“Honestly, I’m not sure why he showed up, and I don’t think I want to know. We had this huge fight before he left, and I doubt we’ll ever get back to the friendly relationship we had before.”
“But aren’t you curious about the man you’re sleeping with? And what about Alyssa? It’s weird that she just showed up, too.”
“I agree, but he’s not exactly telling me his deepest, darkest secrets. Frankly, I don’t want to know.”
“Not even a little?” she asked in shock.
“No. I just want to move past all this. I knew all along that I couldn’t be with a man who didn’t want to open up to me. It’s no surprise that he won’t share a thing with me, and that’s fine. But I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m not up for all the secrets.”
“Wow.” She stepped back, shock plastered all over her face. “You really are walking away.”
“Basically.”
“But…what if he’s the guy?”
“Trust me, he’s not the guy.”
He so was the guy.
I desperately wished he would open up to me and let me in, but I wasn’t about to turn into my brother, moping around about a man who would never love me. I couldn’t do that to myself, so I chose to walk away before it devastated me even further.
“But you haven’t even given him a chance!” she argued when I grabbed the next order and started filling it.
“I gave him enough chances, but honestly, I wasn’t hoping he would change. I could seedamagedscrolled across his forehead from a mile away. He was never going to open up to me.”
“But he still might!”
“No, he won’t, Ellie,” I snapped. “Yes, he’s gorgeous and hot and amazing in bed. I like him very much, and I even think if he opened his mouth for an actual conversation that didn’t include snarling at someone, he might be a pretty decent guy. But he doesn’t want to open his mouth. He doesn’t want to converse with me or anyone else. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s content as a hermit, and the only reason he comes up for air is because he needs food and sex to survive.”
Wow. That was a lot to get off my chest, but it felt fantastic.
“Alright, I won’t bring it up again.”
“Thank you,” I smiled. “Look, I get it. You’re the happily-ever-after type. I’ve seen the way you watch a guy with stars in your eyes. But I’m more realistic. I can’t and won’t wait around for Mr. Wrong to figure out that he could be Mr. Right.”
Huffing, she snatched the eye pillow from the counter. “Fine, I’ll just pay for this and go on my way.”
“Thank you.”
“But I really think?—”
I held up my hand to cut her off, but she just pushed through.
“—you should give the man a chance to be who you need him to be! And maybe he’s not the perfect man, but he’s hot, and he’s obviously got it bad for you. Do you know how many women would kill to have a man look at her the way JR looks at you? You’re killing me, Smalls! You’re killing me!”
My lips twitched in amusement not only at her rant, but also the classic movie line she tossed in for fun. “Are you done?”
“For now.” Growling, she pulled out a twenty and tossed it down on the counter. “Keep the change, you filthy animal.”
And with that, she strode out of the shop.
I smiled despite the situation, but the energy it took to force myself to be happy just wasn’t worth it. I still had to take all my orders out, and I was waiting on Mrs. Abernathy to show. Sheusually came in early, and it was beginning to worry me that she hadn’t stopped in for her order yet.
After waiting another half hour, I decided to pack up her order and take it to her. I locked up the shop and chose to drive over there instead of walking today. I wasn’t even completely sure why, but something told me to get over there as quickly as possible.
The moment I walked up to the older craftsman-style home, I knew something was wrong. Pounding on the door, I called out to her.
“Mrs. Abernathy! It’s Josie!”
