Katie's Bakery was the best place in town to get sandwiches. And donuts. And cake. And really anything delicious. Katie had taken over the place after her father retired. She'd won a baking show on the Cooking Network last year, which was as close to famous as anyone in Riversville was ever going to get. She was now the town celebrity.

The bakery was also the only real place to get a take-out lunch that wasn't a burger or fast-food taco.

As I pulled open the door to the bakery, a familiar voice called out my name.

“Aunt Hannah!”

I turned to see little Leigh Ann and her mom, Karina, seated at a table outside. They were eating lunch on the patio right out in front of the Bakery.

“Leigh Ann!” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“Eating lunch with Mom,” she said, matter of factly.

“Hey, Karina.” I waived and Karina's eyes lit up when she saw me.

“Come sit with us after you order,” she said.

“Yeah, definitely. Be right there.” I ran in and ordered two turkey sandwiches on Katie's famous bakery rolls. They put one for me on a plate with a drink and one in a to-go bag with Dr. Mathew's name on it. Right as I finished paying, Katie the baker, came out from the back room with a tray full of fresh-baked rolls.

“Hannah? I heard you'd moved back, but I wasn't sure it was true or not,” she said warmly, giving me a wave once she'd handed the rolls off to the sandwich-making employee. She had long dark hair and big brown eyes. There was a smudge of flour on her cheek and a speckling of it in her dark hair, making her look older than she was. She was six years younger than me, but I'd been friends with her older sister. To be honest, I'd gotten along better with Katie than I did her sister.

“Hi, Katie,” I said with a wave of my own. “Yup. I'm back. I'm working at the doctor's office now.”

“For Dr. Taggert?” she asked, coming around the back counter. We stepped off to the side of the checkout line, away from the flow of customers. She had on an apron covered in more flour and different colors of frosting.

“Kind of. He's selling the practice to Dr. Matthews. I work mostly for him,” I replied.

“Oh, that's right. He bought it. I remember now.” She shook her head and chuckled. “Honestly, I've been so busy the past few weeks it's a miracle I remember my own name some days.”

“I've been watching you on TV,” I said, feeling a little more confident that Katie and Dr. Matthews were no where near getting engaged. She didn't even know where he worked.

“Yeah, the baking competition. It was supposed to be this tiny thing and the network got ahold of it, and it kind of snowballed.” She shrugged. “But, it's good for the bakery and the town. Mayor Matthews said tourism is up. The bakery's definitely been more busy.”

“That's great,” I told her. “I'm loving watching you. The finale is coming up, right?”

She nodded. “Filming is next month and it will premier a little after that. That's what I”m working on today. I'm practicing everything they might throw at me.”

“Anyone going with you to LA for filming?” I asked.

“My dad. I don't have anyone else that really wants to go,” she admitted. “Despite the Bridge Club's attempts, I am actually single.”

“Be careful how loud you say that,” I cautioned. “The town likes their romances.”

“Tell me about it.” She sighed. “I should let you eat your lunch. It's good to see you.”

“Same. And in case I don't see you, break a leg at the competition.”

“Thanks. Tell Dr. Matthews I said hi.” She motioned to the to-go bag in my hand with his name on it, then frowned. “Actually, don't. I don't need to feed the gossip.”

“I'll tell him you say a platonic hello and that you hope he enjoys his sandwich from a business standpoint as a returning customer,” I said.

She laughed. “That'll work. It's good to see you, Hannah. I'm glad you're back in town.”

She flashed me one last grin and a wave before heading back into the bakery area. I felt a little lighter knowing that she and Dr. Matthews weren't really an item. I knew that my thoughts didn't really matter, but it made my crush feel a lot less guilty.

When I stepped out onto the patio, Leigh Ann ran up and wrapped her arms around my leg.

“Well, this is a nice surprise,” I said with a smile.

I set the sandwiches down onto the table and Karina and I exchanged a quick hug.

“Hey there,” she said, resuming her seat. “It's not often I run into you during the week. Everything okay?”

“Everything's great,” I said. “Work is quiet today. We try and keep Mondays open for emergency visits since everyone waits through the weekend. I thought I'd grab some lunch since I didn't have patients.”

“It was good timing,” Karina said. “Leigh Ann and I just got here a few minutes ago. We were doing a bit of shopping and decided to grab some lunch.”

“Thanks again for coming to my parent's party on Saturday,” I said. “They loved seeing you and Leigh Ann. In fact, they sometimes refer to her as their 'step-grand daughter'“.

Karina laughed. “You know I wouldn't miss it. I haven't missed one in twenty years and I'm not about to start.”

I took a bite of my sandwich and washed it down with some orange-flavored bottled water. “It was nice seeing all of the kids play. They get along so well together. I wonder if they'll be friends two decades from now, like what happened with us.”

“It wouldn't surprise me,” she said. “They're thick as thieves. Speaking of connections, I noticed you and Dr. Matthews were hanging out quite a bit during the party.”

I nearly choked on my sandwich from surprise. “What?”

Karina shrugged. “You and the Doctor hardly left each other’s side the entire day.”

“Oh, yeah, well.” I stumbled over my words. “We've just become pretty good friends since we've started working together. Plus, I was the one who invited him, so maybe he felt like he needed to hang out with me more than anyone else.”

Karina smiled and leaned across the table. “He's super cute, Hannah. You don't need to feel ashamed about having a crush on him.”

“A crush?” I asked, feeling my face burn as I blushed. “What? No, it's nothing like that. We're just good friends.”

“Okay,” Karina said, keeping the mischievous smirk plastered on her face. “But I know love when I see it and there was definitely something there between you two.”

“Do you really think so?” I asked.

“I know so,” she said casually.

“Maybe you just had too much of the adult punch,” I said, laughing.

“That's very possible,” Karina admitted. “Even so, I wasn't the only one who noticed.”

I cocked my head to the side. “What do yo mean?”

“Even your mom mentioned it,” she said. “Right after Dr. Matthews left the party, she asked me if there was something going on between you two.”

“Seriously?” I shook my head, causing my hair to fall across my forehead.

“It's not a bad thing,” Karina said. “I think it's kind of hot. Think about it, Hannah. A nurse and a doctor? That's the kind of things they write books about.”

“But the town...” I sighed. “Everyone thinks that he's engaged to Katie. Do you know what the Ladies' Bridge Club would do to me? My own mother told me to back off. They want him to be with Katie.”

I motioned to the bakery behind us.

“Screw 'em.”

I sighed. Karina had always been popular in school and the town adored her and Leigh Ann. She'd never felt the strength of the town when they decided on something. I had. I still had nightmares about Mrs. Thompson choosing me as the lead for the school play because it would bring me out of my shell. I had been so nervous that I had thrown up after every rehearsal and they finally gave up and let me just be in the band. The worst part was that I didn't even audition for the play.

When the town wanted something, it happened to you whether you liked it or not. The Ladies' Bridge Club was worse than the mafia.

“There's nothing between us,” I told her firmly. “It couldn't happen and even if it could, I wouldn't allow it. He's my boss for crying out loud. You and I both know that mixing relationships with work is a huge no-no.”

“I suppose,” she said, before taking a sip from her cola. “Although, sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants. When that happens, I don't think there's much you can do about it.”

“You got all this from seeing me hang out and play tag football one afternoon with him?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yep,” she said confidently.

“Well, then you must be psychic or something,” I said. “Or maybe psychotic. Not sure which. Because I don't think he wants anything to do with me that doesn't involve patients or their kids.”

“Right.” Karina rolled her eyes, obviously not believing me. “And you haven't thought about how cute a kid would be with your hair and his eyes. Or maybe his hair and your smile. Oh, that would be so cute.”

How did she know? “Nope. Totally haven't, and you are delusional.”

As if on cue, I heard the sound of a child crying. We both turned to look. It came from my left where a young mom was pushing a stroller down the sidewalk. I didn't recognize her and assumed she must have been from out of town. The mother stopped and checked on the her. She put more crackers in front of the girl, making the crying stop.

A little girl sat in her stroller smiling and carefully picking up each cracker with tiny fingers before popping it into her mouth. Her hair was the color of Dr. Matthews' and she had beautiful blue eyes.

The image of a baby with Dr. Mathew's eyes in my arms popped into my brain again.

I was such a liar. I wanted a baby with Dr. Matthews. I wanted him. I wanted everything that I said I didn't.

I shook my head, knowing that I was fooling myself. It wasn't going to happen.

I was still feeling the effects of Ashton on my brain, I told myself. It always happened when I worked with kids. I couldn't get them off my mind. I wanted one of my own so badly, but it just didn't seem like it was going to happen. I was saving up to afford an adoption, but the idea of being a single mother was terrifying in a different way than not having kids.

“You, alright, Hannah?” Karina asked.

I realized then that I had been blatantly staring at the woman with the child. I nodded quickly, forcing my attention back toward Karina.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” I said. “Sorry, just thought I recognized that girl.”

“Oh, no problem,” she said. “I was just telling you a funny story that happened to me at the grocery store the other day.”

“Go ahead,” I said. “I'm listening now.”

Karina began to talk and I tried to pay attention. It was nearly impossible, though. All I could do was think about was a baby with Dr. Matthews' eyes in my arms. It seemed like everywhere I looked, women were having babies. Not just at my job, though, but everywhere.

I need to have a kid and soon. Otherwise, I'm going to lose my mind, I thought, while halfway listening to Karina's grocery store story. I just need to find the right guy and it isn't Dr. Matthews.