Page 28 of Cuddling Carly

At least she thought that was true. Really, she was just trying to grasp onto anything that might explain why that batch had turned out so poorly.

“Still tastes good,” Eli said with crumbs and frosting on his lips.

“Thank you. But I’m going to try again. I can’t have the cupcakes falling apart on everyone at the big Halloween party.”

So, the group got to work once more. But the outcome was even worse than the first time.

“This is awful!” Carly said, fighting back tears. “I promise I can bake. Y’all saw the cupcakes I brought to town.”

“Tasted them, too. Good stuff,” Eli told her. “But I’m telling you, these are just fine in my books.” He was helping himself to his third one of the evening, though it was breaking apart just as the other two had.

Carly couldn’t keep the tears at bay any longer. She began to sob as she backed up to a chair that rested against the wall near a sink and sank into it.

“It’s okay,” Katie said. “There’s got to be something here that’s different than you’re used to. You know, something throwing you off a little. You’ll get it figured out before tomorrow.”

A heavy silence settled over the group.

“I think I know what it might be,” Stella said after a moment.

Carly and everyone else looked at her.

“It’s like a sport. An athlete can be the best. But if they get in their head about something…” She shrugged.

“I think I get what you’re saying. The mental aspect of sports,” Eli said, bobbing his head as if it made sense to him. “Yeah. Like a quarterback whose personal life is falling apart and suddenly they can’t throw for anything.”

“Exactly,” Stella said. “Or a golfer who crashes his car into a tree while drunk and then can’t sink a putt to save his life.”

Carly pondered the explanation for a moment and realized it was the only thing that made sense. It confirmed what she’d already feared. “I think you’re right. With everything that happened back in Valley Spring, I…I lost my baking mojo!”

She stood. Sucking in her bottom lip, she looked at the disastrous cupcakes and shook her head as more panic rose from deep within her core.

“I can fix this. I’ll just try again and then—”

“Friend,” Katie said, placing a gentle hand on Carly’s arm, “maybe you should try again tomorrow. You’re here for vacation. Some fun might be just the ticket you need.”

“Yeah. That might work. I guess.” Carly chewed on the inside of her cheek a moment. “I’m just not sure what I need.”

“Uh, Carly,” Stella said. “Would a hot, sexy cowboy with broad shoulders help?”

Carly chuckled. “You mean like Wade? Yeah.”

Stella looked out through the large rectangular opening in the kitchen and into the dining hall and then back at Carly. In a near whisper, she said, “Well—”

Carly wasn’t whispering when she said, “Please tell me Wade has magically appeared and he’s here to confess his undying love for me, be my Daddy, and we’ll live happily ever after and—”

“I don’t know if he’s Wade,” Stella said, clearing her throat and then jerking her head to indicate the man who was now standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

“I’m Wade,” he announced.

For a moment, Carly thought she was dreaming. But upon hearing that unmistakable voice, she spun around so fast to see him that it made her dizzy and she realized that this was all actually happening.

What the heck was he doing in Mountainville?

She asked him that very question.

Grinning, he stepped closer.

“I’m here to confess my undying love for you, be your Daddy, and live happily ever after.”