47. Harper
CHAPTER 47
Harper
The cinnamon sugar swirl cupcakes smelled amazing.
Cinnamon had sounded good, so I’d decided Angel Cakes needed a batch of them for the pastry case. It was usually more of a fall flavor, but hey, I was pregnant and in charge. That meant we had cinnamony goodness in the summer.
I had a feeling customers weren’t going to mind.
As delicious as the cinnamon smelled, my mind drifted to the pepperoni pizza I had waiting at home. My pepperoni craving was in full force. I probably needed to eat a vegetable once in a while, but apparently the tiny one wanted pizza. Who was I to argue?
My hand drifted to my belly. The tiny one was still, well, tiny. But my pants were getting snug. And okay, that might have been due to the pizza. My bras didn’t fit, either, but that wasn’t pepperoni’s fault.
And Garrett certainly wasn’t complaining.
I started on a batch of blackberry almond thumbprints. They’d been a surprise hit—once I’d finally had a chance to bake a batch, instead of forgetting them in a cold oven. Customers were loving my new selection of grain-free treats. We still offered lots of our favorites, but so many customers had commented that they loved having alternative choices. And I’d been having fun experimenting, so it was a definite win-win.
The noise of a siren caught my attention. I wondered if the fire engine was about to race by. Wouldn’t have been the first time. At least it wasn’t coming to the bakery. We hadn’t had any more burnt baked goods setting off the fire alarm incidents.
In fact, my luck seemed to be holding.
The sound grew, so I went out front to see what was going on. A sheriff’s department patrol car came screeching down the street and stopped at an angle in front of the bakery. A second later, another one did the same thing, creating a V-shape with the first.
“Um, should we be worried?” Beth asked.
“I don’t know.”
Another patrol car arrived, lights flashing and siren blaring.
It was starting to make me nervous. If there’d been a bank across the street, I would have wondered if it was being robbed.
“Harper Tilburn,” a voice on a loudspeaker boomed. “Please exit the building.”
Beth and I looked at each other with wide eyes.
“Was that Garrett?” she asked.
“It didn’t sound like him.”
“Harper Tilburn,” the voice said again. “Please exit the building with your hands in the air.”
“Okay, this has to be a joke,” I said. “Are pranks on girlfriends a Tilikum thing? I thought it was just the old feud.”
“I think you should do what he says. It’s the cops.”
I laughed. This had to be a joke.
Although why would Garrett be pulling a prank on me?
“Okay, I’ll see what they want. ”
I went to the front of the bakery and poked my head out. “Hi?”
The sirens had stopped but the blue and red lights still flashed. It was quite the sight.
“That’s it, ma’am. Come outside and keep your hands where we can see them.”
There seemed to be an abundance of law enforcement officers, although none of them were pointing weapons at me like you might see in a movie. They were standing outside their cars, most with sunglasses and crossed arms.
I stepped out and held my hands at shoulder height, palms out. “What’s going on?”
“Keep walking, ma’am. Hands up.”
I laughed a little, but I didn’t see Garrett. What was happening? This couldn’t be real.
Tourist season was in full swing and the spectacle was generating a small crowd. Some of the deputies moved to keep people from getting closer, blocking the sidewalks on both sides of the street.
“Step into the street, ma’am,” the voice said, still using the loudspeaker.
I couldn’t tell who it was. The rest of them just stood there, watching me. I glanced up the road and saw Marigold and Audrey, along with Annika and her husband. I wanted to wave, but I’d also been instructed by law enforcement to stand in the street. So I decided to do what I’d been told.
“Is everything okay?” I asked. “This is weird, you guys.”
The door of one of the patrol cars opened and I had to do a double take. It was Owen. But without his hoodie, I almost didn’t recognize him. He wore a crisp white button-down shirt, slacks, and a pair of aviator sunglasses. He reached back into the car and took out a big bouquet of red roses.
I clasped my hands to my chest.
“Hands up, ma’am.”
I laughed again and put my hands up. “Sorry. ”
Owen grinned as he walked over to me. Had he grown? He’d always been taller than me, but he seemed to keep getting bigger.
He held out the flowers.
“Can I lower my hands to take them?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Owen said.
I tucked them in the crook of my elbow. They smelled wonderful. “What’s going on?”
He didn’t answer, but his smile grew.
The driver’s side of the same patrol car opened and Garrett got out.
His big, muscular body gave his uniform a workout and his aviators were so sexy, I could hardly stand it. With a slight smirk on his lips, he walked toward me.
“What is happening?” I asked. “I feel like I’m in trouble but also not because of the flowers.”
He took my hand in his and brought it to his lips. Then he did the most incredible thing I’d ever seen.
He dropped to one knee.
Sugar cookies. He was going to…
This was…
Oh my goodness.
“Harper, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
My mouth opened but I’d completely forgotten how to use words. I stared at him, frozen in place, while the blue and red lights flashed around me.
Owen leaned closer to his dad. “I told you we need the pizza.”
“What do you think, love?” He took a box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a beautiful blue topaz surrounded by a halo of tiny diamonds. “Will you marry me?”
“Pizza, Dad,” Owen whispered.
“Yes!” I squealed. “Yes, yes, yes. Sorry, I forgot how to talk for a second. Yes, please. I want to marry you so much. ”
He took out the ring and slipped it on my finger, then rose and scooped me into his arms. My feet left the ground and he twirled me around while the sirens blared in a cacophony of chaotic noise.
Vaguely, I was aware of people clapping and cheering all around us. He set me down on my feet and brought his mouth to mine for a kiss.
He pulled away for a second, but kissed me again, as if he couldn’t get enough. I was laughing and crying and kissing him all at the same time. It was a big, beautiful whirlwind.
Finally, he pulled back. Owen stood next to us, now holding a pizza box from Home Slice.
“Open it,” he said.
I lifted the lid and the tantalizing scent of pepperoni pizza almost made my eyes roll back. “That smells so good. I’ve been dreaming about pizza all day.”
“But look,” Owen said.
I looked into the box and the words Marry Me were spelled out in pepperoni.
“Oh my gosh, you have a proposal pizza too?”
“Owen insisted,” Garrett said with a shrug. “Although most of this was his idea.”
“Dad was just going to take you out to dinner.” He rolled his eyes. “Boring.”
“This was amazing. Thank you.”
To my surprise, that wasn’t the only thing Owen had suggested. There wasn’t just one pizza, there were enough pizzas to feed half the town. The patrol cars blocked off the street and people began milling around as someone set up folding tables to serve all the food. Paper plates and coolers of drinks appeared, as if by magic. And someone had even brought peanut butter cookies from Nature’s Basket Grocery to treat the squirrels.
In minutes, we were at the center of an impromptu engagement party .
I had Beth bring out treats, emptying the pastry case. It felt kind of amazing. The bakery was doing so well, I didn’t have to worry about what losing one afternoon of business would cost. I could just give and celebrate with my friends and neighbors.
And the pizza was so satisfying. Nothing had ever tasted so good as indulging my pregnancy craving.
I got hugs from everyone I knew in town, and a lot of people I didn’t. Matt and Mila were there, holding hands, looking like the strangest couple I’d ever seen—the awkward guy and the goth girl. Marigold teared up when she hugged me, as did Audrey. Annika and her family were there, Paul and Marlene seemed to appear out of nowhere, and there were so many Haven brothers, I pretty much lost track.
Owen came over with a plate of pizza and held it out to me. “Did you get enough?”
I put a hand on my stomach. “I’m so stuffed, I don’t think I have room for both pizza and a baby.”
He smiled. “Just wanted to make sure.”
“You are such an amazing kid. You know that, right?”
“Cool, but don’t make it weird.”
“Oh, I’m gonna make it weird.” I stepped in for a hug and wrapped my arms around him. He hugged me with one arm, the other still holding the paper plate.
Just before I let go, he spoke quietly. “I’m glad you said yes.”
“I’m glad you wanted me to.”
He stepped back. “You make really good cookies, so…”
I laughed. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Garrett slipped an arm around my waist and drew me against him. “Did you get enough pizza?”
Owen held up the plate. “Already asked.”
Turning toward him, I looked up into his eyes. The way he smiled at me, like he’d never been happier, made my heart so warm and squishy, I thought I might melt right there .
“Hi, love,” he said, his voice low.
“Hi.”
“Happy engagement day.”
“Thank you.”
“Did I miss anything?”
“No. I can’t imagine anything better.”
“Good.” He leaned down and kissed the tip of my nose. “Neither can I.”
“I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
He brought his lips to mine, and I fought a small smile as I ignored Owen’s groan. It was our engagement day, he could live with it. And as Garrett kissed me, I realized something. It was like a flash of awareness, sparking through my brain with bright intensity.
My bad luck was gone.
The mirror curse shouldn’t have been over for another several months. But I hadn’t had a single incident of bad luck recently.
Garrett had broken the curse.
Okay sure, I’d gotten pregnant unexpectedly, but that wasn’t bad luck. No, it was the best thing that had ever happened to me. And yes, we’d been targeted by a raving lunatic serial killer and could have been murdered. But we weren’t. And now an evil man would never hurt another person again.
Plus, the bakery was thriving, the criminal who’d hated Garrett had gotten help, creepy Matt had found a love connection with stoic Mila, Aunt Doris was enjoying retirement, I had wonderful new friends, and was surrounded by a huge new family I loved like crazy.
That seemed like a lot of good, especially for a girl who’d gotten awfully used to the bad.
Garrett had definitely broken the curse.
And now I was going to be his wife .
He pulled away and gently touched my face. I loved him so much, I felt like my heart could burst. We were going to be a family, the three of us—soon to be four. I’d never imagined I could be so happy, so fulfilled, so in love and at peace.
My dreams were coming true, even the ones I’d been too afraid to dream. I couldn’t have imagined a better happy ending to our story.
And really, we were just beginning.