Page 46 of Make Mine Sweet
“Remember when he led all those community safety meetings for downtown businesses a couple of years ago? I bet that’s when they got to know each other.” She rests her elbows on the front counter, watching the window as though Mom and Sheriff O’Grady might reappear. “They became friends, and then romance blossomed at a glacial pace.”
I side-eye her. “You’ve thought about this a lot.”
“Better than pondering the nothing ofmylove life.”
“I just don’t understand why…” My words tumble over each other and turn into nonsense as I stare out the front window.
Wren jabs me again. “Don’t be that weirdo who can’t handle their single-adult parent dating again. This is good for her.”
That’s not what’s got me frozen in place. A man is jaywalking across the street, heading straight for the bakery. I’d recognize the dark red hair and beard at twice the distance, but this isn’t the man I’m used to. He pushes through the door, simultaneously pulling all the air from my lungs.
Ian Vaughn has lost the feral lumberjack look and veered straight intoheartthrobcategory.
FIFTEEN
TESS
Ian’s had a makeover.His scraggly look gave me butterflies, but this glow-up is a herd of heart-covered elephants stomping around inside me.
His beard is neatly trimmed, still thick enough to count as a full beard but short enough to reveal the sharp jawline beneath it. His hair is shorter, too, falling just to his chin. As I watch, he rakes his fingers through it, smoothing it out of his face like a cover model.
Where did all the oxygen go? Surely, I needed that.
Wren exhales the tiniest “Oh,” but my throat doesn’t want to make words. Pretty sure I’ll just start babbling about how handsome he is and how his new look is having a worrying effect on my heart rate if I do.
Seriously, this thudding in here isn’t normal.
“Welcome to Blackbird’s,” Wren says when I go on staring in silence. “How can we help you?”
Ian moves closer to where I’m standing, his gaze shifting from my sister to me. “I’m in the mood for something sweet.”
His gravelly voice has no right to sound so sinfully good. But then he makes it even worse—his mouth tips into the smallest of smiles that hits me like an arrow to my heart.Bullseye.
“You’ve come to the right place.” Wren spreads her arms at the case in front of us. “Sweet is what we do best.”
Ian nods, glancing over the pies and cupcakes before his gaze lands on me. The question there snaps me out of my dumbstruck staring. I asked for a fresh start, and now I’m being weird.
Again.
Reminding myself that a fresh start doesn’t include ogling, I introduce them. “Ian, this is my sister, Wren. Wren, this is my neighbor.”
“Ah, the neighbor,” Wren says way too knowingly. “I’ve heard all about you.”
My stomach lurches so hard, I think I strain something. Ian’s hint of a smile sinks into his familiar scowl, closing off again. Like maybe he’s wondering if I told herallabout him. Which, unfortunately, I did. Grumpiness, leg, and all.
“You’ve got a big fan around here,” she adds.
This creepy, floaty feeling washes over me like I just got jabbed with a shot of whole-body novocaine. I’ve never fainted before, but this might be my first time. I’m trying to come up with some way to recover this mess—and debating where to hide Wren’s body—when she speaks up again.
“August talks about you every time I see him now.”
I breathe again, but barely. Wren shoots me a sly look as if to say, “Aren’t I clever?” No. She’s not clever, she’s the absolute worst sister I ever had, and I’m going to tell her as much in excruciating detail as soon as we’re alone again.
Ian takes a step closer to the display case. “Most of his affection is for the dog.”
“Best dog in the world, he says.”
“No argument there.”
