“Eva,” I began carefully, “you know I have to let go of the bakery. That is why I came back.”
She sighed and straightened, bracing herself.
“I was hoping you would reconsider,” she said. “There was a reason Marie wanted you to have it.”
“I don’t understand,” I replied quietly. “She knew why I left. I never wanted to come back here. There is nothing for me in this town.”
“I do not know her reasons,” Eva admitted. “But please think about it. Besides, you would not want a poor, lonely old woman like me losing her job, would you?”
She smiled playfully and stood.
“If the bakery meant so much to you,” I asked, “why did she not give it to you?”
“It is not that simple,” she said. “And I would not know how to manage a bakery on my own.”
She paused at the door and turned back.
“Bailey, I know being here is hard. But try looking at it another way. Maybe this is your chance to come back for a reason. To mend what was broken. To finish what was left undone.”
“No,” I said quickly. “Ashton and I ended things years ago. There is nothing left between us. Nothing to fix.”
She stepped closer and gently took my hands.
“I was not talking about him,” Eva said softly. “When you left this town, you left someone else behind too, did you not? Forgiveness is what you need to truly move on. Family is always worth fighting for.”
Her words landed hard.
“Get some rest,” she added gently. “I will see you tomorrow.”
I watched her walk to her car and drive away, giving a small wave before disappearing down the road.
When I closed the door, my chest tightened painfully.
I knew exactly who she meant.
How could I forget the one person who raised me with so much love, only to disappear from my life without explanation? Did I really want to see him again? To ask why he walked away when I needed him most?
I did not know if I was ready to forgive him after all these years of surviving on my own.
And that uncertainty hurt more than anything else.
.
Chapter 4
It was official. I blamed Eva for my lack of sleep.
By the time my alarm rang, I was already awake, staring at the ceiling as pale morning light crept across it. My thoughts refused to settle. They circled Eva’s words, then drifted somewhere I had tried not to go.
My mother.
She had been gone for a few years now, yet the ache still lived in my chest. She would never have believed I would come back to this town. If she were still alive, would she have expected me to look for my father? After we left, after the whispers and accusations followed me through every street, we had sworn never to return.
For a long time, I believed I lost my mother when her marriage collapsed. Grief hollowed her out, turning her into someone quieter, smaller. But I learned the truth the day I told her I was pregnant. The day I admitted Ashton had abandoned me. The day I confessed how the town had turned cruel, how they pointed and judged and tore me apart.
That was the first time I saw fear in her eyes. Not for herself, but for me.
Maybe she realized then that she could lose me too.
