Second timeâs the charm!
Nothing about working with his former high school crush, Stephanie Stephens, is ideal. Still, if Aaron Caruthers intends to save his grandmotherâs bakery, he must. Good thing he has a lot of ideas he canât wait to implement. He never imagines Stephanie would have her own ideas for the business. Or that they would clash with his!
It doesnât take working with her long for Aaron to realize his impression of Stephanie as a helpless ex-cheerleader is way off. And the more of her kindness and strength he sees, the more attracted he is! Now to convince herâ¦
It was freezing out here.
Maybe Aaron had trapped Stephanie on the porch deliberately so that sheâd agree to his terms quickly. âWhatâs your grandmotherâs stake in the business?â
âShe owns the whole shebang. Iâm basically acting as her business manager.â
âSo only she can fire me.â
Aaron opened his mouth to form an objection, but then closed it. âYes. Sheâs our boss.â
It mustâve killed him not to have seniority over her. If anything, she should have seniority over him.
âAll right,â she said, holding out her hand. âConsider me your new assistant manager.â
Relief flooded Aaronâs stormy eyes. As he squeezed and pumped her hand, a pulse of something thick and hot blew through her.
Oh, no. Hell, no. She was not attracted to Aaron Caruthers. They werenât just out of each otherâs leagues; they were playing different sports.
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to Everville, New York, the town where my second book, Back to the Good Fortune Diner (Mills & Boon Superromance, January 2013), was set. Iâve gone back in time to a few months before Tiffany arrived to tell the story of how the countyâs best roadside bakeshop became the very popular Georgetteâs Bakery and Books.
Evervilleâs motto is The Town That Endures. To me, enduring means accepting change. As the wife of a civics nut, I enjoy learning about what makes communities work. As the town evolves, so, too, do the lives of Aaron Caruthers and Stephanie Stephensâthe bookworm and the cheerleader who never thought they could be a match.
I love to hear from readers! Visit me on Facebook, Twitter (@VickiEssex) and my website, vickiessex.com, and watch out for more stories from Everville!
Happy reading!
Vicki Essex
VICKI ESSEX likes eating baked goods, but isnât great at baking them. She loves books, and isnât a bad hand at writing them. To be showered with cookies, say hello to her at vickiessex.com, find her on facebook.com/vickiessexauthor and follow her on Twitter: @VickiEssex.
Iâd like to thank my agent, Courtney Miller-Callihan, for being awesomely supportive and for really grokking me. *cookies*
Thanks to my editor, Karen Reid, whose insights are always, always helpful.
And as always, thank you to my darling, brilliant husband, John, whose magnificent brain inspired Aaronâs eclectic tastes and polymathic genius. I couldnât do this without you, magoo.
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
Introduction
Dear Reader
Title Page
About the Author
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Extract
Copyright
CHAPTER ONE
Two months ago...
NO ONE WAS eating her goodies.
Stephanie racked her brain trying to figure out why. Sheâd baked all the treats herself, tailoring each recipe to meet her friendsâ varied preferences and dietary restrictions: gluten-free chocolate cupcakes and dairy-free carrot muffins; nut-free cookies, a plate of soy-free bite-size brownies and three different pies because Lilian didnât like lemon meringue, Susan loathed pecan and Karen thought apple was âboring.â
The last time sheâd seen all her high school girlfriends together had been Christmas four years ago. Yet, instead of being excited, a weird sense of disappointment had dogged her all evening. While everyone else was busy chatting, talking over each other like a gaggle of geese, she got the feeling that if she waded into the fray, sheâd be nibbled and pecked to death.
But she had volunteered to host this holiday shindig, so she couldnât hide behind the food forever. Steph brightened her smile and picked up a plate of sugar cookies, painstakingly frosted in B. H. Everett Highâs blue and gold. Brandishing the treats and armed with good cheer, she circulated. She might not be the best convocation...conservation...talker, but she was a damned good baker.
âWell, itâs not like I donât want to come back to Everville,â she heard Janny say wistfully. âBut Markâs job is in Cleveland, and my business is flourishing. I wouldnât have clients here.â