Page 43 of The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor #5)

Chapter Thirty-Six

Now

The Wedding (still)

‘D aisy, that guy is totally checking you out,’ Iris said, as she worked through her second plate of cookies. The gingerbread house had been a big hit, but Annie had also made several platters of cookies and pastries for the guests to eat. Iris seemed to be appreciating them very much.

‘What guy? No, he isn’t. What guy?’ Daisy’s head swiveled from side to side.

Iris laughed. ‘That one over there with the glasses. He’s been looking over here all night.’

Daisy glanced over to where Iris was pointing.

Annie, Daisy, and Iris were the only three left at their table.

The chairs from the ceremony had been cleared and a dance floor was carved out between the tables.

At the moment, Annie was watching Noah spin Hazel in circles while she giggled.

Kira and Bennet had snuck off somewhere about an hour ago and Annie hadn’t seen them since, but she had a pretty darn good idea of what they were doing. Weddings had that effect on people.

‘Who even is that?’ Daisy asked and Annie looked at the man in question.

‘That's Elliot, the new architect. He’s working on the inn,’ she said.

‘Wow, Jeanie really did invite every person in town to this wedding,’ Iris said with a laugh.

‘I know. Apparently, he was standing nearby when she went to the inn to work out the room availability for her visiting family. She felt bad and invited him, too.’

‘Well, whoever he is, he's looking at Daisy like he wants to get to know her better,’ Iris said, waggling her eyebrows. She had a hand over her growing belly and her bare feet propped up on the chair next to her. She looked tired but happy as she watched Archer slow-dance with Olive.

‘That's adorable,’ Daisy said, looking at them spinning in circles, Olive perched on Archer’s feet.

Iris nodded. ‘That's how they get you.’

‘Well, if that didn’t do it, the roast chicken definitely would have. It was so tender I wanted to cry,’ Annie said, making the other women burst out laughing again.

‘The man knows how to cook,’ Iris said, ‘that’s for sure.’

Archer grinned at Iris from his spot on the dance floor and Olive waved. She looked adorable in her velvet Christmas dress, little patent leather Mary Janes on top of Archer’s dress shoes. Something across the room caught her eye and she came running over to Iris.

‘Is that hot chocolate?’ she asked, her face filled with the intensity of a girl who would go to the ends of the earth for chocolate. A girl after Annie’s heart.

‘It’s actually a whole hot-chocolate bar,’ Annie told her. ‘With toppings.’

‘Toppings?!’ Olive squealed.

‘Marshmallows, candy canes, little cookie bits, oh, and whipped cream.’

‘Whipped cream!!’

Olive was practically vibrating now, and Annie ignored the look of horror on Iris’s face. It was all part of the fun of being an honorary auntie.

‘Yep. All the whipped cream you can eat.’

‘Daddy!! Can I have some?’ Olive turned around to where Archer was standing behind her, staring daggers at Annie. Annie smiled up at him.

‘Sure, Liv, let’s go.’

‘Weddings are the best!’ Olive was already halfway across the room before the sentence was fully out of her mouth.

‘You’re welcome,’ Annie said, and Archer shook his head like he was resigned to the fact that Olive would never sleep again.

‘You want anything?’ he asked Iris, leaning down to kiss her.

‘Well, all this talk about hot chocolate…’

Archer sighed but the little smile on his face betrayed him. He loved every minute of it.

‘I’ll get you one.’

‘Extra marshmallows, please. It’s for the baby.’

Archer laughed and pressed another kiss to her lips before straightening. ‘Of course. For the baby.’

‘Love you!’ Iris called as he walked away.

‘Wow.’

‘I know,’ Iris said with a smile.

Annie shook her head, debating if she also wanted hot chocolate, but instead turned her attention back to Daisy. ‘So, are you going to go talk to him?’

‘What? Talk to the architect guy? No, nope. No way. Not in the market for weirdos that stare at you from across the room. No, thank you.’

Annie laughed. ‘Good call, although he is a pretty cute weirdo,’ she said, remembering her short-lived plan to invite him to the wedding as her date.

Daisy peered over at him one more time. ‘Cute, maybe, but I’ve sworn off men anyway.’

‘Now hold on,’ Iris said. ‘You said you swore off love. That doesn't mean you have to swear off men altogether. You know they are good for other things,’ she said with a wink.

Daisy laughed, tucking her dark hair behind her ear. She looked gorgeous in her slinky black dress. It really was no wonder the weird architect guy was staring at her.

‘I forgot to mention,’ Annie said. ‘You don’t need to worry about your curse ruining this marriage.’

‘Really, and why’s that? Because Logan and Jeanie love each other so much?’

‘Nope,’ Annie said with a grin. ‘Because Estelle brought back a magic, olden-times nightie that will bring them good luck.’

‘What the hell does that mean?’ Iris asked.

‘I tracked her to New Hampshire today where she was fighting with her ancient cousin over a nightgown that will now feature prominently in my nightmares. Oh, my God, see!’

Annie gestured over to where Estelle stood in front of Jeanie and Logan’s table holding up the offensive garment.

Jeanie had a smile plastered on her face, but Logan looked like he wanted to crawl under the table and die.

Annie, Iris, and Daisy burst out laughing.

‘Hey, Annie, looks like your sister is stealing your man,’ Daisy said once they’d recovered from their fit of giggles.

Annie’s head whipped to the dance floor where Mac was currently twirling her sister, Charlotte, in a slow circle.

Annie’s brain short-circuited.

What the actual fuck.

‘If you’ll excuse me, ladies,’ she said, getting up from her seat so fast their empty glasses rattled on the table. No time to track down her shoes; she marched across the room barefoot to where Elliot stood with wide eyes at her approach.

‘I need you to dance with me,’ she said, grabbing him by the hand.

‘I actually… I just…’

‘It really doesn't matter,’ Annie cut him off. ‘I need you to dance with me for one song. Okay? We're not getting married or anything. No need to worry.’ She dragged him onto the dance floor.

Poor Elliot took one more glance at Daisy and followed Annie into the throng of dancers.

* * *

‘Told you it would work,’ Charlotte said, looking over his shoulder at where Annie had just charged onto the dance floor.

Mac could feel Annie's rage boring into the back of his head.

Of course it worked. How many times had they done this? He’d bring a date somewhere and then Annie did. Over and over again, they’d tormented each other.

He was tired of it but, if this was the only way to get Annie to pay attention, then he would do whatever it took.

She’d been avoiding him all night, ever since they had walked back down the aisle together.

Her arm had felt so right in his, he hadn’t wanted to let go, but there were photos to be taken and toasts to be given.

She’d even managed to scramble up the bridal party for the first dance and he’d ended up dancing with Hazel while Noah got to dance with Annie.

He told himself he was going to be patient.

He was going to wait for the wedding to be over like he promised he would, but Annie, in that dress, was making it impossible.

It hugged every delicious curve of her. Every dip, every delectable bit of her body was on display, and as the night wore on, Mac found himself with less and less patience.

So, when Annie's little sister, who insisted he call her ‘Charlie’ now, offered him a dance, it seemed like the perfect way to spur Annie into action.

Except there was a flaw in his plan because, as he slowly spun Charlie on the dance floor, he came face to face with Annie in another man’s arms. Who the hell was that guy with his hand on Annie’s back, his fingertips grazing her bare skin in the exact place Mac had imagined touching all night?

The guy from the inn? Whoever he was, Mac wanted him dead.

‘You okay?’ Charlie asked. ‘You got all weirdly tense there for a minute.’

Mac cleared his throat, and Annie caught his eye over the shoulder of her dance partner. She gave him a satisfied little smirk.

‘I think your sister might be the death of me,’ he told her.

‘She is the most stubborn person I know, so good luck with that.’

‘Yeah, I know that. I’ve been trying to get her to forgive me for years now.’

‘And how's that going?’

‘She’s dancing with another man, so not great.’

Charlie raised a brow. ‘To be fair, you're dancing with another woman.’

‘Good point,’ he said as he watched Annie’s hands wrap tighter around the man's neck until their bodies were nearly flush together. He practically growled with rage.

Or maybe he did growl, because Charlie pulled back, her eyebrows raised.

‘Sorry.’

‘Do you want to know what I think?’ she said.

‘Sure.’ What did he have to lose? He was already failing at this and had been for years. Maybe one of the people who knew Annie best could finally help him figure it out.

‘I know Annie thinks it’s some big secret that you two were together for a while there, but I knew, little sisters always know, and I know how upset she was when you left.’

‘Shit, Charlie, I know. But how many times can I say I was a dumb kid and I’m sorry?’

She shook her head. ‘That’s not the main problem.

Getting over heartbreak is easy but you bruised her ego .

You know she loves to be perfect. But she was wrong about you.

She fell for you and then you never came back.

She hates to be wrong. You made her feel stupid and foolish and that is something she hates more than anything. ’

‘What do I do about it?’

‘Well, that's the hard part. I’m not really sure. I guess she needs to know for certain that you’re not going to do it again.’

Mac sighed. ‘I’m trying.’