Sugar & Spice

Chapter 28

Crissy was so sure the second she stopped baking, she'd be sick with nerves. She didn't sleep a wink and by the time the clock hit six in the morning, she was up and moving, clothes already folded and packed. She threw herself into making cinnamon waffles for breakfast but when those were done, she switched to profiteroles and when those were done too, she moved on to raspberry tarts with a lemon custard.

This was it. She was finally going to her sister's wedding.

Quinn stumbled into the kitchen a little after eight, scrubbing his hands over his face as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the back of her head.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" he asked, his voice rough and gravelly.

She didn't stop as she carefully formed the tart dough into the pan. "Not tired," she said.

"Liar," he sighed. "You're nervous about today."

She said nothing and kept working, kept moving.

"Crissy, can you look at me for a minute, please?" Quinn asked softly.

He took her hand even though her fingers were sticky from working with the tart crust and he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.

"Talk to me," he said. "Tell me what's runnin' around in your head."

Her heart skipped up her throat at his quiet, gentle tone and she stepped towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You are very important to me," she said, "and I don't want to see you hurt. Whatever happens today, I don't want you to think..."

"Hey, hey," he said, pulling back to cup her face in his hands. "No matter what happens at this wedding, it won't change how I feel about you, okay? I'd like to make a good impression with your family, of course I would. But if your family doesn't like me, too bad. All I care about is what you think of me."

She closed her eyes and turned her head to kiss his palm.

"Part of me wishes you would chicken out and stay home," she said.

"Never going to happen, sweetheart."

"I know. And I'm glad you're going with me."

He smiled and brushed his thumb over her chin.

"Better now?" he asked.

She nodded and took in a shaky breath. "Still a little nervous though."

"I think that's perfectly normal," he said, kissing her forehead. Then he snatched a profiterole from the table and backed up to the bedroom. "Leaving in an hour?"

"Just as soon as I get the kitchen cleaned up."

She turned back to the raspberry tarts on the counter.

"Hey," Quinn said, poking his head out of the bedroom.

She glanced over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Love you, sweetheart," he said then ducked back into the bedroom.

Crissy smiled to herself as she finished the tarts. Maybe today would go better than she expected.

[][][]

The drive to Denver didn't take nearly as long as Crissy had hoped it would and before she knew it, her mother's three story house was looming in front of her, massive and expensive and intimidating. As soon as Quinn pulled into the driveway, Crissy wished she could turn and run the other way. But Quinn took her fingers in his and kissed the back of her hand with a smile.