Cupcake Cutie (Plus Size Romance 1) Read Free

stallions his father wanted to sell.  But Hank decided he liked the looks of a young gelding that hadn’t been broken. 
    Decker’s best efforts to discourage Hank failed.  The stubborn man shook Decker off and climbed into a stall with the wild horse.  In a matter of seconds, the animal had reared up on its back legs, snorting and pawing the air.  Decker unlatched the gate in an effort to give Hank a means of escape, but it was too late.  The full force of hooves came down on Hank’s head and shoulders.  The fracture to his skull was fatal.
    Decker shook off the horrible memory as he pulled into Hubert’s driveway.  A few feet away, Hubert was stomping some smaller flames and impotently spraying a cracked garden hose.
    Whipping out the mother of all hoses, Decker gave the fire starter a shit-eating grin.  Once the perimeters were contained and the central fire had been doused, Decker pulled a citation pad from his shirt pocket. 
    Hubert frowned and threw the garden hose on the ground.  “What the hell are you doing?”
    “I’m writin’ you a citation for burnin’ durin’ a ban.  I’ve given you all the chances I’m goin’ to.  Enough is enough, partner.  This is the only way you’ll learn,” he said, tearing the three hundred dollar fine from his pad. 
    Hubert snatched the slip of paper from Decker’s hand and scoffed, “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to pay this.  I’ll use it to start my next fire.  That’s what I’ll do.”
    “Three hundred bucks or thirty days in the pen.  It’s up to you, buddy.”
    “We’re not buddies, and I don’t take orders from no highhanded Wyman.  Of course I don’t recall you being so high and mighty when your woman left you.  How did that go down? Oh, yes, I remember now.  She ran off with some fancy city slicker, didn’t she?”
    “Just pay the damn fine, Hubert.”
    It took everything Decker had not to knock that smartass’ block off.  But it wasn’t his style to spar with a man who was at a physical disadvantage.  Rowling had raised him better than that.  And, who knew? Maybe Hubert would have turned out to be a better man, too, if Hank had been around to finish raising him.
    Climbing back into the fire truck, Decker blew out a deep breath.  His shift was over, and he was anxious to get back to the ranch.  He was tempted to swing by Ella’s.  Her house was on his way home. But, she had said she didn’t do complicated.  And Decker having a wife he couldn’t locate, who refused to sign divorce papers despite the fact that she left him for another married man, was just about as complicated as things could get.
     
    IT WAS ONLY MID-MORNING, and The Little Cupcake Company was already booming with business.  Ella didn’t mind waiting at a booth in the corner.  It would give her a chance to taste-test the new double-Dutch chocolate cupcake with cream cheese icing while Adaira finished filling orders.  
    Ella had dropped by here on her first day in town to ask for directions, and The Little Cupcake Company had been completely devoid of customers.   After tasting one of Adaira’s cupcakes, Ella couldn’t understand why the place wasn’t crawling with patrons.
    Over a steaming cup of coffee and a vanilla cupcake with lemon chiffon icing, Ella had pinpointed the problem.  Adaira was clueless when it came to marketing and advertising.  Sure, she was lovely, warm and intelligent, and she could bake circles around Martha Stewart.  But all that culinary talent was no good if nobody knew about it. 
    The two women bonded immediately, becoming fast friends.  The next day, Ella came up with a few slogan ideas.  Shortly after implementing them, Adaira’s business picked up.  Now, everyone was familiar with The Little Cupcake Company’s advertisement taglines : If cupcakes are wrong, we don’t wanna be right; Every day is a cupcake day; A little cupcake goes a long way; Life’s short—eat a cupcake; Keep calm and eat a