Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
“Oh! I’d asked Gemma where he was. She’ll be so happy to see him. If you’ll wait for a minute, she’ll run past here.”
“I don’t want to disturb her. Could you set this somewhere for her? I’m sorry I didn’t bring you one,” Anton apologized.
“Oh, there are loads of cupcakes over on the table. Is there something special about this one?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Looking skeptical, the clerk took the cupcake and set it underneath the register. “I’ll tell her you stopped by. Would you like to leave your name?”
“No, thank you.”
Anton turned and threaded his way through the racks and shoppers to reach the front door. With a look back, he smiled at Gemma’s success and walked out the door, making plans to see her later when they would have time to talk.
While he was there, he decided to walk down to the Little Cakes shop. He definitely didn’t need any more cupcakes, but he wanted to thank Ellie for the Reindeer Tracks cupcakes. Opening the door with a jingle, he smiled at the sight of Ellie wrapped in her Daddy’s arms. Garrett was spinning her around in circles.
“Da… Garrett! Put me down. That isn’t the way to get sprinkles off me!” the adorable woman protested as everyone grinned at their antics.
Anton knew Garrett was not the name she normally called him. He paused inside the door and smiled as the large man stood her on the floor in front of him. When the woman turned to see who had just entered, Anton quickly covered his mouth to hide his amusement.
“You can laugh. It’s pretty hilarious. I just opened this giant container of sprinkles and he surprised me with a deep BOO through the window at me.” Ellie nodded toward Garrett.
Looking back at her face, Anton couldn’t keep from laughing out loud. Sprinkles of all colors clung to her face.
“I know! I haven’t seen myself yet, but I jumped and all these sprinkles exploded from the jar. When I rushed out here to chat, I not only left a trail of candy decorations in my wake, but everyone can’t keep from laughing. He owes me big!” Ellie said, shaking a finger at Garrett who openly laughed.
“I’ll buy you more sprinkles, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to scare you, but you were concentrating so hard.” Garrett laughed.
“Thank goodness for my hairnet,” Ellie said, patting the top of her head and causing a waterfall of sprinkles to tumble around them. Anton watched her mouth form an O of surprise as they rattled to the floor around her feet.
“You are now banned from the shop,” she said. Her smile told Anton that her Daddy was safe from a lengthy eviction.
“I’ll be back in an hour. I have an appointment to show that small storefront,” Garrett answered.
Just like that, a magnificent thought burst through Anton’s head. He stepped forward to talk to them. “Hi. I wanted to thank you for the Reindeer Tracks cupcakes you sent me.”
Ellie grinned. “I’m so excited that you’re dating Gemma. You make such a cute couple.” She glanced toward Garrett. “We love Gemma. She’s so good at what she does.”
“She is perfectly suited to running a clothing store, just as I suspect you are to owning Little Cakes,” Anton responded.
“Little Cakes is all Ellie’s. I just own the building she keeps sprinkling,” Garrett said with dancing eyes.
Ellie let out a sigh of exasperation before turning to Anton to say, “Thank you. I love making cupcakes.”
“It shows.” He turned toward Garrett. “I wonder if you’d have time to show me any open spaces you have in the shopping area, Garrett?”
“I do. What type of business do you own?”
“I’m a financial analyst. I haven’t seen any private investment companies around here,” he replied.
“There aren’t,” Garrett agreed. “I always do an annual evaluation of the types of businesses in the area. There’s one about ten miles from here, but it’s closing at the end of the year. He’s retiring. A great guy.”
“Sounds like an even better reason to check out the space you have available,” Anton suggested.
“Let’s go look. There’s one empty space now and another coming available,” Garrett said.
The large man standing with his arm around Ellie stopped and kissed her gently to avoid causing any more of a downfall of sprinkles. “I’ll try not to scare you next time,” he promised.
“Thanks, D… Garrett.”
“Come on, Anton. Let’s see if this space could work for you.”
As they walked through the door, Anton looked back to see Ellie bouncing happily in the middle of the floor with her hands clasped to her heart. The remainder of the sprinkles on her hairnet tumbled to the floor around her. He tapped Garrett’s arm so he wouldn’t miss the adorable display.
“She loves you,” Anton observed as they began walking.
“Ellie does. She’s pretty special. That’s not why she’s so happy,” Garrett explained.