Page 79 of The Huckleberry Bookshop

“And what about the pancakes?” Meddy asked, wading into the conversation as though she’d never felt pain a day in her life and didn’t understand the mine field she was dancing through. She waved the plate of carrot cake pancakes at him.

He hesitated, his face pale, then slowly took it and served himself one.

Athena watched, speechless.

“Your sister liked pancakes?” Darianna asked.

Chad nodded. “A lot. Last thing we ate as a family before she…” His eyes were desperate and he frantically waved the serving dish about, finding nowhere near him to set it down.

Athena snatched it from him and he let out a breath, his shoulders relaxing.

She set down the plate on a bare spot beside her dad, then gently laid a hand over Chad’s.

“I’m sorry.” Her words felt so insignificant, so meaningless in the face of the inner ache and turmoil he must have experienced. The way he’d lashed out and declared to “not do pancakes” made perfect sense to her now. If only she’d known, she could have offered a different recipe, refrained from telling the dumb joke.

Then again, he wasn’t a thirteen-year-old any longer. His reaction meant he had a lot to work through. And the idea that the man who still held her heart might not be ready made her sad.

“Okay, time for games!” Darianna said, giving a clap. She had pushed back from the table and Stitches had jumped into her lap again. He gave a little bark, ready to be her second in command.

The dishes had been done, the four of them working as a team while Mrs. Gavras packaged up the leftovers. Chad had worked himself into the routine, placing platters on shelves Athena couldn’t reach and even filling the dishwasher to her mom’s exacting standards.

If she didn’t keep him, despite all the arguments against him, her mom certainly would.

“Grab the tarts. I’ll get the plates and napkins,” Meddy said to Athena as the group headed to the living room.

Athena took the tray, then turned to Chad, feeling like she should warn him. “It’s non-competitive.” Lonnie had gotten so into winning that he’d sucked the fun out of game night.

“No, it’s cutthroat,” Meddy countered, giving him a grin. “And Athena gets worse every year.”

“Do not.” She shot her a warning look. “And we’re nice about our competitive cutthroatedness.”

They moved into the living room, selecting seats around the coffee table.

“She has a birthday coming up, so be warned. She’s going to get even more crotchety and set in her ways. It’s like a stepping stone each year where she—”

Athena gave her a gentle shove. “Shut up.”

“Oh, the love,” Meddy said, cradling her shoulder like Athena had injured it. “Can’t you feel it, Mullens?”

He grinned, seeming to enjoy their sibling banter.

Athena’s phone vibrated and, unable to resist the distraction from the warm and fuzzy moment happening around her that was melting her reservations about keeping Chadwick as a boyfriend, she pulled it from the pocket of her cotton skirt. She needed to remember that he was in the process of destroying her career. He’d promised to fix things, and then had vanished. Sure, she’d ghosted him, but she’d have thought he’d at least reach out about a few things he was working on fixing.

She blinked at the preview of the text message from her literary agent, then unlocked her phone to read the entire text.

Her cooking channel had jumped up to thirty-five thousand subscribers. And the stellar pre-order numbers for the cookbook were no longer a rumor. They were high. She might even make bestseller lists.

She waved her phone at Chad. It took him a second to notice. “What’s up?”

“Did you do this?” She wanted it to be true, but braced for the truth in case her publisher was the one pulling her butt from the fire.

His expression cautious, Chad took her phone. He read the text, his soft smile growing larger.

“Did you?”

He gave a tiny nod.

“What did you do?”

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