Shit.
“Yeah,” I say, nodding my head as I suck in a deep breath. “Just a lot going on, you know?”
“I get it,” he says softly, corkscrewing his lips as he dips his chin. “If you want to talk about anything, you know I’m always here to listen.”
“I know,” I force a smile, knowing damn well I can’t talk to him about the thoughts currently swirling around inside my mind. I don’t know how he would react to me telling him I kissed his best friend last night. “What do you have going on later today?”
Noah lifts his shoulder in a shrug. “Just normal stuff around here. I need to go out to the fields to check the trees. What about you?”
“I’m supposed to go meet with Sofia later today to talk about maybe collaborating on something for the shop. Did you want to come with me?”
“Absolutely. Do I get to see the store then too?”
Pursing my lips, I roll my eyes. “I told you, not until it’s fully finished.”
“Come on,” he whines, drawing out the last word with exaggeration. “Just let me get a little peek at what you and Jace have done with the place.”
“Not yet,” I say with a soft laugh, ignoring the way my stomach flips when he mentions Jace’s name. “It will be done soon and I promise, you will be the first to know when it’s all ready.”
That pleases my brother and his lips spread across his teeth in a bright smile. “Okay. I can’t wait to see it.”
“I hope it ends up working out,” I admit as I head into the barn and Ace follows without me having to lead him. Noah walks to the barn with us, but he stops by the door. I pause and turn back around to face him. “It was Grammy’s dream to have a store and you guys gave up on it. I can’t fail at this. I have to make it something worth keeping open.”
A frown pulls down Noah’s lips. “It’s not that we gave up on it. Neither of us had the time anymore. It needed someone to breathe life back into it and I know you’re going to do it, Will. Don’t even worry about what will happen when you leave for vet school. We’ll figure that out then, okay?”
My stomach drops as the words roll off his tongue.Right, vet school. Where I’m supposed to be going next fall. The place I should be sending applications. The future I don’t think I want anymore.
Swallowing back every true thought and feeling, I give my brother a nod. “Okay.”
“I gotta head out. What time should I meet you to go to town later to meet with Sofia?”
“Five is fine,” I answer as Ace presses his nose against my back. “We agreed on five thirty after she closes down the store for the evening.”
“I’ll be there,” my brother says, nodding at me before he disappears from the barn. I turn back around to Ace and startto strip the tack from his body. Someday I’m going to have to be honest with my brother’s about my future. I’m going to have to tell them about my failures and how that has changed the entire trajectory of what I want to do now.
But today is not that day.
“Shit, Will,” my brother’s voice says through the phone speaker. “I’m still out in the field. There seems to be some infected trees and I’m trying to get to the bottom of it before Finn gets back.”
Shifting my weight on my feet, I pull open the car door and let myself in. “It’s okay, Noah.”
“I’m so sorry. Time got away from me and I thought I would have had this wrapped up earlier.”
“I promise it’s okay,” I assure him as I start the engine and buckle my seatbelt. “I gotta go, but I’ll let you know how it goes later.”
He mumbles something under his breath that I don’t catch. Then he adds, “Okay. I’m sure it will go great.”
“Thanks,” I say before telling him goodbye and ending the call. With a sigh, I drop my phone down onto the center console and pull my car out of the driveway, heading down the street and into town. I didn’t need my brother to come with me, but it would have been nice to have a little backup.
I don’t know Sofia well, but she has recently taken over managing the coffee shop the past year. Noah graduated from high school with her, so I thought having him here would have made it a little less nerve wracking.
I pull up in front, lucking out with a spot right in front of the door. Reaching over into the passenger’s seat, I grab my purseand sling it over my shoulder, mustering as much courage as I possibly can before climbing out of the car.
As I push open the front door, the bell above chimes and a wave of the rich coffee aroma wraps itself around me. Shrugging off my coat, I shake off the remaining chill from outside and glance over at the counter.
The building is empty and I noticed the CLOSED sign outside before I came in. Sofia rounds the counter, wiping it down with a rag as her curled pony tail swishes from side to side. She looks up, a smile stretching across her lips when she sees me.
“Willow, hi!” She rubs the counter once more. “I’m almost done with this, but if you want to grab a seat at one of the tables, I’ll meet you there in two seconds. I just need to lock the front door so no one tries to sneak in.”
