Match Made in Valley View (Valley View Book #2)

Chapter 2

It was brilliant of Stacy and I to make these plans ahead of time in order to clear our schedules because Thursday, Maddie went home sick and there was no way she was going to be able to be in the bakery on Saturday morning to prep, but I was able to make arrangements with Kathy to do the morning prep since I figured the last thing I’d want to do at 5:00 am tomorrow morning is wake up.

There is no such thing as an Uber in Harlington or Valley View, but what we do have are friendly people I’ve gotten to know over the past year and a half since moving here. A few phone calls later and we were able to get a place to crash overnight in Valley View so we can drive home later in the morning. Small town hospitality is great!

Stacy: Hey! I’m going to be there in about fifteen minutes, be ready, I’m not waiting for you.

Me: Don’t worry, just finishing up now.

Stacy: Yay! Bring cookies.

Me: You just love me for my cookies.

Stacy: Maybe, see you soon!

I toss my phone back on my bed and laugh at her message. Stacy claims that she doesn’t have a sweet tooth, but now all she wants are the desserts that I make. Either she was lying about her affinity for sweets or the things I make are just that darn good. I guess it is a toss up on which one it really is.

I finish straightening my hair and getting the perfect eyebrow shape and the very last thing I do is slip on a royal blue strapless dress that is tight up top but flows out at the waist. I do a little twirl in the full-length mirror and I am ready to go! I slip on some cowboy boots, grab my overnight bag, and head downstairs to meet up with Stacy. She pulls into the back alleyway right as I come out of the stairwell.

“Oh, you look good!” Stacy says as I open the passenger side door.

“Thank you, you’re not looking so bad yourself.” Stacy is very a short denim skirt with a red plaid shirt tied up showing a bit of skin. She did her hair up in a high, curly ponytail.

We get to the Watering Hole and find a table on the second level. It is super busy tonight, but that isn’t unexpected. For this time of year on the weekends, the Watering Hole is the place to be.. There are a bunch of ranches in the area and the ranchers always like to come out to the bar on the weekends. The guys order some food and a couple of beers and just trade stories from the week. They also like to find a hookup or two, the flirting is all around this neighborhood bar.

“So wait, she wanted red velvet, but green?” Stacy commented as I tell her about my latest bride.

“Yeah, I tried a test batch, oh my gosh you should have seen what it looked like.” I made a cringy face.

‘Green is not really an appealing color for dessert. Especially not dark green.”

“No, no it isn’t.” I agree with her.

“So what are you going to do?”

“I saved a few of the test batch to show her and I guess she’ll decide.”

Stacy shakes her head, “Weird. Why are people so weird?”

I shake my head back at her, “I don’t know. That’s the million-dollar question, huh?”

We order another round of beers and decide to head down to the dance floor. We are almost to the dance floor when my boot hits something wet on the floor and I go flying forward right into a hard surface. A pair of big, muscular arms wrap around me and pull me back to my feet.