“Couldn’t I just”—I shrugged, making a face—“not go?”
She pinned me with a stare, arching a perfectly sculpted brow. She might not have been feeling well, but her makeup was still on point. “Your mom is going to give you serious shit if you don’t go.”
I groaned. “Fine. Fine.” There was already tension between me and my older brother; I didn’t need it with my mother, too.
Selene gathered the icing-crusted tools and tossed them in the sink.
“I’ve got those,” I said, already reaching for the dish soap.
“But—”
I cut her off. “Go home. Boss’s orders.”
She tugged off the bandana covering her hair, letting her bouncy brown curls free. “If you insist.”
Honestly, I expected more of an argument. She really wasn’t feeling well.
“What time should I be here tomorrow to load up the cake?”
“The venue is letting me in at nine, so probably eight thirty? I want to get it out of the way so I’m not rushing to get ready for the wedding.”
“You mean you’re not going to assemble the cake in your dress?” she teased.
“I don’t think it would shock anyone if I did, but no, I’m going to go home and get ready after.”
“What are you going to wear?”
“I was thinking maybe that emerald green dress you forced me to buy when it was on sale around Christmas.” I saidforced, but in reality I’d been obsessed with the dress since the moment I tried it on. Selene just gave me the push I needed to actually drop that kind of money on a piece of clothing—even if it was on sale. “I haven’t had a chance to wear it yet.” And I was dying to.
She clapped her hands together, brightening up a little bit. “Oh, the pinup one! That’ll be perfect for the wedding. Your ass looks so good in that dress.”
It really did.
“If I have to go, I might as well look hot while doing it.”
“Love that mindset for you.” She hugged my shoulders, giving them a little squeeze. “I’ll see you in the morning. Tell Dec I said hi.”
“Will do. Try not to be late,” I shouted after her.
She slipped out the back door, leaving me in the absolute worst place to be: alone with my thoughts.
As the warm water turned my hands red and the icing swirled around the drain, I couldn’t help but feel like it was a metaphor for my love life.
I’d spent so much time devoting myself to the bakery, making sure it had continued success now that it had switched hands, that I felt like I was falling behind in the other aspects of my life.
I wanted to have someone to go home to. A reason to hurry outof the bakery in the evenings. I wanted to have someone to rely on other than myself, someone to take control every once in a while so I could get out of the endless to-do list that reeled through my head.
To find that person, I was going to have to make some serious changes to my life. It wasn’t going to be easy.
Once I was finished cleaning up, I locked the shop and started down Main Street toward the neon-blue beacon of Dale’s Diner. It was a Briar Glenn staple, the quintessential small-town greasy spoon serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If anything could cure me, it was an emotional-support bacon double cheeseburger and a hot plate of fries.
The overhead bell tinkled when I stepped inside, drawing the attention of every patron lining the counter and filling the booths.
“Hey,” I said, giving a little wave.
One of the downsides of living in a small town was the fact that you knew everyone, they knew you, and both of you knew everything about each other.
But these days, I didn’t exactly know everyone.
