Page 91 of Pick Me This Time

The man was dressed like one of those big-money city-dwellers who spent more time on their skincare routine than I did and wouldn’t be caught dead in any garment that didn’t come with a designer label. Actually, he kind of reminded me of Sterling when he’d first come back to town with that polished look that oozed sophistication, money, and refinement.

I sighed, my heart throbbing as soon as Sterling’s name popped up in my head. My eyes closed as pain seared through me and June finally had to step in, giving Henry his Americano and shooing him away like an errant child.

“There you go, young man,” she said sternly as she handed over the coffee. “The lady said no. That’s enough now. Thank you for choosing Northfield Farms and we hope you enjoy your order. Somewhere else.”

I opened my eyes to see him roll his own, but he backed away from the counter and left. A small dose of guilt shot through me. Glancing at June, I grimaced. “Thanks for that. I feel so bad, but I just really didn’t want to go out with him and he didn’t seem to be getting it.”

She smiled, reaching out to squeeze my shoulder. “You don’t need to thank me, honey. You also shouldn’t feel bad. A real man knows how to accept a refusal gracefully. Clearly, he needs to learn a thing or two.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said, my gaze darting to the door as it shut behind him. “How’re you doing back there?”

I jerked my head at the kitchen and June grinned. “We’re all out for the day. Once these pastries are gone, we’ll have sold out again. I saved a few for Rachel, though. I thought you might want to take her some again. How is she?”

More guilt shot through me. “She’s fine, but I haven’t spent much time with her since the baby was born. I’ve been trying to stay out of their way.”

June chuckled. “That’s very thoughtful of you, honey, but trust me. She doesn’t want you to stay out of her way at this point. She’ll be dying for some real conversation and a connection to the outside world.”

Is that true?She had asked me to stay the other night, but part of me had thought she’d only done it because she’d seen something was bothering me and she felt bad that I’d be going home alone.

On the other hand, June had four kids. I trusted her judgment on this way more than I did my own, so I nodded. “Then I suppose I should just say thank you for setting aside some pastries. I’ll take them over there later.”

She smiled. “Attagirl. Good luck for the last stretch.”

“Thanks,” I said. “You too.”

I turned my attention to another customer that had just come in and June went back to the kitchen for the last hour or so of our shift. Then we locked up together and I went over to Rachel and Jake’s, armed with pastries June had packed for them.

Since she was laid up with the baby, I knew she would be home, but I sent her a text anyway, letting her know I was on my way over. It was the polite thing to do. While I was trying to navigate these new waters of my best friend’s motherhood, I missed the heck out of her.

If June was right, she missed me too and maybe she and I could actually spend some time together today. I still didn’t want to overstay my welcome or burden her with what had been going on with me, but it was tough, not really knowing what to do or how much to say to the girl who had always been my confidante.

Jake let me in. As I walked into her bedroom, she was ready for me. Dressed and sitting in her bed with the baby sleeping soundly beside her, she cocked her head and gave me a raised eyebrow that I knew meant business. Jake went into another room to let us talk.

“Are you ready to tell me what’s wrong yet?” she asked without even a greeting. “You’ve been crying and you took off like a bat out of hell when you left here the other night. I’ve been trying to wait for you to come to me about it, but I’m not a patient woman.”

I bit my upper lip, so surprised that I’d stopped walking as soon as I’d crossed into their bedroom, but then I sighed. “How do you know I’ve been crying?”

“Please,” she said, a slight smile touching the corners of her lips as she patted their bed. “How long have I known you? I always know when you’ve been crying. Your eyelids kind of just look different. They’re more swollen and they stay that way for longer than you obviously realize. No amount of makeup could hide that from me.”

With another loud sigh, I finally remembered how my feet worked and strode over to the bed, sitting down on the edge of their mattress and shaking my head at her. “I’m fine, Rach. You just had a baby. You shouldn’t be worrying about me.”

She held my gaze steadily. “Exactly. I had a baby, but that’s all. I’m still me. I’m still here and it’s driving me crazy that everyone is suddenly treating me like I’m made out of glass.”

As I looked into those eyes that had always held only love, respect, and support for me and saw the frustration in them, I swallowed hard. “That sounds terrible. It must be really annoying. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she said firmly. “Just tell me what the hell has been going on with you.”

Exhaling through my nostrils, I remembered the promise I’d made about not getting between her and Jake, but at this point, he would probably find out sooner or later from one of his own friends. Either Sterling or Eric would tell him the truth and then Rachel would feel like I didn’t trust her anymore either.

God, when did my life become so complicated?

At least this, however, I could still control. I could still be honest with my best friend before she found out from somebody else, and besides, I’d been dying to tell her since the very beginning. Now that it wasn’t just Sterling and me who knew anymore, I also didn’t feel like telling her would put her in that same impossible position where she’d have to keep something from her husband.

“I might be in love with Sterling,” I said suddenly, just blurting it out before I lost my nerve. “We kissed the day of the fire, and things have kind of been progressing from there, but what’s the point? He’s going back to New York soon, and once he does, it will all be over.”

Her eyelids dropped on a slow blink. Then her lips parted and she stared at me blankly for a long moment. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” I said unhappily. “I think I might be in love with him and I even think he feels the same way, but Eric walked in on us yesterday and now he hates me. Sterling is leaving and you have a baby and⁠—”

“Whoa,” she said quickly, holding up her hands as an understanding, soft smile spread on her lips. “I need to process the first thing first before we go spiraling into everything else, okay? You’re in love? With Sterling?”

Footsteps sounded from the hall outside their bedroom, drawing closer until Jake appeared a few seconds later. My cheeks flooded with heat even if I didn’t know if he’d overheard us, but as he walked in and saw us talking, he smiled.

“I’m going to take Lizzy to walk around the festival for a while,” he said as he strode over to the bed and gently scooped her up into his arms. “You guys can catch up and have some alone time together. We’ll be back later.”

When he came around to her side of the bed, Rachel kissed him goodbye, murmuring a thank you against his lips before pressing a soft kiss to the top of Lizzy’s head as well. Jake left and she turned back to me, her eyes wide and her upper body suddenly angling forward.

“Okay,” she said decisively. “They’re gone. Speak. Start at the very beginning and don’t you dare hold back any details, Daph. I want to know everything and I’m not letting you leave here again until I do.”