I shake my head. “What’s he doing in town?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything. Do you think it has anything to do with Verne passing away?”
“Maybe.” I blow out a breath. “God, I completely snapped at Poppy.”
“Do you think Poppy knows?” Rylee asks.
“She wouldn’t have a clue,” I say.
Rylee holds out her hand. “I’ll cover your tables. Take Poppy home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Then her eyes go wide. “Do you think it has anything to do with what Serena said?”
“What? What did she say?”
“About your reading she did.”
“The lovers? I doubt it.” I snort. That’s the last thing I need to be thinking about. “Look, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
She nods. “Text us if you need anything, okay?”
“I will. Thanks.”
Heading to the locker room in the back of the kitchen, I take off my apron and hang it up.
Kade Miller is in town. He washere.
I sling my bag over my shoulder and walk out to take Poppy’s hand to walk home.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” she says, looking up at me.
“It’s okay. I didn’t mean to snap at you. But if I’m not there, I don’t want you talking to strangers, okay?”
“Okay.” She nods.
We’re both quiet on the walk home.
I have enough going on in my life other than to worry about my ex coming back into our lives. Sneaking a peek at Poppy, it brings back up all the feelings when I first found out I was pregnant.
After Kade left, I was inconsolable. My life changed in the blink of an eye. Kade was gone and I found myself engaged to Paul. All because of my dad. The only thing that got me through was finding out I was pregnant.
It wasn’t until Poppy that I was able to pull myself together. I had to. I couldn’t fall apart if I had a baby.
Everything I do is for Poppy. It always has been.
But why is Kade here? Will he be back at the diner? I doubt it, considering he knows I work there now. I don’t know how long the two of us were locked in a stare down, but it felt like forever.
Now I’m going to worry about running into him around town. Can I handle seeing him again?
I guess we’ll see. I’ve done a lot harder things in my life. Seeing Kade again? It’s not something I thought I could handle, but I survived.
I’ve been in survival mode these last few months. I’m tired. Tired of it and ready to get my life back. So what’s another curveball of having my ex here?
Just one more thing to survive. I can do it, right?
Chapter Six
