Page 1 of Temporarily in Love

Chapter One

LILA

END OF SEPTEMBER

I always forgot what fall in Pennsylvania was like. The leaves turned color almost overnight, and the air got chilly enough that all you needed was a light jacket and a cup of hot cider. Maybe it was my imagination, but the town almost smelled of cinnamon and pumpkin, like it was teasing me for being gone for so long.

In California, you could find hipsters with big bushy beards wearing flannel and girls sipping on pumpkin spice lattes, but it wasn’t the same as fall in Drakesville, Pennsylvania. Having lived on the other side of the country since college, my memory of what an East Coast fall looked like had slipped away.

When I walked up into the town square for the annual Arts Fest with my sister and her kids, fallen leaves crunched beneath my boots, reminding me of how much I loved this season. I marveled at how pretty the trees looked, painted in shades of red, yellow, and orange. If you’ve ever wanted to see how gorgeous autumn could be in my home state, come to Drakesville and see for yourself.

I pulled my plaid jacket around myself and shivered at the autumn air hitting me in the face. That prompted a laugh from my sister, Kelsey. “It’s like sixty degrees. How are you cold?”

“This is cold for me!” I argued.

She laughed and shook her head as she held her toddler on her hip. “You’ve been in California too long. It’s perfect weather for the Arts Fest.”

My niece Callie babbled on my sister’s hip as my other niece Cora clasped my hand and stomped on the leaves with me. My sister hadn’t been happy about me encouraging that behavior. But how could you enjoy fall if you couldn’t jump into the leaves?

I hadn’t been back to town for my favorite season in years. I barely made it back for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Part of that was because I worked a demanding job as an intellectual property lawyer for a big tech company. The other part was that I actively avoided coming home at all costs. I’d do anything to avoid running into Declan MacGregor.

But when you caught your fiancé sleeping with his secretary and your mom called, saying your dad wanted to sell the family bar, you got your ass on a plane home to sort it all out.

Sullivan’s Bar was a staple in our town, and I couldn’t bear the thought of my dad selling it. So many things in town had changed since I left for Stanford. I didn’t want the bar to be yet another one of those things.

Dad didn’t want to talk about it when he picked me up from the airport last night. Instead, he kept asking me if I had set a date for my wedding. I hadn’t told my family Chad and I had broken up yet. Or that I had quit my job because of it.

“Auntie Lila, can we get cookies from the bakery?” my niece asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Ask your mommy,” I said.

My sister frowned.

Cora was already hopped up on sugar because I was the fun aunt. That’s what Kels got for berating me about being thirty-four with no babies of my own. I thought I’d have that soon, but a part of me was glad I never settled on a wedding date. Maybe deep down, I always knew it wasn’t going to work out with Chad.

We hadn’t been in a good place in a long time. When he proposed, I only said yes because I thought I was running out of time and options. I wanted a family, but my techie fiancé never made time for me, and we worked in the same damn building. Sure, he had more pressure on him as the CEO, but I worked the same soul-sucking hours. His cheating on me was only half the reason I sent in my resignation and headed home to Pennsylvania.

“Cora, no. You’ll spoil your dinner,” my sister warned and shot me a glare.

I ruffled Cora’s red hair. “Sorry, kiddo. Hey, let’s go over to the tattoo booth and get you a temporary tattoo.”

Cora practically dragged me over to the booth. The tattoo shop, Tattooed Mamas, was female-owned, which I loved, and earlier, they were giving out temporary tattoos for the kids. It would distract Cora for a while.

“Hey, you!” Lizzie called out to me as we approached. We had been friends since high school, and while she still had the colorful lavender hair, now her body was painted with the ink of her profession. “Lila Sullivan, as I live and breathe.”

I frowned. “As you live and breathe, really Liz?”

She shrugged. “I could have said, ‘hey youse guys’ instead, but I don’t think you remember what it’s like living in the Philly area anymore.”

“Har har har. I still pronounce water ‘wooder.’ I didn’t forget my roots,” I said.

She laughed. “What was the first thing you did when you got to town?”

“Ate one of my dad’s cheesesteaks!”

“What? You didn’t stop at Pat’s or Geno’s on your way back from the airport?”

I scoffed. “What am I? A tourist?”