Page 9 of One-of-a-Kind Bride (Home to Texas #1)

C ake tasting was definitely all it was cracked up to be.

Taylor’s tummy was happy as she bit into exotic cake flavors like vanilla with mango filling, rosemary lemon and pineapple guava.

All of them tasted light and refreshing and delicious.

But Taylor was and always would be a holdout for chocolate.

“I’m loving the vanilla mango. I think it’s a possible maybe,” Julie said, putting her fork down. “What do you think?”

This was the third cake they’d tasted that was a possible maybe . Julie was really struggling with this decision.

Taylor wouldn’t disagree with her. “It’s really good.”

“Just good?”

Taylor glanced at the baker, who was watching her from behind the counter. “Deliciously good,” she said with more enthusiasm. Who wanted to hurt the baker’s feelings?

“But you’re not sure?” Julie blinked, seeming unusually uncertain.

“I don’t have to be sure. You do,” she encouraged her as gently as she could. “It’s your wedding.”

The bakery door opened and Miguel walked in just in time to save the day.

Julie’s face lit up. “Miguel. I’m so glad you’re here.”

Before the door closed, Coop walked into the bakery just behind him and Taylor made eye contact with him. She glanced away quickly. She didn’t like lighting up inside seeing him again. No, that was for sweethearts like Miguel and Julie.

“Hi, hon.” Miguel bent to give Julie a quick kiss. “Hey, Taylor. You girls making any progress?”

“Not much. They’re all so good, it’s hard to choose.”

“That’s why I brought reinforcements. I ran into Coop and invited him to come along.”

“Hi,” Coop said, all swagger and good looks. “Hope it’s okay I’m here.”

He looked at Julie first, then swiveled his head to give Taylor a quick glance.

He wore a pair of jeans and a blue plaid shirt, a cowboy hat on his head, looking casual and healthy and, well, handsome.

She supposed it was inevitable to be running into him often since he was a friend of Miguel and Julie’s and he lived just half a mile down the street.

“Sure, it’s okay. The more the merrier,” Julie said. “I do need a bit of help, I’m having trouble deciding. Why don’t you guys try some of these?” She pushed the plates toward them.

Miguel and Coop sat down, Coop removing his hat, and both took a minute to taste everything.

Miguel began nodding his head. “I like them all.”

“Yeah, me too,” Coop said. “I wouldn’t refuse a one of them.”

“But no standouts?”

Before they could answer, the baker came over and laid out two more choices. “Here you go,” she said. “Some classic flavors for you to try. This one is white cake with a lemon chiffon center and this one is raspberry chocolate.”

Both looked tantalizing. Taylor immediately dug in and crossed forks with Coop as they went in for the raspberry chocolate. Their eyes met as their utensils clinked.

“You were always a sucker for chocolate,” he said.

“Me? I wasn’t the one who’d mooch everyone’s candy bars when they weren’t looking. I remember one time at the movies when you broke off a big piece of my Hershey bar without even asking. Before I could say a word, you’d gobbled it down and then gave me a big Cheshire cat smile.”

“I didn’t gobble. Boys don’t gobble.” He shrugged, looking a little remorseful, then took a big bite of cake and swallowed it down. “And I did feel a little guilty about that.”

“Ah-ha! Now you’re sorry. Goodness, you had a sweet tooth back then.” Taylor laid into her cake too. She had to be fast. With Coop around, she wouldn’t get a second bite.

“He still does,” Miguel said, forking a piece too. “That’s another reason I invited him.”

“Yeah, I admit it,” he said. “Chocolate is my one vice.”

“You have only one?” she asked, batting her eyes and smiling.

“The only one I’m admitting to,” he chirped back.

“Coop’s right,” Julie said. “You’re just as guilty, Taye.” Julie looked at the piece of cake that was now a plate of crumbs. “I guess I have your answers. Chocolate raspberry.”

“It’s really delicious,” Taylor said.

“At last, we agree on something.” Coop winked at her, a move that totally caught her off guard because whenever they’d conspire together, that was what he’d do to seal the deal.

As if the wink meant I’m with you . And that one wink sent butterflies swarming around in her tummy. It’d given her a glimpse of the boy he once was, and the man he’d become. And she began feeling things she had no right or reason to feel. Not about Coop.

He wasn’t an option.

Miguel spoke up. “Honey, I really think you’ve found the right one. Everyone seems to like it the best.”

She sighed. “It’s not light and airy, but…deep and hearty.”

Miguel grinned at her. “Just like our love.” Corny as it was, Julie’s perplexed face melted into a sweet smile and just like that, the decision was made.

Oh, if only life was always that easy.

*

Saturday morning, Taylor and Julie stepped out onto the back patio, coffee cups in hand, watching a crew of four leather-gloved men wearing hard hats and wielding axes break apart the gazebo.

The takedown was hard to watch, both of them quietly observing the destruction of not just a weather-worn structure but the removal of yet one more memory in their lives.

Taylor wondered if Julie felt the same sense of loss.

Every time something was changed or removed, it was like losing a piece of their mothers all over again.

Because the gazebo represented so much more than a fun place to play.

It represented their youth, when both their moms were alive and vital.

It represented friendship and secrets and first loves and, quite frankly, seeing the gazebo go down was like a sharp prick to the heart.

She hadn’t expected to be this sad, to feel like another fragment of her family was being taken away.

“I didn’t think it’d hurt this bad,” Julie said.

Taylor turned to her. “I know. I feel it too. But something wonderful will go up in its place, Jules. Something that represents your future with Miguel.”

“I know you’re right.” She sipped her coffee.

Holding on to the past never did anyone any good. “I think your she-shed is going to be the next generation’s gazebo. If you know what I mean. It’ll be an icon, just like the gazebo was for us.”

“Progress, I guess.”

“Yeah.”

“I can always build a new one.” Coop sidled up next to them, wearing a hard hat, jeans and a pair of scuffed up work boots.

The T-shirt he wore looked two sizes too small for his muscular arms. He held a clipboard in his hand and gave them both a good-morning smile.

He must’ve come through the side gate. She hadn’t seen him until he was standing right next to her.

Before she could catch her breath and stop her heart from speeding up, another hard-hatted Cooper appeared.

This one, ten times more adorable. Her long blond braids fell past her shoulders, and in jeans, work boots and a T-shirt, she looked like a mini-Cooper. Not the car, the kid.

“Morning, Cassie,” Julie said.

“Hi, Julie.”

Coop put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Cassie, this is Taylor. She’s an old friend.”

“Hi.”

“Cassie has agreed to be the flower girl in our wedding,” Julie explained. “We’re going dress shopping tomorrow, right Cass?”

Cassie gave a nod. “I guess so.” She didn’t look too happy about it.

Taylor bent to shake her hand. “Hi, Cassie. It’s nice to meet you. Are you helping your dad today?”

She nodded. “I get to fill the wheelbarrow, but only with the small pieces.”

“I’m sure your daddy’s happy to have your help today.”

“He promised me I could come.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too.”

“I have an idea,” she said, looking from Julie to Cassie. “Why don’t I make your flower girl dress for you?”

The girl gazed up at her. “You can do that?”

“I can. And I’d love to.” Taylor met her cousin’s eyes. “I don’t know why you didn’t mention it to me before.”

“Well, because you were busy in New York and I didn’t want to put too much pressure on you.”

“But now I’m here and I’m happy to do it. If that’s okay with Coop?”

The three females looked to him. He put up his hands. If he had any objection, he wouldn’t stand a chance. “Okay by me. That’s if it’s not too much trouble for you, Taylor.”

“Not at all. Would you like that, Cassie?”

“Does that mean I don’t have to go shopping for a dress?”

“Cass,” her father warned.

“Sorry, Daddy, but I don’t like to shop. It’s boring. I’d rather practice batting with Grandpa Joe.”

Taylor laughed. “You know what? When I was your age, I didn’t like shopping either. I’d rather play with my friends. Why don’t you come see me after your work is done? I’ll take a few measurements and Julie and I will do all the shopping for the material for your dress.”

“Really?” Cassie smiled wide and began nodding.

On a sigh, Coop narrowed his eyes on her. “Cassie, what do you say?”

“Thank you?”

Coop cleared his throat and Taylor stifled another laugh.

“Yes, thank you, Taylor, Julie. We’ll see you later in the day. C’mon, Cass, let’s get to work.”

Cassie saluted. “Aye, aye, captain.”

The two walked toward the gazebo, where the crew was hacking away at it.

“She’s pretty cute,” Taylor said.

“Yeah, she’s the apple of Coop’s eye. And her Grandpa Joe’s too. It’s a good thing that Coop came back. He’s happier here.”

“I can’t imagine what it was like for him.”

“Yeah, Coop’s quiet about it, but I know it ripped him up inside.”

Taylor pursed her lips. “I guess he’s been hurt enough for two lifetimes. First, I abandoned him, and then he loses his wife.”

“He’s pretty shut off when it comes to women. I should know, half the unmarried staff at the school asks about him all the time. What’s he like? Does he date? I think if he ever wanted a relationship, he wouldn’t have any trouble.”

“That’s too bad, you know? Shutting himself off like that.”

“Is it?” Julie eyed her suspiciously. Her eyebrow arched in true detective style.

“What? Of course it is.”