Page 43 of Pick Me This Time

20

DAPHNE

For the rest of the day, I was a little out of sorts for several reasons. The fire, obviously. The kiss, definitely. Not knowing what it meant, sure. The list kept going on and on, so when Rachel finally called, I grabbed my phone, grateful for the distraction.

“Hey, you?” I said. “What’s up? How’s our baby doing?”

“She’s craving a Maverick’s root beer,” she replied, but I heard the worry in her voice. “We heard about the fire at the bakery. Want to meet me at Maverick’s so I can see that you’re okay with my own two eyes?”

I nodded, then cleared my throat when I realized she couldn’t see me. “Sure. Now?”

“Yep. I’m climbing into my car as we speak,” she said.

“I’ll be there,” I promised, getting up immediately.

Eric still hadn’t returned my truck, but I didn’t blame him. I had a feeling Sterling needed him today, so I’d dropped his off at his place and walked home. I’d been glad for it, too, thankful for the opportunity to clear my mind.

It hadn’t worked, but it’d been a nice walk. As was the one I was taking now. It’d been raining on and off all day, but it wasn’t freezing cold. A breeze had started up and it sliced through my jacket, but it wasn’t too bad.

Since I lived in a guesthouse at the back of my parents’ property, I could’ve asked to borrow one of their cars, but I didn’t. If I had any shot at making sense of that kiss, it would be by walking. Besides, my parents’ place wasn’t far away from the local watering hole.

As I turned the final corner to Maverick’s, I saw that the parking lot was packed. It was clearly a busy night, and even though I wasn’t much of a drinker, I was happy to be joining the crowd this evening.

The vibe would be great thanks to the homecoming football parade and game being tomorrow, and if nothing else, at least being part of it would distract me a little bit. Rachel and I met outside and I smiled at her as soon as she saw me, trying to reassure her that I was fine.

As I walked up to her, she looked me up and down, searching for any visible signs of injury. I stopped walking and put my arms up at my sides, turning in a slow circle so she could see for herself that there had been no harm done.

“I nearly went into labor when I heard about the fire,” she murmured when I finally reached her. Pulling me in for a tight hug, I felt the shiver passing through her as she held me. When I released her, I saw the tears shimmering in her eyes. “Try not to do that to me again, okay?”

I smiled, taking her hands and squeezing them tightly. “I’ll do my best, and I’m sorry for giving you a fright, but I’m fine.”

“Northfield Farms has become a death trap,” she said, holding on to one of my hands but letting go of the other so we could head inside. “John seriously needs to fix that place up. How did the fire even happen?”

“They’re not sure yet. It had something to do with the oven and the electrical outlets, but the fire department said they’d have to take a closer look to determine the exact cause.”

She exhaled a long breath. “Damn.”

I pushed open the door to the bar and gave her a bright smile. “We’re here now, though. Let’s just forget about it and get our baby that root beer.”

She nodded, but her chest rose on a deep breath as she followed me inside. We approached the bar together and Jackie, the bartender, immediately hurried over to help us. She passed us our root beers a couple minutes later, and together, we made our way through the throngs of people, eventually finding a small table in the back.

Once we were settled in, she took a long sip of her drink before looking at me from across the table. “You’re really okay? Do you promise?”

“I promise,” I said. “My eyes burned a little bit when I got out and I couldn’t smell anything but smoke for a couple hours, but I’m okay now. Sterling got me out of there pretty fast.”

“Sterling?” Her eyebrows shot up. “I thought he didn’t go to the bakery?”

I shrugged. “I think he heard the fire alarm. He also said something about seeing smoke.”

I debated telling her that these revelations had been followed by him kissing me, but since I didn’t have any answers to the questions she was going to ask, I decided against it for now. Besides, it felt like something that belonged only to us.

For the time being anyway.

The other thing holding me back was the fact that Jake was her husband. If I told her, she might feel obliged to tell him and he, in turn, would feel he owed it to my brother to tell him. So no. For now, it would remain my little secret.

Until I figured things out at least a little bit.

Rachel asked a few more questions about the fire until finally she managed to muster a smile. “Are you excited for the dance tomorrow night?”