Chapter Three
The cold, May morning air burned Maggie’s lungs as she ran, her sneakers crunching as they hit the dirt path. The sun was just starting to peek out over the eastern horizon. She quickened her pace, knowing she was only minutes away from Merle’s Diner and a hot cup of coffee.
Mornings were not her friend. At the restaurant in LA, they only provided dinner, so she didn’t need to be at work until noon in order to prep the desserts and breads. Gran’s shop had always been open from nine in the morning to five in the evening. She wanted to keep that consistency for the loyal customers. It was just good business sense, or so Lizzy had told her.
When Gran died and left her the shop, she had considered just selling it. Even had an offer from an anonymous buyer. But her life in LA had been falling apart. She’d lost her mother to cancer three years ago, her job at the restaurant was good, but stagnant, and her love life…no, she wasn’t going to think about that again. Miles had turned out to be a bastard of the highest degree. Uprooting everything and moving to Peak Town to take over Cupcakes Above the Clouds had seemed like the perfect opportunity for a fresh start.
So far, her bad luck seemed to have followed her across the country. The problems with her distributor and the decrease in business were starting to show in her accounting books. The economy was on the rise, but people were still counting their pennies. And people counting pennies did not spend them on luxuries like cupcakes.
That was why she needed this review with the blogger to go so well. Peak Town was only an hour away from some very popular ski resorts. A good review on the top viewed blog, Guilty Pleasures: A Cross Country Food Journey, would bring in the tourists. Tourists spent money, and money was necessary to stay in business, or so Lizzy kept telling her.
Coming to the end of the dirt path, Maggie slowed to a walk. Stepping from the trail to the concrete sidewalk, she headed for Merle’s and a hot cup of coffee.
It might be spring, but springtime in the Rockies could mean sweaters or tank tops. This morning was the former. Her blood still pumped from her run, but the sweat on her body began to cool in the cold morning air. By the time she entered the small, cozy diner, her body temperature had gone from warm to freezing.
“Morning, Maggie. Cup of joe?” asked Ellen, Merle’s wife of thirty years.
She smiled and nodded at the cheerful older woman. “You know it.”
Ellen turned to the freshly brewed coffee pot and filled a cup with the black, steaming liquid as Maggie sat on a barstool at the front counter. The early morning crowd at Merle’s usually consisted of a few old-timers sitting at a back table, enjoying coffee, eggs, bacon, and flapjacks, and one or two shop proprietors grabbing a morning coffee. As she looked around, she saw today was no different. Unfortunately, one of those shop proprietors happened to be Natalie Brake.
Ellen set the cup of coffee, along with a small bowl of creamers, in front of her. Reaching for the bin of sugars on the counter, Maggie doctored her coffee to her liking and tried to ignore Natalie standing at the other end of the counter. Maybe she would get lucky and the other woman wouldn’t notice her.
“Maggie Evans, you look positively dreadful. Are you all right?”
Damn my luck! She gripped her cup tightly, reining in her temper. “I just came in from a run, Natalie. Just stopped in for a cup of coffee before I open the shop.”
“Oh yes, your shop. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”
She sighed, preparing herself for another tirade. Natalie owned Rejuvenations Beauty Supply, the store next door to the cupcake shop. She sold makeup and anti-wrinkle creams along with fancy smelling lotions and bath products. Maggie had never set foot in the store. She hadn’t needed to; she could smell all the pungent products from half a mile away.
The woman had never liked her. The summer Natalie and Colton started dating, the cheerleader had told her, in no uncertain terms, that Colton was hers and Maggie had better back off if she wanted to keep all her teeth. The cheerleader had never liked the fact her boyfriend was friends with a teenage girl, even though Maggie was four years his junior.
Ever since she’d come back to town, and took over Gran’s shop, nothing had changed; it had been one complaint after another. And she had no idea why. Apparently, Natalie and Colton had broken up after only a year and a half.
Small towns were notorious for gossip. When she came back into town, Ellen had filled her in on all the juicy details she’d missed over the years. According to Merle’s wife, Natalie had gone off to college at CSU. Colton decided to stay and work the family ranch. They tried the long distance thing, but after a semester they broke up. Some people suspected Natalie had been fooling around with other guys and Colton found out. If she had been cheating on him, she had to be the stupidest woman alive, in Maggie’s opinion.
“What is it now, Natalie?” she finally asked.
“You see, the smell from your shop seems to be seeping through the wall and coming into mine.”
“The smell from my shop?” Seriously?
“Yes, and it’s terribly upsetting for my customers. They are trying to improve their body image, relax, and enhance their beauty. How can they do that when the smell of sickening, sugary, fatty cupcakes invade their nostrils?”
Wow, she had never heard her delicious desserts described with such disdain before. “Well, what do you suggest I do about it?”
Natalie laughed, the sound grating, like nails on a chalkboard. “I have no idea, hun. I’m just informing you of the issue. What you do to resolve it is your problem.”
Yes, it was her problem. Just like the sign she had out front taking up too much of the sidewalk was her problem. And the music she played in the shop being too loud was her problem. It seemed every time Natalie saw her the woman had another one of “Maggie’s problems” to discuss.
“I’ll look into it.” Next millennium maybe.
“You do that.”
“Order’s up, Natalie,” Ellen said, handing over a brown paper sack.
She breathed out a sigh of relief. A to-go order meant the obnoxious woman was leaving. Maybe now she could enjoy her coffee in peace.
Then the diner door opened, and a cold wind blew in, bringing with it a sexy, smiling Colton Denning.
Hadn’t she knocked on wood last night? What was with all this bad luck coming her way? She was sorely tempted to grab the saltshaker off the counter and throw the whole damn thing over her left shoulder.
“Colton!” Natalie’s voice went sickly sweet.
The cowboy’s smile faltered. “Natalie.” He turned and his face brightened. “Hey, Magpie, get in a run this morning?” He tugged at her ponytail, disheveled by the exercise.
“I know! Doesn’t she look a mess?” Natalie interjected. “You know, Maggie, I have some body spray at my shop that does absolute wonders for running. It keeps you from sweating like a…well, a pig. No offense, dear.”
Her teeth clenched together as she bit back a rude remark. She gripped her coffee mug to keep from smacking the woman upside her Botox-enhanced face.
“I think you look great, Magpie, and runners are supposed to sweat. It’s called exercise, Natalie. Not everyone goes to Dr. Lipo to get their figure.”
Beneath salon bleached blonde hair, the surgically enhanced cheeks turned a brilliant shade of red and her mouth opened, but no words came out. Maggie pretended to take a sip of her coffee to hide her grin.
“Well, I was only offering to help, Maggie,” the flustered woman said with a huff.
Yeah, help me off a cliff maybe.
Gripping her to-go bag tightly in her hand, Natalie muttered a goodbye to them both and headed out the diner door.
“Dr. Lipo? Really Colt, that was a low blow. Even for you.”
“Hey, I was defending your honor. Give me some points here.”
She shook her head, chuckling at the image of Natalie’s red face.
“Hey, Colton. Whatcha need?” Ellen asked, her eyes full of laughter as well.
“Well, I’d ask for a date, but Merle would skin me alive,” Colton joked with a wink. “The coffee pot broke down this morning. I need four to-go cups of your delicious black brew.”
Ellen blushed, swatting him with a friendly hand then turning to get his order. Everyone was used to his antics. Stupid, sexy, cowboy flirted with every woman he saw, well, except maybe Natalie. It wasn’t really a problem, it was just who he was. Didn’t mean Maggie had to like it. She scowled.
“What?”
“Do you have some medical condition where you die if you don’t flirt with every woman you see?”
He tapped the end of her nose with his finger. “Awe, come on, Magpie, don’t be jealous. You know you’re my favorite girl.”
But that was the problem. She was jealous, because he did flirt with everyone, including her, making her no one special. She also was not a girl anymore. Not that Colton ever seemed to notice.
Finishing the last sip of her coffee, Maggie rose from her stool, dropping a few bills on the counter for Ellen. “Whatever. I’ve got to go.”
“Hold on. I’ll walk you.”
Great, just what her hormones didn’t need, more time in close contact with Colton Denning.
She waited until Ellen had finished his order and he paid. They left the warm diner, a smack of cold, May morning air hitting her in the face as she exited.
“Brrrrr. When does it warm up around here?”
He laughed, the sound sending butterflies through her stomach. Stupid stomach.
“I forgot, you never spent any winters here before.”
“If I ever had, I don’t think I would have come back. It’s freezing here! Isn’t it supposed to be spring?”
“It’s forty-five degrees out, Magpie.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, freezing.”
Colton chuckled again, then wrapped a big, strong arm around her as they walked.
“There, is that better?”
She turned her face in slightly and inhaled the delicious scent of him. “You’re a regular electric blanket, Colt,” she said with a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold.
“Har, har. Okay, Miss Funny Pants, here we are.”
He stopped them in front of her shop. She had just enough time to head up to her apartment above for a shower before icing the cooled cupcakes she’d baked before her run.
Colton removed his arm from her shoulder, and she immediately missed the contact. Ugh. She had to get ahold of herself. She had no time for men. Men just brought lies and trouble. Hadn’t she just learned that lesson not too long ago?
“See ya ’round, Magpie.”
“I told you, I’m too old for nicknames.”
He chucked her chin before turning and heading down the sidewalk, calling over his shoulder, “Whatever you say, Grandma!”
“You are not funny, Colton Denning!” she shouted after him. But he just lifted a hand and waved.
Maggie watched his retreating form. And boy, what a great form it was.
A cold gust of wind shocked her, bringing her back to her senses. Shaking her head, she started up the outside stairs to her apartment and a nice hot shower. Remembering the feel of Colton’s strong arm around her, the intoxicating smell of him, she began to sweat again.
Maybe she’d take a cold shower instead.