A mother to keep company.
And a date to go to on Friday because of course, now I’m thinking dumping Justin might be too hasty.
Yep.
I have far more important things than some man I haven’t seen in sixteen years.
“If he comes into the bakery, sell him something, Adele.Just like you would anyone else.”
“Come on!No free cookies?”
“Definitely not.He can afford it, charge him double,” I mutter, mostly to myself.
Adele keeps chattering, starry-eyed and breathless, but I tune her out.
Because I’m fine.
Perfectly fine.
Totally unaffected.
And if my heart is pounding hard enough to bruise against my ribs?
Well, no one needs to know that but me.
ChapterFour
Nathan
Being backin Hammonton is oddly soothing.
Weird.Because nothing about this place should feel soothing.
The big, old colonial I grew up in?The one everyone calls Thorn House?Well, it’s a fucking wreck.
Contractors have been patching up the exterior all week, but the inside?
It’s like stepping straight into a time warp.
Dust thick as snowdrifts.
Furniture covered with sheets older than some of my fans.
Wallpaper peeling like it’s trying to escape the walls entirely.
Grandma’s last stand.
Fuck.
I really messed this up, didn’t I, Gran?
She moved into the fanciest retirement home I could find about fifteen years ago.But she’s been gone, oh, it’s about five years now.
I saw her as often as I could, but it wasn’t enough.
Shame fills me, and I know I should’ve done better.
This house—her house, the one she raised me in when life got messy—has been sitting here quietly decaying while I ran around playing rockstar.
