Page 5 of One Small Spark (Love in Sunshine #4)

Hope: I keep imagining those sweet, elderly women saying the most unhinged things

Hope: Please help a girl out

I put her out of her misery and press Call . She picks up right away.

“Are we disappointed or relieved book club didn’t go into overtime?” she asks.

“A bit of both.” I wouldn’t have minded talking about the book longer, but my seatmate left a lot to be desired.

“So? Was it everything you hoped?”

“It was…illuminating.” To quote Rosetta. “Considering it took them forever to admit they were reading romance novels, they sure have no shame discussing shirtless men.”

“It’s their happy place,” Hope says with a laugh. “And now it can be yours, too. You can discuss imaginary men to your heart’s content.”

Just one flaw in her plan. “It would be my happy place except Callahan was there.”

Just saying it out loud makes my stomach flip. I am never going to get over this.

“Shepherd was visiting or something?” It’s gratifying that even Hope finds his presence absurd.

“Nope. He’s part of the group. And has been for longer than I’ve been buttering up Ada and Isabel.” It’s rude, honestly. I don’t know how he did it, but I just know he did it on purpose to get at me.

“So you guys talked about romance? Together? ”

“Not only that. The ladies asked us to—” I clamp my mouth shut. Maybe I don’t want to share about Callahan’s manliness demonstrations. Hope has specific delusions about the two of us that I don’t need to encourage.

“They asked you to what? Act out the scenes?” She laughs. Laughs .

Because what could be more hilarious than Callahan and me pretending to be romantic?

After a few seconds of silence on my end, her laughter dies out. “Wait. You really did?”

I sigh all the air out of my lungs before launching into a recap of my afternoon. Forearms, doorway leans, and all. Books played a very small part.

“You have to admit, it’s really sweet they invited him,” she says when I finish. “They must like him a lot.”

“I don’t have to admit anything. You know how I feel about him.”

“Right.” She drags out the word as if she hasn’t listened to at least one rant a week about him for endless months. “But it’s been a long time since all that stuff between you went down. Maybe things have changed.”

I sit up and punch my pillow into a better shape. Then punch it a few more times. “Not for me.”

“Hear me out. I didn’t think I liked Griffin?—”

In the background, her fiancé shouts. “I’m standing right here!”

She laughs again. “But when we reconnected, we both realized we had each other all wrong.”

“And you realized you were madly in love with me.” His voice sounds closer than before.

“That, too.”

The line goes suspiciously quiet for a minute .

“And I realized I’m hopeless without you, sweetheart,” he says.

Ugh, these two. Adorable, yet disgusting. Like baby pandas before their fur comes in.

“All I’m saying is,” she finally continues, “just because Shepherd said some things about you in the past, it doesn’t mean he feels the same way now.”

Hope is way more forgiving than I am.

“I think you misheard him,” her fiancé says.

And Griffin is an idiot.

“I straight up heard him tell his coworker how awful I am. I didn’t mishear anything.”

People have said worse about me, but not the guy I’d been bantering with ever since he opened his bike shop. Not the guy I’d maybe sort of definitely been hoping would ask me out. Nobody who’d ended up making me feel so much like a fool.

I’d popped over, probably to fake-complain about him parking his giant truck in my spot, when I stumbled on the private conversation. The guys were behind the counter, their backs to me as Callahan did something to a bike.

“Wren Krause is loud, opinionated, and unavoidable,” he’d said. “That woman is too much in every category that matters.”

I snuck back out before they could turn around and see me, but I learned enough that day. He thought I was loud and opinionated before? Brother had no idea what was coming for him.

“And that’s before the Richard Allred situation,” I say.

Hope sighs but doesn’t try to argue that one.

Richard Allred, the former Sunshine resident-turned real estate developer came to town not long after I found out what Callahan really thinks of me. Richard was looking for new places to invest his money, and set his sights on Blackbird’s Bakery.

Until recently, the bakery was always just me, Mom, and Tess.

We work ungodly hours six days a week to keep everything humming.

Even a small outside investment could have meant upgrading our appliances, updating our front-end, or allowed Tess to open her custom cake arm two years earlier than she did.

“Tess doesn’t think Maureen would have wanted an investor,” Hope points out. “And I doubt you would have enjoyed dating a guy like that.”

Maybe. Maybe not. While it lasted, his attention was flattering, if overboard. I’ve never been much of a flower girl and receiving a dozen bouquets at once tip-toed close to alarming.

But at least he’d been blatant about his interest. I hadn’t had to read into anything or second guess or think we had something going only to hear that, no, he actually thought I was a shrew.

But a few dates in, he’d told me he was no longer interested in Blackbird’s. He’d heard “local buzz” we weren’t doing as well as he’d thought, and he didn’t see the point in getting involved in a failing business.

He also didn’t see the point in getting involved with me. Someone told him I was a “nightmare” to be around, and he decided I wasn’t worth the trouble.

Stunned, I’d asked who had told him that.

Richard’s lip had curled as he slicked back his blond hair. “Shepherd Callahan. He’s the kind of businessman I want to partner with.”

A few months later, Get in Gear had new signs out front and a slew of new bikes inside.

So, yeah. Callahan’s not my favorite guy. Even if he is, unfortunately, stupidly hot.

“I still think you’re wrong about him,” Hope says.

“You, my friend, have been blinded by love.” Despite what she and Tess and even the ladies in the book group hint at, my opinions about Callahan won’t be swayed .

“I tried.” She sounds like she’s talking more to Griffin than me.

“Anyway. Romance book group was an experience.”

“Sounds like it. Do you want to come over tonight? Have some dessert and vent some more?”

It’s sweet of her to ask when I know she wants to spend time with her man. They both run small businesses and don’t have much free time as it is.

“Not tonight. August’s here.”

“Don’t want to miss out on that.” She pauses. “I wanted to tell you in person…”

I sit up straighter. “Oh my gosh, you’re pregnant!”

“What?” she shrieks. “No, I’m not pregnant!”

In the background, Griffin has a coughing fit.

“Sorry, it sounded important. Wait—are you dumping me as Maid of Honor?”

They’re getting married this winter, but it’s going to be so casual, it’s practically an elopement. Dropping the Best Man/Maid of Honor stuff would be on brand for them.

“No! Stop guessing!” She takes a big breath. “Griffin and I decided not to get a separate apartment while we’re waiting for our house to be built. There’s no reason not to just live here until it’s ready. But that pushes off your plans to move into my place by a few months.”

“Oh.” Compared to my guesses, that’s a lot more realistic. Even if it kind of sucks for me. “I understand. That makes sense.”

“We can go apartment hunting together some weekend, okay?”

“You do not want to see the things I’ve witnessed.” I pull the phone away from my ear to check the time. “I have to go. August’s waiting for me so we can start movie night.”

“Aww. Give him a hug for me. ”

“You’d better be talking about August,” Griffin says.

“Oh, and August, too,” she says with a laugh.

Griffin growls something in the background, and Hope squeals.

“Goodnight, you two.” I hang up and toss the phone on my bed. They’re so disgusting.

I hate how much I want that kind of disgustingness for myself.

Downstairs, I snuggle August under a fluffy blanket while he pulls up the animated Robin Hood .

We sink low on the couch, and he rests his head on my shoulder.

I almost don’t care that I’m stuck in this house with Mom and her boyfriend for the foreseeable future.

At least I’ve got movie nights with my buddy.

I don’t need more than this.