Temptation Trails (The Haven Brothers #3)

I smiled. “Thanks.”

He nodded again and walked away.

I probably shouldn’t have started babbling at him like that. But I was anxious. Not because of the blind date. Well, yes because of the blind date, but not for the reasons you’d think. I was a little bit nervous about meeting someone new, but mostly I was nervous because of the curse.

I know, curse sounds so dramatic. And I’m not usually a dramatic person, but in this case, I had reason to be.

A little over six years ago, I’d broken a mirror.

Most people scoffed when I told them about the curse, especially my always-practical mother and sister. But I knew it was real. Seven years bad luck for this girl, and I had the unlucky list to prove it.

Lost keys, cars with dead batteries, flat tires on the highway—I’d lost count of how many nails I’d run over—spilled coffee on brand new clothes, dropped eggs, misplaced mail, packages returned to sender for absolutely no reason. If there was a puddle, I’d step in it. A trip hazard, I’d trip over it. Most incidents were mere annoyances, a few were worse.

The curse was why I’d banned myself from dating. As much as I would have loved to meet a great guy, fall in love, get married, and start a family—let’s not talk about how much my ovaries ached every time I saw anything baby related—the curse kept screwing things up.

For six years, every time I met someone with even the slightest hint of potential, something would go wrong. At least, something would go wrong for me.

Shortly after I’d broken the mirror, I’d gone out with a great guy. Handsome, smart, funny. We’d totally hit it off, made plans to see each other again. The very next day, he was offered a huge promotion. In Singapore. Needless to say, our one date hadn’t been magical enough to get him to turn that down.

Then there was the guy who got an offer for his dream job right after our second date. It took him to the east coast and we hadn’t been dating long enough to try to make it work. Another guy ghosted me after what I’d thought had been a nice first date. Turned out, something in our conversation had inspired him to quit his job and follow his dream of moving to Costa Rica. Nice for him, but boo for me.

The curse was relentless.

I’d had my share of bad dates, too. A friend had set me up with her cousin once. She’d told me he was artistic. Turned out, he was perpetually unemployed and looking for a sugar mama to support him. Another guy I’d met at the bakery where I’d worked had seemed nice, until I found out he didn’t believe in commitment and insisted all his relationships remain “open.”

Um, no. Not my jam.

At some point, I’d realized what was happening. The mirror curse was sabotaging me. So I’d decided to wait until it was over. Then I could start dating again and at least have a chance at finding the one.

I checked my phone. Garrett had texted, letting me know he was probably going to be late. It had come in a while ago. How had I missed that?

Mirror curse.

Maybe agreeing to the date had been a mistake. I’d talked myself into it, hoping the new setting would make a difference. After coming to Tilikum to help Doris with Angel Cakes, I’d quickly realized it either needed to become a permanent situation, or she’d have to close. She had one other baker and an awesome employee who helped with the front counter, but no one to take charge.

She’d instilled in me my love of baking as a little girl. And had given me the courage to pursue it as a career, despite my mother’s misgivings.

And by misgivings, I mean lectures about how I was selling myself short and wasting all my potential on a silly hobby.

In any case, I owed a lot to Doris. So I’d quit my job and moved to Tilikum to take over Angel Cakes Bakery.

I’d been hoping the curse wouldn’t follow me. And at first, I thought it hadn’t. Things at the bakery were going well now that I was there full-time. I’d found a cute rental house. Moving had been a lot of work—as moving always is—but nothing major had gone wrong. There were a box or two that had disappeared into thin air, but considering the mirror curse could have done much worse, I hoped it might be on its last leg.

But sitting alone at the Timberbeast Tavern, waiting for a blind date who was late, made me wonder if I’d been wrong.

I knew from Aunt Doris that Garrett was a deputy with the local sheriff’s office. Man in uniform certainly had appeal. I also knew he had a son, which was a little bit intimidating, although not a deal breaker by any stretch.

But what was the curse up to? Giving him a flat tire? Stirring up trouble with his son?

Or maybe he didn’t want to come at all and he was looking for an excuse to stand me up. If his aunt Louise had been as pushy about this as Doris, he might have given in under duress and had all the regrets.

I traced my finger through the condensation on the outside of my glass and sighed.

“You sure you don’t want a drink?” the bartender asked.

“I should have known better,” I said, half-aware that I hadn’t answered his simple and direct question. “I banned myself from dating for good reason. I have another seven months. Less than a year. I couldn’t have waited?”

He just watched me, his heavy brow furrowed with confusion or concern—or maybe both.