Page 20 of Sweet Obsession
“That was nice of you.” He approached the counter.
Jillian looked up, startled. A soft pink crept up her cheeks. “I didn’t see you come in.”
“I was watching the master at work.” He leaned against the counter, still smiling. “Something tells me those girls didn’t have quite enough money for that candle.”
Her blush deepened. “They had enough,” she said quietly.
“For a three-dollar candle, maybe.”
“It was a three-dollar candle.” Her eyes twinkled.
Blake laughed, the sound surprising him. “Right. And I’m just a guy who plays a little guitar on weekends.”
“Well,” Jillian’s lips twitched with suppressed laughter, “you do play a little guitar.”
And just like that, he knew returning to Honeysuckle had been the smartest move he’d made in a very long time—and that realization was just a little terrifying.
“You’re home awfully early.” Fingers deep in a blob of dough, Jillian’s mother looked up from the kitchen table.
“Not a lot of tourists in town today. Carol can handle it on her own so I came home.”
Her mother stared at her a long moment before pounding at the dough again. “Blake went into town today.”
“Yeah.”
Flipping the dough, her mother lifted her gaze to meet Jillian’s. “Yeah, you saw him? Or yeah, someone told you?”
“I saw him.”
“Mm.” Her mom waited a beat, probably waiting for Jillian to expound. When nothing more was said, she sighed. “On the street? At his grandmother’s? His parents?”
“At Heaven Scent. He came in…” Jillian paused—why had he come in? “To look around.”
Before her mother could say much more thanUh-huh, the back door swung open. “Have you heard the latest?” Kade paused long enough to brush the muck from outdoors off his boots.
“Care to be more specific?” Her mother’s searing glare shifted suddenly to wide eyes. “Is it about Ray and the ranch hands? Did you see the sheriff?”
Shoulders deflating on a heavy sigh, Kade shook his head. “Sorry, Mom. I haven’t heard anything about that sniveling…” his teeth clenched. “It’s about Blake.”
“Blake?” Jillian’s heart stuttered against her ribs. “Is he okay? Is it his grandmother?”
Holding his hands up, palms out, Kade shook his head. “As far as I know, his grandmother is fine, but according to his manager, Blake is missing.”
“Missing?” Their mother looked up, her brows buckled in confusion.
He held out his phone for them to see. “It’s all over the news and social media. His manager, Phil, told reporters that Blake has not been seen since the end of the tour, and his whereabouts are unknown.”
“What the….” Jillian looked at the phone, swiped at the screen, and then swiped again and again. Slowly raising her head, she blinked and handed her brother back his phone. “Is this a publicity stunt?”
“Has the whole world gone nuts?” Dropping his briefcase on the hutch, Garret walked into the kitchen. “Who knew seventh graders were so into Blake Kirby?”
“They saw him?” Jillian asked.
“No.” Garret whipped out his phone. “He’s all over the news, social media, and now there are short videos popping upeverywhere of him just about any place you can imagine. Thanks to AI, he’s getting around more than Carmen San Diego.”
“Or Waldo.” Kade shrugged.
“Hey,” the screen door squeaked open, “have you guys heard…” Sarah Sue didn’t get to finish her sentence.
