After that Friday night with Wes, we’ve been texting and calling each other a lot, but both of us have been so busy that we haven’t been able to see each other again. I have a wedding cake this weekend that has been keeping me busy and the local high school has homecoming in two weeks and they asked me to do a cake for the dance.

Even though I am busy with all of those things, I still can’t get the feel of his lips on mine out of my head. If I’m being honest, more than once this last week I’ve gone to bed after giving myself a release with my vibrator, thinking of him. For some reason, “Oh Wes,” flows so freely off my lips. I’m sure it would sound even better in his presence.

I am not sure I can go much longer without seeing him, so I’m going to ask him if he wants to come over for dinner tonight or maybe tomorrow night. I’ll be busy with the wedding in the morning tomorrow, but by afternoon I am free. Before I can do that, I have to finish my prep work for the morning bakery items.

I love baking and I love spending time in the back, measuring and mixing and getting everything ready, but it certainly isn’t a glamorous job. By the time I am done I am full of flour, my hands are a few colors dyed from frosting, and my hair looks like a bird’s nest. I’m just about to head up front to lock up when I heard the bell go off. I hurry over to get my hands washed and I holler out to the person.

“Hey! I’ll be right there, sorry!”

“Don’t worry darling, I’ve got time.” I recognize that voice and a smile pulls across my face. I tear off my apron and attempt to casually make my way out into the front. He is standing there with a single pink rose, smiling that million-dollar smile he has.

“Wes,” his name just a whisper from my lips.

“Hey, Holly. This is for you.” He hands the flower over the counter and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I touch my cheek and smile.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by.” I smile, ready to call his bluff.

“Why in the world were you in the neighborhood?” He smirks back at me, knowing that I caught him in a silly lie. I walk around the counter and head to the front door to lock up. I gesture over to a table and Wes sits down while I turn off the neon sign and close the blinds.

“Do you want anything? Cookie? Cupcake?”

“I don’t know, What would you suggest?”

I press my finger against my chin like I’m thinking it over, “Hmm, the birthday cake cupcakes with vanilla frosting are my favorite. I know it seems plan, all things considered, but birthday cake cupcakes are one of the first cupcakes I made on my own.”

Wes smiles at me, “I think I need to try one of those though.” I grab a couple of plates from under the counter and serve us up the cupcakes before sitting back down next to him and sliding a cupcake over to him. He holds the cupcake up and examines it, “These are cute.”

“They’re supposed to be cute.” He peels back the wrapper and takes a big bite, leaving a bit of vanilla frosting on the tip of his nose. I giggle and reach over to wipe it off with my thumb. Before I can pull my thumb back, Wes takes it and puts it in his mouth, licking the frosting off of it.

“That was my frosting,” he says with a bit of a growl to his voice.

“Oh, well excuse me, I won’t steal your frosting again.”

“Good. This is serious business.”

“Oh, I am well aware of how serious the frosting and cupcake business are.”

“Do you like doing this?” He motions around to the bakery, “I’m sure that’s a silly question.”

“Not that silly. A lot of people do things they don’t like. My mom loved to bake. Her mom taught her everything she knows and she taught me everything I know. Being a baker is all I ever wanted to do. I know that I could be doing baking in other jobs, but something about owning this small town bakery is the epitome of success to me. I feel like I get to do this for my mom and myself.”

“Can I ask you a question that might be kind of personal?”

“Of course. You can ask me anything.”

“I know that you’ve talked about your parents before, but it is always in the past tense. Are they?” He approaches the question carefully and I appreciate the thought. I take a deep breath and swallow the knot in my throat.

“Yeah, they’ve both passed away.”

Wes reaches over and takes my hand in his, “I’m sorry to hear that. Do you mind me asking what happened?”

“I’m not going to pretend it isn’t hard to talk about, but they lost their lives in a car accident about six years ago. Drunk driver.”

“Oh shit. So you were in your mid-20s?”

“Yeah. My brother had just turned 18, my sister was 23, and I was 26.”

“Wow, you were all so young. I’m 36 and I still feel like I need my mama.”

I nod my head, “It has been hard. It gets a little bit easier every day. Every day that I am in this shop baking and doing the things that she loved to do, it brings me a little closer to her.”

He squeezes my hand, “I’m sure she’d be so proud of you.”

“I like to think so,” I reply, swallowing back the tears. I finish up my cupcake and pick up the trash and empty plates from Wes. I place the plates behind the counter, making a mental note to take care of them tomorrow.

“Hey, Holly,” Wes gets up and approaches me at the counter, putting his hand gently on my lower back. “I’m sorry if I brought up some bad feelings asking those questions. I didn’t mean to.”

“No, no, it really is okay. They were an important part of my life and it is natural for people to be curious. As I said, every day it gets easier and every time I talk about them I smile more than I cry. I promise I’m okay.”

“Well if you ever don’t want to talk about something, just smack me upside the head. That’s what my mama does.”

I give him a watery chuckle, trying to keep the tears at bay, “She sounds great. I can’t wait to meet her.”

Wes kind of freezes and I can’t identify the look on his face, but it is far from the happy-go-lucky man that I know. He pulls his arm back. I can tell that he tried to be casual about it, but it was pretty abrupt like now it was my turn to say something wrong.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean like tomorrow or anything. I mean normally I’d date a guy a few months before I met his parents and we aren’t even dating so I don’t know why I said that I just, you know my mouth opens up and it just all comes out.”

“I guess I just got caught off guard. Sorry.” We stand awkwardly across from each other for a moment and then he speaks up again. “So hey, I don’t mean to sound like I’m ending on a bad note, but I really need to get going.”

“Oh, yeah, I should probably finish cleaning up and everything too. Um, do you think that we can still have dinner?” I asked hopefully.

“Yeah, of course. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” He smiles. “ I’m enjoying everything I’ve gotten to know about you so far.”

“Same here. What about Sunday?”

“Well, I’ll have to break Mama’s heart and tell her I can’t make it to Sunday dinner….”

“Oh no! Don’t do that, we can do another day.”

He reaches over and rests his hand on my forearm. “I’m kidding, Holly. It really will be fine. I’d love to come over for dinner. What time?”

“Make it 5?”

“5 is perfect.” His hand moved from my forearm to my hand and he gives it a little squeeze.

“Do you like lasagna?”

He gestures up and down his body, “Do I look like the kind of guy that would turn down carbs?”

I laugh and shake my head. “No, not really.”

“Lasagna would be perfect. Can I bring anything?”

“Hmm, know any good IPAs?”

“Darling, you’re using letters that I don’t associate with. I got some Budweiser in my fridge I can bring and if you like it fancy I can get some in a bottle.”

“I guess that’ll work.” I throw him a cheeky grin. We walk over to the front door of the store and I unlock it again. Standing in the doorway, Wes turns around and leans down slightly, pressing his lips against mine.

“You still taste like vanilla.”

I tuck my hair back behind my ear and grin, “I’m a baker, I always taste like vanilla.”

“That’s not a bad thing.”

“Let me know that you get home safe.”

He puts his baseball cap on and steps outside onto the sidewalk. “I will, darling. See you Sunday night.”

“Bye Wes.” I wave at him as he walks to his truck.

‘Bye Holly.” He throws me a wink and one last smirk before climbing into his truck.