Alex (BIG Northwest Book 2) Read online

  Hadn’t called Edward her boyfriend.

  He wasn’t.

  Wouldn’t be.

  Sam was behind the counter in the bakery when she flung open the door. “Do you know what our sister has done now?”

  Sam lifted an eyebrow, the pale arch creeping toward the short line of her pixie haircut. “Which sister?”

  “You know which sister.” Alex marched around the glass case filled with bread and cookies. “The one who thinks she’ll find a prince charming that will be everything she’s always dreamed of.”

  “We should have never taught her to read.” Sam went back to scooping cookie dough onto a large metal tray.

  “She would have figured it out.” Charlie begged them to teach her to read when she was four years old and hadn’t had her nose out of a book since.

  “What did she do now?”

  Alex pursed her lips.

  Maybe she didn’t think this all the way through. “Edward said Charlie called him my boyfriend.”

  Sam looked her way, the cookie scoop hanging in the air above the pan. “He’s been here four days.”

  “That’s what I said.” Alex relaxed a little bit. “All these Regency stories have given her a convoluted idea of what the timeline of the relationship looks like.”

  “It’s given her a convoluted idea all right.” Sam slapped the next cookie onto the sheet. “She doesn’t understand what it’s really like. She doesn’t remember how it was before mom died. The way he controlled her.”

  “Not just her.” Alex tipped her head to look out the window onto the street that ran in front of the bakery. “Why can’t he be dead?”

  “He’s too evil to die.” Sam picked up the loaded sheet and slid it into the industrial oven. “Eventually he will cross the wrong person, though.”

  “Maybe the wrong person is us.” Alex leaned down to peer in the back of one of the cases filled with carbohydrates of all shapes and sizes. “What are these?”

  Sam leaned to look around her. “Those are pancake balls.”

  “Can I have one?” She should have brought the oatmeal Edward made when she walked out.

  “Sure. Hopefully they are good.” Sam turned toward a second bowl of cookie dough and pulled out another sheet pan.

  “This is the first time you’ve made these?” Alex slid open the case and used a square of tissue paper to retrieve one of the tennis-ball-sized dough balls.

  “I thought I could use another breakfast option since so many people are showing up right when I open.” Sam eyed Alex as she took a bite. “Any good?”

  “Is there bacon in this?” Alex looked down at the still-warm dough in her hand. Small flecks of smoky pork bits dotted the interior. “Holy shit. This is amazing, Sam.”

  “Yeah?” Sam gave her a small smile. “Good.”

  Alex peeked back into the case. “You might want to make some more of those.”

  Sam shook her head. “No time. I’ve got to get four more batches of cookies baked, then I have to start on tomorrow’s bread, then I have to go through the orders for the weekend and make sure I have everything I need to fulfill them.” Sam scooped out a pile of cookie dough from the new bowl and dropped it onto the sheet. “There’s just not enough hours in the damn day to get it all done.”

  Alex watched Sam scoop out a few more cookies before her eyes found their way around the bakery. A line of paper orders ran down the counter. The cases were waiting to be loaded and would be empty by the early afternoon. Sam sold out of everything, every day.

  She’d been so covered up with her own work that she hadn’t realized she might not be the only one struggling. Alex pushed off the counter she’d been leaning against. “I’ll be back.”

  Alex went out to the street, scanning from one side to the other. Like she expected, JD’s camper was parked right next to Frankie’s house. Literally right next to it.

  Explained why she was screaming not too long ago.

  Alex ate her breakfast as she hurried across the road toward where Lance’s fifth wheel was parked behind Danny’s shop. The trailer he used as an office was parked right next to it. Alex lightly rapped on the office door, hoping Lance would already be there and she wouldn’t have to risk waking the girls up.

  “Come on.”

  Alex pulled the door open and leaned inside. “Hey. Where’s Gail?”

  Gail was a lot. Most of it might even be good once she got used to it.

  And hopefully that happened fast, because she was about to propose something that would bring Gail even closer.

  “Probably in the fifth wheel with Kari.” Lance lifted one brow. “Why?”

  “You think she’d be up for helping Sam in the bakery?”

  Lance’s other brow joined the first. “Sam wants Gail to help her?”

  “Sam doesn’t really know.” Alex took another bite of the delicious pancake ball. A burst of mapely goodness married with the cake and bacon. “But I definitely think we need another set of hands in there and right now Gail is our only option.”

  “If you’re willing to deal with the fallout from Sam then I’m sure Gail would love to help. That’s what she does in Greenlea.”

  “She has a bakery?”

  “She runs the bed and breakfast and the diner.” Lance leaned a little to one side. “Morning.”

  Alex frowned at him in confusion. They’d been talking for—

  A familiar scent eased through the air around her.

  Shit.

  “Morning.” Edward leaned in close, his eyes going straight to what was left of the pancake ball in her hand. “Now I see why you didn’t want oatmeal.”

  “I didn’t want oatmeal because you make me lose my appetite.” She wasn’t ready to deal with him yet. Alex turned to Lance. “I’ll go find Gail.”

  “She’s on her way to the bakery.” Edward eased back just enough for her to spin around.

  “Why is she on her way to the bakery?”

  “Because I asked her to help Sam.” Edward said it like it was his idea.

  Like he’d come up with it first. Like he was the one who saw Sam struggling and wanted to help her.

  “When did you talk to Sam?”

  “When I came to find your stubborn ass.” Edward leaned closer. “Right before I ran into Gail on my way here.”

  “I was trying to get away from you.” She poked him in the chest. “But you just keep showing back up.”

  “That’s what I do, Al.” Edward’s nose was so close it nearly touched hers. “I show up and do what needs to be done.”

  She glared at him. “What needs to be done is you backing off.”

  He shook his head slowly as his eyes held hers. “Not backing off, Al.” Edward’s lip pulled into a smile. “I’m coming for you. And I’m not stopping until you admit what we have happening here.”

  FOURTEEN

  EDWARD LEANED AGAINST the camper, watching Alex storm off for the second time.

  Lance came out the door, jumping a little when he saw Edward there. “What’s going on?”

  Edward tipped his head toward Alex’s retreating frame. “Your sister and I have a thing.”

  Lance turned to watch Alex for a second before facing Edward. “Four days?”

  Edward shrugged. “Sorry.”

  “She’s probably going to eat you alive.”

  “Probably.” Edward grinned. “I think that’s part of the appeal.”

  “You think it is. Wait until she’s pissed at you.” Lance bumped the door of the trailer closed.

  “She’s always pissed at me.” Edward straightened off the metal-sided exterior.

  “That’s not pissed.” Lance glanced around. “I mean really pissed.”

  “She gets more pissed?” Alex had laid into him from his first second in town, given him hell without taking a breath. He’d liked thinking she didn’t hold back with him.

  Showed him who she really was.

  “They all do.” Lance looked toward the fifth wheel he and his family cur
rently stayed in. “My wife included.”

  “They’re a lot alike, aren’t they?” Edward fell into step beside Lance as they walked toward the bakery.

  “You have no idea.” Lance walked past the line already forming outside Sam’s shop. “Morning.” He gave the people a smile as he opened the door and walked in, locking it behind Edward so no one decided the closed sign was only for show. “How’s it going, Sam?”

  Sam stared at them from behind the counter. Gail bustled around behind her, scooping out cookies like her life depended on it. “Fine.”

  “Good.” Lance leaned against the front case.

  “Get your hands off that glass.” Gail held the scoop in Lance’s direction. “She just cleaned those off and I’ll have your hide if you make more work for this poor girl.”

  Sam looked a little shell-shocked. She smoothed the cropped line of hair across her forehead. “I guess I’m going to make some more of those pancake balls.”

  “You just tell me what you need me to do, honey.” Gail scooted one filled sheet pan to the side and moved on to the next. “I’m all yours today.”

  “Alright.” Sam pulled out an oddly-shaped pan that looked like an egg crate of sorts, with globe-shaped reservoirs about the size of tennis balls. “When you’re done with that could you chop up some of the bacon I have in the fridge?”

  “Sure thing, sugarpants.” Gail finished up another sheet of cookies.

  “If there’s anything I can do let me know.” Lance backed away from the counter.

  “You can get out of our way.” Gail glanced their way, smiling. “We’ve got work to do.”

  Lance held up his hands. “Get to it then.”

  The line was even longer when they went back out, reaching almost all the way to Charlie’s shop. Edward watched as a handful of people filtered out of the door. “How’s Charlie doing?”

  “Overworked as the rest of them.” Lance shook his head. “These girls have a work ethic that puts mine to shame.”

  “They have to. They don’t have anything to fall back on.” Lance could act like he understood what his sisters had gone through, but his privileged upbringing meant he could only try.

  Same as Edward.

  “That’s not the case anymore, and they still work the same way.”

  “You know that. They don’t.” Edward counted a group of ten climbing out of an economy van parked in front of Danny’s shop. “I can see why they’re overwhelmed. They can’t keep up with how fast people are finding out about Shadow Pine.”

  “Does Jason have the website live?” Lance peered into the window of Charlie’s shop as they walked by.

  “Not yet. It will be a shit show if we’re not ready when it is.” Edward caught sight of a second blonde head in the shop with Charlie.

  “That’s the truth.” Lance pulled the door open and walked inside. “How’s it going in here?”

  Charlie beamed out at Lance. “Amazing. Spirit is helping me organize my books.” She pushed up from where she’d been sitting on the floor. “Can we sell moonshine here? I think we should sell moonshine.”

  “You want to sell moonshine?” Lance glanced at Edward before looking back to Charlie. “Any particular reason why?”

  “Because Spirit makes moonshine and I want to support her. Did you know she has a lavender flavor?” Charlie motioned to an area that was cleared out. “I could have a whole display of it here.”

  “You want an entire display of lavender moonshine?” Lance clearly was missing the point.

  “She wants a display of Spirit’s moonshine.” Edward leaned into Lance’s side. “Women supporting women.”

  He turned toward Edward. “That’s genius.”

  “I know.” Charlie flipped her hands up in the air. “Why does everyone think I can’t do things?” She focused on Spirit. “It’s bullcrap.”

  Spirit nodded along with her. “I know what you mean.”

  Charlie crossed her arms. “You know what? Don’t even worry about it. I’ll handle it myself.”

  “I didn’t mean—”

  Charlie blew a raspberry at him, holding her first two fingers up and pushing them toward the ceiling. “Suck it.”

  Lance stood in place a few seconds longer, probably trying to figure out how his life had taken such a turn.

  He was used to being the boss. To giving orders people listened to and followed.

  “You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.”

  Lance’s eyes snapped his way. “Tell me about it.”

  Edward pointed to the empty spot Charlie was making for her upcoming display. “Good job, Charls. I think you’re on a good path.”

  Charlie smiled wide at him. “Thanks, Edward.”

  He turned to go.

  “Wait.” Charlie’s voice stopped him and sent him turning back to face her.

  “Do you have any hot, chivalrous friends?”

  “Hot I could probably come up with, but chivalrous might be a stretch.”

  She deflated a little. “Damn.”

  “Sorry.”

  Charlie waved it off. “It’s fine. Maybe I should just be happy with hot.” She flopped down to the floor beside Spirit.

  “Don’t settle, Charlie. You’ll regret it.” He almost did. Thought he should be satisfied with what impressed everyone else.

  Now that he was staring down the alternative, it was clearer than ever that fine wasn’t fine.

  Not even close.

  “Easy to say when you’ve got a catch like my sister chasing you around in her bed sheets.”

  Lance turned to him, his brows high. “What was that?”

  “I was chasing her.” Edward grinned at Lance. “And I’m off to do it again.”

  Alex was pissed at him for not sucking, and he was about to go aggravate her some more.

  When he got to the door of her office it was locked and the shades were dropped over the window. “You’ve got to come out sometime, Al. You can’t stay in there forever.”

  Ten years ago he might have walked away from this. Decided she was more trouble than she was worth.

  Now he was old enough to know better.

  That stubborn streak was rooted in self-preservation. Alex was trying to protect herself from him.

  Because she knew the same thing he knew.

  Edward jogged across the street to Danny’s shop to check in with JD, see how the rest of his morning went. He found Danny’s right-hand man behind the counter, frowning down at the paper he was writing on.

  “Looks like Frankie didn’t set you on fire.”

  “Not yet.” JD glanced up. “Looks like you’re still breathing.”

  “So far.” He went to lean against the counter where JD was working. “She locked me out of the office.”

  “Sounds about right.” JD went back to the list in front of him. “She’s gotta come out eventually.”

  “That’s what I said.” Edward eyed the items JD was writing out. “What are you working on?”

  “These girls have let shit slide.” He snapped up the paper. “There’s fuckin’ gutters falling off their houses, screens punched out of their windows, cars that haven’t been washed since they were bought.”

  “They’ve been working their asses off trying to make sure they’re financially stable.” He’d seen the books, knew where all their effort went. The kind of work they put in didn’t leave much time for anything else.

  “They need help and want to pretend they don’t.” JD rounded the counter. “I’m fucking sick of it.”

  “You want some help?”

  JD turned to look him up and down. “You wanna help me clean gutters and fix busted screen doors?”

  “I’ve got nothing else going on.” Edward pulled at the front of his button-up shirt. “Let me get changed and I’ll meet you at your camper.”

  “Suit yourself.” JD turned. “Just know they’re not going to be happy about it.”

  “I’m counting on that.” Edward grinned as he followed JD out th
e doors and down the steps. “I’ll be over in a minute.”

  The blinds were still drawn as he passed Alex’s office. She could try to shut him out. That was fine.

  But it was only a matter of time before she came out and had to face the reality of what was happening.

  Edward quickly changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before pulling on his sneakers and rushing out to where JD was parked next to Frankie’s house. JD looked him up and down again. “Those are your work clothes?”

  “I didn’t really understand the full scope of what I was walking into when I packed for the trip.” Edward expected to come to Shadow Pine, take the time to relax and reevaluate his life, then move on to whatever he decided was next for him.

  Turns out Shadow Pine was what was next.

  JD snorted. “I still don’t understand the full scope of what I’m walking into.” He turned and walked toward the back side of Frankie’s house. “Come on.”

  They spent the next five hours clearing out loaded gutters then tacking loose downspouts back into place, stapling down the gaping hardware cloth lining the picket fence surrounding Frankie and Sam’s joined backyards, and pulling out screens that needed repaired. The sun was starting to go down when Gail finally emerged from the bakery, her front dusted with flour and bits of dried dough. She stood on the sidewalk, hands pressed to the small of her back as she arched it, stretching for a few long seconds. As soon as she straightened, her eyes came their way.

  Her face split into a wide smile and she immediately started walking their way. “Look at you boys. Taking care of my girls.”

  “They won’t take care of themselves.” JD stacked the aluminum screen frames and loaded them into the back of his pickup.

  “It’s their nature to take care of everyone else first.” Gail hooked one arm over the edge of the open bed. “At least they take care of each other.” She eyed JD as he set in the last of the screens. “But I’m sure they’ll appreciate your help.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it.” JD rocked back on his heels, eyes moving to the setting sun. “They’re too focused on what they’re doing to pay attention to what anyone else is doing.”

  “Hmm.” Gail’s blue eyes moved over JD, studying him close enough to make Edward squirm. “Maybe they just need something to snap them out of their way.”