Page 1 of Surrendering His Heart (Buena Hills #4)

September

“Why is this so hard?” Hallie Abernathy groaned under her breath, careful not to disturb the other library patrons. Closing her laptop, she dropped her forehead onto it. Build a website, she said. It’ll expand your reach, she said.

It had seemed like a good idea when her sister suggested it over the phone last month.

But what Elise failed to realize was that neither of them knew a thing about website design.

And Hallie’s ambitious assumptions of her own abilities had refused to consider it too.

She could barely figure out how to use gifs while texting.

Did she really believe she could make an entire internet space look professional?

Her side hustle, Hallie’s Cakes, had made an okay name for itself around Buena Hills since its inauguration during her second semester at USC.

But five months after graduation, simply supplementing her academic scholarship no longer cut it.

Now her livelihood depended on her ability to scale up.

If she didn’t figure out how to expand her customer base soon, she’d have to rethink her career goals.

Needless to say, the idea of paying someone thousands of dollars to create a website for her stomped on a little piece of the confidence she had in her future.

She couldn’t do it.

That was the purpose of the internet, right? She may not be a tech wiz, but she did know how to work a web browser. Anything could be figured out with the help of YouTube and pure determination.

Or so she’d thought.

She’d certainly met her match with this problem.

The whole reason for buying this website theme in the first place was because the demo showed exactly what she needed.

But what she’d managed to create looked nothing like it.

What was the point of paying for it if she couldn’t get her site to look the way she wanted it to?

Was this the computer gurus’ way of keeping themselves in business? It made sense. If a tech illiterate like Hallie could figure out how to do it, the world wouldn’t need geniuses like them. A smart business tactic, for sure.

An annoying one, but smart.

She rubbed her nose with the back of her hand, willing the pointless tears away. Sheesh, her family always called her the voice of reason. There was nothing reasonable about breaking into tears in the middle of a public library after three hours of limited progress.

With another strangled groan, she slid her laptop into her bag. Leaving her secluded corner, her path to the exit took her past the youth section. She waved at the librarian sitting behind the desk. “See you later, Mrs. Hawthorne.”

The woman, with both sides of her ginger bob clipped behind her ears, looked up from the computer.

“Hallie! I’m so excited you’ll be providing the treats for our Halloween gathering this year.

The cake for my son’s graduation party was absolutely to die for.

All our guests had something to say about it. Delicious and gorgeous, they all said.”

“Thank you.” Hallie’s spirits lifted a bit. Speaking with a satisfied client always turned her day around, no matter that Justin’s graduation party was over three months ago and the woman still brought it up whenever she saw her. “I’m glad you loved it.”

“Oh, I did!” Mrs. Hawthorne clapped her hands together. “I told Lawrence that very night we needed to hire you for our next gathering. Between the cake and those raspberry cream puffs you brought to the school carnival last year, you’ve become a favorite of ours. Yes you have.”

The praise wasn’t all that surprising. Lawrence Hawthorne, the principal at the school they were speaking of, had sampled many of those cream puffs himself. But Hallie still gave the librarian a pleased smile.

“Before I forget,” Mrs. Hawthorne continued, “Is it too late to add a few dozen of those amazing macarons you sold at the Summer Kickoff event?”

This must be some party. Mrs. Hawthorne had already added two dozen double chocolate cookies to the order since placing it back in August. Hallie had no room to complain, though.

This event might be the key to keeping her in business.

If Mrs. Hawthorne talked her up to her friends, it could lead to some fresh customers.

“Not at all.” Hallie made a mental note to check her stock of business cards when she got home. “I’ll be in touch to confirm everything a few weeks before the party.”

Mrs. Hawthorne smiled. “Thank you, dearest. You’re an absolute godsend.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

Ending the conversation, Hallie turned toward the exit, but she only took a few steps before a small child darted past her, almost colliding with her legs. She stopped short so she wouldn’t trip. The girl continued toddling along, pausing by the fish tank along one wall of the youth section.

Shouldn’t there be a parent following that child? Hallie looked around but saw no one. The girl seemed way too young to be without supervision.

Granted, she knew nothing about kids. In high school, while her friends were padding their wallets with babysitting money, she was working as a waitress in her mom’s café. Her one foray into the world of childcare didn’t go well.

This child wasn’t in Hallie’s charge though, so she continued toward the stairs leading down to the self-checkout stands. But those stairs only triggered more concerns. What if this girl wandered to the first floor by herself? She could easily walk out the automatic doors and get lost. Or worse.

Hesitantly, Hallie approached the fish tank unnoticed. The child stood on the wooden stool, her face pressed to the glass, staring at the colorful neon tetras swimming around artificial hardscape and book ornaments.

“Hey, sweetie,” Hallie said cautiously, looking around for any parents nearby. Would they appreciate a stranger talking to their daughter? “Are you lost?”

The girl pulled her focus away from the glass, her wispy, light brown pigtails bouncing with the movement. She smiled, revealing dimples on both cheeks.

What an angelic child. With twinkly blue eyes and naturally rosy cheeks to offset her porcelain complexion, even dolls didn’t come cuter than this little girl.

“Fish so pwetty.” She giggled.

“Penelope!”

Hallie startled at the frantic voice.

A young woman about her age emerged from between two stacks of middle grade books. She placed a hand on her chest in obvious relief. “I couldn’t find you, Nell. Why’d you run off?”

Penelope looked at the woman without a care in the world. “I not lost. I see fish.”

“Next time tell me where you’re going first, okay?

I need to know where you are.” The woman patted Penelope’s shoulder as she addressed Hallie.

“My niece has no fear. She’d wander anywhere and think it’s an epic adventure.

” She gave a breathy laugh that held a hint of exasperation. “I hope she wasn’t bothering you.”

Hallie gave her a reassuring smile. “No worries. I just wanted to make sure she was safe.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.” Hallie turned to go, only then noticing Penelope studying her computer bag.

“What’s dis?” she asked, coming down from the stool and touching the bright keychain hooked to the strap.

Hallie knelt on one knee, looping the bag off her neck to give Penelope a closer look. “It’s a llama. I got it in Chile years ago.”

The llama, with a colorful blanket draped over its back, had been a gift from Senor and Senora Morales to remember the six years she’d lived in Santiago as a child.

The older couple had owned the panadería near her family’s home.

Though they weren’t blessed with their own children, they claimed all the expat kids as their unofficial sons and daughters.

Whenever an expat family moved back home, the kids always received a small gift.

Even thirteen years after the Abernathys’ return to the States, Hallie still thought about the sweet couple a lot.

If not for the time she spent in their store, she never would’ve aspired to open her own bakery.

She’d loved spending hours helping there after school.

Her parents still didn’t know the man had paid her ten pesos to restock the pastry cases every afternoon.

“I like it,” Penelope said, touching the key chain again.

Hallie smiled. “Thanks. I like it too.”

The woman took Penelope’s hand. “Come on, Nell. We still need to check out our books, and your dad just texted that he and Isla are on their way home.”

As the woman and Penelope walked away from the fish tank, Hallie headed downstairs to the exit. A warm breeze whipped at her when she stepped outside the library. Thank goodness the late summer heat had worn off this week, leaving the days pleasantly in the mid-seventies.

With the distraction of the library gone, her computer woes festered in her mind all the way home.

Not even passing her favorite building in the whole town brought her out of the nagging annoyance.

She normally slowed down whenever she passed the two-story Victorian with its gorgeous windows and a porch on both levels.

Especially during the Christmas season with its elaborate light display.

But today, she barely spared it a glance.

Why hadn’t she had the foresight to take a few classes in website development at USC? After meticulously planning her courses to get the most of her degree, she’d grossly underestimated that hole in her education.

Once on her street, she pulled into the driveway of the two-story home she shared with her cousin and two best friends. Lugging her backpack from the passenger seat, she spotted her brother’s Honda parked at the curb.

What’s Tyler doing here?

He only lived across town, though family responsibilities, and a frequent travel schedule at work often kept him too busy to stop by during the week.