Temptation Trails - Page 176

I had a feeling customers weren’t going to mind.

As delicious as the cinnamon smelled, my mind drifted to the pepperoni pizza I had waiting at home. My pepperoni craving was in full force. I probably needed to eat a vegetable once in a while, but apparently the tiny one wanted pizza. Who was I to argue?

My hand drifted to my belly. The tiny one was still, well, tiny. But my pants were getting snug. And okay, that might have been due to the pizza. My bras didn’t fit, either, but that wasn’t pepperoni’s fault.

And Garrett certainly wasn’t complaining.

I started on a batch of blackberry almond thumbprints. They’d been a surprise hit—once I’d finally had a chance to bake a batch, instead of forgetting them in a cold oven. Customers were loving my new selection of grain-free treats. We still offered lots of our favorites, but so many customers had commented that they loved having alternative choices. And I’d been having fun experimenting, so it was a definite win-win.

The noise of a siren caught my attention. I wondered if the fire engine was about to race by. Wouldn’t have been the first time. At least it wasn’t coming to the bakery. We hadn’t had any more burnt baked goods setting off the fire alarm incidents.

In fact, my luck seemed to be holding.

The sound grew, so I went out front to see what was going on. A sheriff’s department patrol car came screeching down the street and stopped at an angle in front of the bakery. A second later, another one did the same thing, creating a V-shape with the first.

“Um, should we be worried?” Beth asked.

“I don’t know.”

Another patrol car arrived, lights flashing and siren blaring.

It was starting to make me nervous. If there’d been a bank across the street, I would have wondered if it was being robbed.

“Harper Tilburn,” a voice on a loudspeaker boomed. “Please exit the building.”

Beth and I looked at each other with wide eyes.

“Was that Garrett?” she asked.

“It didn’t sound like him.”

“Harper Tilburn,” the voice said again. “Please exit the building with your hands in the air.”

“Okay, this has to be a joke,” I said. “Are pranks on girlfriends a Tilikum thing? I thought it was just the old feud.”

“I think you should do what he says. It’s the cops.”

I laughed. This had to be a joke.

Although why would Garrett be pulling a prank on me?

“Okay, I’ll see what they want.”

I went to the front of the bakery and poked my head out. “Hi?”

The sirens had stopped but the blue and red lights still flashed. It was quite the sight.

“That’s it, ma’am. Come outside and keep your hands where we can see them.”

There seemed to be an abundance of law enforcement officers, although none of them were pointing weapons at me like you might see in a movie. They were standing outside their cars, most with sunglasses and crossed arms.

I stepped out and held my hands at shoulder height, palms out. “What’s going on?”

“Keep walking, ma’am. Hands up.”

I laughed a little, but I didn’t see Garrett. What was happening? This couldn’t be real.

Tourist season was in full swing and the spectacle was generating a small crowd. Some of the deputies moved to keep people from getting closer, blocking the sidewalks on both sides of the street.