Page 33 of Donut Disaster
“So this is what you knew.” I’m not sure why, but it shakes me. “Noah”—I turn his way—“a part of me wasn’t sure this would ever happen. I guess you’re a free man.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “I’m not. I’ve been very much taken since last fall when you came into my office.”
“There was a wedding planner here just a few minutes ago that might contest who you belong to,” I tease half-heartedly.
Noah nods, and his dimples depress, no smile. “Cormack is next on my list, Lottie. I will make it crystal clear that there is nothing happening between her and me.”
I’m not sure why, but that feels like a second sucker punch that I wasn’t expecting. Noah is cutting all of his ties, loosening every shackle that once held us apart, and is running in my direction at a hundred miles an hour. He’s coming for me, and he’s willing to gun down Everett to do so.
Everett reaches over and picks up my hand. “Noah caught up with me at the courthouse Thursday and let me know what was afoot. And this is where I come in.” He tips his head back, and his eyes shade over unknowably dark. “Lemon, I think this is the moment we take a full step back so you can explore your heart. And when the time is right, you’ll move forward with one of us.”
My heart ruptures all at once, a quick ripping that feels as if someone drilled a spear into my chest.
“Just like that, you’re breaking up with me?” A ripe anger enlivens in me, and somewhere muddled in there is the breaking of my heart–-splintering like a glacier hitting water far too warm to sustain it. “Noah never gave up and you’re just throwing me away?”
“Not true.” His grip tightens over my fingers a notch. “Noah didn’t give you room to breathe. I’m not going to smother you. This is very important. Your entire future hinges on the decisions you make—not the decisions someone tries to pressure you into.” He takes a moment to glower at Noah. “Give her room. Do not pounce. Be open. Be honest. Be friends. You are not her new bed buddy. Keep it clean. Lemon is more than capable of figuring this out. I don’t want her heart broken.” He turns my way. “And I don’t want you to have a single regret in life. You’re going to be a mother one day, just the way Nell predicted. Dream of your future, dream big and dream beautiful. And then build those dreams with the person best to do it with.” He glides his chair back. “I’ll leave so the two of you can have a moment together.”
“Wait,” I say, desperate to have him stay. “Don’t go, Everett. I don’t mind you here. In fact, I welcome it.”
His brows furrow. “That’s because you’re uncomfortable. This is something new. Something unexpected. But trust me, it’s best if I go.”
“If you’re free tonight, there’s a charity gala in Fallbrook for the hospital. I think we should go.” I nod to Noah. “All of us.”
“It’s a date.” Everett lands a chaste kiss to my cheek. “We’ll catch up later.”
He takes off and it’s just Noah and me.
His eyes are pressed to mine, his lips pursed as if he were at a loss for words himself.
He leans in. “I’m sorry I’ve brought you so much discord and misery over the last few months. Can you ever forgive me?”
Something in me loosens. “Consider it done.” I reach over and he takes up my hands. “So it’s really over?”
He nods. “But if you ask me, it feels more like the beginning.” He pulls my hand toward him and lands a kiss to the back of it. “I don’t expect everything to magically revert back to where it was the day before Britney walked into this bakery, all those months ago. But I certainly hope you’ll give me one more shot. Everett is right. I can’t smother you. I need to let you figure this out on your own.” He swallows hard. “And that means you need to explore your options with him as well. As much as I want to say disparaging things about him—warn you about him, I don’t think I can anymore. Everett’s changed since he’s been with you. He’s become the man he should have been from the beginning. I think I have, too. You’ve done a lot of good for the both of us, and for that I’m not sorry.”
A dull laugh ripples through me. “Maybe I can have a side business—rebuilding men to their fullest potential.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t waste time on anyone else. You’ve done enough of that already. Focus on what makes you happy. Focus on your future and the person you’d like to have by your side for the long-haul.”
The bell on the door chimes and Lily breezes in, relieving Keelie of her register duties.
I glance back to Noah. “How about we grab a couple of slices of pizza and head out for a walk?”
“I’d love to.”
Noah and I head to Mangias and pick up lunch before heading over to Founders Square at the end of Main Street.
The heat is pressing, the air is humid, but it feels heavenly to be outdoors despite the oppressive weather.
Noah and I take a seat by the giant three-tiered fountain and enjoy our lunch, enjoy each other as we talk about the case, how he might go about breaking things off with Cormack, about Everett, about our future, my future. Nothing is off the table, and it feels natural like this with Noah. It’s always been that way for us, so very natural. And now that his marriage to Britney is in the rearview mirror, I find myself staring at an uncertain future.
Upheaval has come into my life once again.
Harry Nash was right.
Not every storm is in the forecast.
Chapter 11