Page 42 of Half Baked

“We’ll find a way. Tell me some more. Did you live here with them?”

I slide the tins out of the way and begin combining the ingredients for the cobbler batter. This feels right. “I lived here with Nana Annette and my mom. My grandpa passed when I was a newborn.”

“I’m sorry,” he offers gently. “It sounds like seeing your grandparents together would have been a special thing.”

Blinking up at Hayden in surprise, I nod. He managed to hit on a thought I have constantly. “Nana and I used to sit out in the orchard, and she would tell me stories about him. She was as stubborn as me, and he loved her for it. He never tried to make her be anything but herself. She would tell me how he smiled with such love through every disagreement. It was what I always wished for, a love like she described. It sounded like such a dream.”

“Wished? You don’t anymore?”

“I have the bakery to focus on these days, a different dream.”

A skeptical hum escapes Hayden. “Who says you can’t have both?”

His question hangs between us, suspended in the thick, humid air. If I’m being honest, I can imagine that his tone carries the hint of a promise. But that’s all it is, my imagination.

Chapter 19

Hayden

Iwas always drawn to the sea. As a kid, I would sneak down to our family’s beach any chance I could. If I wasn’t in the water, I was watching it—the steady rolling waves like my own personal lullaby.

It hasn’t changed as I’ve gotten older. If anything, the ocean has become an even more important constant in my life.

Things make sense when I’m on the water. Most mornings, I spend more time sitting on my board, bobbing in place, than I do actively surfing. I always knew I needed to live a life out here in the waves. I wasn’t made for a suit and tie job, locked away in an office all day. It was never going to be my plan to take over the family business, something my father and I had many heated conversations about.

No one outside the family was aware of that though. And when I joined the Coast Guard at eighteen, everyone made the assumption that it was because of the events that occurred a few years prior. The company up in flames and my parents lost to the sea. I can understand the dots they thought they were connecting. But the truth is, I had my late grandfather’s vintage Coast Guard poster on my bedroom wall by the age of ten.

But today, I’m doing more active surfing than usual. I have too much pent up energy after last night with Poppy, and it needs to go somewhere. With each encounter lately, she’s let me in a little bit more. Fueling my hope, my longing. She didn’t pull away this time. Instead, she leaned into me. She embraced me. And when I felt her fingers tangle in my hair? I almost lost it, right then and there. I almost gave in and showed her just how much she affects me.

But it wouldn’t have gotten me what I want. Not all of what I want, anyway. I’m not sure what I’ve done over the years to lead to her severe distrust of me. But I can feel it rippling just below the surface, masked by her disdain.

It’s the distrust I plan to contend with first. As long as her perfect fucking lips stop looking so irresistible.

I drag my fingers through the swell as it propels me. Riding the waves is a reflex, and there is nothing better. Typically, this is enough to completely clear my mind. But not today. Kicking out, I drop back down onto my board and turn my face up to the sun. Today, as I catch wave after wave, I replay moment after moment.

Immersed in the memory of Poppy—the smell of her hair, the feel of her delicate skin, the intensity of her gaze—I remain in the water for some time. Until my stomach growls with ferocity.

Answering the demand of my body, I take a wave closer to shore, paddling the remaining distance. Salt coats my lips and I run my tongue over them. What would Poppy’s lips have tasted like? Something sweet, I’m certain of that.

On land once again, I climb the staircase home only to realize that I’m not alone. Beckett is resting with his hands intertwined behind his head in a lounge chair beside the pool. When he sees me, he jumps up and starts across the back lawn. “What the hell, man!”

“Always happy to have you home,” I call back before disappearing inside the pool house and depositing my board in its rack.

Beck appears in the doorway, arms crossed over his crisp collared shirt. “I have to hear from Stevie that your team is good to operate?”

“It’s been like twenty-four hours. I was going to tell you today.” I pause and turn to him with a question of my own. “How did Stevie know?”

“Yeah, I’m kind of curious about that one too. It’s weird, I could have sworn she saidPoppytold her.”

A thrill runs through me at the idea of Poppy wanting to talk about my news. Outside of the team, she is the only person I’ve told. The first person I wanted to tell, honestly. And now she’s wanting to share it with others? Is she proud?

I cross the patio, headed for the kitchen with my brother in step beside me. “Did you really tell Poppy about it?” he asks.

“I did.”

“Why?”

Once inside, I begin pulling my omelet ingredients from the fridge and scowl. “Am I not allowed to talk to her?” My voice is more defensive than I’d like, and Beckett raises an eyebrow in response.

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