Tobias had watched how quickly and effortlessly Maya and Maddox had grown close and wondered how Susan felt about having the son-in-law she didn’t approve of turn out to be such a good father. “Word will spread. Soon it’ll be the bestselling cookie in the store.”

“I don’t want that,” she said, tempering her excitement. “That might make Grandma feel bad.” She hurried back around the counter. “But here, taste one.” She took the lid off the tray of samples and held it out.

He selected a small piece of a chocolate-chip cookie that had an abundance of gooey slices of various candy bars on top, some with caramel and peanuts and others with toffee.

“I call it the Outrageous,” she said as he chewed and swallowed.

“Wow. It’s delicious.”

Her expression grew earnest. “Really? You like it? You’re not just saying that to be nice?”

He gave her a wry grin. “When have I ever been nice?”

“You’re always nice. You might look tough with all those muscles, but…”

“I’m not?” he said with a laugh.

“You’re tough but nice, too!”

“Well, don’t tell anyone. I can’t have you spreading rumors like that.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe everyone can’t see it.”

Her grandmother didn’t think he had one single redeeming quality. And because of what he’d done, he tended to believe Susan over others. He knew he always would. “How many of these incredible cookies do you have left?” he asked.

“In this batch? Only twelve.” She motioned to the tray behind the glass. “But I’ll bake more in the morning.”

“Well, I shouldn’t take them all. Then you won’t have any to sell for the rest of the day, and we need to have as many people try them as possible. So…give me six.”

Her face lit up. “Are you sure? You like them that much?”

He would’ve bought that many even if they tasted like dirt, but fortunately, he did like them. “You’ve got a winner without question. And I bet they taste even better as an ice-cream sandwich.”

“They do! Should I make you one?”

“Not right now.” He didn’t want to take the time. “Atticus is waiting for me down at the Blue Suede Shoe. He’s looking to beat me at darts again.”

She laughed because Atticus beat everyone at darts. “Just don’t put as much money on it as you did last time,” she advised sagely.

“Come on. Have some faith in me,” he said, but he knew that if he ever started to win he’d purposely lose.

She rang him up but didn’t hand him the bag. “Before you go, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. But I don’t want it to make you feel bad,” she added.