Page 26 of The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor #5)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Now

S omehow, Mac had convinced Annie to come back to his place to settle in his new pets. He wasn’t really sure how he’d managed it. Frankly, Annie had been more agreeable today than she’d been in the past three years, but Mac wasn’t about to question it.

He glanced over at the passenger seat to where Annie was sitting with the kittens on her lap. She was talking to them in a voice he was sure she only used on fluffy animals and babies. He’d certainly never heard it before.

‘Now don’t you worry,’ she was saying. ‘This is just temporary. We’ll find you a good home soon.’

‘Who said it was temporary?’ Mac said and Annie looked up at him in surprise.

She rolled her eyes. ‘You can stop playing the hero now,’ she said. ‘We’re the only ones here.’

Mac scoffed. ‘Why do you always assume the worst of me? What did I ever do that makes you think I would abuse kittens?’

‘I never said you would abuse them! But you can stop pretending that you’re going to adopt these cats. Kira and Daisy aren’t around anymore, so I’m just saying you can drop the animal rescuer act.’

‘I'm keeping those cats,’ he said more forcefully than he was expecting to. Sure, he’d said he’d take them in some ill-conceived plan to get on Annie’s good side, but he’d be damned if she was going to know that. ‘They’re my cats now.’

He could feel Annie’s stare boring into the side of his face, but he kept his eyes on the road. He was tired of her always thinking the worst of him. He knew he’d hurt her, but he was done being the villain in Annie’s story.

‘Well, what are you going to name them, then?’ she said after a minute. ‘If these are your cats, they'll need names.’

‘Easy. I'll name them… Bert and Ernie.’

‘Bert and Ernie, no way.’

‘Why not?! That’s a classic duo name.’

‘No. Veto that.’

‘And why do you get veto power over my pets’ names?’

‘I'm looking out for the best interest of the cats; and Kira says one is a boy and one is a girl. She's practically a vet at this point, so I think we can trust her.’

‘I highly doubt the cats care if their names match their sex assigned at birth, but if you insist, how about Sonny and Cher?’

‘Nope, try again.’

‘Adam and Eve.’

Annie burst out laughing at that one. ‘You’re going to call this adorable little kitten Adam?’ she said between giggles.

Mac smiled at the sound.

‘Well, what do you suggest since you’re such a pet-naming expert, despite the fact that you currently have zero pets?’

‘I don’t think you need a duo name just because there’s two of them,’ she said, humming a little as she thought. ‘Christmas-y names would be cute.’

‘Like what? Rudolph and Frosty?’

‘No, something a little less on the nose. Oh, I got it!’ she said. ‘How about Holly and Claus? Get it?! Claws like cats have claws, and Santa Claus.’

Mac couldn't help his laugh. ‘That’s actually pretty good,’ he said.

Annie sat back in her seat pleased with herself. ‘Well, there you go, Holly and Claus. At least your pets have good names now.’ He wasn’t sure which one she’d named which.

‘See,’ he said, ‘I’m not all bad.’ He meant to say it teasingly, not really wanting to get into it with her again, but the words hung heavy between them.

‘I know you’re not. I'm sorry I do that. I’m sorry I still assume the worst about you. It’s an old habit,’ she said quietly, petting Holly or Claus's little head.

‘Maybe we need a fresh start,’ he said.

‘How do we do that now? I've known you since I was five years old, Mac, and the one time I opened myself up to you, I got crushed in the process, so I’m not really sure how we start over. Or if we can.’

Mac swallowed hard. That was more than Annie had said about what happened between them the whole time since he’d been back. Just this morning she told him she wasn’t hurt, that she didn’t need his apologies. It had been the same for years.

Crushed. She said she'd been crushed by what he did. It was so much worse than her pretending she was fine. To hear her admit how he’d made her feel, to have it out in the open, what was he supposed to do now? Who was he to ask for a second chance?

This day had completely fucked with his head, and he didn’t know anymore if he was asking for a second chance or for hate-sex to end this once and for all.

‘Do they still do the light tour?’ he asked instead.

‘Yeah, of course. It’s one of the biggest fundraisers of the year,’ Annie said, sounding relieved at the change of topic. ‘I haven't had a chance to go this year though.’

‘Why not?’

‘Been too busy.’

Too busy doing things for other people. He knew that was the case. He took a left into one of the neighborhoods before his.

‘Where are we going?’ Annie asked, looking up from the kittens in her lap.

Mac shrugged. ‘I thought we could take the scenic route instead, you know, so you can see some of the lights you missed.’ He hated that she’d missed one of her favorite traditions.

A pleased smile crossed her face in the darkness, and he thought, between this mini light tour and the kittens in her lap, maybe he was making some progress.

While he had her trapped here with him in the car, he was damn well going to take the opportunity to show her how much he still cared about her.

For all he knew, after this weekend she could go right back to avoiding him like the plague.

God, he hoped that wasn’t what happened.

‘Oh, that’s new!’ Annie said, pointing to a particularly garish light-up snowman display.

‘It’s certainly bright. You can probably see it from space.’

She laughed and he wanted to bottle the sound.

‘Oh, look at that one.’ She pointed across his body to a house on the left and it reminded him of when they were kids on that tour, the way she’d leaned into him, the way he hadn’t wanted it to end.

She didn’t move all the way back to her side of the car and instead stayed close to him, her shoulder nearly pressing against his. She smelled like frosting and ginger and Mac barely contained his groan. He wanted her.

Whatever she was willing to give.

He wanted it.

The snow was still falling in thick white flakes and Nat King Cole crooned a Christmas classic on the radio.

The truck was warm, the windshield fogging over in between swipes of the wipers.

They drove slowly around the block, admiring the light displays as they went.

It had been years since Mac did anything like this.

He slid his gaze to Annie’s face, watching her delight in her neighbors’ efforts.

She was so fucking beautiful.

‘How about that one?’ He pointed to a house with white icicle lights on the porch and a candle lit in each window.

‘Understated. I like it.’

Mac smiled in the darkness.

‘How about that one?’ Annie pointed.

‘Too blue for me.’

‘You’ve gotten picky with lights in your old age,’ she teased, nudging him a little with her shoulder. The warmth of her seeped into him. He wished she would stay pressed against him in the dark.

‘I learned a lot about myself while I was away,’ he said. ‘But one of the main things was that I like my Christmas décor understated.’

‘Wow, you really did some deep thinking out there on the road. It’s a good thing you stayed away for so long, I guess.’ And just like that the mood in the car shifted again. Annie moved away from him, back to her seat, and turned her gaze out her window.

Would they ever be able to be near each other without digging up the past?

He’d been joking about the Christmas decorations, but it was a good thing that he'd been gone so long.

He sorted out a lot of stuff while he was away.

Learned a lot about himself, what he wanted from life.

When he came back to Dream Harbor, it was because he wanted to, not because he was born here, not because he was stuck here, or because it was his only option.

He needed to experience life outside of Dream Harbor before he could appreciate life in it.

But if he said any of that, he knew it would come out wrong. That all Annie would hear was that he was glad he left her.

They drove the rest of the way without speaking.

The only sounds were the quiet mewing of the cats and the windshield wipers pushing the snow from the window.

Sometimes, he wondered that if he had done things differently, would there still be a chance for him and Annie?

He didn’t regret leaving but he hated the way he’d left.