A Match Made Perfect by Anna J. Stewart

Author:Anna J. Stewart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-01-10T19:35:38+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

OF ALL THE SHOPS, stores and service shops in town, Brooke was exceedingly grateful Mandy had chosen Chrysalis Bakery as their meeting place Saturday morning. After another explanation from BethAnn as to who owned or ran what, Brooke knew Chrysalis had been sold early last year and that the new owners were recent transplants to town. Which hopefully meant that whoever was behind the counter wouldn’t have any clue who Brooke was.

Her trip to the hardware store to get some things for her soon-to-be apartment had been...stressful. Harvey Mills was still managing the place and made no pretense of letting her know she hadn’t earned her way back into his good graces. Conversation had come to a screeching halt when she’d walked in the door, but by the time she’d left, she’d managed to eke a few smiles and pleasantries out of some of the customers.

She was already nervous at the prospect of having an extended conversation with her teenage daughter; she didn’t need the added stress of dealing with people trying to pass judgment on her. She didn’t blame them. Much. It just wasn’t what she wanted to focus her energy on at the moment.

The scent of fresh doughnuts tickled her nose from more than a block away, and for the second day in a row, she found she had an appetite. For weeks after the accident, she couldn’t bear to eat. At the time she’d only been allowed Jell-O and clear broths while her system and insides adjusted to her injuries and healed, but even after she was home and well into therapy, the idea of food just turned her stomach. Oreo cookies were the only thing she’d been able to enjoy. But even that was bittersweet, as they had been her main craving when she’d been pregnant with Mandy.

The green-and-white-striped awning stretching over the bakery’s two large plateglass windows reminded Brooke of little patisseries in Paris. There the pastries were showcased in beautiful window displays, whereas here the café tables and iron-back chairs filled the space so customers could watch the people passing by. A trail of delicate hand-fired metal butterflies trailed up and around the window frames, and continued inside. A faint fairylike bell tinkled when she pushed open the door and stepped into what she instantly surmised was heaven on earth.

She was early, mainly because excitement had preempted any possibility of sleep, but clearly she’d hit the right time. As she looked beyond the three glass cases overflowing with various doughnuts, pastries, cookies and pies, she could see a silver-haired woman in the kitchen, her hands filled with a giant tray of fresh glazed doughnuts. Her stomach growled. Brooke’s face went hot and she glanced around at the few customers loading up on coffee before starting their weekends.

“Good morning.” The woman with close-cropped silver hair and red-rimmed glasses emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on the flowery apron she wore. “What can I get you?”

“I’m going to be meeting someone in a few minutes, actually.

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