“You know this isn’t doing anything good for my waistline, Aggie.” April took the proffered box.
“I never said you have to eat them. But the kids will thank you.”
“I know. And of course I won’t be able to resist either, as you well know. Now I really must go.” She turned and walked to the door, then put her hand on the knob before looking over her shoulder, her earlier cheer gone. This was the serious April. “You can do this, Aggie. I know you can.”
Aggie closed her eyes, the slam of the door and the click of the lock heralding her savior: solitude. Even though she’d been waiting for April to announce wedding plans that would include her, she hadn’t been prepared for Drew to pair her up with Liam, the man she’d once secretly hoped to marry.
But that was before that night. Now Aggie felt dirty and couldn’t imagine herself with anyone let alone the dreamy Dr. Davidson. He deserved someone without a murky past, without the kind of baggage she carried.
Her breath hitched in her throat. For two years she’d managed to keep the memories of that night locked away with sheer will and determination. That same will began to crumble as the reality of being April’s maid of honor sunk in.
Fragments of that night rose unbidden to her mind, sending her heart racing. Aggie tried to breathe past them but it was all too much, hitting her at once. She couldn’t stop everything from bubbling to the surface and overwhelming her.
A well-lit path going through the local park. A quiet night that turned into fifteen minutes of unimaginable terror as she walked home from a late shift at the bar.
Even now she could feel the chill in the evening air, smell the damp, moldy leaves, , the alcohol on his breath and stale smell of sweat as he tore at her clothes and whispered words in her ear. As if anything he said could have made it easier for her.
Aggie dropped to the floor, hugging her knees as panic washed over her. She lay there trembling, unable to fight the memories as she relived her ordeal.
* * *
Aggie was going to be his partner. Yes! At last, a date she couldn’t refuse. Liam punched the air and swung his arm around in an air guitar windmill, rockin’ out a tune in his head. Tonight, you’re mine. Yes, Ms. Aggie Hope. Look out for my charm because there’s no escaping how much I want to be with you.
He’d followed her with sad eyes ever since they’d been in school together. She’d been friendlier then, one of a bunch of kids who hung out in warmer weather with the freedom Hope Island provided. Eventually their friendship had turned into more—a couple of summer beach dates where they’d held hands or sneaked a kiss behind the rocks when everyone else was preoccupied with their own adolescent angst.
They’d struggled to stay in contact when they both chose to study in different states. College had been hard because they were so far apart, but they’d remained friends. When they both found work in Seattle, they’d called it fate and caught up for the odd dinner or two. Nothing too romantic because it hadn’t seemed right at the time, not when he’d given his heart to medicine. They were no longer the gangly kids who roamed the beaches from dawn until dark.
Liam decided he wanted more with Aggie once his studies were done, but he was too late. She moved back to the island, bought the bakery, and closed herself off from anyone but family without a single call to let him know what she’d done.
Now she hardly spoke to him and he had no idea why. How he wished he could go back and change things, wished he could figure out where it all went wrong.
But now he had his chance. Liam would get to spend the whole afternoon and evening with the woman of his dreams, dancing, eating, and talking about things like normal people did. Childhood memories, island life, her business—anything to hear her voice. Surely six or seven hours would be enough to convince her to give him another chance. To let things go back to the way they used to be between them: warm and friendly. Comfortable.
He belted out the rest of the verse in his head, dancing around his office with abandon.
He paused, took a look at the skeleton perched in the corner of his room and thought about it. Somehow, he didn’t like his chances. What was it that had changed her from the carefree Aggie he’d grown up with to the withdrawn, unsociable, melancholy woman she was today? Nobody was saying, especially not Aggie. If he wanted to have her in his arms, he needed to come up with some serious moves. That is, if she’d give him a chance at all.
He’d probably have her as a captive audience for all of a couple of hours after the wedding, the speeches, and dinner. Then she’d be able to get up and move around the room away from him. He had to plan this well. He’d messed up in Seattle by not finding more time for her while he was studying, and now he had a chance to state his case and try to get back into her good graces. This time, Liam wasn’t going to let her go without a fight.
Chapter 2
After a long night trying to get her work done despite stressing herself stupid over Liam, Aggie stumbled home. She slogged up the stairs to the front deck and met her father coming out of the sliding door with a coffee in
