“Of course. I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted baking lessons,” Callan replied.

I let out a snort. “Yeah, yet your instructor fell asleep while they were in the oven.”

He set his cup of coffee on the counter and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. “You needed the sleep.”

He was right. After barely getting any the night before, it was nice to feel rested this morning after waking up next to him. The lingering scent of pastry and cinnamon clung to the air when I emerged from the bedroom, and I wished I could wake up to that every morning. 

“So, are you doing Avery’s party the weekend before or after her birthday?” 

I’d gone back and forth on what day to do it because of the fair being the next weekend. Avery would be taking part in it with the horse rescue, so I didn’t want her burnt out.

Making sure the edges of the plastic wrap were held down tight, I twisted in his embrace to drape my arms loosely around his neck. Avery’s birthday landed on a Friday this year, so we’d have a nice dinner of her choosing that night, but the real celebration would be the next day. “The Saturday after.”

“Perfect,” he said, sliding his arms back to rest his hands on my hips. “Speaking of weekend plans, would you want to go on a few rides at the fair after the parade?” His cheeks turned the slightest shade of red with the question. 

“With you?” I asked.

He frowned. “No. Alone.”

I smiled at that. “I’d love to.”

Seeing Callan blush over asking me if I’d like to go on a couple of fair rides was one of the cutest things I’d seen him do to date. 

I hoped I had plenty more time to see him do a million more cute things just like that.

“I have to get to a lesson if you want to head out,” Callan offered.

“Yeah, I guess I should pick up Avery. It’s already almost seven.” I needed to drop her off at school after she had a cinnamon roll at the Bronsons. I wasn’t going to eat all of these, so I figured I’d bring the majority of them to all those hungry cowboys.

Callan’s fingers squeezed my hips. “I wish we had time to spare.”

My fingers ran through his hair as I scrunched my nose with a smile. “Not today, unfortunately. Later?”

One of his hands released my hip, bringing it up to tap my nose. “Later.”

Letting me go, he disappeared into the front entry while I opened the fridge to pull out Avery’s lunch I prepared last night before falling asleep. As I turned around, Callan set Avery’s backpack on the counter.

The way he thought to grab it, to help me with my morning routine in any way, made my heart skip a beat. 

I wanted to get used to this.

“Do you need help with the party set up?” he asked as I slid the lunchbox inside her backpack.

I zipped the bag, then picked it up off the counter. “I don’t want to trouble you with it.”

He grabbed the backpack from my hand. “No trouble at all. I’d love to help set everything up for her big day.”

I pressed my lips together to hide my smile. “You do know there will be a lot of pink, right?”

He nodded.

“And with you at the party, you’ll have to wear a party hat. Avery will insist.”

“How could anyone say no to a party hat?” 

I pictured him standing in the middle of a group of six-year-old girls wearing a pink party hat and glitter face paint, wondering how I got so lucky to find someone like Callan. He was so willing to do anything for my little girl, and if I had to guess, he’d do the same for me.

“How about dinner the night before the party? We can set it all up after Avery goes to bed.”

This time, I didn’t hide my smile. “That sounds perfect.”

***

I slipped through the door to Charlotte and Travis’s house with the plate of cinnamon rolls, my belly growling with the urge to eat one. Callan and I had parted ways after a long goodbye out front. We’d driven our separate cars here, and just in that short amount of time, I’d missed him. I wished we could have spent the day together, but he had lessons and I had to take Avery to school and head to work.

“Mama!” Avery exclaimed when she saw me. She hopped off the barstool she was perched on and came running over to me, wrapping her arms around my hips. 

“Hey, Aves. Did you have a good night?” 

She nodded as Charlotte came over from the kitchen to grab the plate from me. “We colored and played hide-and-seek, and I got to feed the horses dinner.”

I bent down, hooking her hair behind her ears so it was out of her face. “Did the horses like their dinner?”

She nodded again, some of her hair coming loose anyway. “They loved it. I even gave Red some treats.”

“That sounds fun.” I took in her pink polka dot pajamas. “Why don’t you go get dressed and then you can eat a cinnamon roll before I take you to school?”

“Okay!” She zipped around me, heading down the hall while she talked about how excited she was to tell her friends all about feeding the horses. 

I stood, making my way over to the barstool Avery was sitting in moments before. Charlotte slid a plate in front of me with a warmed-up cinnamon roll. 

“Have some breakfast.”

“I have a bunch more at home. These are for your family.”

She waved me off, setting a fork on the plate in front of me. “They’ll eat plenty. Take a minute to have a bite.”

I gave in, picking up the fork and digging in. It wasn’t often I got to enjoy the flavors that danced on my tongue because more often than not, I was in a rush—unless it was three a.m. and I was having a late night snack when I couldn’t sleep.

“Thank you for watching Avery,” I said after taking a sip of the coffee she set in front of me. 

“Anytime. As a mother myself, I know how hard it can be to have a few minutes alone when you need it.”

I set the fork down, wiping the corner of my mouth with a napkin. “How’d you do it with so many kids? Sometimes I can barely handle just one.”

She came around the counter to take a seat next to me, facing me on the barstool. “It seems impossible until you’re doing it, and then you realize you’d never want anything to be different. The chaos, the stress—it’s all worth it for our babies.”

“Is it hard? Having all of them doing their own things and not knowing if something could go wrong?” I didn’t know how I’d handle it one day when Avery had her first job or a boyfriend, but I only hoped by then that her father was locked away for good.