Page 103 of Only for the Season

“Hi, Mom. Dad,” I greet.

“Darling.” Mom kisses my cheek.

The small kernel of hope grows at the kiss. Eek! Maybe they’re here to bury the hatchet. Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.

“We have something to discuss with you,” Dad says.

At his calm manner, the hope inside me practically explodes. This is it. The moment I’ve been waiting for. Myparents are going to apologize for their behavior and say how proud of me they are.

And they should be proud. The bakery is packed with customers. The line snakes through the tables of people drinking coffee and out the door.

Pirate’s Pastriesinitially suffered when the café on the boulevard opened – especially since I didn’t have the money to do extra marketing or stunts – but we’ve bounced back now. I won the gingerbread contest and participating in the Mermaid Treasure Hunt has brought in tons of new customers.

“Shall we sit?” I motion to the only available table in the corner of the café. The table is reserved for Jeremy but I swipe the reserved sign before my parents notice.

“Do you want a coffee?” I ask as they settle in their seats. “There’s no need to wait. I can make you one.”

At their nods, I hurry to the counter.

“What’s going on?” Holly asks.

“I don’t know, but I think it’s going to be good.”

She frowns. “You shouldn’t get your hopes up.”

“Too late,” I sing as I finish the coffee for my parents.

“Here you go,” I set their drinks on the table before sitting across from them. “What do you want to discuss?”

I probably appear deranged with how big my smile is but I don’t care. This is the nicest my parents have been since I told them I was buying this bakery and staying in Smuggler’s Hideaway.

Dad nods to Mom, who opens her purse and pulls out a slip of paper.

“We wanted you to see this before everyone on the island was talking about it behind your back.”

“Behind my back?” My brow wrinkles. “What do you mean?”

Mom slides the paper across the table. There’s a gleam in her eye. My stomach drops. What is happening here?

“Read it and you’ll understand.”

I glance at Dad but he won’t meet my gaze. My fingers tremble as I pick up the newspaper clipping.

Jeremy Holland on the town with supermodel

The headline is accompanied by a photograph of Jeremy with a skinny blonde woman clinging to him.

I shake the clipping at my parents. “This is why you came here today?”

“Yes, darling.” Mom’s grin is calculating. Has she always been this cruel?

“We didn’t want you to get your hopes up that your boyfriend would solve all your problems,” Dad adds.

“Solve my problems?”

“Yes.” He motions to the bakery.

“Are you clueless?” He opens his mouth to respond but I hold up my hand. “It was a rhetorical question since anyone who isn’t clueless can tell the bakery is doing well. The line is out the door.”