Epilogue
Epilogue
Love and marriage looked good on some people.
Holt Steele watched as his buddy and business partner made googly eyes at his wife on the other side of the bakery’s freshly kitted out commercial kitchen as they hooked up the new range. Under other circumstances, he might’ve busted Brax’s chops about it. But he and Mia had been through so much to come back to each other, Holt didn’t have the heart. They had a right to wallow in whatever happiness they’d found again, without him sharing his own generally negative opinions about matrimony. Some people wanted to be tied down, and that was fine for them. He just wasn’t one of them.
“Hey, where’s Jonah?” Mia asked. “I figured he’d be in on this installation if for no other reason than so the three of you can inaugurate the kitchen with deliciousness.”
“He said he had to make a run down to Knoxville for something this morning.” Holt checked his watch. “He ought to be back soon, though.”
As if summoned by the statement, the man himself strode in through the front door they’d left open to let in the spring breeze. “I have returned with a surprise.”
A familiar, willowy blonde came in behind him. “And how are my favorite students?”
Holt broke into a smile. “Rachel McCleary. What brings you this far down south?” He pushed out of the kitchen and past the front counter to greet her with a hug.
She squeezed him back. “You guys, of course. Jonah requested my expertise to make sure you think of everything before your opening.”
Holt glanced at his other friend. “Did he now?”
“Man, we need all the help we can get. We know how to bake. We didn’t exactly cover the business side of things in the program.”
“Fear not. I’ve got your backs. Brax, where are you hiding? Oh, is this the kitchen?”
They trailed her through the swinging door as she went to meet him. “Oh, this is fabulous. I can’t believe you ended up with this from that eyesore you started with.”
Brax beamed. “That would be because of this woman right here. Rachel, meet my wife, Mia.”
In her usual friendly way, Rachel took Mia’s offered hand and pulled her in for a hug. “Sorry, I’m a hugger. And I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I know you.”
Mia shot her husband the side eye. “Have you now?”
“Wasn’t me,” Brax protested.
“Jonah’s been keeping me up-to-date on everybody,” Rachel explained.
They all turned to look at Jonah, whose ears had turned red. “What? We’re friends. She wanted to know how everyone was doing.”
Rachel grinned. “And he’s Southern, so he’ll gossip more than either of you.”
Mia snorted. “So, you’re their teacher from Syracuse?”
“Guilty. It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
Rachel hugged Brax, then stepped back to take a long look at him. “You look good. Happy. It’s nice to see.”
“Nice to feel. How long are you here for?”
“Audrey’s second cohort is making solid progress, and we finally found another baker to help, so I get a break for a while. I’m not sure exactly how long I’m staying. As long as you need me, I guess. At least a couple of weeks. It’ll do me good to be out of Syracuse for a while. It’s my first time in… well, a long time.”
Holt didn’t miss the shadow that passed over her usually cheerful face. It had been nearly two years since her firefighter husband had died because of injuries sustained on the job, and she’d grieved hard. Dr. Graham’s program had been as much therapy for her as it had been for the rest of them.
“Well, we’re glad to have you. Where are you staying?” Holt asked.
“I booked a room at The Misfit Inn. I hear their spa is amazing, so I’m planning to avail myself of their services while I’m here.”
“I can attest to the truth of that,” Mia said. “My business partner is married to one of the sisters who owns it. You’ll love it.”
Talk turned back to the building itself and they gave her the fifty-cent tour, ending behind the display cases out front.
“Well, I think it’s awesome. It’s a well-thought-out space from both a retail and kitchen perspective,” Rachel declared. “What are you planning to call it?”
Holt exchanged a look with both his partners.
Jonah offered a sheepish smile. “We haven’t actually decided yet.”
“You need something clever,” Rachel declared. “Something hooky that people will remember.”
“Bad Boy Bakers.”
Everybody but Holt swung toward the new voice. He didn’t have to turn to picture its owner. Cayla Black. Curvy, with honey-blonde hair, and far more appealing than she had any right to be. And, as a single mom, very, very off limits. He’d done his time raising a child when he’d taken on his baby sister, Hadley. He wasn’t interested in going down that road again. So, it didn’t matter how much this woman made him want to smile, because she deserved someone who could be all in.
He had to remind himself of that fact yet again as he turned and caught sight of her pretty blush. She lifted her hand in a self-conscious wave. “Hi, neighbors. Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Her other hand stayed on the shoulder of a pint-sized version of her, who tucked in close to her mother’s side.
“Bad Boy Bakers?” Jonah repeated.
“I mean, not to objectify you, but… look at the three of you.” Her gaze skated over all of them before landing on Holt and lingering a beat too long, the color in her cheeks deepening before she looked away again.
Mia laughed. “You’re not wrong.”
“I think it’s kind of genius,” Rachel agreed.
Brax rubbed a hand on the back of his reddening neck. “Uh… I think we’re gonna have to discuss that.”
Yeah, Holt wasn’t touching that with a ten-foot pole. He turned to Cayla. “What are you doing here? Do you have another cake emergency?” He chose not to think about how often in the past few weeks he’d wished for her to pop up with one. Creating that cake on a ridiculous deadline had been some of the most fun he’d had in months.
“Actually, no. Mia asked me to pop over. Something about a job?” Her gaze tracked behind his shoulder to where the woman in question stood with Brax.
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you in your formal event planner capacity.” She lifted her left hand to show off a shiny new diamond. “We’re getting married again, and we’d like you to plan our vow renewal ceremony.”
“Oh my God! That’s wonderful!” Cayla released her daughter to rush behind the counter and wrap Mia in a massive hug. “I’d love to plan your vow renewal!”
Seeing the little girl shrink back in the face of all the grownups, Holt skirted around the counter and hunkered down to her level. “Hi, there.”
It wasn’t until those big Disney princess eyes fixed on his feet and got even bigger that he realized he was wearing his running blade instead of his normal prosthetic with a shoe.
“Are you a Transformer?” she whispered.
“Maddie!” Cayla choked out.
Preferring the kid’s direct approach to the way adults tended to go out of the way to avoid the topic, Holt shook his head. “Nope.”
“What happened to your foot?”
He wasn’t entirely sure what was an appropriate way to explain amputation to a five-year-old. Straightening, he went with the simplest explanation he could think of. “I got hurt, so they had to give me a new one.”
Maddie nodded very seriously. Then she bent, wrapping her arms around his leg, and pressed a kiss to his knee where the prosthetic attached.
Everybody froze, including Holt.
Maddie looked up with those big brown eyes that were just like her mother’s. “Mama says we should always kiss the booboos to make them better.”
In that moment, Holt felt his tough, guarded warrior’s heart fall straight at the little girl’s feet.
He was so completely screwed.
I hope you enjoyed reading Brax and Mia’s second chance! I know there are questions left unanswered as yet. Fear not! That was on purpose. The story continues through the rest of the series.
There is also a BONUS EPILOGUE. Click right here to get that straight to your inbox: https:// books. kaitnolan. com/ si3nl9lvql
Keep turning the pages to read Cayla and Holt’s story!