A Moment on the Lips (A Whistle Stop Romance, #3) (10 page)

A glance at the wall clock said it was only a couple of minutes before her daily meeting with Joe. She grabbed the fresh bear claw, minus the maple frosting, put it on a small plate, and poured his black coffee.

Since they’d started meeting to go over things for the festival, she’d continued serving him a bear claw each morning. He’d yet to push one aside. Instead, he practically inhaled the pastry. Surely by now he had to realize he was wrong for not at least considering selling her baked goods in his coffee shop.

She’d just set the coffee on the table when he breezed into the bakery. Faded jeans and a white T-shirt that stretched across his muscular chest left her openly staring. The man was certainly fit. If only she could persuade him to go through with the dunking booth, she’d be first in line. What single female didn’t like to check out a fine-looking guy? And the fact he was single was definitely a big bonus.

“Something wrong?” Joe asked.

“Umm... No, I was just thinking.” Heat flooded her cheeks. She turned away, hoping he wouldn’t notice her embarrassment.

“I’ll be right back,” she called over her shoulder. “I’m just going to grab a coffee and have a quick word with my assistant.”

Hannah was her trusted employee who was almost as good as Piper in the kitchen. She’d be lost without her and Alison, her newest hire. Piper had already gone over the day’s agenda with both of them, but she was desperate for an excuse to get away. She needed a few minutes to let the heat in her face fade away.

Hannah glanced up from a batch of cupcakes she was decorating in autumn colors—orange, yellow, and green. “Hey, boss, what do you need?”

“I told you to call me Piper.” She couldn’t help but eye up the tempting cupcakes. Her mouth watered.

“I know, but when you have that look on your face, you look more like a boss than a friend.”

Her gaze moved from the sweet treats to Hannah. “What look on my face?”

“The frown and with your cheeks all rosy—well, never mind.”

Alison glanced up from the sink and, without a word, quickly returned to loading the dishwasher.

Was Hannah right? Did she look intimidating? Really? She wasn’t angry, more like confused. Right now, everything about Joe had her second-guessing his motives and implications. Maybe the problem was she was doing too much analyzing. Maybe she just needed to relax and see where things led.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.” Piper moved closer to the cupcakes. They looked really good...erm, Hannah was doing a good job decorating them.

Hannah arched a blond brow. “Are you sure everything’s okay?”

Piper nodded. “Couldn’t be better.”

“Really? Then how come you’re back here eyeing up the cupcakes instead of out there with that hot cuppa joe?”

Piper broke out in laughter. “Is that the best you could come up with?”

Hannah held up both palms. “Hey, if the name fits.”

“He’s definitely steamy,” Alison piped in.

“Now quit hiding back here.” Hannah pointed to the doorway. “Go sit across from him and stare into his dreamy blue eyes.”

“You two are terrible.”

“We’re just sayin’ what you’re thinking.”

The heat rushed back to her cheeks. “Was not.”

They both sent her I-don’t-believe-you looks. That’s okay. Piper didn’t believe herself either.

She returned to the dining area without a cupcake—her willpower was hanging in there. Joe, on the other hand, had devoured his pastry. A satisfied smile tugged at her lips.
He likes it. He really likes it.

She sat down at the table and pulled out a legal pad. “We should talk about prizes.”

He shrugged. “Okay. But I don’t have much to offer at this point.”

She waited for him to acknowledge the pastry, but once again he said nothing. His silence ate at her. He had manners. She’d seen them. So what was up with him?

She struggled to hide her disappointment. “I spent the weekend on the Internet pricing stuffed animals for the game booths and small toys for the lucky rubber ducky game, you know the booth where everyone’s a winner. With our limited funds, we’ll have to be creative with the prizes.”

“You’ve really put a lot of thought into this. You should have let me know. I would have helped.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t mind. In fact, if you’re too busy I can do the rest of it on my own—”

“Not going to happen.” The determination in his voice brought her up short.

“You don’t have to be so abrupt about it.”

He sighed. “You don’t understand. Coming home isn’t always easy. People around here refuse to let go of the past. They have their misguided views of what happened with the ranch. They sided with my father, sympathizing with him having to run the ranch all by himself while his son was off sowing his wild oats.”

Piper remembered how tongues had wagged over one of Whistle Stop’s brightest students skipping out on his family and never looking back. His father had made no secret about it. In fact, at times he’d been quite vocal, garnering sympathy.

The only person who’d never said a word about Joe’s abrupt departure was his mother. She’d been totally quiet about it. But, then again, Joe’s mother had ventured into town only to do her shopping, and even then she’d always been accompanied by Joe’s father. Piper had never met such a quiet woman. She wondered if that was because his father constantly hovered, a frown seeming permanently tattooed on his face.

“Don’t let those people get to you. You had your reasons for what you did, and that’s all that matters.” Piper reached out without thinking and wrapped her fingers around his hand that was holding a pen. “The townspeople will change their minds once they get to know you.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Sure they will.” She squeezed his hand in reassurance.

He pulled away from her. “You don’t understand. I’m not here to make friends.” He hesitated as though there was more to his statement, but then he said, “I moved back here because my marriage was over and my mother needed me nearby. She isn’t getting any younger, and she isn’t, um, good at speaking up for herself.”

Piper could understand his reasoning. It was honorable—being there for his mom. Numerous times she’d thought about moving away like her big brother, Mason, had done when he went off to college. But then their father died, and she couldn’t bring herself to leave her mother and little sister, Katie.

After Mason had worked for one of the top accounting firms in the country, he quit and returned home. She thought at last it was her chance to get out of Whistle Stop and find a life for herself, but then her sister had up and disappeared. It’d taken weeks to track her down, and they still didn’t know what had happened to her or why she refused to move back to Whistle Stop.

Once again, Piper had had the opportunity to move on, but she didn’t. What had stopped her? She wanted to think her reasons were altruistic like Joe’s, but in her heart she knew that wasn’t so. She hadn’t moved away because she liked the security of knowing all of her neighbors. She loved that people milled around in the bakery, including her in their lives. Whistle Stop was one big messy family. And it was never boring. Mrs. Sanchez saw to that.

Piper moved her hand to her lap. “So your effort to fit back in is about making your mother happy?”

Joe shrugged. “Partly. Besides, it’ll be hard to build a profitable business if everyone in town hates me.”

She wasn’t buying it. He wanted more than to make a profit, but he was hesitant to open up, as though he’d been hurt deeply. Her heart went out to him. She could sympathize. Once bitten and she was quite shy when it came to trusting others.

Something told her that Joe hadn’t had an abundance of love in his life. Sure, there was his mom, but the woman didn’t strike Piper as the emotional type. Someone needed to offer an olive branch to this guy and let him know that he didn’t have to be so jaded about life.

She tapped her pen on the pad of paper, wondering about the logic of what she was about to do. “Well, I can guarantee you that not everyone will hate you.”

His eyes lit up with interest. “And how can you do that?”

“Because I like you.” In that moment, she knew she meant it. He might be contrary at times and a bit miserly, but she genuinely liked him. Not to mention he wasn’t so hard on the eyes. And when he smiled, her insides melted.

His gaze met hers and held. There was a warmth to his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Perhaps there was far more to this man than she’d ever imagined. She stared into his eyes, wondering what deep, dark secrets he was keeping under wraps. But in a blink, it was as though a wall came down between them. Joe averted his gaze as he slouched back in his chair.

“That’s just because you don’t know me well enough.” His voice held a teasing tone. “Now shouldn’t we get back to work? I don’t want to be known as a slacker.”

Another man who was uncomfortable with emotional moments. Her ex-fiancé had been the same way. He’d rather just ignore things than have to face any uncomfortable emotions. It was just one of the many reasons they hadn’t walked down the aisle. But she wasn’t going there. Not now. There was work to do.

With the financial part of the fundraiser decided, they made short work of the other items on their agenda. Joe agreed to ask the local lumber company for a donation of wood for some makeshift game booths. They also put together a list of potential volunteers who could build what was needed and also to run the various games. Mrs. Sanchez would be the ideal person to put in charge of the list of volunteers. She loved to be active in the community. And she’d definitely see that people agreed to do their part.

“I’ll just get us some more coffee.” Piper got to her feet.

“Sounds good. I’ll send an e-mail requesting a meeting with the lumber yard to discuss a possible donation of wood. Hopefully, we’ll end up with enough for all of the booths.” Joe started typing on his laptop.

“Don’t forget—” When he paused in his typing to look up at her with those mesmerizing eyes, she almost forgot what she was about to say. “Um...we’ll, uh, need material to decorate all of that wood.”

“We could slap some paint on it. That wouldn’t be too costly. Maybe Wilson’s Hardware Store has some old cans they wouldn’t mind donating.”

“Good idea. But we’ll need some bunting.”

“For what?” His lips pressed together, his expression perplexed.

“Because this is supposed to look pretty—you know, welcoming. We can wrap bunting around the top of each booth. Or drape it from lamppost to lamppost around the square. Imagine some colorful bunting fluttering in the breeze. It’ll draw the eye and attract people.”

Joe leaned back in the chair, tilting it back on its rear legs, and crossed his arms. “Sounds too expensive. We can’t do it. We don’t need it anyway.”

“You’re wrong about this.” She glared at him, refusing to back down.

“I’m watching our bottom line.” He leveled the chair he was sitting on and went back to typing. “I need to send out this e-mail.”

Piper groaned, not bothering to hide her frustration. Why did he have to be so narrow-minded? If it didn’t fit into their very meager budget and it couldn’t be donated, he wrote it off as unnecessary and moved on. The man certainly liked to have things his way. At last, she understood why he was single.

She got up and walked away before she said something she’d regret. Thankfully, the bakery was in the midst of the morning lull—the quiet between the morning coffee rush and lunchtime. Though she loved talking with the residents of Whistle Stop, there was something so peaceful and soothing about this time of the day—normally.

As Piper passed the display case, the cupcakes once again called out to her, and her stomach rumbled its complaint. What would one hurt? It wasn’t like she didn’t deserve it after going head-to-head with Mr. Miserly for most of the morning.

She slid open the case, glanced over to confirm Joe wasn’t paying attention, and then snagged a dark chocolate cupcake with chocolate fudge frosting—her favorite. She turned her back to him before peeling off the paper holder. Her mouth watered.

Why did something so delightful have to have so many calories? A hundred and seventy-eight calories, to be exact. She had an app on her phone that was all too eager to let her know just how poorly she was doing on her diet. Was it her fault she was born liking food?

She’d just finished the last morsel when the bell over the door chimed. Hannah came rushing out of the kitchen to wait on the new customer.

Piper waved her off. “I’ve got it.” She turned to find a friendly face. “Ella, what are you doing here?”

“Hey, what kind of greeting is that?”

“Sorry. I’m just surprised to see you back from your honeymoon already. That went by fast.”

“You’re telling me. And it looks like you’ve been busy, too.” Ella glanced around the bakery, taking in the new paint and frilly curtains. “This place looks great.”

Now why couldn’t her mother react like that? Shoving aside the troubling thought, Piper said, “Thanks. Glad you like it, but I didn’t do much.”

“But it works. It’s like a summer garden out here. I might need your interior decorating skills soon.”

“I’d be happy to do what I can. Hey, shouldn’t you be teaching?”

Ella shook her head. “Not until next Monday. We came back a little early to get settled in the new house.”

“If you need any help, let me know. I can bring the snacks and a pizza.”

“That is very tempting. I just may take you up on the offer. But I heard through the grapevine that you’re heading up the Autumn Fest. I also heard that you’ve got a hunky assistant—”

“Shhh...” Piper glanced over to the side to see if Joe had overheard. She sighed when she found him still engrossed in his computer. The Wi-Fi had definitely earned its fee that day.

Ella lowered her voice. “I take it that’s him?”

Piper nodded, resisting the urge to turn and stare. He may well be the most stubborn, irritating man in all of Whistle Stop, but she couldn’t deny that he was good-looking—very good-looking. She could stare at him for hours.

“Okay. Now I totally understand the comments—”