AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes! The ones that I ordered for the trifles I was telling you about.”
The sound of yelling in the background amped up, and she could hear him cover up the phone and say something to whoever he was with. He returned a moment later, and she could hear that he was laughing.
“Listen, babe, can’t you just buy new glasses? It’s not a big deal, it’ll all be fine, and your truffles will be perfect.”
“Trifles,” she corrected. “And I know…”
“I’m so sorry,” he said as another round of yelling filled her ears. “I know you’re upset. But I’m kind of in the middle of something. I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you later. And I promise, Min, it’ll all be fine.”
He didn’t even wait for her to say goodbye before he disconnected the call, and Mindy was left standing in the middle of her empty bakery staring down at the phone in her hands. Embarrassment unfurled within her, and the tears that she had felt earlier began to fall. Her phone began ringing, and for a moment she thought it would be Landon, calling to apologize. But when she looked back at the screen, she saw it was Sarah that was calling.
“Hello,” Mindy sniffed, trying her best to hide the fact that she was crying, but clearly failing at it because the moment the word left her lips Sarah began speaking in a rush.
“Oh my gosh, Mindy, are you okay? Are you crying? What happened?”
Relieved to at least have someone to vent to, Mindy began telling her everything. The champagne flutes, Landon’s dismissal, and how what originally had just been a minor, frustrating inconvenience now felt insurmountable.
“I’m so sorry,” Sarah said in a soothing voice. “I can’t believe Landon didn’t at least hear you out. But I do have good news, at least. I made individual strawberry shortcakes in champagne flutes a couple years ago. And I saved all of them. I have them in storage here at Sweet Thing. I can bring them to you if you want.”
Mindy’s spirit lifted at that, smiling despite the tears still glistening in her lashes. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. I’m almost done at the bakery for the evening, and I can bring them over in probably fifteen minutes?”
“I’ll be here! Sarah, you’re a lifesaver,” Mindy breathed gratefully.
They said their goodbyes and then Mindy hung up the phone. Thinking about how glad she was that her friend had been able to come through for her. Sarah’s willingness to hear her out and to jump in and help threw a stark and unflattering light over her conversation with Landon.
Mindy was still finding it hard to believe that he hadn’t listened to her, that he hadn’t been able to walk outside or to somewhere he could hear her for only a few minutes, just to let her vent about her frustrations over what had happened.
She had to admit that he’d been absent for a while now. And while things had been great when they had first gotten together, they had become complacent rather quickly. And she wasn’t entirely sure she liked the way things were anymore.
Before she could overthink it, Mindy pressed a few buttons on her phone and brought it to her ear. When Landon answered again, the background noise was a little bit quieter, letting her know there had been a less noisy place when she’d called earlier, he just hadn’t been willing to go to it.
“Hey, Min,” he said. “I know you’re upset. But can I call you back later, I…”
“I’m sorry, but I need to talk now,” she said in a rush. Her tone was high pitched with her nerves, and she tried as hard as she could to get it under control.
She and Landon may have their problems, but he wasn’t a bad man. He just wasn’t the right one for her, and she didn’t want to leave him feeling hurt.
“I don’t think this is working out between us,” Mindy said, much calmer this time, her voice soft as she continued. “We’re both so busy, and we haven’t been able to make time for each other. And I think you know as well as I do that neither of our hearts are in this.”
There was a pause where the only thing that filled her speaker was the sound of whatever restaurant or bar Landon was in.
“You’re breaking up with me?” he asked, and Mindy was happy to hear there was no malice or hurt in his voice, just a bit of confusion and what she could have sworn was relief.
“I am,” she said as kindly as she could. “And I think we both know it’s for the best.”
Landon blew out a breath, and she could almost see him beginning to pace back and forth and running his fingers through his hair.
“All right, then, yeah,” he finally replied. “I guess this is goodbye then. Take care of yourself, Min.”
“You too.”
She hung up the phone and set it on the counter. Standing in the middle of her empty bakery, she expected to feel sad. And she was. But not in the sense that she had expected.
She wasn’t sad that she was no longer with Landon. She had meant what she said to him and could admit now that they’d both just been going through the motions. But she was sad that it meant she was going to have to start from scratch again.
Thankfully, there was a knock at the bakery door just then, distracting her before she could start worrying about having to date again. She glanced at the door, seeing Sarah and Will on the other side of it.
