Picnics and Promises -
Blurb:
Patty-Lynn is stunned when she runs into her wealthy ex-boyfriend, Sam. She’s still haunted by their painful breakup seven years ago. Recently widowed, Sam now wants to fix their broken relationship. Seeing Patty-Lynn, happy in her bakery, gives him hope. Can her prize-winning pie recipe sweeten his new business venture and heal their broken hearts?
Excerpt:
“PATTY-LYNN?” THE FAMILIAR VOICE made her pause.
She quickly turned and slammed
right into Sam Richardson. Her lips brushed against his shirt right before she
took a few steps back. Goodness, she didn’t realize he’d been standing right behind
her. “Sam? What you doing here?” She’d just finished setting up the wedding
cake. The guests weren’t due at the reception for another hour.
“My friend Mark just married my
sister-in-law Lisa. He sent me to the reception early to make sure everything
was set up.”
Lisa. Sam’s wife’s sister. So she
assumed Sam’s wife, Lorena, would come strolling in at any time. She imagined
the woman was part of the bridal party. Well when Lorena turned up, Patty-Lynn
would be sure that she was long gone. No way did she want to see the woman
who’d stolen Sam’s heart away from her seven years ago.
He leaned toward her, as if he were
going to give her a hug.
No way did she want to hug him. She
quickly turned around, ran smack into the table, hard. The table tilted on an
incline as pain shot through her knee. The wedding cake slid down the small
table, right toward the floor. She reached out toward the cake and screamed.
Quick as a cannon, Sam raced to the end of the table and caught the cake in his
arms.
Workers in black and white suits
appeared from the back, scurried and assisted Sam with the cake, set it back
upright onto another nearby table. The manager yelled at his workers in
Spanish, pointing at the legs of the faulty table. Apparently one of the legs
had not been properly locked into place when they’d set it up. The manager
bobbed his head toward her. “So, so sorry ma’am.”
Not half as sorry as she was. After
the workers had confirmed that the legs were properly locked into place, she
shooed them away. Before she could examine her cake to be sure no damage had
been done, she focused on Sam. He patiently stood beside her. His intoxicating
cologne wreaked havoc with her frazzled nerves.
She gulped. It’d probably be a good
idea to thank him. After all, if it wasn’t for his fast save, her cake would
have been splattered onto the floor and then she’d have to explain the terrible
fiasco to the bride and groom.
She forced herself to look into his
eyes. Dang, he had the most hypnotic eyes she’d ever seen. She used to swoon
just staring into the chocolate brown depths. Looked like he still had some
effect on her, and that was not good, not at all. She finally forced herself to
speak. “Sam, awful kind of you to rescue my cake like that. I appreciate it.”
He’d also helped to save her business. If word had gotten out that she’d ruined
a wedding cake, her business would have been affected – she was sure of that.
“You’re welcome.” He gestured
toward the table that had caused them so much grief. “Did you need some help?”
She was about to say no, but
stopped herself. She could use some help. The white table cloth had spilled
onto the floor and she needed another. “Could you ask the manager for a new
table cloth? I don’t want to use that one since it was lying on the floor.”
Sam scurried away. While he was
gone, she took a few minutes to compose herself and examine her cake.
Surprisingly, the three-tier cake
swirled with rosettes and curlicues looked perfect. She saw where Sam’s finger
had touched the bottom layer, messing up a small sliver of the fluted icing.
She quickly opened her bag of supplies and repaired the damage. There, nobody
would be able to tell that this cake had been saved from certain death.
Sam had been quick, that was for
sure. She remembered how he’d been a fast runner on his college track team. He
could sprint with his long brown legs. She also recalled he ran every day—either
early morning or late at night. Good thing he’d come to her rescue this
afternoon.
“Here’s the tablecloth.” He rushed
from the back of the kitchen and working together, they quickly smoothed the
cloth over the table. She was about to get the cake but he stopped her. “Hold
on.”
He slammed his hand on top of the
table, then forced himself to bump right into it. What in the world was he
doing?
“I just want to make sure it won’t
topple over if somebody crashes into it again.”
Ahh. Now that was smart. Well, she
needed to be smart, too. What if they tried to move this heavy cake and slipped
or something? She took the cake boxes and dismantled the cake, carefully
setting each tier back into the box. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t trust myself to move this
whole cake back to that table. It’s heavy. I know you did a fast save earlier,
but I just want to be sure.” After she’d dismantled the cake, she carefully
carried each layer back to the table, set one layer on top of the other. Now, all
she needed to do was put the figurine of the bride and groom on the cake. She
removed the cake topper from the packet and pressed it into the white icing. The sweet delicious scent of vanilla
wafted around her.
“You do some nice work,
Patty-Lynn.”
“Thanks, Sam.” She needed to be
cordial to him. She eyed the dark suit and blue shirt that hugged his trim
frame. Oh, how she’d used to love it when he’d held her in his long, lanky
muscular arms.
She nodded toward him. Eyed the
cake again. She’d finished her duties here. Time to get back to work. “Well,
Sam, nice seeing you again. Thanks again for helping me. I’m much obliged to
you for doing that.” She gathered her bag of supplies, slipped it over her
shoulder. “Have a nice day.” She strolled toward the exit.
“Patty-Lynn, wait.” His deep, sexy
voice resonated in the room, making her heart pound. Oh, how she remembered how
excited she’d become when her name rolled from his beautiful lips.
“No, Sam. I’ve got to get to work.”
She had a special order to fill that day. Fifty banana cream pies for a huge
corporate event. She’d been selling a lot of her blue-ribbon banana cream pies
lately. Since she’d recently won The French International Pie Competition, her
sales had doubled.
“I’ve opened a new office for Richardson
Enterprises in Crystal Spring.” Sam moved a step closer.
Lord help her, she couldn’t believe
Sam had actually moved to her small town. She recalled he lived near his
family, about two hours away, up in Northern Virginia. The thought of Sam being
in such close proximity rattled her. “Why don’t we get together for a picnic?”
Oh, no, he had to go and mention a
picnic. When they’d dated, her favorite activity was having a picnic in the
park. They’d shared thick sandwiches and huge cups of cold iced tea. He’d
teased her, telling her how much he enjoyed hearing the southern twang in her
voice. He’d loved her southern accent, said that she sounded cute when she
spoke. He’d leaned in for warm romantic kisses while they’d enjoyed their
treats. Afterwards, they’d eat big, sweet slices of pie.
Those passionate kisses, those
picnic dates. That’s what had gotten them into trouble. As soon as his sister,
Kelly, had spotted them, ratted them out, things had spiraled out of control.
Kelly knew that his parents wouldn’t approve of their relationship. Well, she’d
learned to let bygones be bygones, at least she thought she had. But if she’d
really let bygones be bygones then why did hearing Sam’s voice make her feel
weird, light-headed, almost hypnotized. The memories swirled through her,
making her wish her day had gotten off to a better start.
Besides he was married to Lorena,
so why would he want to go on a picnic date? She didn’t want to have anything
to do with a married man. Kind of sad that Sam had such loose morals.
She needed to focus on leaving.
“Sam, it’s been real nice seeing you again.” She swallowed and forced herself
to give him her megawatt smile. Not a good idea to let him know how seeing him
again affected her. She offered her hand and he eyed her palm, accepting it.
Her white skin clashed with his dark chocolate complexion. She gave him a firm
handshake before offering another smile. Standing tall, she rushed toward the
door and pushed it open. She welcomed the heat from the sunshine as she
scurried to her delivery van.My review:
A delightfully sweet romance to curl up with on a lazy afternoon. A second chance story with a huge helping of banana cream pie which I want to attempt to make at some point.
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