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I look directly at her.

“I love you baby,” I sing, pointing at her, walking toward the counter. “And if it’s quite alright, I need you baby.”

Iris lowers a cinnabun into a pink box, her fingers moving on muscle memory.

“To warm the lonely nights,” I sing, both hands over my heart now, walking the line between the counter and the first row of tables, my eyes locked on hers. “I love you baby. Trust in me when I say.”

“Sienna,” she says.

“Oh, pretty baby,” I sing, louder, determined not to stop until she caves.

“Sienna,” she repeats a little louder.

“Don’t bring me down I pray,” I belt, hitting the notes full. The elderly woman in the corner matches me, and it is genuinely beautiful.

I walk around the counter and drop down to my knees on the bakery floor, looking up at Iris from the tile, the chorus still going, my voice bouncing off every surface in the room. I watch her close her eyes and open them again. She looks at the ceiling and at her two staff members who both have their phones out and then looks back down at me.

“Oh, pretty baby,” I finish, softer now, just for her, the brass in my pocket phone winding down. “Now that I found you, stay.”

I let the last note go.

The bakery erupts. Everyone is on their feet. The toddler is grinning. The barista I spun is clapping above his head. Someone whistles so loudly it echoes.

I stay on my knees, looking up at Iris.

“I’m sorry,” I gasp, breathing hard. “Please forgive me. I love you so much, Iris.”

Iris looks at me for a long moment, her expression cycling through a mixture of emotions, taking my heart along with it for the ride.

Then she breathes, “You’re lucky I love that song.”

“I was betting on it.” I smile.

She reaches down, takes my hands in hers, and pulls me to my feet. She turns toward the back of the bakery, and I follow her to the chorus of bakery patrons cheering us on. She pushes through the swinging door behind the counter, pauses long enough to tap the shoulder of a blonde girl with ruby-red glasses who is clearly on her break, and says, “Please give us a moment.” The girl glances at me, grabs her coffee, and leaves without argument.

Iris pulls the door shut behind her.

The back kitchen is narrow and warm, every surface accounted for. Stainless steel prep counters run the length of the left wall, dusted white with flour and stacked with proofing trays. The right wall has three massive built-in ovens and cooling racks lined with the afternoon batch, the smell of cardamom and browned butter sitting so thick in the air that my stomach growls.

I open my mouth. “Iris, I am so⁠—”

“Don’t,” she cuts in, raising a hand.

She sniffs, her eyes gloss over, and she digs her front two teeth into her bottom lip. She is trying very hard to keep herself together and losing ground on it fast.

“Iris,” I venture again, taking a step closer.

“It’s fucked up, Sienna,” she chokes out, running the back of her hand under her nose. “It’s really fucked up.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You swore to me.” Her voice catches in her throat and she wraps both arms around her waist, folding in on herself. “You swore you would never. He’s my brother, Sienna. You guys can’t just fall into each other and then blow up and be messy about it. What happens when it doesn’t work out? We won’t have this anymore. Or I won’t have a brother anymore.” Her chin wobbles once, hard, before she locks it down. “I’m already losing my dad. I can’t. I won’t.”

“You won’t,” I rush out. “Iris, I know all this and I am so sorry, but nothing will ever keep me away from you. Nothing will keep Gray away from you either. I swear it.”

The oven fan hums steadily. She won’t look at me. Her eyes move around the kitchen, landing on the cooling rack, the flour dusting on the counter, the proofing trays, anywhere that isn’t my face, like looking at me directly is the thing she cannot afford to do yet.

“We can’t change it,” I murmur. “I know that doesn’t fix anything. But we can’t change it, and I don’t want to because, Iris…” I pause. She shakes her head once, still not looking at me, her jaw tight, her arms still wrapped around herself. “…I love him.”