Page 27 of Unexpected Entanglement

“Hey guys, this is Bobbie,” Rowan introduced. She landed a hand on Alex’s shoulders. “This is Alex, my oldest friend in the world. And this is Oliver, my newest savior. They’re chefs and will cook for the wedding.”

“Wonderful. Nice to meet you.” Bobbie shook Alex’s hand, then turned to Oliver to shake his, but it was met with empty air.

Oliver stood when Rowan started introducing Bobbie with a wide-eye look on his face.

“Earth to Oliver!” Alex snapped her fingers in front of Oliver’s face and broke him out of his trance.

“Uh… hi.” Oliver stumbled and belatedly shook Bobbie’s hand.

Just like Rowan, Chris barely covered his amusement and managed not to laugh at Oliver’s understandable reaction to the beautiful woman, because she was that. And it looked like Oliver’s response wasn’t one-sided. He noticed a faint blush on Bobbie’s cheeks as she smiled at Oliver. He wondered if something might blossom there.

“You want some cream and sugar, right, Bob?” Rowan went to pour some coffee into Bobbie’s thermos.

“Uh, yes, thank you.” Bobbie broke eye contact with the Korean-American chef and fixed her coffee with the cream and sugar Alex had pushed toward her on the table. “So, Rowan mentioned picking you up at the ferry yesterday. How was your trip in?”

“Uneventful.” Alex shrugged. “It’s good to be back on the island. There’s a vibe here that resonates with me. You feel it, O?”

“Uh, yeah. Totally,” he answered, still distracted by Bobbie’s beauty.

“I know what you mean,” Bobbie agreed with Alex. “I felt it when I first came here two years ago. It was supposed to be a brief vacation for me and my son, Logan. And we never left.”

“Oh, how old is your son?” Alex asked.

“He just turned four. He’s starting preschool next fall.”

“And his dad is a local here?” Alex dug for more information.

“He passed when Logan was just two,” Bobbie answered.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Alex clamped her mouth and stopped prodding.

“You want a muffin before we start?” Rowan quickly changed the subject.

“I’m good. Those look delicious, though. Logan would love one.” Bobbie eyed the oversized muffins bursting with wild blueberries.

“I’ll pack you a few to bring home when you’re done,” Oliver offered.

“Oliver baked them this morning,” Rowan added. “So moist. Rivaling Sheila’s.”

“Oooh, that’s high praise. I’ll look forward to trying one later, then.” Bobbie smiled at Oliver, making him red.

Chris had waited patiently and wondered if Rowan had forgotten about him as they chatted. He went to join the rest of them at the kitchen table and cleared his throat behind Rowan. She jumped slightly and turned to him.

“Oh, yeah. This is…” Rowan trailed off as if she’d forgotten his name.

“Chris,” he supplied with a smile, and extended his arm to Bobbie for a handshake. “Pleasure to meet you, Bobbie.”

Bobbie shook his hand politely with a curious smile. He could tell she recognized him from the day before when he’d spoken to Rowan by her truck.

“You’re here to help Rowan with…” Chris said before she could say anything else and deliberately trailed off his sentence.

And as he expected, Bobbie filled in the blank, “I run a cleaning business with a team of good, hard-working women. We’ll provide housekeeping for all the rooms and cottages at the inn, at least for the wedding weekend.”

“Excellent.” Chris nodded.

Rowan gave him a side eye for jumping in for information instead of waiting for her to supply it. But Chris wasn’t the type who waited around. He couldn’t help unless he knew what was needed. And he was glad she got this one handled.

“I’m giving Bobbie the tour. You might as well tag along,” Rowan said to Chris, gesturing to both him and Bobbie to follow her. “Let’s start with the room upstairs.”

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