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She shrugged. “Go up to Arden Park and stargaze? That’s—” She frowned. “That’s probably tacky. We can do—”

“Great!” I stood up, banging my legs on the table, and Harper jumped. “We’re doing that tonight. I’m going to go get ready right now.”

“Oh my god, will you sit still for one second?”

“Me?Absolutely not. Catch you here in a bit, you clown.”

“Paisley, your food—”

“Bring it to the park.” I marched away from the table.

“The stairs are that way—”

“I always wanted to try this,” I said, and before she could be a spoilsport and tell me to stop, I threw open the window and hoisted myself out onto the thick tree branch that ran past it. Behind me, I heard Harper clattering up from her chair, but I climbed down to the ground, touching down deftly, and I turned back to shoot Harper a thumbs-up as she leaned out the window looking down at me before I took off for the town center.

Chapter 13

Harper

My mind was miles away as I opened the bakery, absently kneading and laminating dough, all the way through opening and into the morning rush, where Anders came in a bit early saying Nancy had slept badly so a full-size cupcake was in order today, and Kay came in today grabbing a tray of donuts just to surprise Gwen. I’d never once known Gwen liked donuts, but hell, before Kay came around, I never knew she liked online shooters and egirls either.

Emberlynn was in late today, which meant Aria had felt better once she’d dealt with that phone call. She’d still seemed stressed when I’d stopped by on my way home with her takeout, but… must have been feeling all right this morning. I tried not to think about it.

“I hear you spilled all my deepest vulnerabilities to Aria,” she said as she set down a loaf of sprouted grain bread, giving me a shy smile.

“Oh, yeah… forgot I was going to go apologize to you for that.”

“Nah. I appreciate it. She made me some late-night coffee and sat down with me to ask about how I’m feeling, do a kind of… conscious check-in. It was really good. For both of us, I think. We’re going to try making it a regular thing. So… thanks. Honestly.”

“Yeah?” I put on a smile as I rang her up. “Damn, but you two act quick. I swear, the moment there’s anything either of you can do…”

She laughed. “We get along great. Never thought I’d actually find a girlfriend who gets me like she does.”

“You two are seriously adorable. And I’m happy for you both.” And it felt especially heavy in the wake of last night’s conversation with Paisley—leaving a good imprint behind, leaving Bayview a better place than I’d found it. If I could help Paisley be herself and help Aria and Emberlynn be happier and more open together, then I didn’t have to feel so guilty about leaving.

But I couldn’t think about leaving right now. Or ever, hopefully. Not until I was out the door.

“Just the bread?”

“Yeah, that’ll be good…”

“That was hesitation in your voice. You want cinnamon rolls, too.”

“Hey—quit upselling me,” she laughed.

“It’s my job. You do want them, though, right? I’ll even take a dollar off.”

“Christ. Okay, you win. I’ll take the cinnamon rolls. Aria’s sleeping in this morning, so she’ll love waking up to them.”

Ew. That meant she went back to sleep after they were… done. I hated knowing the part Emberlynn kept quiet. It wasn’t like I could tell her I knew.

At least it was a distraction, though. But once Emberlynn had paid and left and the couple of customers behind her hadfinished up, the morning rush trickled out to nothing, and I had only the noise of my own thoughts to sit with as I restocked the floor. And it was there in the middle of it all that I got a text from the woman who had been occupying my every thought since I’d laid next to her watching the stars last night, far enough away from everything that I could see more stars than I ever thought existed, following as she pointed out one constellation after another.

She’d looked really damn good in that makeup, too.

hey loser! what are we doing today?

I tried not to smile as I replied.texting me in the middle of my shift, from the looks of things.