Page 21 of Cozy Girl Fall

“My car or yours?” he called over his shoulder as he walked away, flashing another grin at her obvious outrage.

“Mine,” she grumbled, following him at last. “I’d need a ladder to climb into yours.” Overcompensate, much?

Except, he wasn’t overcompensating. At all.

“I think we’ve established that I can easily lift you up, Penny.” His voice was rough and she bit her lip, not meeting his eyes as she unlocked her car. It flashed its lights cheerily as she rounded the driver’s side.

Exactly , she thought but didn’t say. He had been the one lifting her up into his arms and sweeping the dinnerware off the table—of course he’d been the instigator.

… Hadn’t he?

They climbed inside and she turned on the engine while he buckled his seat belt.

Déjà vu hit her out of nowhere, her body flashing hot and then cold as she remembered how dangerous it could be to have Ethan Blake in the car with her looking like that .

A lot of time had been spent in cars together when they’d been teens, making out near the springs or behind the church because the lights in their parking lot had been broken.

His fingers were long and nimble, artist’s hands, sliding up the black belt to remove the kink at the top, the muscles in his forearms cording. Blond hair fell into his face when he looked down to clip in the buckle and she nearly reached to push it back.

Old habits were hard to break, but she’d really thought she’d managed to kick the addiction that was Ethan Blake in the ten years she’d been gone.

She realized now that it had been easy enough to think that when she didn’t have to see him all the time.

Clearly her resolve was much weaker than she’d thought.

“Are we going? Or did you lure me into your car under false pretenses?” There was that cocky smirk again and damn if it didn’t look good on him.

He’d always been sure of himself as a teen, but this was somehow more.

It was the kind of confidence that said, yeah, I know you want me, even if you don’t want to admit it.

She blinked and threw the car into reverse, spinning around with ease as she pulled out of the orchard and headed in the direction of the bridge that would take them into town. “Sorry.”

It wasn’t her preference, but she didn’t want to risk stirring up any further memories by parking in her usual, quieter, spot behind the church, so instead she snagged a spot near the grocery store and decided they could walk from there to the long line of boutiques and mini eateries where the coffee shop could be found.

Surprisingly, the rain had held off and the sun shone brightly, if a little watery, down on them, filtering through the last remaining leaves on the magnolia trees that lined the sidewalk.

Penny avoided looking in the direction of the library, as if that could shield her from Tasha’s wrath if she saw Penny out for coffee with Ethan after Penny had sworn their dinner the night before was purely platonic.

The gushing of the fountain was superseded by the chime of the church bells, signaling the new hour, and Penny focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

Thankfully, Ethan seemed content to enjoy the short walk in silence, not saying a word until she thanked him for holding open the door to Coffee Affair.

“What do you want?” he asked once they reached the counter and she pulled her eyes away from the cake display and shook her head.

“Oh, that’s OK. I can get it.”

He rolled his eyes and leant down to say quietly, “It’s a coffee. Not a marriage proposal.” When she just blinked at him he sighed, turning to the barista. “I’ll take a medium cappuccino with cinnamon please and she’ll have a medium pumpkin spice latte.”

The words reminded her of the last time they’d been here and how he hadn’t even hesitated, remembering her order like no time had passed at all. She reached out and stopped him from handing over his cash, instead handing her own money to the barista. “My treat.”

He must have caught the look on her face because he softened. “You know, just because you left, doesn’t mean I forgot you.”

There was no judgment in the words, but she flinched anyway. Mostly because she’d done everything she could to try to forget about him, and Tasha, and Magnolia Springs in general. Not that it had worked very well, and now here she stood, right back where she’d started.

The barista handed over their coffees and Ethan tipped her while Penny tried to find them a seat. Luckily, it was a weekday so most people were at school or work. Come the holidays, this place would be packed.

“Do they still do the Christmas market?” she wondered aloud and Ethan nodded as he sat down opposite her at the corner table that ran along the back wall.

She’d gravitated there on instinct and her fingertip traced the initials carved into the wood—E.B, P.L.

What would her younger self think if she could see her now?

Where they’d ended up? After everything that had happened, they were still back at the table they’d carved their initials into at sixteen.

“Every year,” he confirmed and she couldn’t help the small tingle of excitement that swept through her at the thought.

She’d always loved the market growing up.

The town cordoned off Main Street for a whole month and built temporary wooden huts that townsfolk and out-of-towners alike could rent to sell their wares or serve hot drinks and food.

They even had a band and a dress-up Santa for the kids.

She pulled her thoughts away from the cinnamon holiday buns one store in particular had used to make every year—they were her favorite—and instead concentrated on her coffee as she avoided Ethan’s stare. “Did you talk to Nicky?”

He nodded, a smirk tugging at his mouth when he said, “I left him a message yesterday afternoon.”

Yesterday aftern —“But I didn’t make you dinner until the evening.”

“I know.” He shrugged and she stared. If he had already talked to Nicky, then why had he made her come over to cook for him? Ethan’s eyes dropped to where her fingers still traced their names on the tabletop. “Amazing that they haven’t re-decorated after all this time, huh?”

It was, but Magnolia Springs was slow to change and this cafe had probably been here since her parents were teens. She ignored his observation and took a too-hot gulp of her latte. “Why did you make me cook for you if you’d already spoken to your friend?”

Ethan set his coffee cup down softly and when he looked back up at her, eyes soft and gleaming, she couldn’t look away. “C’mon Pen, you’re a smart woman. Why do you think I invited you?”

Penny bit her lip and then shook her head. “I don’t—”

“Well, this is cozy.”

The slightly nasal voice made Penny’s nose wrinkle as she pulled away from Ethan, not having realized that she’d leant closer.

Ethan looked up and smiled, polite if a little wary. “Shelby, hey. You remember Penny?”

“Vividly,” she said and sniffed. “Nice to see you.” The words were curt but she was all sugar when she turned back to Ethan, a smile on her glossy lips. “I just wondered if you were around this weekend, E? Maybe we could get dinner?”

E? Gag.

His brows furrowed, a gentle look she hadn’t seen on him before taking over his face. “We’ve talked about this, Shel. It’s not a good idea. I don’t want to get back together.”

Shelby stiffened, eyes blazing as she looked between Penny and Ethan. “Oh yeah? So she’s finally decided to take you back?” Shelby snorted and threw Penny a withering look that made her stiffen. “Well, when she runs off and leaves you in the dust again, you know where I’ll be.”

She strode away, the sweet jingle of the bell by the door at complete odds with Shelby’s stormy exit. Clearly things in the grocery store hadn’t been as resolved as Penny had hoped.

Penny’s mouth fell open as she watched the exit. “I can’t believe you were engaged to her,” Penny said without thinking and then grimaced. “Sorry. It’s not my place to judge.”

Ethan shrugged. “It could be. If you wanted.”

She opted to ignore his offer. “I was surprised when I heard that you two had … Well, been a you two .”

He shrugged. “I didn’t pursue her, it just kind of happened.

We were working together on a project—one of her friends had bought a store in the city and wanted help with the interiors.

Shelby knew I’d started my business recently and was trying to get my name out there, so she put us in touch.

” He sipped his coffee, watching Penny closely as if decoding every expression or minute movement she made.

“She’s not as bad as she pretends to be, you know.

The project got us talking more and I realized pretty quickly that the mean girl act is mostly just a front she puts up.

And then, I don’t know, it just seemed …

easy. After you left, Pen, I’d thought that was me done with dating, but Shelby and I kind of just fell into the relationship.

” Penny tried not to flinch at the hint of pain that underscored his words as Ethan went on.

“Before we knew it, a year had passed and there was a lot of talk from her family about next steps … I proposed because it was what everyone wanted and expected us to do.” His eyes looked far away, as if he could see it all playing out in his mind’s eye.

Part of her was relieved that there wasn’t some big, epic romance lurking in the shadows between Ethan and Shelby, but the rest of her just felt sad that he’d been with her just because it seemed like what everyone wanted. “What happened?”

“It wasn’t right,” he said, voice quiet and eyes burning as he looked up at her. “There was no real spark, no heat. Things were … fine. I think even Shelby was more interested in being able to say she was engaged rather than who she was engaged to.”

“She seems plenty devoted now,” Penny said dryly and Ethan smirked.

“Jealous?”

She snorted. “Of course not.” She was sure she wasn’t really jealous of Shelby, of the claim she still seemed to think she had to Ethan, but there was a feeling coiled deep in her stomach that seemed to disagree.

Penny sipped her coffee and peered at Ethan over the top of the cup, dismissing the thought. “So then what happened?”

He shrugged. “Nothing, really. Things were fine. But I wanted more than fine . I wanted to miss her when she was gone and think about her day and night, I wanted someone who could bring me to my knees with a look and could wreck me with one kiss. I didn’t have that with Shelby.

We both deserved better than each other. ”

The words took her aback, even as they made her mouth run dry.

She hadn’t expected that level of passion and intensity from the relatively simple question, but maybe she should have known better.

Ethan had never been scared to say what he wanted.

She had half a mind to ask what Shelby had meant by Penny ‘finally’ taking him back, but was scared of the answer he might give.

Instead, she sipped her coffee and let the quiet fall over them while she gathered her thoughts.

His empty cup hit the table with a thunk that made Penny jolt. “Actually, no. I don’t know why I’m bothering to hide this from you. The real reason Shelby and I didn’t work out was you.”

“So everything you just said—”

“Was true,” he allowed. “But everything I described? Everything I want to feel in a relationship? That’s how I felt—still feel—with you, Pen. How could I have had that and not compare Shelby to you?”

Her heart quickened and she gulped. “But I only just got back into town.”

“When you know, you know. And I knew it wasn’t Shelby,” he murmured and her heart thudded faster, all of her attention boiling down to focus on his soft confession. “I couldn’t marry Shelby. Because for me it’s always been you, Pen.”

She swallowed once and then again when the lump in her throat didn’t clear. “You blew up your relationship … for me?”

For a moment his confidence wavered and he ran a hand through his hair as he let out a long breath. “I broke things off with Shelby because we both deserved better than to settle.”

Their eyes caught and held and she was the first to blink. “I don’t know what to do with that information. By the end of the year, I’ll be leaving again and—”

“And you don’t think I’d come with you?”

She bit her lip, admittedly not expecting that response.

“Look, you need time. I get that. I’m just saying … Give me a chance. Hell, give me till Christmas and if you’re not in love with me at the end of it I’ll pack your bags myself and pay for your gas.”

“That’s a little overdramatic,” she said, rolling her eyes, but his face was entirely serious. That was one thing she’d forgotten about Ethan in their time apart, how intense he could be once he set his mind to something. He didn’t give up until he had what he wanted.

And what he wanted now was her—she couldn’t say she minded the feeling, being someone’s sole focus and only desire.

“What do you have to lose? Christmas is just about three months away. If it’s so ridiculous, then what do you have to worry about? I’ll even set up a meeting for you with Nicky, regardless.”

She hesitated, more than a little tempted even as her common sense told her this was a messy, stupid idea. “I need to talk to Tasha.”

He rolled his eyes. “By all means, summon a committee,” he said casually and she nearly choked on the last of her coffee when he smirked. “I’ve already waited ten years. I can wait a little longer.”