The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor, #5)(74)

Annie giggled. ‘Big shoes to fill,’ she said, nudging Mac’s arm where it rested on the center console.

He shook his head and smiled at her. ‘I’m not sure I could keep up with Sylvia, that’s for sure.’

It was suddenly quiet in the backseat and Annie glanced back.

Dot smiled. ‘What's going on between you two? Something's different.’

‘Nothing’s different,’ Annie snapped.

‘No.’ Dot shook her head. ‘Something’s definitely different.’ Her eyes lit up. ‘You two finally had sex, didn't you?’

‘Thank God,’ Estelle said, rolling her eyes. ‘Wait. What day is it? I might have won the pool.’

Annie's face flushed hot. She couldn’t believe she had to have this conversation while trapped in a vehicle with Mac.

‘We didn’t have sex. Everything is the same between us. Nothing is going on, okay?’

Both women looked at her like they didn’t believe a single word she was saying.

‘Now, Annie, that’s not entirely true.’ Mac’s voice was teasing and devious. He wouldn’t.

‘Don’t you dare,’ she said.

He held her gaze for a second before turning his eyes back to the road. ‘Oh, that’s right. I forgot I gave you one more day.’

‘One more day for what?’ Estelle piped up.

‘One more day to keep pretending there's nothing going on between us,’ he said, and Annie smacked him hard on the shoulder.

‘Oops,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘Did I say too much?’

‘I knew it,’ Dot said triumphantly, sitting back in her seat. ‘I can always sense these things.’ Annie wanted to point out that the woman hadn’t known when one of her employees had had a decades-long crush on her, but unfortunately, she’d been taught to respect her elders.

‘Wait, did I win the bet or not?’ Estelle asked.

‘You didn’t win,’ Annie said, eyes straight ahead on the road. ‘Nobody won.’

‘Ain’t that the truth,’ Mac muttered from beside her.

And at this point Annie didn’t know what winning looked like anymore.











Chapter Thirty-Five





Now


The Wedding


Mac had never been the kind of person to fantasize about his wedding day, but he’d be a liar if he said it didn’t do something to him to see Annie walking down the aisle toward him. In a different world, a parallel universe, this could be their wedding. She could be walking to him.

Her gaze held his and everyone else in the room disappeared. Some part of his brain knew that he stood between Noah and Bennett, all in their dark-gray suits, a sprig of holly tucked in their lapels. He knew Logan waited at the altar for Jeanie. He knew the trees he’d helped Bennett string lights on were lit up and that the whole barn was twinkling with white Christmas lights and candles. He knew that Estelle and Henry sat in the front row with Jeanie’s parents as though Estelle hadn't been missing for the past twenty-four hours. He knew that Annie had played a big role in making this whole day perfect.

But as he watched Annie walk down the aisle, she was the only thing he knew, the only thing he saw, the only thing that mattered.

The bridesmaids wore deep-crimson dresses or, at least he assumed they all did. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Annie long enough to confirm that, but he knew that her dress had long sleeves and a high neckline in the front, and it scooped low in the back. He imagined dancing with her later, pressing his hand to her bare skin. If she let him. Her blonde hair was in satiny curls over one shoulder and when he looked at her face she had tears in her eyes.

And it hit him again that she was so much better than the fantasy.

She reached the front and arranged herself next to Hazel and Kira. The music changed and the guests’ attention turned to the bride. Annie’s eyes stayed on him for a beat longer and he winked at her, expecting a scowl in return. Instead, he got a gentle smile before she turned her gaze to the bride.

Bennett nudged him from the side. ‘Is that why we haven’t seen you all day?’ he whispered.

‘What are you talking about?’

Noah blew out a disbelieving breath. ‘You two were totally eye-fucking each other that whole walk down the aisle.’

‘We were not.’ Had they been? Had he just eye-fucked Annie in front of the whole town?!

One glance at Jacob’s huge grin from the third row confirmed it. When the man started making kissy faces and drawing hearts in the air with his fingers, Mac had to look away.

Bennett chuckled. ‘You absolutely were, but you can tell us all about it later.’

‘I’m not telling you two anything.’

‘She went from looking at you like she wanted to kill you to that over the course of a weekend. We definitely need to hear the story,’ Noah whispered before turning back to Logan to hand him a handkerchief. The big guy had big tears rolling down his face at the sight of his soon-to-be wife.

It was sweet, really, and Mac tried to focus on the wedding ceremony instead of on Annie and what she might say after today was over. He hadn’t meant to give her an ultimatum, and he didn’t even expect her to have an answer for him. He only wanted her to talk to him. He was tired of the silence between them, the half-truths.