Page 78 of When We Were Young

I just want to get this over with and get home. The sooner, the better, as I’m exhausted, and Georgie took Simon home from the pizza place to get him settled in for the night.

Jace comes around to the side opposite Holden, lowers the bed rail, then pulls a stool over from under a shelf behind the bed and sits on it.

“All right, I’m gonna be really gentle here, but if I hurt you, I want you to tell me so I can adjust. Does that sound all right, Lizette?”

“Okay,” I answer softly. I glance in Holden’s direction, and he scowls.

“She likes to be called Lizzie,” he corrects the guy. It comes out of the blue and surprises me.

“It’s okay. You can call me Lizette or Lizzie,” I rush to add.

Holden huffs next to me, and I’m not sure why he’s being so challenging.

Over the next fifteen minutes, Jace works on my splint, effectively distracting me with conversation. I learned he is a firefighter-paramedic and works here in the emergency room part-time. When he hears that we live in Aron Falls, he asks me about it.

“Have you seen the national park yet? It’s something you most definitely need to experience.”

“No, not yet. I’ve been super busy, but I’ll try to make time soon. I could use a break, and I love to hike.” I yawn, feeling drowsiness set in. I’m not sure if it’s from the medications or plain old fatigue.

“You definitely should soon. Or at least in the fall when the leaves change. It’s gorgeous then.”

When I tell him that I’m about to open my bakery, he makes a big deal of it and says he’d love to come check it out.

“It’s a bit far for you to come for a cup of coffee and a pastry, isn’t it?” Holden’s tone has a bite to it. Since I’ve been back, this is the first time I’ve heard this much edginess in Holden’s voice.

“Holden,” I scold.

The man glances up at him and grins, then looks down at me, and his smile widens again.

“Don’t worry,” he winks at me. “I’d be on guard, too, if I were with a woman as beautiful as you.” He glances over at Holden. “No worries, man. I get that she’s off the market.”

My cheeks heat, and Holden goes completely still.

“Oh, we’re not together,” I explain.

The man’s eyes dart over to Holden, then back to me. “Huh. Does he know that?” It’s clearly a joke—I think—but the tension in the room just increased tenfold.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Holden

I’m still a good four feet from the door when I hear the rhythmic pounding coming from inside Lizette’s shop.

What the hell is that?

I use the key she gave me to the other side and unlock the door. I set down a box of cinnamon rolls from my mom, a bottle of orange juice, as well as bottles of chocolate and strawberry milk.

The noise is coming from the other side. I walk to the opening between the rooms and am stunned by what I see. I probably shouldn’t be, though, knowing Lizette.

“What are you doing?” The exasperation I’m feeling is obvious in my voice.

I don’t mean to scare her, but Lizette screams and falls backward onto her butt. She’s holding a hand over her chest when she glances over and scowls at me.

“What is wrong with you? You don’t sneak up on a woman like that!”

A childish giggle comes from my left, and I glance over to see Simon with a book in his hand and a tablet on the table next to him. The interaction between his mother and me clearly amuses him.

“I’m coming to check the beam work again, but you didn’t answer my question. What are you doing? You have a broken wrist.”