Chapter 18

Josie pulled her face away from Wesley's hurriedly, concerned about what had happened in the kitchen. She glanced at him apologetically, blushing, and called out, "Is everything okay?"

"No!" Paige wailed from the kitchen.

"Oh no," Wesley murmured.

They stood up together and hurried into the kitchen. Paige was standing over a tray of macarons that were dark brown around the edges. "They're ruined," she said, gesturing to the cookies. Her voice was shaking a little bit. "I guess our oven at home was broken—I always baked these at a higher temperature, but now these ones are burnt. I can't give them these!" She bit her lip, looking as though she might start crying.

"It's okay," Josie said soothingly, hurrying over to give her sister a hug. Paige sniffled against her shoulder. "You can just start over."

"It's so much work," Paige said. "I have to make so many. I'm worried I'm not going to be ready in time."

Wesley and Josie looked at each other, and she could sense that he was having the same idea she was. They smiled at each other.

"I can help you," Josie said, pulling back from the hug and giving her sister a reassuring smile. "The work will go faster if you have some help."

"I can help too," Wesley volunteered.

"Really?" Paige glanced back and forth between them, looking surprised. "You guys would do that for me?"

"Of course," Josie told her. "We're sisters. I'm always going to have your back."

For a moment, the two of them shared a smile. I'm almost glad this happened, Josie thought. Now I can prove to her how much I care about her. And I have no doubt that together, we're going to rock the rest of these cookies!

"You just tell us what to do, Captain Garner," Wesley said, saluting Paige and making her laugh.

"Uh, well, I guess the first thing to do would be to throw away all of these burnt cookies and wash the pans."

Josie shook her head. "Wash the pans, yes. Throw away the cookies, no. I'm going to cut the burnt bits off and enjoy the flavorful deliciousness at the center."

Paige smirked. "Suit yourself." Her words were indifferent, but she looked pleased by the compliment.

Josie and Wesley set to work cleaning up the cookies while Paige prepped workstations for them. Then they set to work, following her instructions.

"So, Josie, you mix the dry ingredients. Follow the recipe carefully—those measurements should all be exact. Baking is a science."

Her sister grinned, thrilled to see Paige thriving as the leader of something. The instructions she gave them were precise, and she spoke in a confident and kind manner.

In a few minutes, both Josie and Wesley were covered in flour.

"Looks good on you," she teased him, and he grinned.

He lifted his spoon from the bowl and flung some of the batter onto her. It landed squarely on her shoulder and her jaw dropped in pretend horror.

"Wow," she said, shaking her head as she turned back to her mixing bowl. "That was uncalled for." She stuck her finger into the dough, and lifted it halfway to her lips, pretending she was going to taste it. Then at the last moment she reached out and smeared batter across Wesley's cheek.

He let out a gasp, started laughing, and then quickly turned it into a cough, covering his face with his hand, when Paige turned in their direction, frowning.

"You two okay over there?" she asked.

"Yep, doing great." Josie grinned.

Before long, a new, gorgeous batch of cookies was baking in the oven—at a lower temperature this time. Paige watched over them like a hawk, and when she finally pulled them out of the oven, she proclaimed them to be perfect.

They finished up the rest of the batches of cookies, everyone talking and laughing amiably as they worked. Finally, numerous plates covered in cooling cookies lined the kitchen counter, and Paige stepped back to admire their work with a happy sigh.

"They look great," her sister told her, beaming. "You've done an amazing job. Not only with your baking, but also in the way you instructed us so carefully. You're an incredible baker."

Paige grinned, clearly in much better spirits than she'd been in before. Then her smile disappeared and she stepped across the kitchen to hug Josie tightly.

"Thank you," she said, her voice soft.

"Of course," Josie said, feeling her heart hammering with happiness. Paige had never hugged her like this before. It was as if their earlier, tentative hug had opened up the door to a new level of affection for them.

"I don't just mean with the baking," Paige whispered.

Josie nodded, feeling tears rush into her eyes. She didn't know what to say, but she also had a sense that she didn't need to say anything. She saw Wesley watching them with a sweet smile on his face. She smiled back at him, feeling her heart glow.

They cleaned up the kitchen together, putting all the ingredients away and leaving the oven and countertops spotless. When they were finally done, Paige let out a huge yawn, covering her face with her hands.

"I don't blame you for being tired!" Josie told her. "You want me to make you some food?"

Paige shook her head, looking sleepy. "Maybe later, thanks. I think I'll go into the living room and watch some TV for a while."

"Sure. You've earned a good rest."

The sisters shared a smile, and Paige went out into the living room. Josie turned to Wesley, feeling suddenly shy again now that their baking adventure was over.

"You want some pasta or something? Chicken alfredo?"

"That sounds fantastic," he said, grinning at her.

In a few minutes, she had chicken simmering in a pan and water boiling for noodles. Wesley helped as much as he could, but for the most part she just whizzed through the work herself. Chicken alfredo was one of Paige's favorite meals—Josie wanted to be able to give her some of it later.

"I wonder what we should do with all these cookies," Wesley said, gazing in a kind of awe at the sea of treats that was spread across the counter.

Josie laughed. "Probably box them up soon. But that can wait for later, I think."

"I'll go ask Paige what she wants to do. I could start that now while you make dinner."

Wesley stepped into the living room, and then tiptoed back into the kitchen a few seconds later.

"She's asleep," he whispered.

"Is she?" she whispered back. She smiled. "Good. She's had a long day."

She finished the preparations for the meal, and soon it was ready. She and Wesley sat down to plates of the creamy pasta with a side of lightly seasoned cooked vegetables.

"This is delicious," he told her emphatically, gesturing in the air with his fork. "Best chicken alfredo I've ever had."

"Thank you," she said, flushing. She grinned at him and popped another bite of the tasty food into her mouth. Once she'd swallowed, savoring the taste, she said, "Thank you for today. I know our time together didn't turn out the way we'd planned it to."

"I had a great time," he assured her. "And today was absolutely a victory for you! It proved that you can have a great relationship with Paige."

She smiled happily. "I think you're right. It was so nice to be able to help her out like this. I feel like I got to prove to her how much I care about her."

He nodded. "Yes! And she seems to have really taken that in."

For a moment, they sat there smiling at each other. Josie found herself admiring how beautiful his kind eyes were.

"I've never been good at being vulnerable," she told him, feeling her heart beat faster. "Or with being open with people. The idea of dating you feels scary to me, even though I like you so much, but I know it would be good for me. Giving us a shot would give me an opportunity to be vulnerable, and to open up to people more. To open up to you more."

He gazed into her eyes, his expression shy, encouraging, and hopeful all at once. "I have absolute faith in you. I know this is something that's hard for you, but it starts with trying to do it, and you've already been trying, and succeeding."

"I want to succeed," she said, getting lost in his eyes. She felt warm and happy in her core, and she was hardly aware of how fast her heart was beating, because she had a sense of peace alongside her excitement. "I want to be open and vulnerable not just with Paige, but also with you."

He nodded. "Josie?"

"Yes?" she whispered.

"May I kiss you?"

"Yes, please."

He leaned his head toward hers, and she closed in the distance. Their lips met in a sweet, gentle kiss.