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I grabbed a glass and filled it with tap water, before sitting at the counter.
“I thought tomorrow was your day off?” My mom leaned on the other side of the counter, looking at me seriously.
“It is, but I was planning to go to the bakery. I wanted to get some photos for social media and work on some content and force whoever was working there tomorrow to star in a video,” I said, trying to smile.
My mom’s face stayed completely straight.
“And…I was actually thinking about quitting my job with the Adlers,” I said, a little more quietly than I intended.
“Okay,” my mom responded slowly. The neutral line of her mouth was replaced by concern. “Why the sudden decision?”
“I’ve been working there for so long–much longer than I had ever intended,” I said, realizing I was telling the truth. Maybe just not the whole truth. “Working at the bakery has made me feel…I feel like it’s time for me to pursue something else. Something more. I could bring so much more to the bakery if I jumped in full time.”
I left out everything about Tristan, but really, it was time for me to leave my job with William and Grace. It had been time for me to leave a long time ago, but I stayed because of...because of so many things. It was comfortable. It was easy. It was next-door. But I've realized, that's not what life is about. It's not supposed to be comfortable and easy because that's just boring. I needed to push myself and it was hard to admit to myself that it had taken me this long to realize that.
“I know I won’t earn much at the bakery,” I continued. “But that’s okay. It’ll be enough to cover my bills. As long as I can keep living here?”
“Of course you can still live here. You’ve always been smart, so I know you’ll make the decisions that are right for you. I’d be happy to have you at the bakery. Honestly, I’m excited that you’re interested and will keep taking it further. You have such good ideas and I know you’ll be successful. Just make sure you're not going to regret leaving nursing.”
"I think I just need a change. I've gotten too comfortable and I'm not pushing myself."
She gave me a big hug and held me close. It seemed like she knew what I had left unspoken.
"You’re going to be fine,” she said, kissing the top of my head. “You’ll figure everything out. Trust me. You're a star, Arya. Sometimes uncertainty can be exciting, as long as you go forward, trusting the best will come.”
After another hug, my mom stepped away and started pulling out vegetables to make a salad for dinner.
“Regina is coming the day after tomorrow, and Rebecca invited us to their house for dinner to welcome her. She said it was a family dinner.” My mom paused from ripping lettuce to roll her eyes toward me. I laughed in response.
“Sounds like fun.” We both giggled.
“At least Shiloh will be over the moon to see her,” Mom said. “It’s unfortunate that Rebecca won’t get what she wants, but oh well.”
“Who knows?” I said as I grabbed the cucumber to start chopping. “Maybe they'll get back together.”
“Arya, you know that Tristan clearly doesn’t love Regina anymore, no matter what Rebecca says. Please, stop with this nonsense. I hope he figures it out because everyone deserves to be with the person they love.”
My mom shot me a pointed look, and my heart lifted just a bit.
Tristan
Arya looked stunning in a simple black dress. The scoop neck showed off her cleavage as it tucked in at her small waist and slightly flared at her knee. The way it swirled around her legs when she walked showed off tiny flashes of her thigh–which made it feel like small fireworks were going off in my body.
She wore black heels–I had never seen her in heels before–that showed off her toned, tanned calves. Her hair lay in soft waves down her back and her eyes sparkled with just a hint of makeup. Arya was hands down, the most gorgeous woman in the room.
My mom had decided to host her family dinner–which seemed to include many more people than were actually in our family–at the distillery. She kept pushing me toward Regina, who also seemed to be getting irritated by the attention.
Shiloh was delirious with joy and kept running around the room, excited to see Regina and telling her stories at a mile a minute. It helped pull Regina away, so we could both have a break from my mom’s meddling.
I saw Mason across the room, and started walking toward him. He knew about Arya, that I was sure about. He’d let me know in subtly dropped hints a few weeks ago after our date.
“Hey, man,” I said. He nodded, and we both headed toward the bar.
“I'm dying for a drink. It’s been a long day,” I said as soon as I had my whiskey neat. He nodded again and lifted his glass in my direction as if toasting the day.
Mason was definitely acting weird.
“Are you okay?” I asked him. He looked at me, hesitantly, like he was unsure what he wanted to say.
