Page 25 of The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor #5)

The sunburn across his nose and cheeks had started to peel and his normally brown hair had taken on golden highlights.

‘Quit complaining! While you were lounging in the tropical sunshine, I’ve been here freezing my butt off.’

Logan’s frown deepened. ‘There were nightly events,’ he said.

‘Sounds fun.’

‘With themes.’

‘I love a good theme.’

‘And dress codes. People wore costumes.’ He said it like there were nightly, virgin sacrifices or something.

‘Did you dress up?’ Annie asked, knowing damn well there was no way Logan put on a costume or remotely theme-appropriate outfit.

‘Of course not.’

‘Of course not. That would be too fun.’

‘Fun for children and criminals on the lam.’

‘Do you think criminals on the lam are having fun?’

‘Until they get caught, maybe.’

‘You're a good grandson,’ Hazel cut in, knowing from experience that this conversation could go on and on for hours and get them absolutely nowhere. ‘I’m sure you made Nana very happy.’

Logan grimaced. ‘She had to argue my way onto the boat in the first place.’

Annie laughed. ‘What do you mean?’

‘It was a senior’s cruise. No one under the age of fifty-five was supposed to be on board. We showed up with our tickets and Nana had to fight with the captain to let me on.’

Now Hazel was laughing, too. ‘She did?!’

‘Yeah,’ Logan said, shaking his head, a smile slipping onto his face. ‘She started by trying to convince him that I just looked really good for my age.’

‘No!’ Annie squealed, delighted.

‘Yes,’ Logan groaned at the memory.

‘Then she threatened to go to the media and accuse the cruise company of ageism.’

‘Ha! Incredible. Nana is a queen.’

‘She ended up telling him that I needed to be there to make sure she took her meds on time. Which is hilarious considering she is healthier than I am. But the captain just wanted her to stop causing a scene at that point.’

‘I bet. Nana causing a scene is a scary thing,’ Annie said.

‘For the rest of the trip she called me “Nurse” any time there was a staff member nearby.’

The image of Logan as a nurse sent Annie and Hazel’s giggles into full-blown, side-splitting laughter.

‘Ha. Ha. I’m so glad you find my pain hilarious.’

‘We really do. Thanks for the laugh,’ Annie said, wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

‘Anytime,’ Logan said dryly.

‘And what about you, Haze? How did the semester go?’

‘It was good, but I’m happy to be home.’

‘And we’re happy you’re back.’ Annie pulled her in closer.

‘What have you been up to while we were gone?’ Logan asked and Hazel's face immediately lit up.

‘I caught Annie having a romantic lunch with Mac Sullivan,’ she said.

‘First of all—’ Annie started, and Logan rolled his eyes.

‘Here we go,’ he muttered.

Annie ignored him. ‘First of all,’ she said again. ‘There was nothing romantic about it. We’re at the diner, for goodness’ sake. My dentist is sitting two booths over.’

‘What? Dentists can’t go to romantic places?’ Logan asked.

‘And, secondly,’ Annie went on, ignoring him again. ‘Am I not allowed to hang out with other people when you two abandoned me?’

‘Abandon you?!’ Hazel gasped in mock horror. ‘Is that what we did?’

‘I’m pretty sure you were the one that told me I had to go on this cruise, or I would break my grandmother’s heart.’

‘Yeah, and you told me I had to get out and explore the world. You filled out the paperwork!’

Annie took a sip from her third mug of cocoa of the morning. ‘Whatever, we’re back together now.’

‘And what about Mac?’ Hazel asked.

Annie shrugged. ‘What about Mac?’

‘Well, are you two going to keep seeing each other?’

‘You’re blowing this way out of proportion. We weren’t seeing each other. We were just, you know, seeing each other around while our friends were out of town. You know, pre-holiday boredom and everything.’

Hazel looked highly suspicious, and Logan looked completely disinterested scratching at the peeling skin on his nose.

‘It’s irrelevant anyway,’ Annie said. ‘Mac is leaving soon.’ She shrugged it off like it didn’t matter, like she didn’t care where Mac went or what he did, because that was how she should feel.

It was true what she told Hazel; they had just been hanging out while they waited for life to get back to normal.

But, somewhere along the line, being with Mac had started to feel normal and it had Annie wishing for things that couldn’t be.

It had her thinking about what she’d been asking him for right before Hazel showed up. He hadn’t answered her. Maybe she’d taken things a step too far. But… she found herself wanting it anyway.

‘Okay,’ Hazel said. ‘If you say so. He is really cute, though…’

Annie shrugged like she hadn’t experienced that cuteness up close and personal for the last few weeks, as though she hadn’t gotten to kiss and touch that cuteness and she really wanted to have even more of it. ‘Yeah, I know.’

‘Wait,’ Logan said, looking up from his omelet. ‘Mac’s cute?’

Annie nodded. ‘Some might even call him hot.’ Someone like her.

Logan frowned. ‘But not as cute as me, right?’

She and Hazel both groaned, chucking straw wrappers and balled-up napkins at Logan as he swatted them away, a stupid grin on his face. God, she’d missed these two.

‘All right, that's enough discussing Macaulay Sullivan for one day,’ Annie said. ‘Let’s go shopping. And we need more details, Haze. I want to know everything!’

Unfortunately for Annie, not talking about Mac didn’t mean she wasn’t thinking about Mac.

As she roamed the stores with her friends, all she could think about was the time she had spent doing the same with Mac.

About the way he had put his hand on the small of her back to guide her through the crowds or the time he had her giggling so hard she nearly peed as he recreated the terrified face he’d made in nearly every picture he’d had taken with Santa as a child.

Or how he would kiss her goodbye when he dropped her off at her house at the end of the night.

Somehow it wasn’t nothing. Hanging out with Mac had turned into a big giant something and Annie didn't know what to do about it.

All she did know was that she had to see him. She had to see him and tell him that the past few weeks had meant something to her. Even if he was leaving. She wanted him to know.

And she wanted to apologize for ditching him today.

And she wanted to kiss him.

And more.