I’ve been wallowing in one big fucking pity party ever since my run in with Ad.
Cake, confetti, the whole pathetic shebang.
I set down the sanding block and slump onto Grandma’s old stool.
“Is it going the way I thought?I don’t know.I mean, the mayor met me at the diner the other day.Folks around town have been real kind.Real outgoing.Real thrilled to have me move back.”
“So, everyone is glad to see you.That’s good,” she offers cautiously.
“I suppose so.”
And it is.
Except for one thing—one woman, actually—the only one in town who isn’t at all thrilled to see me.And of course she’s the only fucking one who matters a damn.
Trish waits.She knows me far too well.
“Everyone is glad,” I say quietly.“Except her.”
Her face softens.“Ah.”
Yeah.Ah.
“Her being the woman behind the first big hit?”
“Behind it?She wasn’t behind it, she was inside it.Goddamn it, Trish, I saw her, and nothing changed.I meaneverythinghas changed, but not the way I feel about her.Nothing inside here,” I say and point to my chest.
“So you’ve talked to her, then?”
“I mean, I tried.I’ve seen Adrianna since the hardware store,” I admit.“A couple times, actually.At the grocery store.At the post office.She spots me and fucking evaporates like smoke.”
Trish winces.
“A lot of time has passed since you won that show and left town, Nate.Can’t exactly blame her.”
Fuck.
Trish is right.I know she is.I mean, I still want to argue.But I huff out a breath instead.
“I know,” I groan.“God, do I know.”
I haven’t worked up the nerve to bring myself to the bakery yet—yeah I know that’s where she is most days.I’ve been keeping tabs, asking questions.I know I’m gonna just have to do it.
Grab my balls and walk through those doors and confront my past, and maybe, my future?
I honestly can’t wait to see her behind the counter wearing a little apron with flour on it, her hair piled up haphazardly, her smile probably bright enough to kill me.
She took over the place after her mom retired.Runs it herself.
Incredible, really.Admirable.
And she’s raising her niece—Bonnie’s kid, Bella.
Her sister’s daughter.
Fuck me, I knew this woman was special when we were both still kids, but I think maybe Adrianna Bosco is a saint.
She stayed.
