Page 90 of Merry Fake Bride

He yelps but clutches at my scarf, sobbing openly.

“It’s okay, kiddo. We’re going to find your mommy, okay? Can you tell me your name? My name is Kairo.”

“Mmm…” He coughs and cries louder. “M–Maaaax!”

“Okay, Max. Do you wanna sit on my shoulders and see if you can spot your mommy? You’ll be really tall up there.”

He whimpers and cries, trying to muffle himself by sticking his fist in his mouth, but in the end he nods, so I sweep him higher up onto my broad shoulders while keeping a firm grasp on his legs.

“Right, let’s go find your mommy, Max. You just yell if you see her, okay?”

“…’kay,” comes his wobbly reply.

Up on my shoulders, he’s safe from being trampled.

I walk slowly through the stall, scanning every face for anyone who looks like a worried parent while texting Martin with one thumb.

He’s buried in the crowd somewhere, but if anyone can find a distraught mother, it’s him.

We walk past the chocolate fountain stall where kids shove fruit and marshmallows into deep pools of warm chocolate, the frosted stall where sugar cookies and icing-covered cornflake cakes sit on floral plates, and even the cotton candy stall where Hank, Devon’s father, whips up cotton candy animals at the drop of a hat.

“Do you see her?” I ask after one full loop of the bake sale.

Max just cries so I slip him down from my shoulders and bundle him into my scarf to keep him warm.

“It’s okay, kiddo. I’ve got a plan.” I head toward the bakery, and just as I reach the door, a distraught woman inside spins and spots me.

“Max!” She screeches so loudly that my ears ring, and she flies toward me while Max lunges forward in my arms.

“Mommy!”

They clash in a flurry of kisses and tears, and once I’m certain she has a secure hold on her child, I let him go.

“Oh, thank you!” She sinks to her knees, kissing his face all over. “Thank you, thank you!”

“It’s no problem,” I say with a warm smile. “It’s a busy street. It’s easy to get lost.”

“I just looked away to pay for his cupcakes and when I looked back, he was gone. I was so scared! Max, you don’t ever run away again, you hear me? You scared Mommy so much! Oh my God!”

She bundles him against her chest and stands, then flashes me a tearful, thankful smile. “Thank you!”

She’s out of the cafe before I can ask for my scarf back.

“Nicely done.” Devon appears at my elbow with flour dotting her nose and her scooped up hair rapidly losing all sense of direction from how she’s been running around all day.

My heart clenches at the sight of her and her smile, while beautiful, pains me.

She feels nothing for me.

And why should she?

I’ve been the bad guy for much longer than I’ve been the good guy. Her reasons are strong.

The bakery and her family come first.

But the disappointment inside me when she denied feelings for me was immeasurable and eye-opening.

I’d gotten ahead of myself, stolen kisses I had no right to. I lost myself in these warm, comforting feelings that rise when I’m with her, as if I even deserve to exist within her light.