“Completely. Like any mother should be.” Her mom leaned a hip against the refrigerated case. “One of these days we’ll be tasting cake for your wedding. I’m looking forward to that day.”

“Don’t hold your breath.” Kelly snorted. “I’m not sure there’s a perfect mate out there for me.”

“You’ve been out with Kirby several times, and there’s Michael.”

“We’re really just friends.”

“Michael fixed your wiring.”

“That’s the only spark we’ve got.”

“You’re not trying hard enough.”

“Trust me. I’m good. I’ve got Gray. He’s plenty for me.”

“A pet pig is not a replacement for a husband. Or grandchildren.”

“I beg to differ. Weren’t you the one who told me Andrew was replaceable in the first place?”

“I may have spoken in haste,” she said. “I was trying to make you feel better, and it worked. So don’t hold that against me. Besides, I heard he’s back in town. Did you know that?”

So that was the reason for Mom’s drop-in visit. She should’ve known.

Kelly had finally shed the anxiety from running into him earlier, and now Mom was bringing him up. Emotions swirled around her, and her hands began to sweat…again. “I know. They ordered desserts for the party they threw for him.”

“From you?”

Kelly nodded.

Mom placed her hand on Kelly’s arm. “So you saw him? Are you okay?”

“I did. I thought I was going to fall out right there in their barn when I saw him walk in, though.” She still couldn’t believe it.

“I bet. How’d he look?”

She wanted to say awful. But that was far from the truth. “Handsome as ever, Mom. Actually, even better looking than before. He’s a grown man now.” She stopped herself from going on. “I don’t want to talk about him. It was hard to see him again.”

Her mom let out a long breath. “Honey, maybe it was hard to see him because you’ve never gotten over him.”

“No.” Kelly raised a finger in the air, daring her mother to say it again. “Just no. I’m over him and I’ll never go through that again.”

Expecting an argument, Kelly was surprised when her mom simply turned on her heel and left.

She resisted the urge to run after her. Great. Now I’ve hurt her feelings. It wasn’t enough that I’m upset, now I’m dragging everyone else down with me too?

She shoved the cakes into the case and without even a walk-through of the bakery or a goodbye, she went home to feed Gray.