“Adam.” Gretchen gave him a puzzled look. “What’s up with you? You keep staring off into space.”

“Sorry.” He put down the box of newspapers he was carrying and met her gaze. “I’m a little distracted.”

She set her box down next to the others in the property management office. Maggie had brought over several dozen blueberry muffins and some white boxes earlier. They planned to tie a newspaper on to the box with a blue ribbon. If this worked out, he hoped to order ribbons emblazoned with the name of the town. For now, they were on a bare bones budget.

“Are you that worried about the newspaper?” She peered into his eyes.

He sighed. “No. Well, yes, but that’s not what’s bothering me.”

Gretchen’s family had generously offered the use of the storage room in their property management office to prepare the box and newspaper bundles. They’d thought about doing it at the Candle Beach Weekly, but it made more sense to make them where they’d be handed out.

She sat down on one of the metal padded chairs and patted the chair next to her. “Sit.”

He obliged, sitting with his knees out and leaning against the rigid chair back.

She turned slightly to see his face. “So what is going on with you?”

He fidgeted in his chair, wrapping his thumbs around each other. “It’s nothing.” He glanced at the open door. He appreciated Gretchen’s help, but he didn’t feel like confiding in her. The secret he was keeping from Angel was eating away at him, like a caterpillar slowly making holes in a leaf.

“Adam. I’ve known you since we were in kindergarten. Something’s bothering you.”

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer. Spill.” She shifted her chair to face him directly.

There was no easy way out of the situation for him. He sighed. “Okay. You know how Angel is looking for her family?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Yeah, so? You’re helping her out with that, right?”

He held his head in his hands, and then looked up at Gretchen. “Yes. That’s the problem.”

“It’s a problem to be helping her? Or you found something out about her family that she won’t want to know?” Her eyes widened. “They don’t want anything to do with her, do they?”

“Something like that.” He stood, pacing back and forth in the small room. “I did find her grandmother. It turns out that her mother ran away from home when Angel was only a baby because her parents didn’t approve of her having a child out of wedlock.”

“And they still want nothing to do with her?”

“Well, her grandfather is dead, and her grandmother seems ashamed of how they treated Angel’s mother.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “When she first asked me to help, I thought that this would be an easy project.”

“And now it’s turned into somewhat of a mess, huh?” Gretchen was quiet for a moment. “You’re going to tell her about her family though, right?”

He felt her eyes on him and his composure crumbled.

“I want to. I feel horrible keeping the secret from her, but I promised her grandmother that I would give her a couple of weeks to tell Angel herself. After this many years, two weeks didn’t seem like a lot to ask.” He added hurriedly, “I told her that if she doesn’t tell Angel within two weeks, I would tell her myself.”

“But now you’re hiding a secret from Angel.” Her gaze burned holes in his skin.

He sat back down on the metal chair. “Yeah, and it’s tearing me apart. I hated lying to her when she asked me if I’d found anything out about her family.”

“I can see how that would be a problem.” She leaned in toward him. “But it’s not like you’re doing it to hurt her.”

“Yeah but I don’t think she’ll see it that way.”

“And she’s becoming important to you, isn’t she?” Gretchen asked softly.

This wasn’t exactly how he’d seen things going when he and Gretchen had arranged to create a trial run of the newspaper bundling program. She knew that he’d had a crush on her since they were kids, and even though those feelings had passed, it still felt awkward to discuss his relationship with another woman with her. However, he needed someone to talk to about it—someone who knew Angel too.

“I think she is.” His pulse quickened. How had it happened this fast? He’d only known her for a little over a week, but it felt as though they’d known each other for years. Conversations with Angel were easy. He’d never experienced that with any other woman in the past, including his ill-fated engagement in college. Those relationships had always seemed like so much work, but with Angel, it was effortless.

“You could tell Angel about her family,” Gretchen said. “But then you’d be breaking your promise to her grandmother.”

“Yes.” He slumped in the chair. “I wish I’d never found out who her grandmother was, and never gotten myself into this mess.”

“But think of it this way, now Angel will eventually be able to meet her family. Did it seem like her grandmother was interested in talking with her?”

He considered her question. “She did, however she was hesitant about meeting Angel after all of these years. She’s not sure how Angel will react.”

She patted his hand. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. And Angel will understand. She knows that you’re a good man.” She smiled at him.

He smiled weakly back at her. “I hope so. Please don’t say anything to Angel about this.”

“Of course not,” she said. “But if her grandmother doesn’t tell her soon, I really think you should.”

He nodded. He had his doubts that Angel would be quite as forgiving as Gretchen surmised. From what he’d gathered, she’d been let down by many people in her past, and he feared that she’d now see him as just one more in that line.

“Now, we better get moving on this.” Gretchen jutted her chin toward the stacks of newspaper and pastry boxes. “The nightly rental customers will start arriving in the next few hours, and I want to have a supply of these ready to give them when they check in to their rental properties. If this goes well—and I think it will—I think I can convince my parents to purchase them for every guest.”

He nodded. Putting together the bundles would give him something to do, something that would take his mind off his problems.

“Hand me one of those boxes, will you?” He reached his hand out to Gretchen and she pressed a folded box into his palm.

“I think this is going to work,” she said. “Pretty soon you’ll be the proud owner of a shiny new website for the newspaper.”

“Thanks,” he said, with a grateful smile. “I hope so.”

* * *

The Sorensen barn was in worse shape than Angel had expected. She and Dahlia had come together to help Maggie out, but now she wondered if it was even in the realm of possibility for the barn to be done on time.

“I think it’s going to take more than just a simple coat of paint to fix up this place,” she whispered to Dahlia. She glanced at Maggie, but she was out of earshot.

“Yeah.” Dahlia looked at the dilapidated barn structure dubiously. “I know Maggie and Jake love this place, but I don’t see how they’re going to get it ready in time for the Sweethearts’ Dance.”

“Oh, it will be ready, if I have anything to say about it.” Jake put a hand on each of their shoulders. “That’s what we’re all here for, right?” In a quiet voice, he said, “I know this place looks rough, but Maggie needs to have it ready in a couple of weeks, so we’re going to make that happen.”

Angel and Dahlia looked at each other guiltily.

“Of course,” Dahlia said.

“Sorry, Jake.” Angel felt like she’d been reprimanded by a teacher in grade school. She glanced around and frowned. “Where can we help?”

He pointed at the side of the barn. “Grab a pair of gloves and you can start tearing away the weeds from the outside of the barn.” He showed them where the gloves were then took off to help someone else find out what they would be doing.

Dahlia and Angel had been working side by side for over an hour pulling weeds when Angel turned to her and blurted out, “How did you know that Garrett was the right man for you?”

Dahlia’s eyes took on a far-off look. “You know, I don’t really know. I thought from the start that he was attractive, but there were so many things that got in the way of our relationship. However, I think it was always in the back of my mind from the time that I first met him when I came back to town.” She stared at Angel. “Why do you ask? Is there someone in particular that you’re thinking of?”

“Maybe. But I’ve been burned in the past and I’m not sure whether or not I can trust him.” She shifted her gaze toward the lake, where volunteers were mowing the lawn that reached all the way to the shores of Bluebonnet Lake. Maggie must be very well loved in town to have convinced this many people to help her with the Sorensen Farm’s renovation.

“Who is it?” Dahlia’s eyes danced. “Do I know him?”

“Probably. Do you know Adam, the owner of the Candle Beach Weekly?”

Dahlia put down the hoe that she’d been using to get at the roots of the weeds and grabbed Angel’s arm. “Adam? Why didn’t I hear about this before? How long has this been going on? He’s such a nice guy. When I first moved to town, he was a big help getting me into the summer market. Without him, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Angel pulled away from Dahlia, slightly uncomfortable about her gushing about Adam’s virtues. She knew her friends, many of whom had recently met their significant others, including Dahlia who was a newlywed, were happy that she had met someone. But until she knew that her relationship with Adam was for real, she didn’t want anyone to get their hopes up.

“We’ve only known each other for two or so weeks. He’s been helping me do some research about my family here in Candle Beach.”

“Oh yeah, how is that going?” Dahlia tilted her head to the side, waiting for Angel’s answer.

Before Angel could respond, Gretchen broke in. “How’s what going?”

“Angel was just about to tell me if she had heard anything about her relatives. Did you know Adam was helping her with the research?”

Gretchen froze for a moment, but quickly recovered. Angel wasn’t even sure that she’d seen her hesitate. “Yes, Angel mentioned it to us. If you’d been at our last girls’ night, you would’ve known that,” she teased Dahlia.

“Hey, I am a business owner. I can’t make it to every single girls’ night.” She sighed. “We’ve got inventory going on right now. You know, when I took over the bookstore, I knew it would be a lot of work, but I never expected how lonely it gets. Garrett has been in New York for the last couple of weeks, meeting with his editor and agent, so I’ve just been rattling around the house by myself when I get home late at night. I’ve found myself planning vacations just to have something to look forward to.”

Angel smiled at Dahlia. “Hey, you know what? Next time I get off work early in the day, I’ll stop in at the bookstore and maybe we can grab dinner. Sound good?”

“Hey, me too.” Gretchen threw her arms around both of her friends. “Now, let’s get to work, or this place isn’t going to be ready for the dance.”

Gretchen joined Angel in cleaning up the debris surrounding a rosebush that had probably been there for forty years. When they paused for a drink of water, Angel looked around.

“It’s gorgeous out here. If Maggie can pull off the renovations, I think she’ll have a hit on her hands.” She removed her gloves and wiped a bead of sweat off her face. “And imagine living here.” She scanned the surroundings. The cheery yellow farmhouse sat at the top of a small rise in the land and beyond it were fields bordered by forests of giant old-growth trees. The lake stretched out below, complete with a picture-perfect rowboat tied up at the dock. “Imagine how much fun Alex will have here.”

“It is nice,” Gretchen agreed. “I remember how devastated Maggie was when she thought she’d lost the property.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe Jake bought it for her.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine having someone do something like that for me.” A pang of envy hit her heart.

“Adam might surprise you.” Gretchen smiled. “I love Parker, but he’s not the most romantic guy in the world. I think Adam would be.”

“Maybe.” She gazed at the serene lake again. Somehow the conversation always came back to Adam. They’d barely met and yet all of her friends seemed to think they were perfect for each other.

“So how are the pastry and newspaper bundles doing with the nightly guests?” Angel asked.

“I think they’re going to be a big hit.” A smile lit up Gretchen’s face. “Adam and I brought them over to the property management office late yesterday morning, and almost every single one of our nightly rental guests was ecstatic to receive them. Maggie told me that sales at the bakery have increased too, because people wanted more than just the one muffin that came in their bundle.”

“I know, she told me that.” Angel yanked out a weed and threw it into the discard pile behind them. “She had me make several more batches of the blueberry muffins for the pastry case both yesterday and today.”

“Do you think we should expand our offerings?” Gretchen asked.

“What do you mean?” Angel unscrewed the top on the bottle of water that Gretchen had given her and gulped from it.

“Well, I was thinking that our customers might want some more variety. What if we had two choices for them every day? I was thinking some cinnamon rolls might be a good bet.”

Angel considered that. “I could probably add that onto our usual baking schedule.” The additional orders were putting a strain on her normal working hours and she made a mental note to ask Maggie if she could work some overtime. Since Adam didn’t seem to be having any luck finding her family, she’d need to start working on it herself as well. Increasing her work hours would make that difficult, but she owed Maggie. Maggie was always there to do things for other people, and now it was her turn to repay the favor.