Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I press my hands to my lower belly, unsure if a positive pregnancy test would be a blessing or a curse at this point.
I should’ve been appreciative of what I had rather than being so needy for more.
With a deep breath, I close the lid on the dozen cupcakes before making sure all ovens are off.
The bakery closed half an hour ago. With the slow day I had, all of my tasks were completed before I turned the open sign around and locked the front door.
I’m considering the sweet treats as an olive branch, an apology of sorts because I took things too far with him. I used him in a way that devalued what we previously had, and he made it more than clear last night that he was no longer interested. He didn’t wrap his hand around my throat. He didn’t demand I pull his boxers off after I convinced him to take his shoes and pants off.
I feel like I violated him in some way.
We’re supposed to be friends, yet we’re no longer friends at all.
We don’t do the friend thing any longer.
I don’t wait at the bar for him. He didn’t join me last night for dinner with my parents. He has made up more excuses in the last two weeks about having to work that it’s been a little obvious that he doesn’t want to spend time with me. I have no clue why he showed up last night. Maybe he wanted something from me and then changed his mind, but that’s not something we do. He’s normally very considerate of the fact that I have to get up so early in the morning to prep the bakery for opening.
Despite knowing that we’ll never be able to get back what we once had, I also know I can’t just leave things as they are. After waking up to awkwardness this morning, that included Cash not being able to look me in the eye, I decided that I still have to fight for whatever dregs of our friendship we might be able to salvage.
I nearly drop the cupcakes while trying to wrangle the lock on the front door of the bakery. Wouldn’t that be a sign of how things are going?
My car is asphalt hot when I drop down inside, forcing me to roll down my windows and turn up the air conditioner. Only during the summers here in Texas do I wish I lived anywhere else but here. I don’t want to get away from the town so much as I just want to pick the whole thing up and move it a thousand miles north where it stays a little cooler.
With the awkwardness that I know is coming, I let the fantasy of living in a place where no one knows me settle inside a little too easily.
The police station is only a couple blocks down the road, but my own need for safety has me backing out into the right lane rather than whipping my car around to face the other direction. This has me going three full blocks before turning back onto Main Street to pull in front of the police station.
There’s no point in sitting in the car because the massive paned glass window provides those inside the front office with a complete view of the street.
I wave to Chandler from my car as he stands up from behind the desk he was sitting at when I pull up.
My frown is unmistakable when I climb out and grab the cupcakes.
“I was hoping you were bringing us something,” he says, opening the front door to the department for me, as I stand to my full height and nudge the door shut with my hip.
“Just don’t judge me based on the way this heat is making the icing droop.”
“I’ll still eat them,” he says, licking his lips as he looks at the cupcakes through the cellophane window of the box. “I’ll let Cash know that you’re here. I’m sure he and Eastyn would love one of these.”
In my head I tell myself that I don’t have time to stop him before he knocks on Cash’s office door, but the mention of someone else makes me too curious. I peer around Chandler’s body when he pushes the office door open.
The dark set of wavy, brown hair tells me I was wrong in my hopes that Eastyn was a guy’s name.
The woman turns in her chair, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Chandler, before swinging past him to meet mine. Her expression doesn’t change, but for some reason, I hate her immediately.
First off, I don’t recognize her, and being an outsider already has the power to get my hackles up. This town has already lost too much to people who think they can come here unchecked.