“Safe to say things are going well?” She waggles her brows at me.
“I don’t even know if I should be talking about this.” I slap my hands over my cheeks.
“We’re your best friends. If you can’t talk about it with us, who can you talk about it with?” Rylee says, crossing her arms.
“It’s just…it seems too good to be true.”
“You mean because he’s back in town or you don’t know for how long?”
“Both?” I question. “I don’t know, Rylee. One minute he was here then the next he was gone, and now he’s back. He’s trying to have a relationship with both of us, and I just don’t know how to feel about it.”
“You know, you’re allowed to be happy,” she says. “I know you’ve had a lot going on with separating from Paul and the flux with your dad’s estate, but you don’t have to put your entire life on pause.”
“Is it really that obvious?”
“We all see it,” Rylee says.
“We all do!” Betty chimes in.
“Thanks, Betty,” I yell back, shaking my head at her.
Pinecrest is the gossipiest small town ever. Everyone is in everyone’s business. If you look at someone the wrong way, they’ll know. I still remember the pitiful looks I got after Kade left. I couldn’t go anywhere without people looking at me. I hated it.
“Trust me, Presley. You’re allowed to be happy.”
“It feels like I can’t.” There’s still too much unsettled. With so much up in the air, it feels like I’ve been treading water.
“You’ve been through a lot,” Rylee says, dropping her hands on my shoulders. “We all love you. And Poppy, and we only want what’s best for you.”
“Is starting a relationship with Kade the best thing for me?”
This time, she gives me a smile. “I think it is. I mean, I’veonly seen him here with you once, but he looks at you like you hung the moon.”
“Only the moon?” I laugh.
“Well, maybe the sun and the stars too.”
“Okay, ladies, enough yapping. Get back to work,” Betty calls out to us. “This food isn’t gonna serve itself.”
“On it, Betty,” Rylee says.
Grabbing the fresh plates of food, I start delivering food to our waiting guests. There’s a small group of people waiting. This time of year in Pinecrest, it’s always busy. With the leaves changing, it brings everyone here to visit the mountains surrounding the town. It’s stunning.
I do my best to focus on everyone, but it’s hard. Because my attention keeps turning back to Kade.
Have I really been sabotaging myself and my happiness these last few years? I tried to make it work with Paul. For the first year or two, we were happy. Everything was good between us. Family vacations. Hikes to the mountains. Laughing around the dinner table.
But when my dad got older and he wanted Paul to take over more of the company, things changed. Paul started working longer hours and paying less attention to us. Before I knew it, we were two strangers living together. Things were too far gone to try and repair them, so I left.
Now if I could only get him to sign the damn divorce papers. Maybe then…maybe then I could really have a shot at happiness.
Will it be with Kade? I don’t know. He has a life back in Seattle. Every time I think about him staying, I get anxious. That growing feeling of unease never seems to go away. He left once. Could it be just as easy for him to leave again?
Taking a guest’s order, I head back to the kitchen to start mixing up a milkshake before delivering it.
“Hi, Presley.”
I stop at Serena’s booth, giving her a cheery smile.
