But now...
I typed out a message, slowly, overthinking every single word.Hey. It's Kael. From the bakery. I was wondering if we could talk sometime soon. There's something I need to tell you.
My finger hovered over the send button.
Do it,my dragon urged.Tell her.
My finger dipped down and I erased the entire message. None of what I'd written seemed quite right. Once again, I slowly typed another.Hope you're having a good evening. See you tomorrow morning?
Still too much.
I deleted that too.
Finally, I just set the phone down and scrubbed my hands over my face.
Coward.
My phone buzzed. For a wild second I thought maybe I'd accidentally sent something. But it was just a text from Caspian.
Stop overthinking it, Little Bro. Tell her. Before it's too late.
I stared at his message for a long moment. Then I picked up my phone and shoved it in my back pocket. The urge to bake something delicious had hit. If I couldn't tell Amara the truth with words yet, maybe I could tell her with pastries.
Something new and delicious might do the trick.
Something that said everything I couldn't.
I pulled out some lavender and chocolate, the aromas hitting me immediately. Next, I started working on a fresh batch of dough. I let my hands do what my mouth couldn't.
And when it was all baked and pretty looking, I prayed that when I finally found the courage to tell her, she wouldn't walk away.
3
AMARA
My cell phone vibrated against the wooden desk, dancing itself closer and closer to the edge. The name "Mom" glowed on the screen as if it was some sort of warning. My stomach eased itself into a small knot and I almost wished the device would fall to the floor and shatter itself.
The library was quiet, just the soft hum of the heating system kicking on and the occasional rustle of pages from the reading area.
I picked the phone up and moved it back to a better position but let the call go to voicemail.
The ringing started up again.
Mrs. Luna glanced up from her computer, her eyebrows raised. "You gonna answer that eventually?"
"Probably not," I muttered, sliding the phone into my cardigan pocket.
She laughed softly. "Family?"
I offered her a shrug. "It's my mom."
"Ah." She nodded knowingly. "Say no more."
I grabbed my cart and headed back into the stacks, needing the familiar comfort of the books around me. The libraryalways smelled the same. Old paper and wood polish and that indefinable scent that only existed in places where stories lived.
It was truly my little safe space that I'd carved out for myself.
My phone buzzed with a voicemail notification and I pulled it out, already knowing what it would say.
