His Pickle Her Jam (Cherry On Top Tales #4)

Chapter Seventeen-Jan

Day 9 of Block Party Prepping (1 to go)

After a busy afternoon with Delani and a few of her staff taste testing for me, I whittled it down to three of my recipes.

One savory and two sweet.

“Okay, so we got the Garden Tomato Jam with Basil, the Cherry Cabernet Preserves, and the Strawberry Rhubarb Jam.”

“Yes, I love that one,” Delani said with her mouth full of Blueberry Cinnamon Chili Jam.

“Excellent,” I said, grinning like a lunatic.

Yes, I was happy I was finished, and I felt damn good about my creations. But that wasn’t why I was smiling.

Not really. And it wasn’t because I was excited about the competition, even though I was.

The oven timer went off, and I ran to get the thumbprint cookies I’d made for Buck. He’d been running an errand all day and didn’t come in the store after dropping me off earlier that morning, and I wanted to surprise him with something sweet.

“Mm, what are those?”

“Those are not yours!”

I laughed at the pathetic face Del made and dished out two cookies onto a napkin just for her.

“Thank you. Best friends come before boyfriends,” she teased.

“Uh huh,” I said. “You know, at my age, I feel weird calling David my boyfriend.”

“Oh my God! I can’t believe you call him David,” she squealed.

“Why? It’s his name.”

“Yeah, but he’s Buck,” Del replied like I was an idiot.

I rolled my eyes at her.

“He’s Buck to you guys, but to me, he’s David,” I said, still grinning as I boxed the cookies and hustled Delani outside.

“Oh my God! You two are so cute. I am so happy for you, Jan,” she squealed as I locked the front door.

I took a moment to look over the storefront and bit my lip. It wasn’t every day a girl like me got everything she ever wanted, but I wondered if winning this thing would be worth losing Buck.

I mean, I wasn’t sure I would win.

I hoped so.

I wanted to win.

I knew I had a good product. Plus, I was already running a moderately successful online mail order business. And I truly believed I could make Jan’s Jellies & Jams bigger and better with a real brick and mortar home base.

Buck had been nothing but supportive, but would that change if I won and he lost? I had to wonder.

“Is Sonny in the bar?” I asked Delani, pushing away all my negative thoughts.

“Nope, here he comes,” she said, and nodded at her man who was already jogging down the street to meet her.

“Hello, ladies,” he greeted us.

“Hey, Sonny. Bye Del. Thanks for your help.”

“No problem, Jan. Have fun with Bucky,” she said and winked.

“Alright, I’ll see you two later.”

I rolled my eyes at their mushy little display. They acted like they hadn’t seen each other in years when really, he'd walked her over to the store just a few hours earlier.

Snort.

There was a time when I would have been a little jelly over it, but not now that I had a man of my own.

Tingles raced down my spine. I could hardly wait to see him. I waved goodbye and got into my little hatchback.

Buck hadn’t exactly invited me over, and I was a little nervous. But I wanted to surprise him with the cookies, and really, I just wanted to be with him.

Excitement bubbled inside my veins, and I started my car, his address already loaded into my GPS.

It was easy to forget he had money when I was around him. Buck was just so easy-going and down to earth. But as I turned into his driveway some twenty minutes later, I was once again wowed by the sheer size of his house.

I got out of the car, tray of cookies in hand, and walked down the cobblestone path to his front door. I rang the bell and stood there. Anticipation flooded my system. I was practically panting.

The lock turned, the doorknob creaked, and I smiled brightly.

But that smile faltered, and the plastic wrap covered tray of cookies slipped from my hand as I came face to face with my worst nightmare.

“Can I help you—shit!” A woman clad only in panties and cropped t-shirt rubbed her head, her hair wildly disheveled from sleep or other activities, shouted and jumped back as the dish cracked and cookies flew everywhere.

I was too stunned and hurt to reply at first. But then I heard Buck yell, and my humiliation was complete.

“Who is it, Mel?”

I blinked at the half-naked woman and my chest hurt. She looked familiar.

Oh my fuck.

It was the woman from the wedding.

His date.

And now I knew her name.

Mel.

“I don’t know, some chick,” Mel said.

“What?” Buck’s voice sounded nearer.

I snapped out of my panic and turned around, hurrying down the path towards my car.

Tears pricked my eyes, but I’d be damned if I was going to let them fall.

Fuck him.

I should have known better. There were no good guys left in the real world. They only existed in books and stories, inside the heads of romance writers who teased the rest of us with what it could and should be like if men weren’t such low lives.

Buck was a bastard. A two-timing cheat.

And I was so done with him.

“Jan? Jan wait!”

I wiped my face and started a slow jog to my car. I couldn’t run in my sandals.

But how fucking long is this goddamn pathway?

“Jan? Slow down. Hey, what's going on?” Buck said, grabbing my arm and forcing me to spin around.

“What's going on? Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” he said, looking completely alarmed and confused.

“What’s going on is I was right! You're a two-timing snake, that's what's going on. Now let me go,” I grumbled, trying unsuccessfully to free my arm from his iron grip.

“What are you talking about?”

“Leave me alone, Buck.”

“No. Not until you tell me what the hell is wrong,” he said, pulling me closer.

I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to be near him or touch him. Especially since he was wearing nothing but athletic shorts and from the sheen of sweat glistening on his body, he’d obviously been very, um, busy.

A fresh wave of hurt rolled over me and I bit my lip to keep from sobbing.

I pulled against him once again, but he wasn’t budging, and I knew any second now, I was going to be a sobbing mess.

“You’re hurting me,” I said, and instantly, I was free.

I turned around, intending to walk away, but Buck was faster. He stepped into my space and wrapped his arms around me gently.

“Jan?”