She turned and walked away, blindly. Not caring where she went, just needing to get away from here.
The bellabove the bakery door chimed as she burst into Sugar & Spice. Its warm air wrapped around her like an embrace. Butter. Sugar. Cinnamon.
She exhaled in relief.
“Grace?” Hannah’s voice floated from behind the counter. “You okay?”
She nodded too quickly. “Yeah. Totally fine.”
Hannah tilted her head. “Would a coffee help?”
Grace let out a weak laugh. “I’m just… it’s been a day.”
Hannah’s eyes were soft but sharp. “Sit.”
It wasn’t a suggestion.
Grace slid into a chair at the small table by the counter. Hannah poured her a coffee without asking, adding cream the way she liked it, then took the seat across from her with her own mug.
They sat in silence for a moment. Grace stared at the swirl of steam rising from the mug, tried to breathe past the tight knot in her chest.
“So,” Hannah said gently. “What happened?”
Grace opened her mouth, ready with a deflection. A joke. A shrug. Something easy.
Nothing came out.
Hannah waited.
Grace exhaled, the sound shaky. “I’m seeing someone.”
Hannah’s eyebrows lifted. “I had no idea!”
“For months,” Grace added, the words tumbling now. “It’s… it’s not serious. I mean—no, it is serious. It’s just not—” She huffed out a breath. “God, I sound insane.”
“You sound human,” Hannah said. “Keep going.”
Grace wrapped her hands around the mug like it might anchor her. “It’s not…Crystal Lake official. Not yet. It’s…just us. It’s physical.” Heat crept up her neck. “Really physical.”
Hannah looked delighted. She reached out and clinked her coffee cup against Grace’s. “Get it, girl!”
Grace laughed once, breathless. “So that part is great. I mean, like,sogreat. I can’t even—" She blushed. “Anyway. That’s not the issue. It’s just that—he saw me. Just now. On Main Street. And he just…” Her cheeks burned. “He acted like he didn’t know me.”
The smile dropped from Hannah’s face. “He ignored you?”
Grace tried to explain. “It made sense at first. This town—” She gestured vaguely. “You know how it is. Everyone notices everything. People talk.”
Hannah snorted softly. “Oh, I know.”
“So it made sense at first to… keep it to ourselves,” Grace continued, clinging to the explanation.
“I guess,” Hannah murmured, sounding uncertain.
Grace pressed on, the words spilling out. “When we are together, alone together, it’s perfect.”
“But what about when you’re not alone together?” Hannah asked, not unkindly.
Grace swallowed. She stared down at her coffee.
