Page 68 of A Fall to Remember

Was she making a mistake?

Was she being too hard on Jim?

She plucked a dead flower from one of the bouquets.

No. It was all too fast.

She’d been acting like a lovesick teenager, not a full-grown adult.

She sighed and tossed the flower in the garbage before tying on an apron and turning on the kettle for tea. It was time to put Jim out of her mind. It had been a fun few days, but it was over. Time to return to her regular life.

Maybe the gnawing in her stomach would be tamed with breakfast. She toasted a cinnamon bagel, slathered it with pumpkin cream cheese, and sprinkled it with cinnamon. She took a minute to enjoy the bagel and sip an apple spice tea.

What next?

What is it you want?

The first thing that came to her mind was Jim.

Miranda laughed it off, licking cream cheese from her pinkie.

You have it bad.

She sighed, finished the bagel, and shifted her attention to prepping sandwiches.

You really need a distraction.

Miranda sliced newly delivered loaves of sourdough and spread them with herb butter, lemon, and dill aioli. She layered thin slices of prosciutto and Havarti. And then stacked the sandwiches with green leaf lettuce, red onion, and heirloom tomatoes. She placed them on a tray and turned her attention to the soup of the day.

She was in the mood for something warm and comforting, so she decided to make a pot of creamy chicken and stars with locally grown veggies. Whenever Pete was sick or feeling down as a kid, she would whip up a batch of the cozy soup and pair it with a grilled cheese. It sounded exactly like what she needed today.

She popped her headphones in and cranked up her Harry Connick Jr. playlist while she diced onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in the kitchen.

She must not have heard the bell.

But she distinctly heard voices in the shop.

Were Pete and Elise here already? That would be just like them to try to cheer her up. She removed her AirPods and went to say hello.

But she was greeted instead by a small crowd in the dining area. The group had come in chatting brightly and bringing the breezy, salty air in with them.

Miranda screwed up her eyes. Was that the young couple from the engagement video?

She dropped her jaw and threw both hands over her heart. “It’s you. Oh, my goodness. Come in. Come in.”

The young woman she recognized right away from her gaffe rushed forward to scoop her in a hug. She was tall and lanky, with porcelain skin and shiny, long hair as black as basalt. “Oh, my goodness, we’re so thrilled to meet you. I’m Addie, the bride-to-be, by the way. We have watched the video about a million times, haven’t we, Mark?” The young man behind her nodded with a grin. He was stockier with thick-rimmed glasses and windblown hair the color of toffee. “It’s the cutest thing we’ve ever seen.”

More heat spread to Miranda’s cheeks. “It was completely unintentional. I’m so sorry I ruined your special day.”

“Ruined it?” Addie shook her head vehemently, reaching for Mark’s hand. “You’re kidding? It’s the sweetest thing we’ve ever seen, and we’ve had offers to go on the Today Show and national news. Everyone loves it. Everyone loves you, especially us.”

National news? The Today Show?

Miranda was confused. She brushed her hands on her apron and looked toward the front of the store as more people crowded in. Elise and Pete were first through the door, both wearing the same impish grins as they had when they first told her about Voyager and her Catalina Island video going viral.

But is that…?

She squinted as hope swelled up inside her.