She bolted for the door. Teo let her go, knowing the whole time that when she’d picked up her belongings, she’d also taken hisheart.
Chapter 24
The hot Texassummer turned into a warm Texas fall. Cedar worked like a dog to open the Doggie Café on time. She’d planned the schedule and should have known better than to create such a tight deadline for herself, but she was working to forget Teo and decided that the less downtime she had, thebetter.
He was into preseason workouts now. She wondered how he was holding up under the intensely physical sessions. How much did he see Akoni? Did either of them think of her, miss her? She missed them. Sometimes, before she fell asleep, she would remember the feel of Teo’s lips against her ear, and she’d giggle at the memory of the tickle when he hummed. Those moments didn’t last long. She wouldn’t let them, or she’d end up crying into herpillow.
Opening day arrived, bringing eager dog owners into the café. Cedar spent the morning educating customers on their specialty meals for puppies and active and older dogs. Each owner had concerns about their pet’s diet. One woman stopped in to demand she open a similar café for cats. Cedar smiled and told her it was a wonderful idea and that she would see what she could do aboutthat.
Around three, Noah and Harley walked through the door. They’d been home for a week and a half. Seeing them brought back a host of memories Cedar wasn’t ready to face about the night she’d stood up Teo. She deserved to be dumped, but that didn’t make her miss him anyless.
Harley told her labradoodle, Elvis, to sit, and he did. She smiled down at him as if he was the smartest animal on the planet. “Cedar, this place is wonderful. I love the colors and the clean lines.” She hugged Cedar. “You’re a miracle worker to get this up and running sofast.”
Cedar stepped back and dropped her gaze. There was that word: miracle. She couldn’t hear it without thinking of Teo. He saw miracles in everyday moments. Her heart gave a squeeze. “Hey, you two. How’s Elvis?” She reached her hand out for the dog to sniff before patting his head. With a dog around, there was always something to talk about. Elvis leaned into her, lapping up theattention.
Noah reached over the dog to give Cedar a hug. “You look like you could use abreak.”
“Noah!” Harley shoved him aside. “Hush! You look beautiful, Cedar.” She threw an I-can’t-believe-you-said-that glare over hershoulder.
Cedar chuckled. “Noah has seen me after a muddy tug-of-war, covered in briars, covered in horse hair, and covered in pie after I lost a pie-eating contest to his little sister. If he says I look like I need a break, then I must look horrible, and hewasbeing kind.” She brushed her fingers over her messy bun. “I haven’t been sleeping well since—” She cut off, not wanting to burst into tears in the middle of her business on openingday.
Harley gave her a sympathetic look. “Since you and Teo brokeup?”
“Yeah,” she admitted, her throat scratchy. She worked to swallow down the emotions that swelled upinside.
Harley patted her arm. She was being so nice and so understanding that Cedar couldn’t keep the confession inside. “I should be thrilled today.” She waved her hand half-heartedly, indicating the stained concrete flooring, the counter where several dogs ate their specialty meals, and the wall of dog toys and accessories. One woman was putting headbands on her pug and taking selfies with her. She had several headbands in a basket by her feet and was adding to her pile of purchases. The Doggie Café was a success. “But all I can think about is that he’s not here.” She pressed her fingers over her lips to stop thequivering.
Noah nodded. “Do you want me to shootyou?”
Cedar dropped her hand and her jaw. “Excuseme?”
Harley puffed out air and rolled hereyes.
Noah lifted his chest. “It worked for me. I took a bullet to the shoulder and woke up with Harley in mybed.”
“Yourhospitalbed.” Harley punched his shoulder. “And you’re not allowed to do that everagain.”
Cedar widened her eyes. “That sounds like an interestingstory.”
The bell above the door rang and four older men in golf pants and polo shirts filed in, leading four dogs of varying breeds. Cedar looked back and forth between Harley and Noah and her customers. She held up a finger. “Can I hit the pausebutton?”
Harley laughed easily. “We’ll look around for a while. I’ll call you so we can get together in a coupleweeks.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you two later.” She went to talk to the men, who were clustered together and lookingnervous.
Noah touched her elbow to hold her back. “Since I can’t shoot you …” His eyes danced with laughter. From what she remembered of him, Noah was rarely serious unless it came to protecting his family or police work. “I’ll just tell you that guys like women who go after what they want. Even if that means she has toapologize.”
Cedar scowled. “You’re assumingIdid something wrong.” She had but he didn’t knowthat.
Noah lifted one side of his mouth in a lopsided smile. “If you didn’t, you’d be sleeping a lot better.” He held up both palms. “Don’t shoot themessenger.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” She moved out of his reach. “Not that I’m afraid ofyou. Your wife, on the otherhand…”
Noah grinned. “I tell her all the time that she’s terrifyinglygorgeous.”
Cedar shook her head as she crossed the short distance to her newest customers. Noah and his siblings were the closest thing she had to cousins. Working for the Baker family at camp Buckeye was like being adopted. She hadn’t realized how much the camp had influenced her for the good in her formative teenage years. She glanced over her shoulder to see Harley and Noah discussing the display of organic dog-food samples. From where Cedar stood, Harley had it all. She had the money. She had the business. She had the man of her dreams. And she looked happy. Not fake-happy, but the real kind of happy that was in her eyes and hersoul.
Noah was right: she needed to make things better between her and Teo. The opening of the Doggie Café should have been a triumph; instead, it was a revelation. There were times when she was dating Teo that she’d been alone, but she never felt lonely. Every day without him was empty and echoed with what could havebeen.
