Chapter 12
“That was so fun,” Kaiah said while Reid steered the SUV out of the elementary school parking lot. “And the kids loved you.
If this whole firefighting thing doesn’t work out, you could totally be a teacher.”
His grin sent a shiver dancing up her spine. “You think so, huh?”
“Yep.” She glanced down at her phone and checked her email. “I got a message from Libby. My article is live on the magazine’s
website.” She found another email from Clint at the local paper. “Oh! And Clint said he’s going to include it in tomorrow’s
edition of the paper. I’m hoping it gets picked up by the wire and goes national.”
“I have a sneaking suspicion it will.” He rested his elbow on the door and steered with his right hand. “I had another idea
for an event. My mom loves to garden, and she has prize-winning roses. What if we hosted garden tours as part of the festival?”
“Oh, I love that!” Kaiah declared.
“Since we have names for all of our other events, we could call it something like Coral Cove Brightening Blooms and give out a prize for the best garden and different kinds of flowers.”
“Yes.” She snapped her fingers. “And we could sell tickets for the tours as a fundraiser.”
He grinned. “Yup. Great minds think alike. I’ll mention it to my mom, and she can get her garden club involved. I know they’ll
want to volunteer.”
Her phone dinged with a message.
Becca: Hi! Do you like to bake?
Kaiah: Hey yourself! Do break-and-bake count?
Becca: LOL! The PTO is hosting a bake sale to raise awareness for the festival. We’re calling it the “Light the Way Home Bake
Sale,” and we’ll run it in the cafeterias at each Coral Cove school. With every purchase, we’ll include a flyer asking for
festival volunteers.
Kaiah: Wow, that’s awesome! I’m guessing you’re desperate for bakers if you’re asking me.
Becca: That obvious, huh? You nailed it. The bake sale starts tomorrow, and we need nautical-themed baked goods, like, yesterday.
Any chance I can convince you to bake some cookies and drop them off at one of the schools?
Kaiah glanced at Reid, who was humming along with the nineties country song on the radio and tapping the steering wheel along with the music. A vision of an apron stretching taut across his chest and his biceps flexing as he stirred cookie dough filled her mind—and made her mouth dry.
Oh yes, she definitely wanted to bake with him.
She texted: Sure thing! I’ll get Reid and Piper to help me this afternoon. Send me details about where to drop them off tomorrow morning.
Becca: Great! Brenda Jones and I are working on the website too. I’ll call you later so we can talk about what events we want
to feature.
Kaiah: Perfect.
She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “What time do you have to pick up Piper from school?”
“Two thirty.”
“That means we have time to go to the grocery store.”
He lifted his dark eyebrows. “And why are we going to the grocery store?”
“Do you like to bake?”
He studied her for a moment. “Why are you answering a question with a question?”
“Why are you?”
He held her gaze for a beat, and then they both started to laugh.
“Fine, fine!” she sang. “Becca said the PTO is going to host a bake sale starting tomorrow to promote the festival, and they need nautical baked goods. So this afternoon we’re going to bake some lighthouse cookies, and we’ll drop them off at one of the schools in the morning.
We can get the supplies now and start baking when Piper gets home. ”
He stopped at a red light and turned to face her. “You’re telling me that you want to make lighthouse cookies today so that
the PTO can have a bake sale tomorrow?”
“That’s exactly right.” She gave him palms up. “What do you think?”
A ghost of a smile played on his lips. “Sure.”
Kaiah smiled to herself. She was going to get him in that apron.
After picking up supplies at the grocery store, including two lighthouse-shaped cookie cutters, Kaiah got to work mixing the
dough while Reid picked up Piper from school. By the time father and daughter arrived home, Kaiah had the oven preheated and
the dough ready to shape.
“Miss Kaiah,” Piper announced as she scurried into the kitchen, “Daddy said we’re going to make cookies and I can help. I
love making cookies. This is gonna be great!”
Reid set Piper’s backpack on a kitchen chair. “She’s a little excited.” His warm expression sent Kaiah’s pulse quickening.
Kaiah chuckled. “I can see that.”
She touched Piper’s shoulder. “Why don’t you wash your hands at the sink, and then you can help cut out the lighthouses?”
Piper climbed up on her stool and scrubbed her hands before moving her stool over to the counter. “I’m ready.”
Reid leaned on the doorframe while Kaiah showed Piper how to cut out the lighthouses and then set them on the cookie sheets.
“Aren’t you going to help, Daddy?” Piper asked him.
“Yeah, Reid.” Kaiah rested her hand on her hip and made a face. “Why are we doing all the work?”
He held up his palms. “We only bought two cookie cutters, and there’s no room for me at the counter.” He pointed to the oven.
“I’ll be in charge of putting the cookie sheets in the oven, setting the timer, and taking them out.”
Kaiah looked at Piper. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know.” Piper shook her head. “I think he needs to help us decorate too.”
“Good idea.” Kaiah and Piper shared a high five. Then she studied Reid again. “By any chance, do you have an apron?”
His eyebrows knitted together. “What?”
“Never mind,” she mumbled. She could let that dream go.
After cutting out the cookies and placing them on the baking sheets, Reid set the pans in the oven. Soon the scent of warm,
buttery sugar cookies permeated the kitchen.
Once the first batch had cooled, Piper and Reid set to work decorating them with colorful icing and sprinkles.
Piper pointed to a rainbow-colored lighthouse. “Look! Isn’t it beautiful?”
Kaiah peeked over from where she rolled out more dough. “It’s perfect, Piper.”
“I agree.” Reid motioned toward his lighthouse, which was striped with black and white icing. “What about mine?”
“Kinda boring,” Kaiah teased.
Reid clucked his tongue. “Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m being honest,” Kaiah continued. “Piper’s is much more creative.”
Piper’s expression was somber. “Yeah. Yours just looks like the regular old lighthouse.”
Reid reached over and dabbed white icing on Piper’s nose.
Piper screeched and then brushed icing on his nose.
Kaiah laughed just as Reid took her arm, pulled her to him and rubbed icing on her nose. She gasped as she looked up at his handsome face. Suddenly, she was yanked back to the moment they’d stood together
outside Piper’s classroom and his eyes had stayed laser-focused on her lips. The air around them had seemed electrified, and
she’d almost been certain he was going to kiss her—and boy, had she wanted him to. But the moment had been ruined by the principal.
Now as she looked up at him, she couldn’t stop the joy—or the heat—flooding through her.
Piper appeared and brushed icing over Reid’s chin and Kaiah’s cheek before cackling.
Reid’s dark eyes danced. “You know what this means, Kaiah?”
“War!” Kaiah cried before they each grabbed a tub of icing and chased Piper.
For the next several minutes, they raced around the kitchen, flicking icing at each other and doubling over with laughter.
When the timer on the stove began to beep, Reid stood up and made a T with his hands. The pink icing dotting his shirt and
face made Kaiah giggle. The image was such a contrast for the masculine firefighter.
“Time-out! We don’t need burned cookies.” He pulled on an oven mitt and opened the stove.
“Let’s get him,” Piper whispered.
Kaiah nodded and bit back a laugh. She and Piper snuck up on him, and after he set the cookies on the cooling rack and put
the baking sheet in the sink, they pounced, caking his face with icing.
“Whoa! Whoa!” He hollered with a laugh. “I called time-out.” He wrapped his arms around Piper and lifted her up in the air while she shrieked. Then he eyed Kaiah. “You’re a bad influence.”
“It was her idea!” Kaiah squeaked.
Reid snorted and shook his head. “We need to get back to using the icing on the cookies instead of our faces.”
“Okay, Daddy,” Piper mumbled. She climbed up on her stool and returned to her artwork.
“Let me see your face, pumpkin,” Reid said before brushing a napkin across her cheeks and cleaning up the icing. “We sure
made a mess.”
Piper lifted her chin. “But it was fun.”
“Yes, it was,” he agreed with another chuckle.
Kaiah ripped a paper towel off the roll and wiped her own face.
Reid appeared beside her. “You missed some.” He pointed to her cheek before he ran a paper towel under the faucet, wrung it
out, and then gently wiped her cheek.
His gentle touch sent her heart jumping into her throat, and for a moment she lost herself in his bottomless brown eyes. When
she realized she was staring at him, she broke eye contact and moved to the sink, washing her hands. “I-I’ve never been part
of a food fight before.”
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
“How come?”
“You have eight siblings, right?” he asked, and she nodded. “Someone must’ve started a food fight at some point.”
“All nine of us never lived together at the same time, and I can honestly say none of us started a food fight. It was noisy
but never that rowdy.” She paused for a second, lost in a memory. “But I remember a food fight breaking out in the school
cafeteria. Of course, I wasn’t a participant.”
He tilted his head. “Is that right?”
“Uh-huh. I never got into trouble.” She reached up and wiped icing off his eyebrow, and she longed to move her finger down the length of his angular jaw.
“I believe you.” He tossed the paper towel in the trash can, glanced down at her shirt, and then grimaced. “I’m sorry for
the mess.”
She took in the splotches of yellow and black icing on her purple top. “It was fun. Actually, this icing fight was the most
fun I’ve had in a long time.”
“Me too,” he whispered.