The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor, #5)(63)

She glanced down at her watch.

Five twenty-four p.m. on December 23rd would be the last time she would think about Mac and their perfect month and all the feelings she thought she’d had about it. Clearly, she’d been wrong. Mac had used her. He’d lied to her and he’d ditched her. Frankly, she should have seen it from the start that this was exactly how he would behave. Mac was used to getting what he wanted, and she was just one more person that fell for his charm.

Even as she thought it, it felt like a betrayal, a betrayal of the Mac she had gotten to know. She thought she had seen the truth of him but, apparently, she’d been wrong all along.





Mac’s hands were sweating despite the fact that it was freezing outside. He was standing outside of Brandon’s house between an inflatable Santa and an enormous working snow globe, steeling himself to go in. A few party-goers wandered in and out of the house and there were plenty of cars parked in the quiet cul-de-sac, but so far, the party seemed pretty mellow compared to some he’d been to in high school.

Hopefully, that meant it’d be easy to find Annie inside. Her sister had said she’d be here, and Charlotte seemed to know everything about her older sisters, so Mac trusted her intel.

He knew he’d screwed things up. He knew Annie would be pissed at him, but he was still holding onto a strange sort of hope that she would be happy to see him, that she would forgive him, and they could go back to how things were last year.

Last year, when Annie had warmed up his frozen fingers with her fuzzy mittens, when she’d kissed him, when she’d smiled at him. He wished he could go back.

He wanted to tell her that most of those postcards he’d sent had come from his first two months on the road. He’d spread them out to send them to her, but most of his traveling was done by March. He’d spent a lot of the year in a shitty motel not that far from Dream Harbor. Just waiting out the time, waiting to come back, bartending at bars that weren’t his father's. It had been a waste of time. It was probably why he still felt like he was lost. He’d been too embarrassed to come back sooner even though he probably should have.

It was why he hadn’t gone into the diner. Why he’d been too embarrassed to see her again, but he had to, even if it was just one more time. Even if it was just so she could tell him that she didn't want to pick up where they left off. He needed to hear it. He needed to know if the memories were real, if things between them really had been as magical as he remembered.

He blew out a long breath, watching it cloud the night air. It was now or never. He couldn't start a new year without knowing where he stood with Annie.

He walked into the house, heading to the back, following the sounds of the party. There were plenty of familiar faces, people that had stuck around in town, and some new ones. Honestly, he was surprised Annie was at this party. It didn’t seem like her kind of thing. The thought caused a little seed of doubt to plant itself in his gut. Maybe he didn't know her that well after all or maybe she had changed in the past year.

He made his way to the kitchen where the drinks were laid out. He helped himself to one of the ubiquitous red cups, scanning the party for the one person he was looking for.

His heart kicked him in the ribs. She was here.

Annie.

The girl he’d been dreaming about for a year was here looking as gorgeous as she did when he left. She was here and she was real and she was smiling, a rosy blush on her cheeks. Mac nearly swallowed his tongue at the sight of her tucked into the corner of the couch, her attention on something out of Mac’s line of sight. She looked … happy.

Mac hesitated. Maybe he should leave her alone, maybe he’d been right at the diner, and she was better off without him hanging around. But then her smile grew, her face lighting up, and the Christmas lights lit up her blonde hair just like they had that night…

He had to talk to her.

To apologize, at least.

He took a step in her direction and froze when he noticed the arm draped over her shoulder and the dude it was attached to staring at her like he’d won a prize. Who the hell was that guy and why was Annie looking at him like that?

She laughed at something the guy said, and Mac was unprepared for the immediate flash of rage coursing through his body. Why the hell was she laughing at that guy like that? Why was he touching her?

Mac had been wildly wrong about how this evening was going to go. He’d figured Annie would be mad at him or upset. He had never once considered the fact that she’d be here with someone else.

He needed to talk to her but before he could get two steps away from the kitchen counter it was Logan who he came face to face with.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked gruffly as if Mac had offended him in some way.

‘I need to talk to Annie.’ Mac tried to move around Logan, but the guy moved to block him. He was bigger than Mac remembered. Apparently lifting hay bales was a great workout.

‘I don’t think you do,’ Logan said.

‘What the hell, man? Get out of my way. I need to talk to her.’

Logan stepped in front of him again, doubling down. ‘She’s clearly busy right now. You can talk to her tomorrow.’

Mac felt frantic at the suggestion. He couldn’t wait another day. He couldn’t start another year without her. ‘I need to talk to her now.’

Logan shook his head.