Page 22 of Her Movie Star's Secret Plan

She led him down a hallway and around a few corners.

“I never would have found this without your help. What’s your name?”

“I’m Lucinda.” She pointed to her friend. “This is Doris.”

Doris wiggled her fingers at him.

“Thank you, Lucinda and Doris. It looks like I’ve made two new friends today.”

Their faces lit up like he’d made their day. Lucinda led him to a room full of people. A long table was set up in the center of the room, and older men and women milled about with plates of cookies.

“Let’s try out some of these cookies.” Owen led them to the table, and they filled up their plates. Owen bit into one. Vincent had done an excellent job, but not as good as Alexis.

“These are pretty good,” Owen said. “But do you know where to get the best cookies in town?”

Doris and Lucinda looked at him with questioning looks.

“Have you ever been to the bake shop on Main Street? It’s calledThe Icing on Top. I know the owner. We grew up together. She makes the best cookies I’ve ever had. And I know cookies, trust me. I’ve eaten cookies worldwide.”

“The Icing on Top, you say?” Doris asked. “I haven’t been there.”

“We’ll have to try it out sometime,” Lucinda said.

“It was lovely to meet you, ladies. I hope we meet again.” Owen excused himself and then mingled in the crowd. It wasn’t long before he was swarmed by a crowd of gray-haired ladies. He worked the room that way for the next ten minutes, dropping comments about how good Alexis’s cookies were at every chance he got.

“I didn’t take you for the church-going type.”

He turned to see Alexis standing behind him. “Hi there.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Maybe I’m concerned about the welfare of my soul.”

“I can see that everyone loves your cookies.”

“How do you know they’re mine?”

“Because this used to be my biggest client. They just switched over. My very own church left me for Hadley’s.” She narrowed her eyes. “Did you come here to gloat?”

“No.”

“So you had no idea they were serving your cookies today?”

“I, uh…”

“That’s exactly what I thought.” Alexis looked hurt.

Owen wanted to take her in his arms, to tell her he was working hard to fix everything, but he had a feeling that would only make her angrier. He couldn’t think of a single thing to make her feel better. He felt helpless.

“I would tell you to stay away from my clients, but it’s too late for that now. You’ve already done your damage.”

“I hope you understand I didn’t know about this until they’d already switched. In fact, I didn’t know until just now that they used to be your client.”

That seemed to soften Alexis up a bit. Her shoulders slumped. “Of course, you didn’t. I’m sorry, Owen. I know I’m overreacting, but I’m just so stressed out about how I’m going to make ends meet.”

He knew better than to offer her financial help. He could offer to give her a hug, but Chase was standing a few feet away, and that would only make him think he was hitting on his sister. He was pushing his luck just being seen talking to Alexis.

“I should probably get going,” Chase said. “I hope things get better for you.” He took her hand and squeezed it. It was all he could do to show her his sincerity. He’d done everything possible here—now that Alexis was onto him, she’d be watching him like a hawk. He was better off spreading the word at a different location.

He left the church and headed to the book shop on Sycamore Street instead. He saw a few customers and struck up a conversation with them. He ended up recommending the lemon poppyseed muffins at Alexis’s bake shop. He hoped they would tell others about it. But he felt like it wasn’t enough.

He worried nothing he did or said would help Alexis sell more muffins. Sure, a few people might go to her bake shop based on his recommendations, but was that going to be enough to make up for the huge client that Hadley’s took from her?

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