Jennifer Faye - Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise

It was a wintery scene, with a white tree with gingerbread ornaments trimmed with white frosting suspended from it. And beneath the tree was a gingerbread house. Not just four walls and a roof of gumdrops. Someone had gone all out, detailing not a one, not a two, not even a three, but a four-story house decorated with white and pale pink frosting. He didn’t have to guess. He knew it was Pepper’s work. She was quite talented, making the window shutters out of white frosting, and there was even a chimney.

He drew in a deep breath, straightened his shoulders and opened the glass door of the bakery. When he stepped inside, he found it empty. Not one single customer. Sure, it was a little past three in the afternoon, but from what Pepper had told him, there were usually customers streaming in and out of the bakery all day long.

He stepped further into the shop to find the display cases completely full, as though none of the goods had sold that day. How could this be? Pepper, by far, had the best pastries in the city.

“I’ll be right with you.” Her voice was light and friendly, just the way he remembered it before things had spun out of control.

He turned to her, bracing for Pepper’s onslaught of angry words. She knelt down, placing something in the glass display case. When she straightened—when she saw that it was him and when she heard what he’d come here to tell her—he was certain her tone would change drastically.

And then she straightened with a smile on her face. Her beautiful long auburn hair was pulled back in a twist, pinned to the back of her head. When the lights hit her hair, the deep red highlights shone. Her bangs fell to the side of her face and a few wispy curls fell around the nape of her neck. Was this the real reason he’d come here? To have one more look at her—to drink in her beauty?

As recognition flashed in her eyes, her friendly demeanor vanished in a heartbeat, replaced with a distinct frown. “You.” Her green eyes widened with surprise. “What are you doing here?” Then she held up a hand as though stopping him from speaking. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. Just leave before someone sees you here.”

“Pepper, we need to talk.”

She shook her head. “If anyone spots you here, the press with be back. I can’t deal with them. Just go.”

He knew how bad the paparazzi could be when they were chasing what they thought was a story. “I’ve taken precautions so no one knows I’m here.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment. “They’ll still find out. They even dug into my past. My past! People I never thought I’d speak to again were giving interviews about me. Do you know how that invasion of privacy felt?”

“I do. And I’m sorry.” His whole life had been aired in the papers since his business took off. It had been hard, but he was somewhat used to it now. “Just hear what I have to say and then I’ll go.”

She placed her hands on her waist. If looks could vaporize a person, he would be nothing more than mist. Wait. How did she get to be so angry with him? She was the one who had dumped him.

Not that the night would have led anywhere. He didn’t do relationships—not even with the very sweet, very tempting Polka Dotted Baker. He wasn’t cut out to be someone’s boyfriend, much less someone’s husband or worse yet, a father.

Still, she glowered at him. He didn’t move an inch. If this was a struggle of wills, he would win. He’d come here for a purpose. He thought he was doing a nice thing. Now, he was having second thoughts. Still, he was here. And he wasn’t leaving until he’d had his say.

She stared deep into his eyes. “Make it fast.”

“Where are all of your customers?” He sensed something was very wrong. “And why does it look like you haven’t sold anything?”

“Things have changed. I don’t have time to chat. I have work to do.” She moved past him, leaving plenty of room between them so their bodies didn’t touch.

She stepped up to the front door and flipped the sign to Closed. He couldn’t help but notice her craning her neck to gaze up and down the walk, as though checking to see if anyone had spotted him in her shop. As far as he could tell, his ball cap and dark sunglasses had kept his identity under wraps.

“There’s something important I need to tell you.”

She shook her head. “How about we just go back to pretending we don’t know each other? Life was so much easier back then.”

He wished he could rewind time. “It’s too late for that.”

She didn’t say anything as she moved past him and kept going toward the back of the bakery. What he didn’t understand was her hostility. If he’d dumped her, he’d get it. But she’d been the one to end things. Sure, he’d been getting ready to do it, but she’d beaten him to the punch.

He followed her because he still hadn’t told her the reason for his visit. She led him to a small office. The room had vacant white walls, which surprised him after getting to know Pepper’s lively personality and her penchant for decorating. A solitary desk in the room was buried beneath a mountain of paperwork. She grabbed a small quilted backpack with a red-and-white pattern, as well as a digital notebook.

When she turned to the door, she practically ran into him. She glanced up as though she’d gotten lost in her thoughts and had forgotten him. His ego was taking hits left and right. He still wasn’t sure why she was so steamed with him.

She glanced at her wristwatch. “If you came here to talk about the past, don’t. It was a stupid mistake. It won’t happen again.”

If he’d had any doubt about her sincerity, he had his answer. She wanted nothing to do with him. That was a first for him. She certainly was different than everyone else in his life.

And this was why he’d been drawn to Pepper in the first place. She wasn’t a pushover. She wasn’t out to see what he could do for her. She was her own woman, who took life on her own terms.

She placed her things on the counter. After washing her hands, she set to work. Pepper continued to move about the kitchen as though he weren’t even standing there.

“Why are you so mad at me?” He stood at the edge of the large kitchen with all its gleaming stainless surfaces. “As I recall, you’re the one that dumped me.”

Her cheeks filled with color. “I didn’t dump you.”

She added sugar into a saucepan and placed it on the gas stove. She kept her back to him as she adjusted the temperature. He was in absolutely no mood to be ignored.

“I’m pretty sure you did.” His bruised ego could attest to it. “So why all of the hostility?”

She spun around. Her gaze clashed with his. “I’m not hostile.”

He arched a disbelieving brow and waited for her to explain herself. He didn’t mind taking the heat when he deserved it. But in this case, he didn’t do anything wrong. Thoughts of nipping the relationship in the bud didn’t count. Pepper might be good at figuring out people, but even she wasn’t a mind reader.

She sighed. “You’re right. I’m taking my frustrations out on you.” She paused as though choosing her words carefully. “I... I’m sorry.” Her gaze met his briefly, but she turned away before he could read her thoughts. “Things at the bakery haven’t been going well.” She took the saucepan and stirred as the sugar began melting. “But you didn’t come here to hear about my troubles.”

At last, she was beginning to sound like the Pepper he’d gotten to know and trust. “Would you believe I missed your cherry turnovers so much I couldn’t stay away?”

She tilted the pan, letting the melted sugar roll across the bottom. She didn’t say anything, concentrating on what she was doing.

And that was why what he had to say next was that much harder. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to have this conversation while she was distracted, but she wasn’t leaving him much choice. She took a spoon with a long round handle and began to drizzle the caramel onto it. All the while, she turned the handle so the caramel would make a corkscrew shape.