Lucy:Just got off the phone with Shayna Barrett. Meeting her Thursday afternoon to discuss the bakery sale.
Jake:How do you feel?
Lucy:Terrified. Also relieved. Also like I might throw up. The full range.
Jake:Want company? I could come with you. Moral support.
Lucy:Really?
Jake:Really. Unless you want to do it alone, which is also completely valid.
Lucy:No. I'd love company. Thank you.
Jake:Anything for you.
Lucy:That's a dangerous promise.
Jake:I mean it.
Jake pocketed his phone and walked home through the cold morning. Timber Falls was waking up—shops opening, people starting their days, the comfortable rhythm of small-town life.
This was his town. His home. His choice.
And for the first time in three years, Jake Morrison wasn't waiting for his life to start.
He was living it.
Chapter 8
Wednesday arrived with more snow and a text from Mae at 6:30 AM.
Mae:the entire town knows you spent the night at Jake's apartment
Lucy nearly dropped her phone into the croissant dough she was rolling.
Lucy:How does the entire town know?
Mae:Mrs. Henderson saw you leaving his building at 4:30 AM. She told the Knitting Circle. They told everyone.
Lucy:It was our first date. We just slept. Nothing happened.
Mae:I believe you. The Knitting Circle has you eloping by spring.
Lucy:I hate this town.
Mae:No you don't. See you at 7.
Lucy set down her phone and tried to focus on the croissants, but her hands were shaking. This was Timber Falls—of course everyone knew. Privacy was a myth in a town of 8,500 people where everyone's grandmother knew everyone else's grandmother.
She'd known this would happen eventually. Had even accepted it as the price of dating someone local. But she'd hoped for maybe a week before becoming the subject of town gossip.
By 7:30 AM, Lucy had confirmed that yes, indeed, everyone knew.
Mr. Peterson came in with his usual bran muffin order and a knowing smile. "Heard you had a nice evening Monday."
The Knitting Circle arrived en masse at 8 AM, occupying their corner table and very obviously discussing Lucy while pretending to knit.
Tom and Jerry were more direct. "So," Tom said while paying for his danish. "You and Jake Morrison, huh?"
