His smile is sad and wistful, but when he looks at me, I can see in his green eyes that he wouldn’t lie to me. “Every single second. You were the rainbow after a rain shower. The warm sun after a dreary winter. I don’t know if we’d still be together now ifthathadn’t happened, but I know I loved you with all the heart an eighteen-year-old boy can. I just wasn't strong enough to stand up for us.”
I can’t help but reach out for his hands and hold them.
“Thank you,” I say. “I’m glad we’ve been able to talk now, and I hope we can let go of the past and claim the happy future we both deserve.”
His smile is a little wider now. “From the way you looked at your guy earlier, I’d say you’re already there.”
He looks at his watch. “Sorry, I have to go. Use my number if you want. It would be good to keep in touch.”
I nod. Jayden stands up to leave but then stops. “Oh, one more thing. Don’t give my brother a hard time. He’s been in love with Penny since he was fifteen.”
I laugh. “Got it.”
Once we go our separate ways, I pick up my phone and dial Arlo’s number, but it goes to voicemail. It’s too late for Liv to still be in the bakery, so I head home instead.
I'm barely out of the car when the front door opens and Liv comes out. She looks angry, which is probably why she’s meeting me on the driveway rather than waiting until I’m inside. Whatever I’ve done is going to include swear words.
“What’s up?” I ask.
“What the fuck were you doing with Jayden Martin? No…don’t answer that. It’s not as important as Arlo currently being at the town hall meeting, facing that fucking woman on his own.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“She moved the meeting. It’s tonight,” Ava says.
“But there’s no way she’d know what we’ve been up to.”
“Who cares what she knows. You need to get to the town hall now. I’ll keep an eye on Ava and my fingers crossed for you.”
I give her a quick hug. “Thanks, sis. By the way…that’s two dollars for the jar.”
“Don’t you fucking dare tell on me,” she says as I walk to my car.
“That’s three dollars now.”
I’ve walked before, but I’m definitely driving to the town hall because I can’t stand the thought of Arlo facing the committee on his own and without any warning.
The gods of parking spaces are on my side as someone pulls out of a space just as I’m approaching the street closest to the town hall. I park and run to the building, ignoring some of the looks from people that stand chatting outside.
I slowly open the door to the hall where they host the meeting, hoping I can get in undetected. Luckily for me, it doesn’t creak. All the seats are taken and there’s a number of people standing at the back.
How did so many people know about the meeting when we didn’t?
There’s a round of applause before the man on the stage sitting next to Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Jenkins raises his hand.
“And that’s the last of our stalls filled. We can confirm there won’t be any empty units at the next fair. This is something to be very proud of indeed. Once again, our wonderful town comes through to showcase the best crafts our state has to offer.”
I’m too late to figure out what’s going on. Did they give Arlo a spot? Mrs. Martin wouldn’t look so smug if they had.
The sound of a chair scraping on the floor grabs everyone’s attention, and my heart starts beating a mile a minute when I see Arlo stand up.
“Mr. Sallow, at the last meeting, you said there were two available spots. Today you allocated one, so forgive my bad math, but I believe that means there is still one available stall to allocate.”
I see some heads turn to each other and whisper.
“Mr. Remington,” Mr. Sallow says with so much contempt I want to throw something heavy at his head, “the committee reserves the right to re-evaluate the layout and number of stalls available at the craft fair. After all, we want to offer the best experience to our local community as well as the thousands of visitors coming to Stillwater for the fair.”
Arlo nods. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from an established and experienced committee such as yours. However, that’s not the real reason, is it?”
