Free Raspberry Kisses (The Bakery Romance Series Book 1) by Cecelia Dowdy Page A

Will Martin and Raven be dating? Should they? Raven’s always been leery of Christianity and religion – is she the right woman for Martin? Please, help me, Lord. Amen.
    “I want to wrap this up by stating this: don’t focus on getting married. Focus on being active, happy, serving the Lord. If it’s the Lord’s will, then you will find a spouse.” He bowed his head, again praying for the needs of everyone attending the retreat. When Rhea opened her eyes, she spotted Martin still standing at the podium. “Let’s sing ‘Amazing Grace.’”
    Martin’s deep voice started the hymn, and Rhea stood with the rest of the crowd, gripping the chair in front of her. That had been Stan’s favorite song and when Martin sang it, his deep voice praising the Lord, he reminded her so much of her deceased husband. Soon everybody joined in, but Rhea couldn’t move her lips, she was so focused on Martin. It was almost as if, she’d been traveling back in time, back to the wonderful days she’d been married to Stan. Although those days had been wonderful, they’d had their share of problems. Martin’s faith, his love for preaching, his caring nature, all of that appealed to her. Even if she never saw Martin after this retreat, she knew he was someone she’d never forget.
    Finally the song wound down, Martin came over to her seat. While Mrs. Barnes stood at the podium, introducing their next speaker, Martin gestured toward the door. Rhea stood, followed him to the exit. Once they were outside, Rhea turned toward him. “I loved your sermon.”
    He gave her a curt, short nod. “Thanks.”
    Birds twittered from the sky and the golden sun shined on his brown arms. She stepped away from him. She really needed to ignore her attraction to Martin.
    Her bakery. She needed to focus on her business. She swallowed, finally finding her voice. “You’d said that you could help me with my bakery.”
    “I think I can. Let’s go to the meeting room that I reserved in the lobby. I think we can come up with a business plan.”
    He shoved his hands into his pockets as they walked toward the main cabin. Glancing at his long, muscular legs and strong biceps, she figured she could ignore her attraction, as long as they stayed focused on her business.

     
     
    Chapter Seven
    Martin opened the door to the meeting room located in the lobby, gesturing for Rhea to enter first. The small space reminded him of the library study room he’d used while he’d been an undergrad. The only furniture was one rectangular table and six chairs. The long paneled windows provided a nice view of the front desk.
    One of the female cleaning staff was leaving a coffee pot, creamer and sugar at the side counter, just as he’d requested when he’d reserved the room. “Thank you,” he said to the worker.
    She shrugged. Did she speak English? He glanced at her nametag. Guadalupe. “ Gracias, Guadalupe . ” He gestured toward the coffee pot, smiling.
    Guadalupe grinned. “ De nada .” She pointed to an empty tray. “ Le gustaría algunas galletas más tarde? ”
    Cookies? Later? Sounded like a great idea. He wasn’t sure how long their meeting would last and cookies would be a nice way to take a break. He nodded. “ S í. Gracias .”
    Guadalupe scanned the room, as if making sure everything was in place, before lifting the tray and leaving, closing the door behind her.
    He pulled out a chair for Rhea. “Why don’t you sit down so we can get started?”
    Rhea settled into the chair, resting her chin in her hand, staring at him. He made himself comfortable in the chair beside her, giving her a sideways glance. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
    “I didn’t know you spoke Spanish.”
    He shrugged. “Lots of people speak Spanish, it’s no big deal.”
    “But, it sounds like you speak it fluently.”
    He shrugged again. “Yeah, so?”
    “How did you learn to speak it so well?”
    “I went to a bi-lingual nursery school.”
    “A bi-lingual