Page 33 of Temporarily in Love

I turned back to Lila and gave her a questioning look, and she nodded at my silent question.

“Baby,” Callie muttered to Lila.

Lila’s eyes widened, but she deflected. “You the baby.”

“I’m baby,” Callie repeated.

Lila looked at Cora. “Cora, say hello to Declan.”

Cora waved at me, but she seemed more fascinated by her pumpkin. It looked pretty big for her. I bent down in front of her. “You want me to carry that for you?”

She hugged her pumpkin tighter and shook her head fiercely. “I’m a big girl.”

“Okay, kiddo.”

I stood up to my full height, and then Kelsey came back over to us. She took Callie out of Lila’s arms and handed the kids apple cider donuts. She looked at me. “Fancy seeing you here.” She gave her sister a look.

Lila nodded. “Gimme a minute.”

Kelsey nodded, and Lila led me away from her family. We walked along the path of the pumpkin patch in silence for a couple of moments. All the while, I was itching to hold her hand. Like I was a freaking teenager again.

She stopped and turned to me with a confused look on her face. “What are you doing here?”

“You left.”

She nodded. “I…I’m sorry.”

I took my glasses off and wiped them clean with my t-shirt. I put them back on my face, and she smiled at me. I wasn’t sure why, because she looked pissed off at me a second ago. “I don’t know why I came here.”

“Okay…”

“Last night was amazing.”

A blush crept up her face. “I had a good time.”

“I wanted you to be there this morning, and it pissed me off that you snuck out when I was asleep.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry, that was shitty of me. Declan, I’m not here to stay. It would be unfair of me if we—”

“How long are you in town for?”

She shrugged.

I gave her a suspicious look. “You have to go back to work, right?”

She looked down at her feet and twirled a strand of hair between her fingers. That was a sign she was nervous. It was so funny to me that, despite all the years that had passed between us, some things never changed.

“You look good in those glasses,” she said instead.

She was deflecting.

“Love? What’s going on?”

She sighed. “My dad wants to sell the bar, and I want to save it.”

I waved a hand away. “No, I know that. I understand why you want to do that. But when do you think you’ll go home? I assume you’re only here for a while.”

She sighed. “I quit my job.”