Chapter 9
Jayme was blissfully happy. Warm Delights was ready to open on January second.
It was December twenty-third, and she was at Memaw’s house preparing a huge Christmas dinner.
Over the last few weeks, she and Rocket had attended quite a few get-togethers.
She’d baked cookies, cakes, bread, pastries, and pies.
She’d even made a fruitcake at Memaw’s request.
Her parents had flown in and spent a few days getting to know Rocket and catching up on their daughter’s life.
They’d ooh and aahed over her bakery and told her how proud they were of her.
Even Rocket’s mom and dad had visited. He wasn’t as close with his family, but he’d said afterward it felt good to at least try to connect with them once again.
They’d hung out with Memaw’s neighbors when they’d had a big party, and Jayme had really enjoyed getting to know all of Aspen and Kane’s friends. The men were all buff and strong, and she appreciated seeing how loving they were with their women.
All-in-all, it had been a great month of December, but Jayme was ready to hunker down for a few days with just Rocket.
They’d been on the go so much they hadn’t had a lot of time to spend with just the two of them.
After tonight’s dinner, they’d both decided they would take until the twenty-seventh to do nothing but be with each other.
No work for either of them. No visiting Memaw (although Jayme would check on her via phone every day to make sure she was all right), and no thinking about all the work she still had to do to open Warm Delights on the second. It would be just them, enjoying each other’s company and feeling loved.
But first, they were celebrating Christmas with Memaw.
Rocket had been called into work for an emergency repair on one of the helicopters and he’d apologized a hundred times before Jayme had finally shooed him out of the house. “The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back,” she’d told him.
“Thank you for understanding,” he’d said.
“Of course. There will be times I’ll probably need to head down to the bakery on my time off because of some catastrophe. Besides, as much as you’ve learned in the kitchen, you’ll just be in my way. Go, and when you get back, there’ll be a nice Christmas dinner waiting for you.”
“Love you,” Rocket had said as he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.
“Love you too.”
Now she and Memaw were happily talking about her new Jazzercise class she was taking down at the YMCA. It was for seniors, and they all sat in chairs as they be-bopped to music.
“I think you should come with me one day,” Memaw said.
Jayme rolled her eyes. “I don’t think so.”
“It’ll be fun.”
Her grandmother’s idea of fun and Jayme’s were quite different. But to get her off her back, she said, “I’ll think about it.”
Memaw turned to her with her hands on her hips. “No, you won’t. You’re just saying that to shut me up.”
Jayme couldn’t help but laugh. “True. Is it working?”
“No,” Memaw griped.
Jayme chuckled again. “Will you please hand me the milk?”
Memaw frowned. “Milk?”
“Yeah, the stuff that comes from cows? I decided to double this cookie recipe because I want to make sure you have enough to tide you over until I come by again.”
“Lord, child, how many cookies do you think I’m gonna eat?” Memaw asked.
“I know you, Memaw,” Jayme said. “You’ll get bored, and you’ll want to feed Aspen and Kane. Then you’ll call one of your friends to meet up. You’ll hand out cookies to your mail delivery person, and anyone else you might see. I just want to make sure you’ve got enough.”
Her grandmother laughed. “Right, okay, I see your point. But seriously, I think I’ll be okay for four days while you and Rocket are locked inside his house.”
Jayme blushed but turned to glance at her grandmother. “Why are you trying to talk me out of doubling this batch of cookies?”
Memaw held up the empty half-gallon container of milk. “Because we’re out of milk.”
“Well, crap,” Jayme said in dismay. She glanced at her watch. “The convenience store down the street is still open. I’ll just run down there and grab another one.”
“Why don’t you just go knock on Kane’s door?”
“Because I need more than just a cup or so,” Jayme argued as she went to the sink to wash her hands. “The mashed potatoes could probably use another dash once they sit for a while, and Rocket might want a glass with his dinner. I won’t take too long.”
“Rocket should be back soon. You could text him and ask him to pick it up on his way,” Memaw said.
“I don’t want to bother him. It’ll just take ten minutes or so,” Jayme replied breezily. “Stir the gravy while I’m gone, and check the turkey. You shouldn’t need to take the aluminum foil off yet, but just check on it.”
“I know how to cook, missy,” her grandmother said a little huffily. “Who do you think taught you?”
Jayme leaned down and kissed Winnie on the cheek. “You did. And okay, I’ll be right back. Love you.”
“Love you too,” her grandmother said as Jayme grabbed the keys to the car Memaw still had but didn’t drive much anymore.
Ten minutes later, Jayme wished she’d taken her grandmother’s advice and had texted Rocket instead of dashing down to the store herself.
Rocket was glad the problem at work wasn’t terribly difficult to solve.
He was a little annoyed they’d bothered him at all, but he didn’t say anything to the captain who’d greeted him at the shop when he’d arrived.
He was grateful to have a job he loved, even if it meant it took him away from his girlfriend more than he liked.
He reminded himself that once Warm Delights opened, he and Jayme would have even less time to spend together, although she’d decided to close her doors at two in the afternoon every day.
She’d open at five in the morning and use the late afternoons to prepare the special orders for the next day.
She should be home by dinnertime most days, and at least they’d have every evening together.
That was the plan at least, but Rocket knew as her bakery got more successful, she’d probably need to revisit her hours.
But she could always hire more staff to be at the store while she headed home.
He’d just have to give her a damn good reason to want to come home every afternoon instead of working late.
Smiling as he pulled into Winnie’s driveway, he knocked on her door before heading inside.
The interior of the house smelled delicious and his stomach immediately began to rumble.
He still hadn’t gotten used to eating as well as he had since meeting Jayme.
She might claim that baking was her forte, but she was a hell of a good cook as well.
“Hey, Winnie,” he said as he entered the kitchen and saw Jayme’s grandmother standing by the stove.
“Hi, Rocket. Everything go okay at work?”
“Yup. Where’s Jayme?”
“She decided I needed twenty-eight dozen cookies instead of just one, and we ran out of milk. So she ran down to the convenience store to buy some more.”
“Why didn’t she text me to pick it up on my way?” Rocket asked with a frown.
Winnie laughed. “That’s what I told her to do, but she said it would just take a few minutes.”
“Okay. I’ll head down there to meet up with her,” Rocket said.
“I’m sure she’ll be right back,” Winnie protested. She looked up at the clock hanging on the wall in the kitchen. “She just left a few minutes ago.”
“If I pass her, I’ll just turn around and follow her home,” Rocket said. He didn’t know why he felt the pressing need to go to the store. He’d missed her, but he always did while he was working.
“Be careful,” Winnie said as he headed back toward the front door.
“I will.”
Rocket jogged back out to his truck and headed down the street toward the small convenience store at the entrance to Winnie’s neighborhood. There were a few cars in the lot, and he saw Winnie’s old Buick.
He climbed out and headed for the door, excited to see the look of surprise—and probably a bit of irritation—on Jayme’s face when she saw him.
He knew she loved when he looked after her, but even he could admit that not waiting for her to get back from the store was going a little overboard.
In his defense though, he was anxious for their four-day staycation to start.
He’d been looking forward to having her all to himself for weeks and was a bit resentful of being cheated out of some of his time with her because of work.
He was thinking about Jayme’s reaction to seeing him as he opened the door to the small convenience store, and therefore was a little slow in realizing what was going on.
Three men, dressed all in black, turned to stare at him as he entered. One was holding a pistol on the teenager behind the counter. Another was standing near a group of customers in one of the aisles, and the third was farther back, standing near Jayme and the cold case.
The men looked young, probably in their late teens or early twenties. They had bandanas over their faces but weren’t wearing gloves.
“Shit!” the guy in the aisle swore.
Rocket was moving before he consciously thought about it.
He had eyes for only one person. The man with the gun standing near Jayme.
The guy at the counter was closer, but he didn’t even think about trying to tackle him.
He ducked behind a counter and headed for Jayme.
It was stupid. He knew it was. But something in his brain had short circuited.
His only thought was getting to the woman he loved.
A gunshot rang out, and screams sounded loud in the small store. There was more swearing and the sound of shelves being knocked over and items falling to the floor. But Rocket didn’t look around, he was still focused on getting to Jayme.