I turn to leave, but she leans in and whispers in my ear, “I’ll find out. Ialwaysdo.”
Gulp.
I step away from her as quickly as possible, shuddering as I walk to the produce stand and pick out some vegetables for tonight’s dinner. After that, I go to the butcher and get some meat, and then it’s time for macarons.
The bell dings above the door as I walk into Cookies & Kisses, and I’m greeted by a young woman with blond curls and blue eyes. It’s a cute shop, with mirrors along the walls and sunflowers in mason jars, but the real draw is the glass display case of intricately decorated cookies.
“Hi! How can I help you?” the woman asks.
“Hi, I’m Ryder, Gwen’s cousin.” I put a hand out to shake hers.
“Oh, nice to meet you! I’m Madeleine. She told me you’d be here for a visit.”
“Yeah, just coming back to see everyone. It’s been a while, and I grew up here.” I wave a hand, not needing to get into my whole backstory. “Anyway, Gwen wanted me to get some macarons.”
“No problem.” She pulls out a little white box and starts adding a variety of macarons to it. “I’m guessing you know Mason, then? If you grew up here.” She points to the kitchen. “I can go grab him if you want to say hi.”
“Uh, no, that’s okay.” I keep my mouth shut from explainingthat he probably wouldn’t want to see me after Peter and I egged his car ten years ago.
She glances up at me quickly, then back down at the cookies. Our conversation is interrupted by another jingle above the door. I look behind me and see a tall man with dark hair swooping over his forehead and a brunette woman. I raise my hand in greeting, then realize who I’m looking at—Henry Stone, Peter and Lily’s older brother. And the woman must be his fiancée, whom Lily mentioned yesterday. I turn my back to them and run my hand through my hair, hoping he doesn’t figure out who I am. I’m not ready to have a conversation with him until I’ve gotten more information from Lily.
“Luna!” Madeleine squeals.
“Hey, Madeleine!” Luna’s voice is musical and light, and she sounds like she belongs in a princess movie.
“Good to see you, Henry,” Madeleine says.
“You as well,” he replies. “Is Mason around?”
Just then, the swinging door to the kitchen opens, and Mason Bond emerges. “Hey guys! Madeleine said you’d be stopping by later.” He quickly glances at me, then does a double take and glares. “Ryder Hawthorne?”
Crap. Now Mason knows I’m here, AND he told Henry.
I swallow hard and paste on a grin. “Hey, Mason. Long time no see.”
He grunts and turns back to Henry and Luna.
I guess hedoesremember what I did to his car.
In my defense, he was a total jerk to Peter. He nearly ran Peter over with his car when we were skating outside the main part of town.
“Hello, Ryder,” Henry says, peering at me around Luna. “I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“Yeah, I just got here yesterday,” I say.
“How’s Peter?” he asks.
I shrug. “Fine. Same as usual.”
Henry presses his lips together and nods.
“Visiting Agatha?” Mason asks the couple.
“Yep,” Luna says.
“You’ve been visiting a lot lately,” Madeleine comments. “Not that I’m complaining. You know I love seeing you guys.”
Luna glances at Henry, just a quick movement of her eyes that I wouldn’t normally notice. But I do, because I know they’re hiding the real reason for their visit.
