Or it might be a ghost town. Shit, I hoped this dream of mine wasn’t a total bust.
When I got to the shop, I parked around the corner, leaving Milo’s spot open for him. Maybe it was silly, but I wanted him tostart his day with a smile on his face. I might not be so generous in the future when I was wearing heels or dealing with snow, but today, with the sun shining despite the chill in the air, a pair of silver flats on my feet, and plenty of time to spare, I’d do what I could.
I was in the store alone for approximately three minutes before Adelaide came in, her arms full of bakery boxes.
“What is all this?” I asked my cousin, taking a box from the stack before she could bump into a display and send them all soaring.
“Cupcakes. There’s a little folding table in my trunk, I’ll have to run back out to get it. I ordered these from that food truck you love. Wait until you see them.”
She laid the other boxes on the counter, then threw back one lid, revealing dozens of cupcakes frosted with lavender and baby blue. There was some kind of edible glitter sprinkled on top of them, along with tiny silver candy stars. They were beautiful and smelled amazing.
“Oh, Addie,” I said quietly. My breath hitched, something my cousin did not miss.
“No tears! You look fabulous. Don’t start crying over cupcakes. Besides, we have an hour before opening and you are going to tell me all about your dinner with Milo while we set these out.”
The mist in my eyes evaporated as I glared at her. “Right, we’ve got a few things to talk about concerning Milo, Adelaide Harrison.”
Addie blinked her big brown eyes at me, cherry-red lips in a pretty pout, but finally muttered, “Yeah, okay. Let me grab the table and we’ll talk while we unpack.”
I helped her unfold the table in a corner of the store where the frosting wouldn’t pose a threat to any merchandise, then narrowed my eyes until she heaved a dramatic groan.
“It all worked out, didn’t it? Was last night truly horrible?”
“Last night wasn’t horrible at all, but that’s not the point, Adelaide. That’s twice you’ve gone behind my back to set me up. Why not just tell me you found Milo working next door?”
“Eden,” she said softly. “Would that really have been enough to get you over there?”
“Of course!” I exclaimed, then swore under my breath at her pointed look. “No. Maybe not. But I would’ve liked the option, Addie. Blindsiding me wasn’t cool. Not the first time, and definitely not the second.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just…the way you talked about him after that night, Eden, it was different from anything I’ve ever seen. Like you’ve been wearing a veil for your entire life, keeping you from living full out, and then you finally threw it off. It was beautiful, girl.”
I stared at her in surprise. How the hell did she see those things? My throat grew tight for a moment, until it became a real battle not to burst into tears.
“They scarred you, Eden,” Addie whispered. “Your parents made you feel like you needed to fit into a tiny box, live your life a certain way, play by all their rules. Even when you foughtagainst it, that echo was still there in your head. It kept you from being free to be who you are. And you’re incredible. You deserve to show that to the world. To show it to yourself.”
“Ugh, I’m definitely going to have to fix my makeup,” I muttered, rolling my eyes toward the ceiling to try to stem the flow of tears.
Addie wrapped her arms around me as I breathed deep, waiting for the threat of ruined makeup to pass. Every word she said struck my heart like a gong, reverberating through my body until it reached my fingertips and toes. We might be the same age, but Addie had always been wise beyond her years.
“I didn’t mean to play you, babe. You deserve great things and I thought maybe I could surprise you with one. I thought you’d want to see him again.”
“That night was amazing.”
A soft laugh escaped her lips. “I’ll bet it was.”
“I’m afraid,” I whispered into her shoulder.
She pulled back, framing my face with her hands. “Afraid of what?”
“Afraid it won’t be the same. Do you remember that spring break when I stayed with you guys so my parents could go to some church member’s wedding in Saratoga Springs? All the kids in your neighborhood got together and we played that game of Capture the Flag. It was just different, somehow. Magical. Like we were really defending our castle, and every kid was so invested, it was like the real world melted away.”
Addie grinned at the memory. “Yeah, I do.”
“Or when I came out during the summer before senior year. We went to that bonfire, and some girl started singing campfire songs and suddenly we were all joining in and dancing in the moonlight?”
“I remember that, too. What’s that got to do with Milo?”
I drew a shaky breath. “Those moments, they were magic. And afterward, no matter how many times we played the game again or how many bonfires we went to, it was never the same. We were never able to bring back those feelings. It was like the magic had disappeared.”
