She was the epitome of put together and living the small-town dream. Josie was… where she was. Doing okay. Figuring it out. Paige, on the other hand, was a… free spirit. That was how their grandmother referred to her anyway. She wasn’t figuring anything out. Nor was she trying.
She owned the yoga studio in town, Cores and Catnip. It was actually a yoga studio and cat café. It was actually a yoga studio only because Paige had to have a place to keep her cat collection, and to afford them. And yes, the “collection” was a collection of real cats.
She was a twenty-one-year-old, crazy cat lady.
And completely unapologetic about it.
When people teased her that she’d never find a man who would tolerate that many cats, she always said, “Good.” And then got another cat.
In fairness, she worked to adopt the cats out to new homes. But if they didn’t get adopted, she certainly wasn’t upset.
The craziest thing about Paige being here now, however, was that she didn’t eat white flour or sugar and never baked with either of them.
She was a vegetarian and baked only with things like almond and coconut flours. She never ate from Buttered Up.
“I’m here to help,” Paige said with a bright smile. That seemed genuine.
Josie hugged her gorgeous, young sister. “Help bake?”
“Well…” Paige looked over at Zoe. “Or maybe clean up or wait on customers or whatever.”
Zoe grinned at her. “I would let you bake if you want to.”
“I’m willing to try.”
“But you can’t sneak in any artificial sweeteners,” Zoe said.
“Stevia comes from a plant,” Paige told her. “Just like sugar comes from sugarcane.”
“You still can’t use it.”
Paige sighed. “Fine.”
Josie shook her head. This seemed like a very bad idea.
“I don’t understand what’s going on at all.”
“Grant set this up,” Zoe said, her eyes twinkling. “But that’s all I should say.”
Grant had set this up? Because he knew that Josie was uncomfortable leaving Zoe shorthanded. That made her heart flip slightly.
“We can tell her now.”
The deep voice rumbled from the doorway leading from the front of the bakery.
Josie pivoted to face Grant.
He had her so mixed up that she was leaving the blueberries out of the blueberry muffins, but just looking at him made her heart thump hard. She gave him what was surely a goofy smile. “Hi.”
“Hi. I have a surprise for you,” he said. He was also smiling.
It was one of those smiles that a few weeks ago had been impossible to imagine on his face. But damn, he looked so good wearing it.
“Oh?” She played along.
“I’m taking you to Chicago for the weekend,” he said, coming into the kitchen.
Josie was very aware that everyone had stopped what they were doing and were watching her and Grant closely. She widened her eyes, focusing on him, determined to make this look convincing. “Really? Chicago? What for?”
“A romantic weekend away,” he said, coming to stand so that she had to turn slightly, putting her back mostly to the room.
She relaxed then. Without them all able to see her face it was easier to pull this off. She appreciated that he’d realized that. She smiled up at him. “That sounds amazing.”
He nodded. “I have a seminar on Saturday. I was hoping you’d come with me, and we could spend some time together just the two of us before and after the seminar. I’ll show you the city. We can go to some of my favorite places. There’s a fabulous restaurant that overlooks the city that I think you’ll love. Their desserts are to die for.”
Josie tipped her head. That all did sound amazing. “I love dessert.”
“I know.”
His voice was a little gruffer with that reply, and she wondered if he’d done that on purpose. It caused heat to skitter down her spine anyway.
“So when are we leaving?” she asked. She glanced over her shoulder. “Looks like things are covered here.”
Everyone was watching them. All of the women in the room were watching with wide eyes and big smiles. If she wasn’t mistaken, even Paige was looking a little swoony at all of this. Henry was less impressed. But he was an eleven-year-old boy. She knew that Grant could win him over too if he started talking about the video game he and the guys had developed. It was Henry’s favorite thing in the whole world.
Grant had officially won over the entire room.
“Right now,” Grant said. “I have a bag packed for you in the car.”
She looked back up at him. “Wow, really?” She’d packed the bag