Free Everyday Blessings by Jillian Hart Page B

that for a minute. That’s dishonest.”
    It was, technically, because she intended to make it the truth. She would work at it until it was the whole truth, that she didn’t mind the feeling of an empty home or looking ahead to a future without a good man to share it with. What were the chances of finding a man who would fall devotedly in love with her? Nil. Men did not fall 100 percent in love with girls like her. It was just a fact of life. And one day, she’d be able to face that fact without it hurting so much.
    Not that she wanted to admit that truth, either. Orthat her thoughts went automatically to William. “I’m happy with my life. And I love being an auntie. You know I adore Danielle’s munchkins and one day, I’ll have yours to spoil.”
    â€œScary thought, huh? Can you imagine? That’s a disaster waiting to happen.” Ava rolled her eyes, but she was beaming joy again. “Well, in good time. I’m not in a hurry. We’ve got to get Katherine married off first—”
    â€œIf she doesn’t cancel the wedding because of Jonas’s condition. I think she’s pretty sure she’s going to.”
    â€œâ€”then we have to get Jonas well and back on his feet. Then there’s my wedding to plan. Then the actual wedding. I want to just enjoy my new life with Brice first before we start a family, so you’ll have a couple of years to prepare yourself for the challenge of babysitting my munchkins.”
    â€œI can’t wait. I’ll need that long to gather my strength.”
    â€œOh, here’s your book. I’m going to call Brice.” Ava pulled the book off the cushion where she was sitting. “I wonder if William likes to read, too?”
    â€œDon’t even go there,” Aubrey demanded, but she wasn’t sure if she was telling that to Ava or to herself.
    Too bad, because William was definitely off-limits. And she liked him. Very much. Wasn’t that just her luck?

Chapter Six
    S he’d been tricked. Duped. Deceived. Days later, behind the wheel of her sensible beige Toyota, Aubrey tried to keep her frustrations at her sister down and at the same time keep her eyes peeled for the right driveway, but she’d probably missed it. Nothing surrounded her but wilderness and mountains. The town was nearly an hour away. The directions Ava had scribbled on the back of her bakery’s napkins were confusing at best. No surprise there.
    What was a surprise? That she’d let her twin talk her into deliveries this afternoon. Now that Dad and Dorrie were in town to help out, she actually had a free afternoon. She’d planned on working in her studio or updating her Web site or any of the numerous errands that had been put off for too long.
    Instead, she’d let Ava, who’d been suddenly overwhelmed with cake orders, talk her into making a few deliveries. She did this all the time for Ava, so why would she suspect that there would be anything out of the ordinary? And there wasn’t, until she got to the fifth invoice piled on her front passenger seat and realized that the next delivery was not only way out of town, but it was probably more than an innocent delivery. Ava and Danielle must have concocted this scheme together.
    Was that nice, or what? It was a loving thing, that her sisters wanted her to be happy, but they were off the mark. In fact, Ava’s harebrained matchmaking schemes were always a sign of sure disaster, so this meant there wasn’t the remotest possibility for romance. It didn’t matter if she liked William or not, it wasn’t as if he were interested in her, right? Besides, she wouldn’t allow herself to like him like that. End of story.
    According to her odometer, she’d already driven the two miles from the end of the maintained county road. Since there wasn’t a soul in sight, only trees and an empty gravel road, she pulled to a stop in the narrow lane and went