The Maverick's Midnight Proposal. Brenda Harlen

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       Chapter Two

      Luke was smiling and shaking his head as he walked out of the day care and headed back to his truck. He’d forgotten how sneaky his sister could be—and how he’d never been able to refuse anything she asked. But he was grateful for her invitation and looking forward to the opportunity to catch up with her and Jamie and Danny.

      He was also curious to check out Bella and Hudson’s house, but he wasn’t quite ready to put his feet up. What he was, his growling stomach pointed out, was hungry.

      Earlier, his gut had been so twisted up in knots over the impending reunion with his sister that he hadn’t been able to eat anything. Now that the initial meeting was over, he realized he was famished.

      He hadn’t forgotten about the Ace in the Hole—or the thick, juicy burgers that were served with a mountain of crispy fries. In fact, the memory alone was enough to make his mouth water and, when his stomach rumbled again, he steered his truck toward Sawmill Street.

      But for reasons he couldn’t fathom, he abruptly turned off Sawmill onto North Broomtail and pulled up in front of Daisy’s Donut Shop again.

      * * *

      After graduating from high school, Eva had wanted to follow her passion and pursue a diploma in baking and pastry arts. But following her heart had led to heartache more times than she could count, so she’d listened to the urging of her parents and opted to study accounting instead. She’d just completed her first year when her father was diagnosed with lymphoma, so she’d returned to Rust Creek Falls to support her family and postponed the rest of her studies.

      She’d been fortunate to get a job at Daisy’s Donut Shop. The part-time hours had allowed her to earn a little bit of income while also providing the flexibility she’d needed to take her father to his various doctors’ appointments and therapies. When Ray Armstrong had finished his treatments, she’d been able to increase her hours and now she was working full-time. Since the doctors had officially declared her dad to be in remission, he’d been pressuring his daughter to return to school and complete her degree. In the spirit of compromise, she’d been taking some online courses and was now only a few courses shy of completion, but she was still happier baking than studying.

      Her friends liked to tease that she would be the perfect wife and homemaker, but she hadn’t yet met a man who agreed with their assessment.

      Maybe having her heart stomped on time and time again should have taught her to be wary, but there wasn’t anything she wanted more than to fall in love, get married, fill her home with babies and her kitchen with the sweet scents of baking, so she was trusting fate to put the right man in her path.

      In the meantime, she kept busy filling Daisy’s display case with mouthwatering goodies. Since the morning rush had passed and it was still early for lunch, Eva took advantage of the lull to brew a fresh pot of coffee, then sipped a cup while she took inventory of the goodies that remained. The white chocolate cranberry cookies had sold out, which made her feel pretty good. Her boss had protested that there was no need to expand their offerings beyond the tried-and-true muffins and doughnuts, but Eva had been playing around with some of her grandmother’s recipes, tweaking here and there, and the residents of Rust Creek Falls—most of them creatures of habit—had overcome their reluctance and started to look forward to daily specials.

      Today’s pumpkin spice muffins had been gone within the first two hours of the shop’s opening, the sticky buns had sold out shortly after and there were only two eggnog biscotti remaining in the jar on the counter. She pulled an empty tray out of the case—the cheesecake-stuffed snickerdoodles had also been decimated by the morning crowd—replaced the liner and set out neatly decorated gingerbread boy and girl cookies.

      She glanced up when the bell over the door chimed, and her heart immediately skipped a beat.

      He was back.

      The handsome cowboy with the sexy voice and troubled eyes.

      She’d hoped to see him again, but she hadn’t expected that her wish would come true so quickly.

      “You’re back,” she said, because her brain couldn’t seem to focus on anything else.

      He seemed surprised that she’d remembered him from earlier—or maybe he thought he should remember her from years ago—but he only said, “I’m hungry.”

      “Then you’ve come to the right place.” She smiled, wanting him to feel welcome, and wishing she could ease the tension that was evident in the line of his jaw and the set of his shoulders. “Breakfast or lunch hungry?”

      “Huh?” He looked at her blankly.

      She didn’t know where he’d gone after he’d left the doughnut shop earlier, but it was apparent that his mind wasn’t occupying the same physical space as his body.

      “Are you hungry for breakfast or lunch?” she asked again.

      “I don’t even know what time it is,” he admitted, glancing at the watch on his wrist.

      “It’s definitely time to get you some food,” she decided. “How does a roast beef sandwich with steak-cut fries sound?”

      “Delicious.”

      She smiled again as СКАЧАТЬ