The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2)(14)

Hazel wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘Muscular?’ she squeaked, the giggles still fizzing out of her.

‘Yeah, right,’ Mac muttered, making his way to the back office.

‘Is he angry?’ Hazel asked, finally getting her laughter under control.

Noah waved the other man off. ‘You know Mac.’

Hazel nodded. Of course she knew Mac. She’d known him most of her life, like everyone else in this odd little town, and for a minute Noah was almost jealous. Jealous of all the people who’d had so many more years with Hazel than he had.

He shook his head. She was here now, smiling at him, her eyes still full of laughter.

‘Ready?’ he asked, reaching for the ice cream.

‘Very.’

They filled the blender with ice cream and just enough milk to make the shakes drinkable and then poured the concoction into tall beer glasses, the only things they could find that made sense for a shake.

Hazel shook sprinkles on top of each one with a flourish.

‘There. That makes them special.’

Noah resisted the urge to tell her they were special because she was here and she was special. He’d already cornered her in the grocery store after he’d vowed to himself to let her come to him next. That was enough overdoing it for one day.

Instead he sipped his shake, barely able to get it through the straw. It was thick and cold and sweet.

‘So good,’ Hazel moaned and Noah forcibly shoved his thoughts away from where they wanted to go, which was hearing Hazel moaning those words about something very different. Something involving him between her thighs.

‘Thanks,’ she said.

Noah blinked. ‘Uh ... for what?’

‘The shake. It came out a lot better than mine usually do.’

‘Must be the fancy blender.’

Hazel smiled, the straw between her teeth. ‘Must be.’

‘Or that we make a good team.’

She tipped her head, studying him. Deciding something. Something about him. And the moment felt monumentally important. Even though it shouldn’t. Even though they were just drinking milkshakes in the kitchen at Mac’s with Danny washing dishes a few feet away. Nothing about this moment was important.

And yet...

‘Yeah, I guess we do.’

He couldn’t help but feel like he’d passed the test.





Chapter Seven





‘Alex?’

‘Yeah?’ Hazel’s best employee looked up from where they were picking crayons up off the carpet. Alex had purple hair, an amazing read-aloud voice, and an encyclopedic knowledge of Dream Harbor history. They were beloved by the youngest and oldest customers alike.

‘Did you happen to see anyone messing around by these shelves during story time?’

Alex came to stand next to where Hazel was staring at the Romance section. ‘Did I see any preschoolers messing up the romance books? Uh, no.’

Hazel huffed. ‘What about their grown-ups?’

‘A few people bought some books while they were here. I don’t really remember if they were romance or not. Want me to check?’ Alex pointed to the computer, but Hazel waved them off.

‘No, no it’s fine.’ She’d already grabbed the upside down, dog-eared book off the shelf before Alex could ask questions, but she was still curious if Alex had seen anything ... suspicious. She couldn’t very well say that without explaining the whole thing which she was not at all prepared to do.

Preschool story hour tended to be crowded and today was no different. Hazel booked a different local author every month to share their latest book and read an old favorite. Annie’s bakery sent over treats and the parents and kids loved it. Hazel did, too. But she’d been so busy, she had completely forgotten about the clues until the last tiny customers filed out and she’d spotted an upside-down book.

Her mind raced over who had been here today. Isabel and her kids, George had come by with his little nephew, Annie of course to drop off the cookies, Tammy with her granddaughter, and that was just the beginning. It had been a zoo. There was no way Hazel could narrow down the suspects.

She wasn’t sure it really mattered, but she wanted to know who was leaving these messages. And even if she had her own reasons for following them, she still wanted to know why they were doing it. Was it all a big joke?

She didn’t like to think she was the butt of a joke.

Alex had gone back to their clean-up efforts, scraping stepped-on crayons from the carpet, so Hazel ducked behind the counter and peeked inside the book.

The descent of the Ferris wheel made her stomach swoop with nerves.

Hazel hated Ferris wheels. Or heights in general.

But that obstacle would have to wait.

There were crayons to scrape and surfaces to disinfect. Preschoolers were savages.





Noah was just getting off his boat when a text pinged on his phone. It was a picture of a page in a book. A page with a single highlighted line.

He grinned.

A ferris wheel, huh?





He leaned against a post on the dock, waiting for her response. It didn’t take long for another text to appear.

I hate heights.





Sounds like this mystery person wants you to face your fears