The Vampire's Valentine Surprise: A Nocturne Falls Short (4 page)

D
elaney stood
with the rest of the contestants at the front of crowd, waiting as the judges, Corette included, made their way to the dais. She glanced over at Hugh and smiled at him. Then she saw Roxy in the crowd a few people away from him.

Roxy waved. Delaney waved back and pointed at Hugh, mouthing, “That’s my husband.”

Roxy looked at Hugh. “That guy?” she mouthed back.

Delaney nodded.

Roxy gave her a thumbs-up and made a face that said she thought Delaney had done well.

Delaney grinned and laughed softly. The approval of a romance writer was high praise indeed. Roxy was basically an expert on hot guys. Delaney turned her attention back to the stage as the emcee, a local news anchor, made her way to the podium.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our judges have returned and we’re about to announce our winners. At the end, we’ll have all the winners come up on stage for trophies and pictures, but feel free to applaud for them as they’re announced.”

The crowd cheered and Delaney felt a knot form in her belly. This time it was undoubtedly nerves. She put her hand over her stomach anyway, marveling at the idea of life growing there. Her and Hugh’s child. Warmth and happiness filled her. Whatever the outcome of today’s bake-off, she had already won.

The head judge handed over a sheet of paper and the anchorwoman scanned it, then looked up at the waiting crowd. “First up is the Cookie category. In the adult division, our third-place winner is Nina O’Malley for her chocolate and peanut butter pinwheels. In second is Delaney Ellingham for her iced rosewater sugar cookies, and in first is Anna Louisa White for her pink peppercorn shortbread.”

As the junior division winners were read off, Delaney glanced over at Hugh and shrugged as he smiled back and applauded with the rest of the crowd. Second place wasn’t bad. But the pink peppercorn shortbread sounded genius. She totally should have thought of that. In fact, why hadn’t she? Maybe pregnancy brain had already kicked in. She’d heard that was a thing.

“Next up is our Cake category. The competition was especially tough this year and the judges reported that it was very close. In fact, we have a tie for third in the adult division. That honor goes to Frances Grantham and Sissy Laughlin with their strawberry Bundt cake and cherry almond vanilla cake, respectively.”

“In second place,” the anchorwoman said. “We have Leigh Freeman with her butterscotch carrot cake. And in first, Delaney Ellingham’s white chocolate raspberry mascarpone layer cake.”

Delaney put her hand to her heart. Wow. First was amazing. She grinned at Hugh, who positively beamed.

“Now for our junior division.” The anchorwoman announced third and second, but Delaney didn’t know either contestant. The woman glanced down at her notes before reading off first. “And the first-place cake was Mary Keller’s orange chocolate pound cake.”

Delaney let out a whoop. “Mary!” She looked around and found the girl in the crowd, then rushed over to hug her. “You did it!”

Mary’s grin was as bright as her pretty face. “I can’t believe it! I couldn’t have done it without you giving me those eggs. Thank you so much.”

“You bet.”

“And hey,” Mary said. “You won twice!”

Delaney shook her head as the crowd continued to applaud. “I can’t believe it. I barely remember making parts of that cake.”

The anchorwoman went on. “Finally, we have the Chocolates category. In third is Barry Ward and his key lime buttercreams. In second are Petra Singh’s cardamom bonbons.” She waited a moment for the applause to die down. “And in first, Delaney Ellingham’s Bee Mine honey and champagne truffles.”

She’d won! Delaney was so stunned she barely heard the woman announce the junior division winners and end with, “Well done to everyone who entered and we’ll see you next year! Winners, come on up for your trophies and pictures.”

Stunned, Delaney made her way up to the stage. She stood there, holding her armful of trophies and getting her picture taken, her eyes on Hugh the whole time.

There were so many emotions in his gaze but she understood every one of them.

He was proud of her for winning.

But he was blown away that he was going to be a father.

She smiled at him and nodded, hoping he knew she got what he was feeling, because she was feeling it too. The win, which had been everything that morning, suddenly felt inconsequential.

Who needed a mail-order chocolate business when you could be a mother?

When the last photo was taken, she stepped off the stage and into Hugh’s waiting arms.

“I am so proud of you,” he whispered into her ear.

“Thanks.” She couldn’t stop smiling as he let her go.

He took her trophies. “What do you want to do next? We could swing by the shop and put these in the front window.”

“I’d love that—”

“You won everything!” Roxy came up to her with a huge smile. “You did amazing, Delaney! Outstanding.”

“Thanks.” Delaney put her arm around Hugh. “Roxy, this is my husband, Hugh. Hugh, this is my friend Roxy, who I’ve been telling you so much about.”

Hugh tipped his head in greeting. “Nice to meet you. I’d shake your hand, but…” He shrugged, his arms full of Delaney’s trophies.

“I understand. Nice to meet you too,” Roxy said. “I’ve heard a lot about you. All good. Better than good, really. You must be pretty proud of your wife, huh?”

“I’m not sure I could put it into words,” he answered, his grin broad and gleaming, fangs safely tucked away.

Roxy looked at both of them, a sly expression coming over her face. “Is something else going on? It’s amazing how well you did today, Delaney, and I don’t want to take anything away from that, but you both seem kind of abundantly happy.”

Delaney leaned in toward her friend. “Don’t say anything to anyone, but I just found out I’m pregnant.”

Roxy whooped, then slapped a hand over her mouth. “That’s awesome. Congrats! Who am I going to tell? My lips are sealed. But talk about the hard sell to get me to move here. Fine, you win.” She held her hands up in surrender. “I’ll be the godmother.”

They all laughed, then Roxy gave Delaney a little hug. “It’s been so good to see you, but you guys clearly have other things to do and I’m on a deadline. I’m taking the three thousand pounds of chocolate I bought back to the bed and breakfast and spending some quality time with my laptop. Hugh, it was a pleasure to meet you. Delaney, I’ll let you know what my next move is. Literally. And keep me posted on the kidlet.”

“Will do,” Delaney said. “Talk to you soon.”

As Roxy disappeared into the crowd, Delaney turned to Hugh and looped her arm through his. “I love the idea of dropping the trophies off at the shop. Then we should probably go tell your grandmother. She’ll lose it if she doesn’t hear the good news straight from us as soon as possible.”

“I suppose you’re right. Then we can tell my brothers.”

They started walking toward the exit.

“Deal,” Delaney said. “Although the thought of Julian as an uncle is a little frightening.” She stopped as they got outside the tent and away from the throng of people. “How do you feel about Sugar?”

“Like it’s going to be a long, long time before I want anything sweet.”

“No, I mean what do you think about the name Sugar if it’s a girl?”

Hugh cocked one brow. “You’re not serious.”

She smiled and pulled him along again. “I don’t know. Sugar Ellingham has a nice ring to it.”

He groaned. “No.”

“Ginger?”

He gave her the side eye.

“Clementine?”

He sighed. “How about a name that isn’t also a food? You know, our child might be a boy.”

She laughed and put her hand on her belly. “It won’t be. I can feel it. Sugar’s definitely a girl. Do we have an account at Santa’s Workshop, that toy store in town?”

“No, but I get the feeling we will soon.”

“We need to decide which room is going to be the nursery, too. And we’ll need clothes. Lots and lots of cute dresses. And hair bows. Oh! Booties! Wait until I tell Captain. He’s going to be so excited.”

“I’m not sure the cat’s going to care.” Hugh shook his head. “This is going to be a long nine months, isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” she said.

He grinned and winked at her. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”