AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I give her a wide grin, and she lifts a finger. “Give me a minute.”
She comes back a few seconds later, bringing a pie with a lattice crust and burnt sugar on top. She slides it in a box and adds it to my bag. “Before you say anything, we’re giving this away to our first ten customers under one condition. You come back if you like it.”
God, I love this woman. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”
I’m carefully setting the bag on the passenger seat when I feel someone behind me. I pivot to find a beautiful woman wearing a dress over black tights and leather boots. Her brows are pulled together, and she’s pinching her lips in a tight, flat line. But her attention isn't on me but on the Bronco.
“Excuse me, do you need something?”
Her gaze swings to me, and I almost recoil at how cold her stare is. “Why are you driving this car?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why are you driving Noah’s car? This is his, right?”
“Yes. I borrowed it because he’s still fixing mine.”
“I thought he won’t accept customers until the second week of January?”
She crosses her arms and taps her foot.
“I don’t know anything about that.”
“Why’d he let you borrow his car?”
Wait a minute. What the hell is this? Some kind of interrogation?
“Who are you and why do you care?” I ask. So far, everyone here has been nice and pleasant. She’s the absolute exception.
“It’s Allison. God, I knew it.” She snickers, smiling without humor. “I knew he’d do this.”
“I don’t have time for this.”
I’m halfway to the driver’s side when she raises her voice. “Tell him it won’t work.”
My jaw is painful from how hard I’m clenching it. I don’t know what her deal is, but I’m just wasting my time entertaining her. If she has a problem with me driving Noah’s car, she should take it up with him.
I open the door, but she runs around and reaches out to push it close. “What the hell is your problem?”
“I know what he’s doing.” Her face is red, nostrils flaring. “I know he’s trying to make me jealous, and I don’t want to admit it but it works. Tell him it works. I’m jealous, so you can leave now.”
It feels like someone slapped me. “W-what?”
“Oh, you don’t know? You’re probably new here so let me tell you. Noah and I were engaged a few years ago, but I left town to follow my dreams. I regretted it, so I came back. I came back for him. I knew he wouldn’t make it easy, but using you to make me jealous is pathetic and desperate.”
Blood roars in my ears, and my mouth goes dry. It’s getting increasingly hard to swallow my own saliva, like someone rubbed sandpaper in my throat. Is this true? I haven’t been here long enough for Noah and me to talk about our lives, including our past.
Everything dulls into a muted roar. The only sound I can hear is my rapid heartbeat.
My hands shake as I buckle my seatbelt, and it takes me a couple of tries before it locks. Allison is still outside my window, yelling I don’t know what. But when I turn on the engine, she backs out, hands on her hips.
Thank God for small towns because I don’t see any other soul on the road. I’m going way below the speed limit, and the pounding on the base of my head tells me I’m about to have a massive headache. I can’t take it anymore so I pull over to the side and shift the gear into park, turning on my hazard lights.
The weight of Allison’s words settles heavily on me, crushing me, making my chest tighten with a throbbing ache. A whirlwind of emotions rage within me—anger, denial, betrayal, disbelief.
I try to make sense of the situation, but I can’t.
Truth is, Noah and I barely know each other. But something feels right between us. Like we belong together.
