“Because I love Lacey.”
“Apparently not, River.”
“No, that’s part of what I’ve figured out this weekend.” She stood up and ran a hand through her hair. “I do love her. I’m notinlove with her anymore, and that’s the difference. I’ve been putting this off, and I think she has, too, because I don’t want to lose her from my life.”
“You want to be friends?”
“I don’t know if she wants that, but I do. I feel like it’s there. We’ve basically not touched each other for a long time anyway, and it was weird this weekend at first, but once I figured out howI really felt and knew we’d be ending soon, I didn’t want her to see me naked anymore. I wrapped a towel around myself just to take a shower. We’d just been in that showertogether, but I felt like it would be wrong for her to see me naked now.”
“That’s a pretty fast transition there, River. Are you sure about this?”
“I’m sure I don’t want to go out on a date with her on Friday. I don’t want the pressure to kiss her at night when I don’t really want that. Lacey is gorgeous; it’s not her. I used to never want to stop kissing her. But now, I feel like I’d be kissing my best friend.”
“Hey, that’s me.”
“You’re basically my sister, and you know that. And no, I don’t want to kissyou, like, ever. Gross. No offense.”
“None taken. I only ever want to kiss my wife.”
“So, I was thinking this morning. If Lacey asked me to just hang out and do whatever, would I want to do that? The answer was yes, I’d do that. We watch a movie together, hang out, and I leave after? Hell, yeah. Sign me up.”
“Then, you need to tell her.”
“I’m going to. She has dinner with her parents tonight and a client tomorrow night, so I won’t see her until Friday. She’s actually doing a couple’s massage with Kennedy and Cameron that day before our date. She’s driving up to their place, I think, so I don’t even know if the date will happen. It’s going to be a hellish drive for her to get back. She might not want to go out after that.”
“River, you need to talk to her.”
“I know. But I’m not doing this over the phone, Cal. I need to do it in person. So, if we see each other Friday night, we’ll talk then. If not, I’ll talk to her on Saturday. I don’t want to lose her, but I can’t stay with her like this, either.”
“I get it. I wish this weren’t happening because I really liked the two of you together, but if you aren’t in love with her, telling her sooner rather than later is the right thing to do, even though you can’t have Kennedy Gannon, River.”
River wanted to tell Calista that Kennedy wasn’t in love with Cameron anymore, either, and that she could tell Kennedy was at least a little into her. Kennedy had been texting her this week, too, which had to mean something. Right? She wanted to tell her best friend that there had been something about Kennedy from the moment she had first seen her that had her not only attracted to her, because Kennedy Gannon was beautiful, but also totally drawn in and intrigued by her. Then, River had started to get to know her, and she’d really liked her. She wanted to tell Calista that she hadn’t wanted to sleep at all because she’d wanted to stay up and talk to Kennedy all night, and when they’d had to go to bed because neither of them could keep their eyes open after their long talk on the beach that night, that she’d wanted to go into the same room with Kennedy and that the thought of Kennedy sleeping next to someone else had made her heart ache because it had felt wrong.
“I’m well aware, thank you,” she said instead. “Now, let’s eat these horrible salads.”
“Yes. And don’t tell my wife, but I’m grabbing a piece of fudge before I go.”
River laughed, and they ate while they talked about the business until Michaela came into the back and told River that they had a line. She helped get the line down, restocked the front after Calista had left, and then returned to the back office to do some inventory and make sure she had enough of everything after completing that big order. It was only then that she noticed her phone light up with a notification. Expecting it to be Lacey, maybe canceling for Friday, she picked it up and noticed Kennedy’s nickname. She clicked into the message.
Ken: I like cherries.
River laughed. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it hadn’t been that.
River Ervin: Should I save you a piece?
She typed her reply and thought about it before sending it because it had a clear intention behind it. If she was saving something for Kennedy, that meant she would have to then give it to her, which would mean seeing each other again, and they hadn’t talked about that. River also wasn’t sure that she should proceed with that because, even if she broke up with Lacey today, Kennedy was still with Cameron, and River had already been so close to holding Kennedy’s hand and kissing her on that beach; she couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t justnotsend that message, though, so she did before she sat down in her chair and waited. Kennedy’s response came in only a moment later.
Ken: Maybe. How long does fudge last, exactly?
River Ervin: Are you still eating the one we made this weekend?
Ken: I finished it yesterday, but come on, River; make it sound like I took ten pounds of fudge home. I only had two pieces left. You ate some. Cam had a piece. Lacey did, too. Plus, Jessie and the camera crew.
River Ervin: Well, how did it taste when you had the last piece yesterday?
Ken: Fine. I had it all wrapped up, though.
River Ervin: So, if I save you a piece of the cherry chocolate, which has pieces of real cherries in it and is perfectly balanced, if I do say so myself, you could come by pretty much whenever and pick it up. It would still taste good. I can also freeze it if you can’t get by soon enough.
