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Sam rolls over me, and I feel the crunch of leaves under my back. I smell dirt and leaves and Sam. I’m lightheaded from the lack of oxygen but I don’t want to stop. Our tongues dance together and I’m tempted to let him take me here, in the middle of the park, in the middle of the day.
Zeus comes crashing over to us, butting his head against Sam’s side. We break apart, and Sam laughs. “You okay, boy?” he asks, but Zeus is already gone, chasing a leaf or something else that I can’t see. Sam looks back at me, and the moment is gone. That magic that was just swirling around us has vanished along with the truce. I’m not angry. Not the way I was the other night, but something about Sam makes me lose control. After everything, I can’t afford that. It just makes it all muddled, especially when I need answers that he’s not willing to give me.
He doesn’t stop me when I get up. “I have to get back and check on the animals.”
“Wait, Fiona.” Sam stops me with a hand on my arm. His voice is low and raspy after our kiss. “Please don’t just walk away. You let me kiss you. I know that you want me. I want you too—you have no idea how much.”
I don’t meet his eyes, because I know that right now I’m too weak, and if I look, I’ll stay. I can’t stay. “You know it’s not that simple.”
“It can be.”
“It’s not.”
Zeus noses against my leg, and I reach down to pet him before walking back toward the vet’s office. Sam doesn’t follow me, and even though it almost kills me, I don’t look back.
6
Rose is waiting for me in the bakery when I arrive in the morning. I haven’t seen her since the party and I know that I’m about to get the third degree. But I suppose that’s to be expected when you run out of your sister’s engagement party sobbing. At least I get to eat some cake while I’m being interrogated.
Ever since Thomas Logan—Rose’s fiancé—helped save my father’s bakery and moved it to a better location in town, it’s been a little bit of a sensation. He’s a really great baker, and with the success that he’s had, he’s not only well on his way to paying off his loan, but he’s been able to hire some very talented pastry chefs. One is a wedding cake maker that’s about to serve us samples for Rose’s wedding.
Rose is sitting in a sun-drenched corner of the bakery, practically glowing. She’s in a dress that’s a little too summery for this time of year, but she’s glowing. She never used to wear dresses, her uniform being pants and whatever shirt she pulled on. Nothing special. Now she’s blossomed into a bit of a girly-girl. It’s nice to see her have the space to figure out who she really is, now that she’s not worrying about my father and me. I’m glad that the game of twenty questions yesterday didn’t continue because there are plenty of embarrassing mistakes I’ve made in the last ten years that I don’t want Sam knowing about.
Looking up, Rose saves me from that line of thought. “Hi!” she jumps up and wraps me in a hug.
“Hey.”
“Are you ready to try some cake?” Her voice is way too bubbly, and I can already tell she’s prepping to grill me.
I smile. “If you’re ready to drop the act.”
“Fine,” she rolls her eyes. “But I am excited about the cake. Should we at least let June know we’re here before we start?”
She doesn’t wait for me to answer, marching straight back into the kitchen. The benefit of being the owner’s daughter. I settle myself at her table and try to prep mentally for everything that I have to tell her.
Rose comes back in, practically bouncing, and hands me a spoon covered in frosting that’s matching the one she’s already eating. “Don’t give me a speech about sugar,” she says. “We’re tasting my wedding cake. I can have as much sugar as I want.”
That makes me laugh. “Okay, I won’t warn you that sugar is going to kill you today.”
“But what a way to go,” she says. “So spill.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“And you’re a rotten liar. Why did you leave the party crying? Did you see Sam?”
I can’t help but laugh, even though it’s not that funny. “You could say that.” Rose stares at me. She’s good at drawing out what she wants using silence. And this time is no exception. I can’t take the pressure of her just staring, waiting. “Being back in that house was really overwhelming, and after the toast—which was where I first spotted him—I needed to be alone for a minute. So I went upstairs to the bathroom.”
