Page 15 of Cozy Girl Fall

The art of avoidance was harder than Penny had thought. Yet for a full week she had managed just that. Sure, it had taken some creativity—Ethan somehow managed to be everywhere at any given moment. Still, she’d persevered.

He’d taken to arriving at the orchard at the same time as her.

At first she’d thought this was a coincidence, so she’d pretended to be on a call in her car until he’d left, but after two days she’d instead opted to arrive later in the morning—only to find him on a coffee break, laughing with her mom in the shop hut where she was working the cash register.

Ethan had watched her pull in and park and had wordlessly handed her a pumpkin spice latte, still hot.

She’d tried leaving late to avoid seeing him and had thought she’d been successful until she saw the note on her windshield.

Drive safe. E. So even when he wasn’t physically there, he was still finding ways to stay present in her mind and it infuriated her.

Why did he have to make this so hard for her?

She was trying to do right by him, and Tasha.

Dodging him? He was somehow one step ahead. Ignoring him? He made it impossible to do so when they were in front of her mom and he was being charming . At one point she’d even climbed up into an apple tree to avoid a passing Ethan, but it wasn’t like she could stay up there forever.

… Could she?

Fed up, she’d even decided to forgo a shift in favor of relaxing in town, grabbing a coffee and a cake. The triumph had been sweet—and short. Because who was waiting inside Crumbs & Co? Ethan. Blake.

Penny was trying to hold on to the promise she’d made to Tasha and yet it was like the whole world was making it as difficult as possible, like some kind of face-your-ex conspiracy.

Avoiding Tasha wasn’t exactly necessary , but it helped Penny feel a little better.

How was she supposed to look her friend in the face when she’d sworn to steer clear of Ethan and had, instead, kissed him?

Maybe it would have been easier if the kiss had been horrible, or even just fine , but it hadn’t—it had been …

everything . And she hadn’t stopped thinking about it for the past week.

She’d only just resolved the lingering tension between her and Tasha and now …

Ugh. Why did Ethan have to put his stupid, warm, full mouth on mine?

Maybe if Penny told Tasha, she would understand. It wasn’t like Penny had orchestrated the kiss, or even gone looking for it. It had been an accident. A really hot accident .

Penny had just grabbed her morning pumpkin spice latte from Coffee Affair on Saturday when a flash of blonde hair made her freeze like a deer caught in headlights. Surely Ethan hadn’t tracked her down on the weekend?

“Pen!” Tasha waved and relief and anxiety curdled in Penny’s stomach at the prospect of facing Tasha.

There was no way Penny could pretend she hadn’t seen her, not when half the cafe was looking Tash’s way.

Did she tell her? Or did she just chalk what had happened up to the thunderstorm and the heat of the moment?

“Come and join me.”

Penny’s feet dragged a little as she walked over to the small wooden table Tasha had claimed and pulled out the chair opposite her. Her ass had barely hit the seat before Tasha was leaning in close and fixing Penny with a shrewd look.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

Penny choked on her sip of latte. “What? No! ”

“Penny.” There it was again, that no-nonsense tone that Tasha only pulled out when she knew her best friend was bullshitting.

Unable to meet her gaze, she instead looked down at her to-go cup and the pale brown label that wrapped all the way around it. “I’ve just been super busy.”

“Too busy to answer my texts?”

She shrugged. “I lost my phone for a bit. Put it down and just couldn’t find it again, you know how it is.”

Tasha’s face said she did not, in fact, know how it is . The look only darkened when a buzzing erupted from Penny’s bag.

“Oh look,” she said weakly, “found it.”

“What’s going on?” Tasha reached over and placed one hand over Penny’s, stopping her nervously peeling the wrap off of her cup. “You can tell me anything.”

Except, no. Penny couldn’t. Tasha had asked for one thing and Penny had messed it up already.

“It’s just been a lot moving back.” There, that was close enough to the truth.

It had been a lot moving back home, especially with Ethan continuously muddying the waters between them despite Penny’s best efforts to stay away.

One eyebrow rose. “You’re moving back?”

“Oh. I—Well, I don’t know. Maybe? I haven’t exactly had restaurants beating down my door to get me to work for them.”

Tasha nodded slowly before clapping her hands together. “You know who you should talk to? Ethan.”

Penny’s mouth went dry. “What? No. Why would I talk to Ethan?” Her laugh sounded nervous even to her own ears but Tasha didn’t call her out on it.

“One of his friends from college is some hot-shot chef. Works for a restaurant in New York. I bet Ethan would introduce you.”

Intrigue made her eyes widen and her heart skip a beat. She hadn’t even known that Ethan had gone to college, let alone that he’d made the kind of connections there that were enviable by anyone’s standards.

“That would be amazing.” If only she hadn’t let him kiss her, rejected him and then done everything she could to avoid speaking to him this week.

Even if there was no animosity between her and Ethan, Penny didn’t think he would want to help her with this.

“Do you know what this guy’s name is?” Maybe she could look him up, see if it was even something she’d be interested in before she embarrassed herself further by approaching Ethan.

If it’s paid work and not in Magnolia Springs, then you’re interested.

Although, she wouldn’t be able to leave until the busy period died down at the orchard.

She couldn’t leave her parents high and dry like that.

Like you did before . Pushing the negative voice away, she refocused on what Tasha was saying.

“I can’t remember his name off the top of my head but I’ve got the restaurant saved in my phone, I’ll text it to you in a minute.

Anyway, did I tell you about the library project I’m running with the elementary school?

You know I love the kids, but my God —you wouldn’t believe the noise, Pen!

” Tasha swiftly changed topic, launching headfirst into a long list of complaints about how the schoolkids didn’t respect the library at all .

Penny was perfectly happy to let Tasha’s ranting wash over her, caught up in the prospect of reaching out to this mystery chef.

It was exciting to think she might finally have a clear way out of Magnolia Springs again but she couldn’t deny that she was also confused at the mix of emotions that the idea of leaving brought up in her.

By the time Penny finished her coffee, she had left the cafe with a promise to get breakfast with Tasha during the week and the name of a restaurant.

She’d worry about how to get Ethan’s help later.

It turned out that ‘some chef in New York’ had been an understatement on Tash’s part.

Nicolo Taften wasn’t a chef in New York, he was the chef in New York.

He didn’t just work for a restaurant, he owned his restaurant—and was one of the youngest chefs to ever receive a Michelin star to boot.

And, somehow, Penny’s only barrier to getting an introduction? An ex she’d recently spurned. Great.

Though, it was for Ethan’s own good even if he couldn’t see it.

Warm, afternoon sunlight spilled into her parents’ living room where Penny sat on her phone, learning everything she could about Nicolo.

Seeing Tasha at the coffee shop had left her feeling a little hollow and it reminded Penny, uncomfortably, of how she’d felt in the days leading up to her leaving Magnolia Springs ten years ago.

Back then, even her parents hadn’t understood her need to leave, though they’d supported her anyway, but the weight of keeping the secret from Tasha and Ethan had been heavy.

She didn’t want to feel like that again, but here she was, already hiding the truth from Tasha and preparing to leave.

To try to cheer herself up, she made a fancy hot chocolate from her mom’s stash and put on her coziest peach-colored sweater to snuggle up in as she looked at Nicolo’s menu.

The sofa dipped as her dad sat down on the other end of it, lifting her feet up and dropping them in his lap as he set his tea down on the raised table by his arm of the sofa.

“Looking at anything interesting?”

She sighed and pulled her legs under her as she sat up. “Just a restaurant in New York.”

“You got an interview? Honey, that’s great.”

There was nothing but pride in her dad’s voice, even at the prospect of her leaving again, and she smiled. “No, but it might lead that way.” She hesitated and then said quietly, “Ethan knows the owner.”

“Ah.” Philip smiled, understanding lighting his face. “That boy would move the heavens for you.”

“I’m not so sure.” The words came slow, faltering, as she finally spilled her guts about what had happened with Ethan. “I promised Tasha that I would steer clear of Ethan, for all of our sakes, but he’s making it so hard and I don’t understand why.”

“Do you think it was fair of Tasha to ask that of you? Especially if Ethan’s none the wiser?”

Penny paused, thinking about it. She hadn’t considered that before. “I mean, I understand why she said it. I made a mess when I left last time.”

“But that was a long time ago,” he pointed out and she nodded slowly.