Kennedy laughed and walked over to a counter, where she stood and leaned back against it.
“Thank God for that. And I’m sorry to just drop by like this, but– Well, Cam and I have texted a little before and after today, and she told me she was at Lacey’s. She wanted Lacey there with her when the news went out, and I felt so alone, sitting in this one-bedroom house I’d rented for the week in Anaheim when I have a giant house in LA that I know Cameron doesn’t want. It reminded me that while I came down here to get away, yes, I could’ve gone anywhere.”
“Like your place in New York?” River guessed.
“Or literally anywhere. I have the money. I’m not working. I could’ve hopped on a plane, sipped champagne in first class, and ended up on some island with no internet, blocked out from the world for months.”
“Why didn’t you?” River asked as she sat down in her desk chair and turned it to face Kennedy.
“Because I’m not the kind of person who runs from her problems. I suppose I’ve been doing that a little bit recently because dealing with this much change is a lot for me, but I don’t want to do that anymore. I also don’t want to run away from you.”
River swallowed and asked, “Does that mean I am a problem to you?”
“Yes and no. You’re a problem in a good way.”
Kennedy shrugged a shoulder and smiled at her.
“In agoodway?” River laughed.
“River, I have been struggling to figure out what to do because when you’re with someone, whom the whole world thinks is perfect for you up until very recently, when they were accusing us of throwing things at each other, it’s hard not to think of this ending as a failure. It’s hard to trust yourself to try again, and I never anticipated meeting someone I wanted to date so soon after Cam and I ended. I thought we’d just be miserable for a while, and if wediddecide to break up one day, that I’d probably find that island I just mentioned and not talk to anyone, let alone find someone I wanted to be in a relationship with. Then, we’re breaking up – at least in partbecauseof us both meeting people – and Cameron is already dating Lacey. I have no idea how far they’ve gotten, and they might be together already, but it honestly doesn’t matter. I want them both to be happy, like I’m sure you do, too. Cam told me she didn’t want to be alone when the announcement went out, though, and that she was with Lacey, and I realized that I didn’t want to be alone, either. I wished immediately that I’d come here to make candy with you and block the whole thing out, or that I had at least asked you to take the morning off and be with me.”
“I would have,” she said quickly. “We’ve been slammed ever since that picture of you in here, but I would have, Kennedy.”
Kennedy smiled at her and replied, “I know you would have. And I thought about coming in earlier today, but I’ve been following you online, and you’ve been posting pictures, River. This place has been very busy.” Kennedy smiled again. “So, I figured it would be best for me to wait until the end of the day, but it took everything in me not to show up and just hang out back here.”
“You could have. No customers come back here.”
“Yeah, but you would’ve been there.” Kennedy nodded to the front of the shop. “And the whole point was to be with you.”
River smiled at her and said, “Well, we’re closed now, and I need to prep for tomorrow. Want to help?”
“Can I? You trust me not to add too much sour stuff to the candy you sell to your customers?”
River laughed and stood up.
“How about we skip the sour stuff today? What do you want to make?”
“River, you don’t have to let me help you. I don’t want to get in your way.”
“You’re not in the way if you’re helping. I keep waiting for business to go back to the way it was before that picture, but it hasn’t yet.”
“It won’t now,” Kennedy said and took her hand.
River looked down and saw both of Kennedy’s hands on one of her own, pulling River a little toward her and playing with River’s fingers.
“That picture will now take on a different meaning to people,” Kennedy added. “It was of meandyou, and we were wearing matching shirts when I just met you on that double date thing. Plus, you had your hand on my arm, and whenever I look at you, even when I’m lost in a candy shop, trying to help you get the line down, I think it’s pretty obvious how I feel about you.”
“It’s obvious?” River asked. “Really? To whom, exactly?”
Kennedy looked down at their hands and then back up into River’s eyes.
“I think it’s obvious to you, too. I was just giving you the whole hot and cold thing, and I’m sorry for that. I was trying to do what I thought was right, but when push came to shove, I was sitting on a sofa this morning, looking at a social media post and getting a text from my ex telling me that she was with someone when the news hit, and the face that flashed in my mind was yours.” Kennedy moved one hand to cup River’s cheek. “I missed you, and that phone call the other night, where you were so tired,you were barely coherent, wasn’t enough. I wanted to be next to you in that bed. I wanted to be here, telling you to get more sleep or helping up front so that you could be back here, making more candy or taking a break. I didn’t want to be alone, yes, but it was much more than that, River. I wanted to be withyou.”
River swallowed again and said, “So, what do you want to do about that?”
“I want to kiss you,” Kennedy replied. “I feel like I’ve been waiting so long just to kiss you, River.”
River dropped Kennedy’s hand, Kennedy dropped her hand from her cheek, and Kennedy’s face told her that Kennedy was worried that River was about to pull back. But she wasn’t pulling back at all. She’d waited for this just as long. She moved into Kennedy, who spread her legs to allow her to press against her more fully, and she pushed Kennedy’s hair away from her neck and face. Then, River stared into her eyes and gave her a soft smile, trying to tell her silently that everything was going to be okay before she leaned in and captured Kennedy’s lips.
