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As they walked along the street, Kinsley kept up a steady chatter of conversation that jumped from one topic to another. Still rattled by how very much she wanted a life that wasn’t possible for her, Grace distracted herself by peering into windows of high-end boutiques filled with clothing, shoes, purses, and electronics. They passed fancy restaurants, a diner, and several bistros with outdoor seating.
“You’re awfully quiet.” Jaime reached for her hand. “What’re you thinking?”
That you may have taken big steps, but you can’t handle the future I’m imagining with you.
Oh, hold on now. If he couldn’t, that was on him. She wasn’t going to dim her light or pretend to be someone she wasn’t. If he got spooked, then she was wasting her time with him. “You know, even though I grew up making sand cakes, went to culinary school, and spend my free time imagining the kind of pastries I could make, I never gotinvestedin it.”
“In what? What do you mean?”
“I guess, since it was never a possibility, I didn’t waste my time dreaming about owning a bakery. It was drilled into me that no one wants ‘that fancy stuff.’ But out here, people love what I do. I have return customers who say, ‘I only came to the festival to get one of your tarts.’ I mean,Lorelei Callowaybuys one every single day.For herself. And she hasn’t eaten sweets in ten years.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty cool.”
“And look at this place. Wild Wolff Village—I mean, this is everything I ever imagined. I wanted all of this.” She gestured to the old-world elegance of the storefronts and cobblestone streets.
“On the website, you can apply to lease one of their buildings, but I know the Wolff family, so I could get you a meeting with them. Though I doubt you’d need an introduction. Everyone knows about the Singing Baker. You’d probably jump to the top of the waiting list.”
She stopped walking. Letting go of his hand, she stared at him, studied his expression. Did he know what he just said? The implication of it?
“What’re we doing?” Kinny asked. “There’s no dresses here.”
“Hang on, sweetie.” Jaime cupped Grace’s chin, his thumb brushing across her cheek. “Did I misunderstand?”
“That’s what I’m wondering. You just offered to help me start a bakery in your hometown.”
She saw it then. The frisson of tension that rippled across his features. He didn’t say a word, and she gave him the space to work it out. What they were contemplating was huge.
A trolley whirred past. The scent of grilled meat filled the air. Kinny dropped to a crouch to examine something on the sidewalk. And Grace teetered on the precipice.
If he could get me to the top of the list…would I actually want to stay?
Would I leave Renzo’s?
Excitement flowed through her with such force it threatened to lift her off her feet, but her mind raced with thoughts reminding her about family, history, loyalty. Renzo’s, Renzo’s, Renzo’s.
But I’m not abandoning my family.
I’m claiming me. My best self.
Why would I go back home and suppress all that makes me happy? Why would I do that? I’ll always be a Giordano.
“Are you serious about this?” he asked. “I don’t want to ask my friend if you’re not.”
A profound sense of rightness filled her being. “I’m sure.”
His fingers sifted through her hair until he cupped the back of her head. “You don’t sound sure.”
“I know. I know. But that’s because I’m so scared of stepping outside the lines my parents have drawn. I’m just not sure they can stuff me back in the bottle, you know?”
“I do know.”
There was a glint in his eyes, and she was too afraid to name it. She needed him to say it. “That would mean I move here.”
“It would be hard to commute from Rhode Island.”
“I need you to be serious right now. Do you get what we’re talking about?”
He let out a shaky breath that was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. “Gracie.” His gaze swung away as he bit his bottom lip, but when it came back to her, it was filled with a burning need. “I want you to be happy. I can’t think of anything worse than you going back to a life of making muffins. And if you tell me you want this”—he made a sweeping motion up and down the street—“then I’ll call my friend so fast your head will spin. Because the idea of you leaving me…it keeps me up at night. It’s like a clock inside me. I can hear every minute that ticks by. I don’t think you understand what you bring to my life. I just don’t think you get it.” He gripped both her arms. “Swear to God, I donotwant to go back to a life without Gracie Giordano.”
