter

Cover art by CoverMint

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author’s permission.

THE BAKERY BOOKING

To the sisters in my life. To my sisters, Kirstin and Halee, who are the best sisters and the best friends a girl could ask for. To Mom and Aunt Kylee, who were the greatest examples as sisters and who I constantly look up to. To my sister in-laws, Mary and Brooklyn, who accepted me as their new sister with open arms and I’m so grateful for them.

CHAPTER1

It was a cloudy, gray morning when I woke up in my old room to the sound of a very loud alarm clock going off. After a couple minutes of lying in bed, debating whether or not I should get up, I rose from the bed to get ready for school. Luckily, I remembered to pack an extra pair of underwear. Last weekend, when I stayed at my mom’s house, I forgot a pair and had to dig around in some old drawers.

I found an old pair of small, pink polka-dotted underwear to wear. I’m pretty sure they were from middle school. I was unable to go to my apartment before class to change, so I had to wear them all day long. Due to the size I was uncomfortable and had to make frequent visits to the bathroom to try and adjust to make them more comfortable. I promised myself I would never forget underwear again and to throw out my old delicates next time I was at my mom’s.

I pulled some clothes out of my backpack to change. I threw my wild, wavy blonde hair up into a high ponytail, trudged down the stairs and decided to do some last-minute studying before class. I opened my laptop, pulled out my books and notes, and started working on an essay for my business class.

“Rosie, are you coming into the bakery today? I have a big cupcake order I need to finish, and I’m going to need help closing up,” my mom asked as she put her purse over her shoulder and picked up her keys.

I had been so engrossed in my writing, I hadn’t heard my mother walking down the stairs and practically jumped out of my seat. “Geez Mom, a little warning next time!” I gasped and put my hand over my heart to try and stop it from beating so fast.

“Sorry, honey, I didn’t think I was going to scare you,!” she chuckled and opened a kitchen cupboard to pull out a protein bar.

“Sure,” I answered sarcastically and then changed my tone so she knew I wasn’t teasing. “I just have a couple classes this morning, and some studying to do, and then I’ll head over afterwards. You know what, I’ll just eat my lunch and study home, and then head over to the bakery afterwards,” I decided and stood up from the barstool in front of the kitchen counter and gathered my things.

“Thanks, sweetie. I think your sister is coming in too. She said she had a test this morning and then she was meeting Jake for lunch. Those two, I tell ya. I think I hear wedding bells,” my mom sang.

She was a pretty woman, with curly blonde hair and hazel eyes that quite frequently had dark circles around them from getting up early to open the bakery. Despite her always looking tired, she had more energy than I had in my pinky. Growing up, I felt like I struggled keeping up with her, rather than the other way around.

“Oh boy.” I rolled my eyes and followed her out the back door to climb into our cars.

“I can finally make my dream wedding cake for her! A stark white cake with pink gum paste roses cascading down the side. Oh, and it’s going to be a chocolate cake with strawberry frosting and fresh strawberries in the center!” she rambled off as we both opened our car doors and put our bags into the passenger seats.

“Are you sure that’s what Lily wants? I thought she always wanted funfetti cake with fondant swag draping all down the front of the cake?” I asked and smiled at her, wondering if she caught my hint of teasing.

“She does not!” she piped and made a face at me.

I shrugged my shoulders, “You never know! That girl changes her mind all the time.”

“It’s true!” she called, “I have to get to work. Tell Lily to call me, I want to hear how her date with Jake went. I haven’t heard from her all weekend!”

“Okay, I will. Love you!” I called back and climbed into my car and drove to school.

My last comment was true. Lily had changed her major probably three different times within the last couple of years and, for the moment, had decided on becoming a teacher, so she had been taking a lot of education classes. But because she had changed her major so many times, she had a bunch of pointless classes that weren’t going toward her degree. She had painting classes when she wanted to become an artist, accounting classes when she thought about becoming a CPA, and even chemistry classes when she thought about being pre-med. Which, I gotta say didn’t last long, because she didn’t do so hot in chemistry.

For now, Lily was stuck on becoming an elementary teacher. She really liked the idea of playing with kids all day and having a long summer vacation. Unlike my sister, I always knew what I wanted to do: I wanted to become a baker and major in business to help my mom run her small business.

For years, I’d watched my mom get up early, head into the bakery and make dozens of cupcakes and cookies, and decorate the most beautiful cakes. She always said that it was her creative outlet, that she could eat and never get bored of it. Every customer was unique and always wanted something different, nothing was ever the same. It was her passion and she loved it, and I grew to love it too.

Once I entered high school, I started getting up early with my mom and helped prepare things for opening. Then I would go to school and right after school go back to the bakery. My mom was constantly working at the bakery and trying to earn her bachelor's degree. She was the hardest working woman I have ever met. During my junior year, she graduated and was able to find a full-time job that she could do from home. Her work schedule enabled her to continue running her bakery and hire more help, which included me.

After I graduated high school, I was able to earn a scholarship that paid for my schooling, and I moved out of the house and started attending Truman University close to home. My sister and I had watched my poor mom struggle financially for years after my dad left. I decided I wanted to leave the house as soon as I could to ease some of her burden, so she could get caught up on bills and life.

The moment my sister graduated high school, she decided to move in with me, so we could split the rent. This left my mom all alone in an all too quiet house, which sometimes left her depressed. My sister and I decided to go visit every once and a while, and spend time with our mom.

This weekend, Lily didn’t come to Mom’s with me, because she and her long-term boyfriend Jake had a special date planned all day Saturday, and then she had a lot of studying to catch up on. Jake was always hanging out in our apartment, which didn’t help Lily’s study habits. When she failed a couple of classes her first semester, she made a vow to herself to not stay up late, and make time for studying. This semester, she was doing a little better, but she usually ended up playing catch up on the weekends or whenever Jake was busy doing something without Lily. This happened on rare occasions, but when it did, Lily would get a lot accomplished.

My mom and I had debated whether or not Jake was going to pop the question this weekend and waited to hear from her, but she never called us. I was tempted to call her and see what was going on, but thought better of it. She and Jake were probably enjoying time together without me in the room.

Lily had been dating Jake since her sophomore year of high school. They met each other on the swim team and immediately hit it off, and had been together ever since. It hadn’t, however, always been rainbows and butterflies with their relationship. There had been many growing pains from going through high school and the drama that came with it, deciding which college to attend, whether or not they would remain together, and the plain old relationship drama that came around every once in a while. Nevertheless, through their roller coaster of a relationship, they were still together and loved each other more for it.

I thought Lily and Jake were the cutest couple on the planet. I was secretly hoping that Jake had popped the question to Lily on their special date, but she would have called if that had happened. She loved him so much, she hardly knew what to do with herself. She was constantly talking about the boy and I often wondered if they were ever going to tie the knot. Granted, Lily was only twenty and some would say that they were too young, but in my opinion “when you know, you know”.

I never had the opportunity to feel that kind of love. I didn’t date a whole lot in high school, and my life became enveloped in the bakery and helping my mom. My dad left us when I was eight and Lily was only six. Mom doesn’t tell us a lot about why he left, just that he didn’t want to be a dad anymore and wanted to live a life free of responsibility. What I did know was that it broke my mom's heart. She was a stay-at-home mom and hadn’t worked since I was born. The moment he left, she knew that she would have to work hard to be able to take care of us.

She found a full-time job working at a grocery store in the bakery department, and after a few years of practicing how to frost cakes and developing her own recipes, she opened up her own side business to make a little extra cash. This all happened while going to night school to earn her bachelor's degree, not to mention, trying to raise two daughters all by herself. That’s why I committed myself to working so much in the bakery.

I promised myself to make sure I received an education, so that no matter what, I had something to fall back on, instead of trying to fit it in later in life. I wanted to be prepared for life and its unexpected surprises as best as I could. I chose a relationship with work and school rather than actual human people. Which was a sacrifice I was willing to make for the time being. Once I finished school and figured out a job, then I would reevaluate life and go from there. So, I guess in a way, I never gave myself the opportunity to fall in love because I put other priorities first.

Lily didn’t have the same view as me, which became frustrating at times. She was all about the boys, the popularity status and being involved in extracurricular activities like sports, choir and attending every high school sporting event. Once Jake entered her life, this only got worse. Her life became all about Jake. Granted, she still worked at the bakery a few times a week, but I could tell she had her attention on something else. She lightened up a little bit after high school, and realized that family and relationships were more important than whether she had gone to the football game over the weekend. But, still, her life revolved around fun and boys, and mine was focused on preparing for a future. Neither were necessarily wrong or right, just different…even if I thought mine was right.

CHAPTER2

My first two classes were absolutely boring. I sat through a chemistry class that had a lab to follow and it seemed to go on forever. Luckily, I had a partner looking to get into medical school and always did well in the labs. Me, not so much. I felt like I never contributed anything to the work, but my partner was so focused on earning good grades for his applications, he didn’t seem to mind me standing there looking like an idiot. The next class was calculus and I ended up taking a surprise quiz, and was grateful that I’d decided to study over the weekend. Otherwise, I might have bombed it. After my classes, I went back to my apartment to study for a test that was coming up in one of my business classes.

I walked into the apartment, and immediately found my sister on the couch with a bunch of tissues and a party-size bag of M&M’s sitting on her lap, while watching Sleepless in Seattle on the TV.

“Uh, sis? Are you okay?” I walked over and dropped my bags on the ground and looked at her.

Her face was all red and blotchy. Her blonde curly hair was in a messy bun that had hair sticking out every which way, and she was wearing baggy sweatpants. She looked at me and tears started welling in her eyes. I wrapped my arms around her, trying my best to comfort her.

She leaned into me and started crying on my shoulder. I grabbed the box of tissues and put them on my lap so they were easily accessible to her, rather than use my shirt.

Lily grabbed a tissue, and continued to blubber and blow her nose for the next five minutes. Finally, she sobbed, “Jake and I broke up.”

“What?” I shrieked and I felt Lily nod her head.

“Yep. During our special date on Saturday. We got into a stupid fight about his parents and one thing led to another. I said, ‘Well, maybe you shouldn’t be with me, if I make you so unhappy,’ and he said, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t.’ Then he brought me home and I haven’t heard from him since,” she wailed and started crying even harder than before.

“It sounds like you two got just got worked up and you both said things you didn’t mean. I’m sure you’ll work it out,” I said encouragingly.

Lily shook her head. “Usually when we fight, he comes over by now and we make up. But I’ve tried calling him and texting him and I’ve gotten no response! It’s really over this time! I blew it!”

“I’m sure that’s not the case…maybe he’s busy or just needs time to let off steam. Give it a little bit and it will be okay. I’m sure he will call eventually,” I insisted. “You two have been together way too long to give up now.”

“You think so?” She looked up at me with red puffy eyes, still full of tears. “You really think he will call?”

“Yes. I think it’s all going to be just fine,” I maintained and hugged her tighter. “Why don’t you go shower, and I’ll clean up this mess?”

“Okay, that’s probably a good idea. I haven’t showered since Saturday morning,” Lily admitted and trudged off to the bathroom.

“Yeah, I can tell,” I teased and smiled.

She turned and shot me a look. Too bad she wasn’t very intimidating too me.

I could tell she was starting to feel a little better already. While she was busy wasting all our hot water, I cleaned up all her nasty tissues, put the candy away and wiped down the coffee table with disinfectant wipes. Once I was done cleaning, I made my sister a smoothie, because I figured she hadn’t eaten a healthy thing all weekend, and poured myself some of the extra. I cleaned up the mess, along with the rest of the kitchen and all of Lily’s tissues. Feeling a little more relaxed now that the apartment was picked up, I sat on the couch and was able to start studying for my upcoming test.

My sister didn’t surface from the shower for about an hour. When she found her way into the kitchen, I stood and followed her. I handed her the smoothie and she smiled, “Thanks, sis.”

“That’s what sisters are for.” I returned a smile and found my way back to the couch and continued studying.

Lily came and sat next to me, and turned her movie back on. “You know, I never thought we would ever actually break up. We’ve had so many fights over the last few years, so many arguments, I never thought we would ever reach that point and end the relationship. It just blows my mind. I really thought he was the one, Rose.”

“You know what? I still think he is. Just give it time,” I smiled and held her hand and she continued to watch her movie while I attempted to study.

Boy was I wrong.

A week passed, and she heard nothing. She stayed by her phone, constantly checking it, resisting the urge to call or text him first, but had no luck. She ended up missing a couple days of class, because she was too upset to go. By the weekend, she had made the couch into her bed, and refused to get up. Our mom ended up coming over and staying with us instead, because she knew Lily wouldn’t have the heart to leave the apartment.

The next week she went to class, mostly because she had to take a test, but was a complete zombie. She hadn’t washed her hair in days; her blonde curls were sticking up all over her head. She had dark purple bags under her eyes from not sleeping, and her face was pale and gaunt from not eating very much. To add to her sad look, she wore baggy sweatpants with paint on them and old high school shirts that had holes in them. It was hard to watch her be so depressed, but she didn’t want us to talk to her about Jake. I felt bad too, because I was so sure that Jake would call, and had told Lily not to worry.

On the bright side, she came around the bakery more often and helped Mom and I out, and always closed with us. She insisted that she was wanting to help, but deep down, I knew it was because she didn’t want to be at home alone. I couldn’t blame her either. She’d been with Jake a long time, and I think she hoped he was going to propose soon.

It had been three weeks since the breakup and we were all sitting on our mom’s couch, watching another romance movie. This time, it was You’ve got Mail. One of my personal favorites.

“Guys can be such jerks. It’s always their game, always out to make the woman look like a fool. I can’t stand it!” Lily proclaimed and threw popcorn at the TV.

“Alright!” Mom picked up the remote and turned off the television. “You have got to get out of this funk!” she declared. “I’m sorry you and Jake had a falling out and I’m sorry you had your heart broken, truly I am. But my darling, you either need to start moving on or go and fix it with Jake. It’s been three weeks. Am I wrong, Rosie?” She turned to look at me, expecting me to join in, but I shook my head and raised my arms.

“No way, leave me out of this,” I stated, not wanting to get involved.

“Why not? Do you agree?” Lily shot at me and I opened my mouth in shock.

“What? No, well, maybe…”

“Unbelievable!” Lily stood straight up and started crossing her arms. “How long have you two been feeling this way?”

“It doesn’t matter!” Mom said firmly and stood up next to her. “It’s just hard seeing you like this, Lil. You're so unhappy and everyone can see it. We just want you to feel better. If you love Jake, then dang it, go after him! But if you guys both agreed to break it off, then it’s time to move on and find some happiness.”

“I don’t want to go after him. If he wants me, he knows where to find me. It’s not like I’ve moved or changed my number!” Lily boomed and started pacing the living room.

“Well, then if that’s what you want to do, sweetheart,” she said warily. Clearly, that was not the answer she was hoping Lily would provide.

“I do. You’re right, I just need to be happy and move on. I can do that. I don’t need a man in my life to make me happy! I am a strong, independent, confident woman who doesn’t need a man by her side! I can do just fine on my own!” she rattled on.

“That’s right, you are!” Mom encouraged her.

“If Jake really loved me, he would be here, right now. But since he’s not, I’m not going to waste my time hoping he’s going to call me or show up! He’s not worth my time! I have other things to do with my life and I’m not going to waste it waiting around for someone who’s able to throw me away so easily,” Lily continued.

“You go, girl!” I teased and my mom shot me a look that said, “really?”.

“I can do this!” she said again.

“Yes, you can! Now, go take a shower and wash your hair.” Mom pointed up the stairs, in the direction of the bathroom and Lily looked caught off guard.

“Wait, what?” she asked, puzzled.

“Girl, I know you haven’t washed your hair properly in a while, so go take a nice, long hot shower,” Mom said.

“Lather, rinse and repeat,” I snickered and this time they both shot me looks.

“Really, you’re not helping,” she hissed and Lily snorted.

“It’s okay, Mom.” Lily waved me off. “She’s only trying to lighten the mood. I will go shower. Happy?”

“Extremely,” she smiled and watched Lily walk up the stairs. Once she was out of sight, my mom turned to look at me. “Couldn’t you have said anything to back me up?” she asked flatly and sat back down on the couch next to me.

“No, Mom. She didn’t need us to team up on her. That’s the last thing she needs she needs to know that we love her and are here for her. Not that I didn’t agree with you; she definitely has to stop all the moping and looking like a homeless person. But I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable,” I explained.

“You just wanted me to be the bad guy, so you could look good,” she declared.

“Well, that was just a plus,” I shrugged and chuckled.

“You’re a brat,” she pointed out. “I’m glad she’s decided to move on. Although, I’m not going to lie, I thought she was going to go after Jake. She’s stronger than I gave her credit for. But, now, it’s time for her to stop wasting her time on him. Did she ever tell you what happened?”

I shook my head. “No. She just said that there was a misunderstanding and things were said in the heat of the moment, and I guess they both took it to heart.”

“She hasn’t told me anything either. I guess it wouldn’t matter if she did, because actions speak louder than words.” I watched her brow slowly furrow, deep in thought.

“After four years though, I just don’t get it. There’s a piece of the puzzle missing.”

“Well, Mom, it’s going to be up to them to find it. If they want too. But it sounds like they put the puzzle back in the box, and gave up.”

“Aren’t you clever?” she quipped and stood to walk into the kitchen.

I laughed and followed her to find some popcorn to snack on.

Lily came downstairs about an hour later, looking refreshed and much happier. She was practically skipping into the kitchen and hijacked my popcorn.

“Feeling better, sis?” I asked and took my popcorn back as she was stuffing a handful in her mouth.

“Yes, actually, much better. I should have done that weeks ago. I think I’m going to head back to the apartment. Susie and Kylee are wanting to meet up tonight and go out to eat with a big group,” she said confidently and proceeded to take my popcorn yet again.

“Wow, look at you getting back into it. Who’s all going?” I decided to surrender and just take a handful of popcorn out of the bag. The last thing I wanted to do was sweep up an entire bag of popcorn off the floor.

“I think it’s Susie’s boyfriend, a boy Kylee likes, and some other people. I’m not really sure. They just invited me,” she explained and started eating one piece of popcorn at time, just to annoy me.

“Good for you, Lily… you’ll have fun. Plus, I bet your friends have missed you,” our Mom said and ended the war by grabbing the popcorn and putting it away.

“I’ll head back with you. I have a test tomorrow to study for in chemistry. That class is giving me a run for my money. I would rather write an essay any day than try to figure out chemical reactions,” I reckoned.

I walked over by Mom, and gave her a hug. “Love you, Mom. Did you want me to close for you on Monday?”

“Yes, I do. I signed up for a painting class with some girls from work,” she informed me and I was immediately jealous.

“I want to go to a paint class! Never mind, have Lily close.” I tried to shove the shift onto my sister, who immediately started shaking her head.

“No way! I have a test on Tuesday and was planning to study Monday night. It’s all you, Rosie. You can have fun closing with Brad!”

“Wait, what?” I shrieked. “Brad? The freshmen who wouldn’t stop eating the cookie dough and ended up getting sick? And who thought washing his hands with just water was good enough?”

“Hey, Brad has come a long way!” my mom stated in his defense. “He’s doing much better now, and refuses to actually make the cookie dough now, because of that little incident,” she divulged. “Besides, he called in and said he couldn’t come in, because he has the same test Lily has on Tuesday. So, I put Troy on instead to close with you.”

“Yes!” I said cheerfully. “Troy rocks.”

“Oh, lucky!” Lily was clearly bummed out. “That guy is hilarious! He’s the best employee! I actually have him in my biology class and he’s a crack up. You should have heard him when we were studying the human body. I was practically rolling on the floor, I was laughing so hard.” Lily started laughing at the memory.

“Sucker!” I teased. “Monday is going to be fun, not to mention he’s fast at closing, so we’ll be out of there in no time!”

“Especially since Brad is closing with you on Tuesday night, Lily,” Mom informed her and I started snickering while I watched Lily’s eyes grow twice their size and her mouth gape.

“No way! I am not closing with him! You did that on purpose!” she accused our mother.

At this point, I was laughing so hard, I was bending over, clutching my stomach. It was the funniest thing I had heard all day, although Lily thought this wasn’t very nice and attempted to push me over.

“Now, now girls. Lily, I’m closing with you that night, so don’t worry. He needs a little more guidance before I let him close without me. You would end up locking him in the bathroom,” she joked.

“Listen…” Lily began, but instead shrugged. “Yeah, you're probably right. At least I’m closing with you, so that doesn’t make it near as bad. Where are you going to be, Rosie?”

“I was planning on going grocery shopping, since someone has been eating all the food, and has hardly refused to leave the apartment except go to school,” I hinted and Lily’s head shrunk back.

“Oh, yeah, we’re out of a lot of things. Will you grab some more yogurt? I may have eaten all of yours.” She started walking quickly out the door, in a poor attempt to run away.

“Are you kidding me? I just bought those a couple days ago. Is that all you’ve been eating?” I called after her and heard Mom chuckling behind me.

“I sure do miss you girls when you're gone.” She kissed my cheek. “You better run after her or she’ll leave you.”

“She’ll be the death of me,” I mumbled and followed my rotten sister out the door.

CHAPTER3

Lily left the house shortly after we got home to run off with her friends, which allowed me to study in peace and quiet. After talking with Mom, we decided she seemed to be doing a lot better and realized she had been wasting time moping. She was a little hesitant leaving the house and had a hard time deciding what to wear, but once Susie and Kylee arrived, she put on a happy face and went on her way.

I managed to finish all my studying and got caught up on my homework, so that I wasn’t totally swamped during the rest of the week.

The next day, I took my test and thanks to my partner, I was able to pass the lab portion. I couldn’t wait to finish this semester, so I never had to do another science class again. The rest of the day flew by and I was able to stay caught up on my studying for my other classes. I figured my sister was at the house, because that’s where she preferred to study, so I hung out in the library. Once I decided my brain had had enough, I headed over to the bakery to meet Troy.

“What’s up, Rosie?” he greeted merrily when I walked into the bakery.

“Hi, Troy!” I said excitedly and waved like a little school girl.

The bakery was a small little shop, with tons of character. My mom loved the color pink, so the walls were striped with thick light pink and white stripes. There were a couple sets of hot pink tables and chairs, big enough to seat three people and a huge window that offered different flavored cupcakes, cookies and sweet rolls.

Today, she was featuring five different cupcakes: lime-coconut, dark-chocolate raspberry, lemon-blueberry, vanilla, vanilla-and-chocolate Oreo. Also available were snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies and orange rolls. She liked to throw in a pastry every now and again to mix it up. She also had a huge book of cakes that she had previously put together that sat on the counter, so people could get ideas for their own cakes.

She loved to make cakes. She loved that no custom cake was ever the same, unless the customer ordered that. Behind the counter was a huge board that listed all the prices and in the back was where endless amounts of sugar, flour and other ingredients could be found. She also had my favorite twenty-quart mixer back there, where I could knock out dozens of cookies in no time.

I walked around the counter and gave Troy a big hug. “Hey, long time no see! How was Costa Rica?”

Troy had been studying abroad in Costa Rica for school and had been gone for an entire semester. My mom was stoked to hear that he was back and wanted to continue working for her.

“Oh, man, it was amazing! It was gorgeous and I was able to pick up a ton of Spanish. How have you been?”

I pulled out a pink apron, and tied it around my waist, “I’ve been good. Just trying to keep up on school work and maintain my scholarship. Chemistry is kicking my butt.”

“I hear that class is no fun. I dread taking it. Listen, did I hear that Jake and Lily broke up?” he asked quietly.

“Yep, they broke up about three weeks ago,” I nodded and started taking inventory of everything.

“Holy crap. I didn’t think they were ever going to break up! Those two seemed perfect for each other.” He followed me around while I did inventory. There wasn’t much for him to do at night until we closed, because everything was already made and prepped.

“I didn’t think so either. They were on some special date last weekend and when I came back home, Lily was crying on the couch and told me they broke up. I could hardly believe it. I thought he was going to propose.”

“Oh, man, is she okay?”

“Yeah, I think she’s doing a lot better now.” I smiled appreciatively “Thanks for asking, Troy. That’s very nice of you to be concerned.”

“Well, I saw Jake the other night with some other chick and I was really confused. I figured that maybe they were just hanging out as friends, but…” He shook his head. “Never mind.”

“Tell me.”

“No, you don’t want to know.” Troy waved it off. “Just know he’s a jerk, and I should have punched him when I saw him.”

“Troy, tell me now,” I pressed and crossed my arms, still holding the clipboard.

“I saw him and this girl kissing,” he divulged softly. “I was so confused. I didn’t know what to do. I figured I would wait to see you and ask what happened. I should have punched him then and there.”

“It’s okay, Troy. Probably a good thing that you didn’t punch him. It sounds like it was a mutual thing, I think. Although, it sounds like Jake was more okay with the break up than Lily.” I uncrossed my arms and began counting the amount of chocolate chips we had. When I found an opened bag of milk chocolate chips, Troy nabbed them out of my hands.

“I’ll say. You date someone for four years, and not a month after, he’s already sucking face with another woman? Not cool!” grunted Troy and he started eating chocolate chips.

“No, it’s not. Lily deserves much better than Jake, if that’s how he’s acting. And let’s just keep this between us, okay? I would hate for her to hear this. She’s just barely getting over the breakup… I feel like this would set her back emotionally.” I took the chocolate chips back from him.

“Hey! I’m stress-eating!” he joked and tried to take them back.

What was up with people taking things out of my hands lately?I laughed. “How about a cookie? I have a feeling we're going to have a little extra. You can even have two, if you want.” I draped an arm around his waist.

“Yeah, two cookies sound good. Three would be better,” he grinned and I pushed him playfully.

We laughed and, just as he was about to take a bite of a snickerdoodle cookie, two giggly girls came in; he shot me a pouty look and hid his cookie so no one would take it. In a split second, he turned his frown upside down and greeted the girls like nothing had happened.

“Welcome, ladies. Are you looking for something sweet?” he smiled, flashing his teeth and the two girls blushed and nodded, still giggling.

This was another reason why my mom had hired Troy; he was a handsome, good-humored, hard-working guy, and he attracted the ladies. She was convinced that he sold the most inventory just from his good looks.

He had a surfer look to him, with tanned skin that I assumed he had gotten from Costa Rica, and sandy-blonde hair, and intense blue eyes. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’d told me that he did like to surf. Of average height, Troy had a lean build and a very playful smile. He looked like someone who was up to doing anything and would have a fun time doing it.

I laughed at the flirty girls and went into the back room to finish the inventory. Mom had texted me earlier that day that she wanted me to do some shopping for the bakery too, since I had already planned on going. This meant that my list was growing even longer, but it also committed me to not have to close tomorrow, and Lily couldn’t get out of it. Technically, I was still on the clock but, thankfully in a different way, without Brad.

While I was in the refrigerator counting butter and eggs, I heard the bell ring, which didn’t faze me, because I knew Troy would be up front to grab the customer. But then, not a moment later, he found me in the fridge and informed me that there was a customer wanting to do a custom order.

Mom had instructed the staff that the only people able to take custom orders were her, Lily and myself. She didn’t want to risk someone messing up the order and, as a result, Mom making something the customer wouldn’t want. Custom orders were the big money maker and she wanted everything to be done right.

I followed Troy to the front and saw that there was a tall man standing behind the counter, looking at the cupcakes. He was wearing a grey suit, white shirt and dark blue tie, which brought out his dark blue, brooding eyes. He had dark hair, that was gelled and swept to the side… and did I mention drop-dead gorgeous? His jaw was squared with a cleft in the chin. He was definitely a dreamy Prince Charming.

I could feel my cheeks flush and I knew I shouldn’t be the one to take care of this customer. I wanted to run the other way and let Troy handle this one, but I figured that wouldn’t set a very good example. Plus, he would never let me live it down.

I cleared my throat and tried to speak, but no words came out.

Unfortunately for me, the man heard me clear my throat and he looked up and smiled, “Hi.”

“Hi, welcome to Karen’s Kreations. What can I help you with?” The line sounded so rehearsed, I felt like I was talking through a drive-through speaker phone. In my mind, I was kicking myself and I could see Troy smiling out of the corner of my eye. He was so going to give me a hard time for this.

“Well, I’m actually waiting for someone, but we need to order a cake for an event. Do you have a flyer where I can see the costs for the size, flavor, design, and whatnot?” He waved his phone around while he was talking. It made him look like an important business man who had things to do, but he was nice and not pushy.

“Yep, Troy, would you mind getting that from under the counter and handing it to him? I need to run to the back really quick, and I’ll be right with you, Mr.…?”

“Oh, call me Nick.”

I smiled. “Okay, Nick, I’ll be right with you,” I repeated and turned around to hide in the refrigerator.

A couple of minutes later, the refrigerator door opened, and Troy walked in to join me.

“Rosie, what are you doing?” he asked and raised an eyebrow.

“I just needed to finish this last bit of inventory and then I’ll be out there to help the customer,” I explained and Troy started laughing.

“You're so full of it!” he called out and I opened my mouth in shock.

“What are you talking about?” I tried to play it as cool as possible. “I really do have to check how much stock we have, so I know what to shop for tomorrow.”

“Oh, bologna!” he cut me off. “I haven’t seen you that caught off guard with a customer since that one lady demanded a chocolate cake be made and delivered within an hour of an event. And even then, you handled it better than that!” He gestured to the front and started laughing. “Do you think he’s cute, Rose?”

I could feel my face burn up and rolled my eyes. “No! I was just d-distracted and lost my tr-train of t-thought,” I stammered and Troy started laughing even harder.

“Oh, man, you totally have the hots for him. Should I tell him? Should I say something? Let him know your single?” He chuckled and winked.

“No! Don’t you dare!” Before I could say anything more, the bell for the front door rang and we both immediately left the refrigerator and returned to the front.

In the waiting area, was an exotic tall, thin woman with thick dark brown hair. She looked like she could be an actress in Bollywood, she was so beautiful. She walked over to Nick and gave him a kiss on the cheek, while holding a phone in her hand. She was wearing a ruby-red blazer with a black pencil skirt to show off extremely long legs, and black stilettos to complete the entire look. I could’ve sworn she just came out of a business meeting. She immediately made me feel like a two-foot tall ragamuffin.

They walked up to the counter together and I put on the best smile possible. “Hi, how can I help you?”

Troy stood to the side of me, wiping down the counters, appearing to be busy, but I knew he was eavesdropping.

“Hello, my name is Alisha,” she said with an Indian accent. “We are wanting to order a cake for our wedding in three months. Do you have any availability for June sixth?” she asked while flipping her hair back over her shoulder.

I could physically feel my heart sink to the floor. He was taken. There was no way I could entertain any thoughts with this guy. He was practically a married man. Trying to hide my disappointment, I forced a smile on my face and looked at the happy couple. My mind might know that Nick was with someone else, but my heart sure didn’t. When I looked at Nick, I noticed he had been staring at me, smiling. All of a sudden, I realized that I had to focus on my breathing and make sure I was getting oxygen.

“Let me check the calendar.” I reached under the counter for it and flipped forward to June, silently praying that it would be filled, but to my dismay, it was completely wide open. “Looks like we have that weekend available. Would you like to set up a cake testing?”

“Yes, that would be perfect. How about Thursday? Will that be enough time?” she inquired.

“Yup,” I said shakily. “That should be enough time.”

“Perfect. I want to try the white cake with vanilla frosting, the chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, the white cake with raspberry filling and vanilla frosting, lemon cake with lemon frosting, the chocolate cake with strawberry frosting and strawberry filling, and the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Did you get all that written down?” she snapped.

“Yup.” I read back her cake requests.

“Perfect. We’ll be here at six o’clock on Thursday,” she informed me and smiled. “Thanks so much.” She spun and walked out the front door.

“Thank you,” Nick smiled. “It was nice to meet you.” He followed his fiancé out the door.

“No, thank you,” I murmured and penciled in my new favorite customer.

SNICKERDOODLE RECIPE

½ cup softened, salted butter

½ cup vegetable shortening

1 ½ cup sugar

2 room temperature eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

2 tsps. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

¼ cup extra sugar

2 tsps. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Cream together salted butter, vegetable shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy.Add in room temperature eggs and vanilla until fully mixed.Add cream of tartar, salt, baking soda and flour, and mix until incorporated. Do not over mix.Mix extra sugar and cinnamon into separate bowl.Form dough into 1” balls and press dough into cinnamon sugar on one side. Place cookies, cinnamon sugar side up, on cookie tray.Bake for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

CHAPTER4

“Well, she was a treat, wasn’t she?” Troy asked, but I remained silent and continued writing the order. “Are you okay?” he asked as he strolled to stand alongside me.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I shrugged.

He put an arm around me and I leaned my head into him. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into my hair.

“It’s fine. It’s no big deal. I just thought he was cute. Whatever. We should get ready to start closing though.”

The rest of the night was slow. It made closing really easy, and we were able to leave a little early, which I was grateful for. On my way home, I called my mom to let her know about the cake testing and she was over the moon. She loved making wedding cakes and being able to be a part of someone else’s special day. However, when she asked me to help with the tasting, I started to protest.

“Mom, can’t you have Lily help you? I did the last cake testing.”

“After working with Ben, she’s not going to want to do a cake testing. Plus, if the bride sounds as snotty as you described her, she’s not going to touch that with a ten-foot pole. Besides, I thought you liked doing weddings?” she questioned.

“I just thought I might let Lily have the chance, that’s all. Plus, I’ve been working a lot and wanted to have a night off.” I tried making up a good enough excuse for her to let me off the hook, but I knew she wasn’t going to let me.

“Lily just told me that she has a couple tests on Friday and that she needed Thursday to study. I’m sorry, honey, I’m going to need your help. You can have the rest of the weekend off if you like,” she offered, sounding a little guilty.

She never wanted to force us to work and treat us like actual employees. She knew that most of the time, we worked to help her out, even though she still paid us. But I needed to get over myself and this little crush, and help Mom. I knew she wouldn’t have asked if she didn’t really need it.

“Okay, Mom, I can do that. I’ll help you. But only if you get Troy to help that night too! He was a blast to work with today,” I countered and she laughed.

“Alright, I’ll make sure to let him know I’m having him work Thursday. Thanks for closing tonight, honey. I had so much fun painting at tonight’s class! We will have to do it one of these weeks, when Lily can close. Have a good night. Love you!”

“Love you too.” I ended the call. “She’s going to be the death of me,” I whispered to myself and continued driving home.

When I walked in, I found Lily and her friends, Susie and Kylee, sitting on the couch, watching a movie.

“Oh, hey sis, how are you doing?” Lily asked.

“Good. I booked a cake testing today for a potential wedding cake in June.” I pulled a cup out of the cupboard and filled it with water.

“I bet Mom was excited about it. She loves making wedding cakes.” She put a chip in her mouth.

“Yeah, she definitely was. The bride seems like a piece of work though. I’m not excited about it,” I admitted and took a sip of water. “What are you ladies up to? I thought you had some studying to do?”

“I did, but my brain started feeling like it was turning to mush, so I had to take a break,” Lily explained, eating another chip.

“She really only studied for like an hour, and then gave up,” Susie declared.

“That sounds familiar,” I laughed. “How do you expect to pass any of your classes if you don’t study?”

“It’s called flying by the seat of you pants,” Kylee chuckled and took the chip bag from Lily.

“Yup, she’s going to try and study as little as possible and get by doing hardly any studying,” Susie said and took a handful of chips.

“Whatever!” Lily cried, “I study enough. If I study too much, I just get confused. I have to take breaks!”

“Studying for one hour and then spending the rest of the evening laying around is not a break.” Kylee chuckled and handed the chip bag back to Lily. “It’s a good thing I study before I hang out with you; otherwise I would never graduate college.”

“Are you saying I’m a bad influence?”

“Oh, no,” Susie cut in. “We wouldn’t say that. You're just so much fun to be around, we would rather hang with you than study.”

“Yeah, we knew you would distract us anyways, so we try to plan our study time earlier, before we see you. I mean, seriously, can you blame us? You're cute, bubbly and hilarious.” Kylee offered a silly smile.

“You guys are so full of it,” Lily sniffed and the three of us started laughing.

“Come on, sis, we know you don’t like to study or do homework. It’s not a bad thing; no one actually enjoys it. Can you blame Kylee and Susie for doing it before they come over?” I tried to console my overworked sister, who I thought was being way too dramatic.

“I guess not. I would just rather hang out with friends and have fun than study boring old lectures,” admitted Lily and started cooling down.

“That’s what I thought. Now, on a serious note, are you sure you're ready for your test tomorrow? Don’t you think you should study a little more?” I asked cautiously, knowing she was emotional.

“Ugh, fine.” Lily picked up the remote and turned off the movie. “I’ll study some more.”

“And, on that note, I think we should leave.” Susie stood and Kylee rose, hovering behind her.

“Agreed. I don’t want to study any more than I have to.” Kylee yawned and followed Susie out the door.

“Your guys are so helpful,” said Lily sarcastically.

“That’s why you love us,” Susie sang and waved.

“And why you’ll never get rid of us,” Kylee chimed in.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Lily waved them off. “Goodnight, jerks.”

“Goodnight!” they replied and shut the door behind them.

I chuckled. “I always forget how much I like those two.”

“Yeah, they’re real fun to have around,” she muttered acerbically.

“Oh, come on, Lil. You know you need to study and you should have gotten it done earlier. Otherwise, you should have just worked tonight. Troy was a blast. He definitely made the night go by fast. Now, you have to study late and work with Brad tomorrow. Lucky you.” I smiled and kicked off my shoes.

“You know, sometimes you’re not very nice,” Lily stated flatly and opened her laptop.

“I never said I was,” I replied and walked into my room.

I took off my clothes that smelled like frosting and cookies, put on old gym shorts and a baggy shirt, and laid down on my bed. I thought about Nick and how kind he seemed. His smile was so easy and effortless, it brightened up the whole room. He was the most handsome man I had ever met. Then, once his bride walked in, I couldn’t help but wonder why in the world he would want to marry a “brat” like her. I mean, I had heard opposites attract… but not to that extreme. I couldn’t imagine working with a bride like that and, quite frankly I had no desire to do so.

I was going to need all the strength I could muster to try and get through their cake testing… and prayed she wouldn’t like our cakes.

CHAPTER5

The next day, I went to the grocery store just as I had planned. Since we had the cake tasting in a couple of days, I had to make sure I had plenty of ingredients to make the order. That was on top of getting our normal stock back up to the usual quantities, and adding my own grocery shopping to the list, I had a lot to buy.

I was tempted to call my mom and see if she wanted to come with me, but I knew if I did that, Lily would throw an absolute fit and refuse to be alone with Brad. Despite Mom being there for moral support more than anything else, I knew Lily was going to be cranky when she got home, so I made a mental note to grab bags of chips for her. I felt like a complete enabler, so I grabbed banana chips too to see if maybe she would attempt a healthier option. However, I knew the likelihood of that was very small.

My sister had the metabolism of a sixteen-year old boy. She was much skinnier than I was, but no one would ever guess that she was skinny by how she ate. She ate donuts and muffins for breakfast, lots of carbs for lunch that consisted of big sandwiches or pizza, and when got home, she would eat lots and lots of chips. The only time she would ever eat healthy was when someone else would cook it for her, which meant me. I insisted on her eating something of substance, so I tried to feed her lots of vegetables and lean proteins for dinner.

The first few weeks of me deciding to take initiative for her poor eating habits, she realized what I was doing and complained about the food I was making. She would insist that it would be easier to order take-out and that vegetables didn’t taste good. However, when I began to scare her with the idea of diabetes, she shut up and ate what I made.

Me, I’ve always had to work for my figure. Growing up working in the bakery, I definitely went through a chubby phase. Then, in high school, I realized that I didn’t want to be fat and have poor eating habits. I knew that if I wanted to be a baker for the rest of my life, I needed to find a healthy balance. So, I started counting my calories, tried to eat vegetables at every meal and limited myself to only a couple treats a week. Not only that, but I convinced my mom to let me run track. I wasn’t the fastest by any means, but the running and consistent training helped dump the weight. Even now, I tried to get a couple runs in a week or hit the school gym once or twice in an attempt to have some muscle tone. But no matter how hard I tried, my sister was always skinnier than I was and there was nothing I could do about it. Genetics were a cruel part of life.

I turned the corner to walk down the aisle with the many chip options and literally ran into a cart that was coming from the opposite direction.

“Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean too…” I lost my voice.

The person in front of me came into focus and I realized I was standing in front of Nick, the handsome man I had met the previous night.

“Rosie, right?” He chuckled and leaned onto his cart, smiling ear to ear.

“Right, and you’re Nick?” I played dumb, but I don’t think he bought it.

“Yeah, fancy bumping into you here. Looks like you have quite the haul.”

He eyed my cart; it was practically overflowing from all the items.

“I’m doing some shopping for the bakery, and a little personal shopping,” I explained and could feel my cheeks flush.

“Well, that’s good. I was worried you were going to put spinach and tomatoes into my cake,” he teased and half-smiled.

I laughed and shook my head. “Nope, definitely not. But the raspberries and strawberries are definitely going in there.”

“That’s good. Hey, now that I see you here, I was actually wondering if I could add another cake request for the tasting?” he asked sheepishly, which I thought was just plain adorable.

“Sure, what would you like to add?” I pulled out my phone to make a note.

“I love mint chocolate. It’s one of my favorite combinations, and I would just love to try it…and see if Alisha would like it. She says that mint is ‘too playful’ for a wedding, but I think it would be a fun flavor to add.”

“I love chocolate and mint! Those girl-scout thin mint cookies are my favorite! I could eat a whole box, no problem,” I said, quite bubbly.

He started, laughing at my excitement. “Me too! My sister was a girl scout and would bring them home for me.” He grinned at the memory. “We would get in so much trouble once my mom found us surrounded by boxes of cookies. She would end up having to buy the extra boxes we ate. In my opinion, they were worth every penny.”

“Oh, no doubt. My mom makes a chocolate-mint cupcake that reminds me of the flavor of a thin mint. It’s to die for. I’ll have to find that recipe and use it for your cake testing. I think you’ll love it!” I beamed.

He nodded in approval, “Alright, sounds great! Now, I’m really looking forward to this cake testing.”

“Good. Everyone deserves to have their own touch on their wedding cake.” I smiled and he smiled back, which sent my heart beating wildly.

We got stuck staring at each other, smiling like goof-balls in the middle of the aisle. We probably looked like idiots.