Page 49 of Valentine's in Bayberry

“And what did you win?” He picked up his inner tube and then hers.

As they walked toward the house, she said, “Bragging rights.”

“Seems like you should win something more than that.” He paused as though considering what the prize should be. “I know. You get to have the first s’more.”

Her face lit up. “You know, I haven’t had those since… Since we had them together.”

They went inside, cleaned up, and gathered their supplies. Jackson turned off the flood lights. Once outside, he added some more wood to the fire pit.

“We forgot to grab something to use to roast the marshmallows.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.” Jackson stepped in front of her and presented her with two three-foot-long twigs.

She gaped at him. “It’s just like when we were kids.”

He smiled and nodded. “We had a lot of fun.”

“Yes, we did.” She reached for the bag of large marshmallows. She placed one on the end of the twig and held it out to him. “Where’s the other one?”

He produced the other twig, and she attached the marshmallow. He sat down in the chair next to hers. They both leaned forward and held the marshmallows over the fire.

The fire popped and crackled as their marshmallows browned. He liked his a warm-brown whereas she liked hers more on the darker side.

When the marshmallows were done, they reached for the tray of graham crackers and chocolate that were situated on a little table between their chairs. Carrie smooshed the marshmallow between the graham cracker and a piece of chocolate, and then she pulled the marshmallow from the twig.

When she took a bite, the chocolate had melted, and it tasted amazing. “Mmm...”

He smiled at her. “You like that, huh?”

“I love that.” She took another bite. “It tastes sweet, like the memories from the past.”

When he reached out to her, her heart pitter-pattered. Was he going to draw her close so he could kiss her again? And if he did, what would she do?

The next thing she knew, he placed his thumb against the side of her mouth.

“You’ve got a little chocolate on your face.” With a warm smile on his handsome face, he wiped it away.

All the while, her heart was beating erratically. When he pulled away, there was a sense of disappointment. She admonished herself. This was for the best. It meant their friendship would go on. But she was starting to wonder if that would be enough for her.

“Time for another one.” He held out the twigs for her to place marshmallows on the ends.

As they roasted the marshmallows, she had an idea. “I should offer these at the shop.”

“I don’t know how you’re going to do that,” he said.

It shouldn’t be that hard to do. At least, she didn’t think so. She already made homemade graham crackers.

She turned her marshmallow over just above the flames. “Why don’t you think it’ll work?”

“Because I don’t think there’s any room in the place for a fire pit. And I think it might go against the fire codes.”

She rolled her eyes before shaking her head. “Oh, you.” But the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea.

She wanted to make a menu of specialty items that she could offer seasonally. This would be a good one for the winter months. She was also playing around with an idea that included gingerbread.

One of the many things she loved about opening the shop was that she got to be creative. She didn’t intend to offer the exact same chocolates day in and day out. Of course, there would always be the favorites, but she would play around with the other items.

“What are you so excited about?” Jackson’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

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