Chapter 10 - Forever AfterFive years later, the Pike Street Fall Fair returned with its usual bright, noisy pieces. A jazz trio played near the corner. Children screamed inside a pumpkin-colored bounce house. Vendors called out prices over the smell of coffee, maple bacon, and caramel apples.
A nine-year-old boy with dark hair and a dimple in his left cheek sprinted across the street toward the bakery, dodging a cluster of tourists.
“Ethan! Slow down!”
A nine-year-old girl with sharp, observant eyes and a sketchbook tucked under her arm jogged behind him. “Mom said we have to stay together!”
Inside Bennett & Bloom Bakery—now expanded into a thriving, nationally acclaimed artisan cafe with three locations across the Pacific Northwest—Claire stood behind the counter, icing a batch of fresh cinnamon rolls.
A pair of strong, familiar arms wrapped around her waist from behind, resting comfortably against her apron.
“You’re going to give the twins a heart attack if you keep letting them run loose at the fair,” Adrian murmured, kissing the side of her neck.
Claire leaned back against his chest, smiling as she wiped flour off her hands and turned in his embrace. Adrian looked forty-two now, distinguished with a touch of silver at his temples, still wearing his immaculate charcoal coat and his silver watch.
“They were just checking on the family business,” Claire teased, tapping his nose with a flour-covered finger. “Just like their father used to do.”
Adrian laughed, catching her hand and kissing her knuckles right over the faded burn scar on her left thumb.
“Speaking of the family business,” Adrian said, his dark eyes twinkling with mischief. “I booked a cabin in San Francisco for our wedding anniversary next week. Just the two of us.”
Claire arched an eyebrow. “San Francisco? Are you sure your security team and board of directors approve?”
“The board can run itself for a long weekend,” Adrian whispered, pulling her closer until there was no space left between them. “And as for San Francisco... I think it’s time we rewrite our history there.”
Claire smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.
May you like
“I’d like that,” she whispered. “I’d like that very much.”
Through the front glass window of the bakery, the autumn sun cast a golden glow across the Seattle street, illuminating a family walking together, hand in hand, exactly where they were always meant to be.
