* * *

 Willa had to force herself to listen as Drake discussed the properties that were available to rent in Treepoint. Her gaze kept straying to the mirror on the back wall that gave her a perfect view of Lucky and Rider leaving with the pretty waitress. She had blonde hair knotted smoothly on her head in a way that Willa was never able to achieve with her own messy hair, despite several spritzes of hair spray. She had even tried becoming a blonde herself during the time Lucky had been dating Beth.

 Lately, Willa had given up trying to turn herself into a woman who would attract the opposite sex—Lucky in particular. It had taken a lot of soul-searching, but she had finally come to the conclusion that The Ugly Duckling was a work of fiction, and there was no way her size twenty body was going to miraculously become a size six.

 “I think your best investment would be to purchase the small lot of land next to this building. King’s customers could get a taste of your desserts here and then stop at your shop to take more home. Several large restaurants are having their bakeries set up next door. It not only builds a customer base, but repeat business. There is also a spot opening in two months that’s close to the diner. It wouldn’t be as upscale as what you could accomplish if you built next to King’s, but I think it would be lucrative all the same.”

 Willa dragged her eyes away from the window. The waitress had climbed on the back of Lucky’s bike, holding tight to his lean waist as they roared out of the parking lot.

 “I can’t afford to buy the property and build new. How much is the rent for the one beside the diner?”

 “Nine hundred a month,” Drake answered. “If you’re interested in buying the property, I would be willing to invest, Willa, and handle the financing.”

 Willa shook her head. “I would be too afraid you would lose your money. If I go under, at least it will only be my money lost.”

 Drake’s lips twisted at her words. “You’re not going to lose money. If anything, I think you’re going to have a hard time managing to keep up with the demand you’re going to have.”

 “There’s already one bakery in town. Plus, the grocery store has a good selection. It’s going to be hard making a go at a new business, but I can’t keep up with the customers I have now in my kitchen. If I open a bakery, at least I can come home and not be surrounded by cakes and candy all the time. I might even manage to lose a few pounds.”

 Drake tilted his head to the side, his eyes going to her breasts that were pressed against the side of the table. “God, I hope not.”

 Willa gurgled with laughter. “If I didn’t know the women you dated, Drake, I would be worried, but I happen to know who you’re after.”

 Drake’s affability disappeared, but his changed attitude didn’t deter her.

 “Everyone in town knows you want Bliss.”

 “Everyone but Bliss.” Drake’s short reply didn’t arouse sympathy for him since Drake often dated more than one woman at a time, so it wasn’t like he was sitting home, pining for the attractive woman.

 They had grown up living next to each other until he had moved out of his parents’ home after graduating high school. Drake had married his high school sweetheart but they divorced when Jace was a baby. Willa didn’t know the details of his failed marriage, but she had seen a change in Drake soon after his marriage. The laughing boy she had grown up with had gradually disappeared until Willa only saw traces of him the few times she spotted his motorcycle, riding through town.

 “I think she does, but from what little Rachel has told me about The Last Riders, the women aren’t allowed to see men who don’t belong to the club.”

 “It doesn’t stop the men from seeing women who don’t belong to the club.”

 “Since when have women ever been given equal rights?” Willa questioned sarcastically.

 “Ouch! I think I’m going to change this subject while I still have a dick.” Drake laughed.

 “Don’t worry, Drake; your dick isn’t the one I’d like to neuter.”

Chapter 3

 Hearing the commotion from outside, Willa opened her front door hurriedly to find her house in complete disarray. The two older girls were arguing over the laptop needed to do their homework; Charlie was sitting in front of the television, playing a video game; and the two little ones were sitting on the carpet, the contents of her catering bag out onto the floor.

 “Leanne and Sissy, I asked you to keep an eye on the children until I could get home.” Willa brushed her fine hair away from her face.

 The mutinous look from Sissy reminded Willa so much of her mother Georgia. Willa thrust the unkind thought away, not wanting her feelings toward Georgia to affect her feelings toward Sissy. The seventeen-year-old wasn’t responsible for her mother terrorizing Willa through high school.

 “I did. They’re just playing,” Sissy snapped.

 Willa went to the younger children and began picking up the decorating tips.

 Taking one of the tiny, metal tips in her hand, she showed it to Sissy and Leann. “This is small enough for one of them to choke on. I had this bag on the top shelf of the pantry. How did they reach it?”

 Charlie took his attention away from the video game long enough to explain. “I climbed up on the stool to get it. I remembered you had markers. I thought the girls could play with them. I gave them paper to color on.”

 Willa sighed. The edible markers were strewn across the floor with the papers that had been neatly stacked on the kitchen counter when she had left.

 Willa stared in dismay at the ruined orders that had been arranged by the date they were expected to be prepared, many now unreadable. It was going to take hours to call her clients and retake the orders, which was going to not only take time she didn’t have to spare, but make her look unprofessional right when she was thinking about expanding her business.

 Willa turned away, not wanting the children to see her blinking back tears that were not only from frustration but exhaustion.

 “Willa?” Leanne’s worried voice had her turning back to the children, pasting a composed expression on her face.

 “Charlie, help the girls get cleaned up in the bedroom while I straighten up the living room. Leanne, can you pick up the decorating bag and place the items on the counter? They’ll have to be washed.”

 Leanne began picking up the markers. “I’m sorry, Willa. I should have paid more attention to what they were doing.”

 Sissy made no attempt to help her sister. Her stubbornness, surely a result of the traumatic adjustment she was going through. It had to be hard on the girl losing her mother, then her uncle, and then being forced to live with the woman who had killed him.

 “Are you finished with your homework, Sissy?”

 “As much as I can do on my own. I’m not good in chemistry.” She snapped the computer closed, carelessly tossing it onto the couch.

 “After I finish dinner, I could help you…”

 Sissy snorted. “How could you help me? You’re a stupid, fat cow!”