I choke on a laugh, completely unexpected. “But theyarethe eighth wonder of the world.”
“You’re right,” Lily smiles widely. “So let’s not let anyone convince you otherwise.”
“It helps when your two worlds collide, too,” Blair cuts in. “When I first moved here, baking was my hobby. I loved it and lived in my kitchen back in the city. After I met Lily when I gotto town and she offered me a job at Batter Up, I nearly kissed her feet.”
“It’s true,” Lily agrees.
Blair exhales and leans back in her chair. “Look, all I’m saying is that everyone acts like the only real careers are the ones that look miserable from the outside. But most people who actually make it big? They start with the thing they’d do for free. They just refuse to stop when everyone else tells them it’s not practical or realistic.”
“That’s…” I start, but shake my head in disbelief. “That’s exactly what I’ve heard over and over again from my mom.”
Lily squeezes my hand. “A hobby doesn’t stay a hobby when you build a life around it. It becomes a craft. A career. A calling.” Her words get louder with every one she says.
“Are you going to keep going?” Blair asks.
“A gift. A message,” she continues with rapid and dramatic hand movements.
“We get it, Lil.” Blair says to her and then faces me. “What I think she’s trying to say is that a hobby is what you do when you’re bored. A career is what you build when you’re brave enough to bet on yourself.”
Brave enough to bet on yourself.
I’ve spent so long trying to prove this to my mom that I didn’t stop to consider whether I believed it, too. And for the first time since I got here, it doesn’t feel like I’m defending my dream, it feels like I’m standing in it.
“And about the house,” Lily says. “If you haven’t been able to find a single thing, you should talk to Nan. She knows every single thing about this town and the people in it or used to be in it.”
“Really?”
She nods. “I’m sure she can help you find what you’re looking for and probably has pictures around somewhere, knowing her.”
“Thank you. This means a lot to me. I will definitely have to talk to her as soon as I can.”
“Anytime,” Lily says, leaning back. I go to take a sip of my drink and the devilish grin is back on her face. “Sooo, circling back to our prior conversation. You like Tucker?”
I nearly choke on my drink and groan. “Lily, we were having such a nice moment.”
“And now we’re having this moment.”
“I don’t like him.”
“You liar.”
“I am…” I pause, thinking about it, not ready to tell them about the night he showed up to my place. “I’m professionally wary of him,” I settle on.
“And yet, you didn’t deny what everyone in town is seeing from you two.”
I sigh. “He makes me nervous,” I admit. “In a good way. Which is the problem.”
Lily kicks her feet up on the coffee table. “Oh, girl. That’s not a problem. That’s foreplay.”
I smack her leg. “Stop it.”
“You stop pretending you don’t think he’s hot,” Lily fires back.
“Lily.” Blair wrinkles her face in disgust. “That’s your cousin.”
“Blair. Do not make me throw up, please.” She waves her hands in disgust. “Those cinnamon twists tasted good going down, and Ido notwant to taste them coming back up. I’m just saying that Scottie thinks he’s hot.”
Blair laughs, and then directs her attention back to me. “Okay, but does your pulse do that thing when he looks at you? You know. Does it get all jumpy and do back flips?”
