Chapter 4
CAROLINE
Caroline swiped the rag over the front of the display case, removing hours’ worth of sticky fingerprints and smudges.
Kids couldn’t resist flattening their hands against the window and pointing at the sweet treats they wanted.
Only a few cupcakes with perfectly swirled icing atop were left, arranged in neat rows in the case.
She’d straightened them after the last wave of customers tore through the bakery.
Skye appeared through the door leading to the back room and straightened her pink top. The Cakery’s wispy logo covered the front of the T-shirt. “Everything is ready for tomorrow. Do you mind if I slip out? I have a mountain of laundry waiting for me.”
Caroline swept the broom across the floor, pushing the small sprinkling of dirt into the dust pan. “Go ahead.”
Skye stopped at the end of the counter and squished her brows together. “You know, I’d be happy to cover for you if you ever wanted to leave early or sleep in.”
Of course Skye would offer something like that, even knowing it was useless. If Caroline wanted to be anywhere else, she wouldn’t have worked so hard to become the owner of this place.
The Cakery was her home away from home. Taylor Ranch where her family still lived would always be the best place on earth, but she’d been in love with this little bakery since she learned how to walk.
Growing up under the Burrows’ patience and guidance had solidified a bond that had shaped her entire life.
She’d always hoped and prayed they would consider passing the store to her when they retired, but no one could have known her dreams would come true after a tragedy.
She’d wanted to call The Cakery her own, but not at the expense of Mr. Burrows’ health.
They still enjoyed working as regular employees for Caroline during the busy season.
“Thanks, but I’m fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Skye hoisted her purse higher on her shoulder and wiggled her fingers in a playful wave. “Bright and early. Love you!”
“Love you too.”
Caroline gathered her long hair into a high ponytail and secured it with a band she dug out of her apron pocket. All that was left to do was clean the bathrooms, and she’d be on her way home in fifteen minutes.
The jingle of the bell above the door had Caroline lifting her chin and slipping on a friendly smile. “Hi, welcome to The—”
The first sight of the man standing just inside the door stopped her in her tracks. What in the world?
Justin McKinnon was in her bakery and staring at her with wide, panicked eyes.
Ugh. Those eyes. She turned into a helpless puddle of warm ganache every time his chocolate eyes locked with hers. It had always been that way. She turned into a robot without free will whenever Justin had given her his full attention.
The memories came rushing back like a tsunami. After all the effort she’d put into keeping them securely locked away where they couldn’t hurt her, everything in the past flooded over her.
The whole-body ache was only made worse by the sight of him looking all too well.
She’d seen plenty of photos of him over the years, and there had been a few unfortunate times when she’d looked at a television or online video at just the wrong moment to catch him filling up the screen and choking the life out of her all over again.
Seeing him in the flesh was a hundred times worse than those glimpses, especially when he looked at her like she was the only thing in the world.
The way he used to.
His dark hair was cut short the way he always liked it, and his frame was broader, sturdier than those traitorous videos had led her to believe.
Was he taller? He’d left her when he was only twenty years old.
She’d been a naive eighteen-year-old herself, but life hadn’t given her a glow-up since then.
The only thing that had changed her appearance since then was her mastery of a hair wand.
After working such a long shift, and pulling it back, there wasn’t anything flattering left to her hair style.
There was next to nothing left of her makeup at this point.
Of course, the love of her life who broke her heart would choose to show up at a moment when she wasn’t looking as fresh as a daisy.
She’d imagined meeting Justin again plenty of times, and she’d gone through all different scenarios. Sometimes she punched him in the face. Sometimes she kissed him the way her heart ached to do. Sometimes she just told him how much he’d hurt her.
Now he was standing in her shop looking way too good in a police uniform, and she couldn’t do anything except reach for the back of the pink chair at one of the small tables. If she didn’t take a breath soon, she was going to pass out.
Justin’s chest rose in a deep swell before he strode toward her, eating up the empty space between them like a race car barreling toward the finish line.
And her traitorous body didn’t do anything. Nothing? Really? Where was her self-preservation when she needed it?
The man who’d once held her future in the palm of his strong hand stopped mere inches in front of her. The gaze from dark-brown eyes she knew so well roamed her face, leaving a tingling rush in its wake.
A sharp pain tore through her chest. She’d missed him so much, and her stupid heart didn’t know any better.
So many people spouted advice against young love, and maybe they were right sometimes, but that wasn’t the case for Caroline. She’d recognized her match at eighteen, and seeing him now only validated what she already knew.
She couldn’t help it. She had no control when it came to her feelings for Justin. It was as if she was only meant to have one love, and she’d stupidly wasted it on the first boy who treated her like the light of his life.
But what happened when he changed his mind and didn’t want her anymore?
She turned into a squirrel. That’s what. Not just any squirrel—the young red squirrel from the old Sword in the Stone movie. The scene where the lovestruck squirrel finds out that she’s fallen for a human boy, not another squirrel, is the saddest cinematic moment in history.
Squirrels mate for life, and that poor squirrel wasted hers on someone she could never be with.
Same, girl. Same.
And Caroline’s ridiculous loyal heart still longed for him, even after all this time.
Justin’s Adam’s apple bobbed before he whispered, “Will you please act like we’re together for just a few seconds?”
Ah sprinkles. Why did he have to hit her where it hurt? Why did he have to pull out those good memories and turn them to ash?
“Please,” he added in a voice that was deeper, yet incredibly familiar in the best and worst ways.
A second later, the bell above the door chimed happily as if she wasn’t currently slogging through an existential crisis. Four young women barged in wearing matching wild eyes and smiles. One had a little boy propped on her hip.
“Justin McKinnon!” a woman shouted in a high-pitched whine.
Justin pinned Caroline with a serious gaze. “Please.”
One of the ropes holding her fractured heart together snapped. He wasn’t putting her through this for no reason. He really needed help the way she had the day they met.
Why couldn’t she just tell him to have a nice life? Why couldn’t she push him away and protect her wounded pride?
Why did he have to come back and make things worse?
Caroline nodded. She might not understand why it was impossible to say no to anyone who needed help, but nothing inside her could let the group of wild females eat him alive when he’d saved her from the same threat once.
One second she was a normal woman standing on her own two feet. The next, Justin’s tree trunk of an arm wrapped around her and pulled her flush against him and the hard vest he wore.
For the love of cotton candy, why did the blissful embrace she’d dreamed about hundreds of times have to hurt so much? Memories of Justin holding her rolled over her. There had been a time in both of their lives when this exact spot had been their favorite place in the world.
Now, his touch was scalding, branding her with a note of danger that couldn’t be ignored. It was salt on an old wound he’d just ripped open again.
A scoff tore Caroline out of her spiral, and she turned toward the women who’d just chased Justin into The Cakery. The faces that were no doubt gorgeous each pulled in unnatural ways, distorted by sneers and frowns at the sight of Justin holding Caroline against him.
“I’m sorry. We’re closed.”
Wow. She’d managed to get the words out in a steadiness she didn’t feel.
One of the women—a tall red-haired beauty—rolled her eyes and turned quickly, stomping away from the open door. Another blonde woman actually dropped her jaw open in shock as if she was used to getting her way and this dismissal was unacceptable.
Another with slightly darker hair grabbed the blonde’s arm and mumbled, “Come on. What a buzz kill.”
Slowly, the women turned and exited the bakery, letting the bell chime above the door as they went, leaving Caroline suspended weightless in Justin’s arms.
When they were alone in the store, she turned her attention to him to find him already looking at her, capturing her in his entrancing gaze. He swallowed so hard she heard the gulp.
“Thank you for that,” he whispered.
Uh-oh. Her stomach was flipping like a kid on a tilt-a-whirl. She couldn’t afford to get caught in his charm. Not again.
The Justin McKinnon she’d known and loved had belonged to her and only her. Now, she was another one of the many women who had floated in and out of his life. He’d spent their years apart running from crazed women, and she couldn’t get out of a good relationship fast enough.
Pressing her palms against his vest, she pushed him back. “I hate this reenactment.” She spoke with clenched teeth. “I hate it more than I hate dark chocolate.”
The look of wonder on his face fell into something almost like hurt.
He had the nerve to pretend to be wounded after all he’d put her through. No. If anything, she was the one who had taken the blows. He’d been the one to dole them out.
Justin rubbed a hand over his short hair then reached for her. “Caroline.” Her name was a plea.
The burning in Caroline’s chest grew hotter until it seared her insides. Slowly shaking her head, she took a step back. There would be no giving in. She’d been there, done that, got the scars to prove it. She knew better now.
Justin took a step toward her. “Can we talk? Please?” he added, leaving his hand outstretched and open between them.
“No.” The word was so small, there was a chance he didn’t hear it. “You fooled me. You tricked me into thinking we had something special, then you left. All the promises and all the dreams—gone.”
He turned away from her, lifting his hands to thread his fingers into his hair.
He made it to the door before turning and marching back toward her.
His mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out.
He made one more pace to the door and back with his hands clasped over his head before he gathered his words.
“I’m so sorry. Not for loving you, I’ve never regretted that, but for everything else. I moved back to town, and I’ve been trying to work up the guts to talk to you. We have a lot to talk about.”
Her chin lifted in an instant. She needed her defenses to stay strong. “We don’t need to talk. It’s just a lot of history, but that’s all it is. History.”
She pushed past him, blazing a hot trail toward the door. “We’re closed.”
“Caroline, please.” His voice was right behind her, following her around as it always had.
This was all she’d wanted for the last decade, and now that it was here, living and breathing in front of her, the only thing she wanted to do was punt him into the next millennium where she wouldn’t have to face the hurt.
When she reached the door, she propped it open with one arm. She rested her back against it, letting the cold air wash over her and leaving plenty of room for him to slip out of her life once again.
He’d followed her but stopped in the entryway. The cool night air filled her nose, jolting her back to life. Justin had walked out on his own once, and he could do it again.
How long did she stand in the doorway while Justin waited? He wasn’t moving, and that meant she wasn’t either. She wanted him gone, and she was making a clear way for him to exit.
“I know you’re upset, but I want to apologize. I have so much to say. I—”
“There’s nothing to say.” She shook her head. He thought she was upset? Upset didn’t begin to cover it. She got upset when she had a bad hair day. What she’d been after Justin left was nothing short of heartbroken.
She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t cry. She would not cry! Not because she was tired and hungry after working a long shift, not because her life hadn’t turned out the way she’d wanted, and not because the love of her life was standing here the way she’d always dreamed he would.
After trusting him so completely, how could she? She couldn’t. Years of hurt didn’t erase in a moment.
Her chest heaved as she faced him. He was too perfect—handling life all too well while she was losing her grip.
“I forget about you sometimes. Then I forget why I need to keep my guard up and a memory sneaks past my defenses.” Despite her efforts, traitorous tears fell down her cheeks.
“It’s just as awful now as it was then.”
Tilting her head toward the dim sidewalk outside the bakery, she kept her head down as she waited for Justin to move out of her bakery, out of her sight, out of her thoughts.
It would be easier this time. There weren’t any expectations, and no one’s heart would get broken.
A few seconds later, he stepped past, leaving the bakery and her heart behind.