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“Because when it gets too hard, you’d rather give up then put the work into it.”
“No, that’s not it,” she said.
“Yes, it is. You’re so afraid of failing at something that you’d rather just avoid it, but I’m standing here in front of you, telling you I’m not going to let you.”
“There you go again, making decisions for me.”
“That’s not—”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do this.” Tears built in her eyes, and she forced them back for as long as she could. As soon as she spun around, the first tear fell. She walked away as fast as she could. Enzo didn’t call after her. Just her luck, the first time he listened to her, she secretly wished he hadn’t.
Chapter 25
Enzo had no idea what happened. He thought he was doing Cami a favor, helping her out, but she saw it as him controlling her life. That was not what he wanted at all. He never realized offering help when someone needed it was offensive.
He knew what it was like to take too much on, to be burnt out, and he didn’t want that for her. It took Enzo a long time to loosen his control on the restaurant, to let other people take on responsibilities, but it had made such a massive difference for his sanity. Why couldn’t Cami see that? He didn’t want her making the same mistakes he had. He wanted her to enjoy her life and not spend it entirely wrapped up in work.
He shoved a hand through his hair and went through the motions at the restaurant. He could go home, but every surface of his house had a memory of Cami. They checked off so many boxes on his bucket list since Ella finished, that he knew going home would only hurt more. Her scent was on his pillows, her sweatshirt was draped over the arm of his couch, and the memories of them together would be all around him.
The door opened, and Enzo looked up, stupidly wishing it was Cami, but he should have known better. She was still fired up, and there was no way she would have calmed down by now. Instead Marco walked in the door with his fiancée on his arm.
“Hey,” Marco said as he and Aubrey came over to the bar. Enzo gave them a nod and stepped out from behind the bar to give Aubrey a proper kiss on the cheek. He wanted her to know that there was no bad blood between them despite her and Marco’s rocky past.
“What are you two doing here?” he asked.
“I had a craving for a lobster roll,” Aubrey said.
“Then you’ve come to the right place.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Marco asked.
“Nothing, I’m fine.”
“Want to keep feeding me bullshit, or you going to tell me what’s going on so I can go have a nice lunch with my fiancée without having to worry about your dumb ass?”
Enzo wasn’t one to speak about his feelings or his personal life, but maybe Marco and Aubrey would be able to help him figure out what the hell he’d done wrong.
“I got in a fight with Cami.”
“Already?” Marco whistled.
“Oh shut up. You two fight like it’s a hobby.”
Aubrey laughed. “Good point, though not so much anymore.”
“Fourth time’s the charm.” Marco winked at Aubrey and she shook her head with a laugh.
“What was the fight about?” Aubrey asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Her damn tire. I’ve been telling her since I found her on the side of the road that she couldn’t keep driving on the donut, but she wouldn’t bring it in to get changed, even though she kept telling me she would, so I did it for her. I thought she would thank me.”
“It was a nice gesture,” Marco said. “I would think it would’ve scored you some brownie points.”
Aubrey sighed. “Men. She’s probably not mad about the tire. Well, not completely. The tire probably triggered something else. Have you two fought about anything other than the tire?”
“Her not walking on her ankle when she hurt it, but other than that, not that I can think of.” Well, maybe being too pushy about forcing her to stay home, or the new employee, which had worked out in the end, but…
“Think back, and I’m sure something will stand out,” Aubrey said.
