Page 25 of This Time Around

My favorite is when Ana comes too, and I can spend time with both of my best friends together in the same place, even though I can tell Ana can only take April in small doses, she still makes it work for me, just one of the many reasons I love her.

“Oh, my gosh! I am so happy to see you, B! Mom said you were coming.” She embraces me in the biggest hug. “Oh, Luke just moved back, so he’ll be here too. Actually, he works at the hospital right by the bar now.”

“I know. We actually ran into each other at the bookstore and went to dinner,” I confess, thinking it’s best to loop her in now since she brought it up.

“Like a date?” She scrunches her face.

“Not a date. We were just catching up.”

“That’s good. You know he’s coming off a messy divorce, and he needs stability and predictability right now,” she doesn’t elaborate as she turns towards the door.

“What the hell does that mean?” I ask with frustration lacing my voice.

“Nothing.” She continues to walk, and I reach out and grab her arm.

“April, you don’t just say things like that without mea-”

I’m interrupted by the sound of Luke closing his car door behind me.

“Look, my two favorite girls in one place,” he admires as he approaches. April rolls her eyes at me and walks inside, closing the door behind her.

Does she think I’m just trying to hook up with her brother?

“What’s wrong with her?” Luke asks.

“She mentioned you were coming over tonight because you moved back. I told her I ran into you at the bookstore and we went to dinner. She asked if it was a date, and when I told her no, she seemed relieved because you’re ‘coming off a messy divorce and need stability.’”

“What does that mean?” he asks, his brows furrowed

“I asked the same thing, and then you pulled up, so I don’t know, but it felt like she thinks I’m not good enough for you. Good thing we’re not dating.” I roll my eyes.

“Blake, trust me, you are more than good enough for me.” He leans in and whispers in my ear, “You have been my saving grace since I moved back. And if I was lucky enough to make you mine, shit. I’d-” He clears his throat, pulls away, and moves towards the door, shaking his head. “Forget it.”

Without another word, he pulls me by the hand inside like he didn’t just make my head spin with what he said to me.

We immediately sit down to eat, and it’s a good thing April can talk and fill the silence so effortlessly. She is getting ready to open a bakery in town, so she has a lot to say tonight, and I could not be more proud of her.

“Mom, I found the best recipe for scones. They come out so buttery and flaky. Perfection.” April punctuates her description with a chef’s kiss.

“Maybe you can bring some by. Dad and I would be more than happy to be your food critiques.” Maggie smiles.

“I could never turn down a pastry,” Matt, April and Luke’s dad, cuts in. “Especially if it’s made by my little ray of sunshine,” he continues.

My chest tightens. I wonder what it feels like to have a father who loves you more than life itself.

Needing to shake off the emotion erupting inside me, I take a long sip of wine.

“Red,” Matt chimes in with his long-standing nickname for me, “Maggie told me you and Luke ran into each other a few weeks ago.”

“Yeah,” I offer a halfhearted smile, not wanting to go into too much detail in front of April as she’s clearly annoyed by the whole ordeal.

Luke senses my apprehension and takes over the conversation.

“It was funny, actually. I was looking through a book at the bookstore and she sat on me.”

“I didn’t sit on you,” I argue, and he gives me a raise of his brow. “Ok. I sat on you, but not on purpose. I was distracted while skimming a book, and didn’t see you sitting there.”

Matt and Maggie chuckle, and April sips her water unamused.