Page 15 of It Happened Back Then (Nilsson Family #3)

I run through the back door of Dress Me Up, yelling, “I’m here! I’m here! I’m sorry, I’m here.”

I get nothing in response but a nasty glare from my sister, January.

After a few rough years in New York City, she finally made the decision to move home, bringing her daughter, Lily, with her.

She tried to stay there on her own after Lily’s father, Sean, passed away, but eventually decided to come home. And I’m so glad she’s here now.

Even with her bad attitude.

“You were supposed to be here a half hour ago. I have to get Lily from school. What were you doing?”

I can’t tell her I was playing FBI on social media after finding a comment from Savannah on one of Bennett’s pictures.

So pathetic, Blossom .

I can’t tell her it made my heart race, and I began to sweat because feelings I’ve pushed away for so long still sit just beneath the surface. I can’t admit to her that I’ve been in love with my best friend for the past ten years .

“I was cleaning my apartment, and I got distracted, and I’m sorry. Why can’t Drake go pick her up?”

“Because Drake is working, Blossom. We all have to work, and I need you here on time so I can manage my work and my daughter.”

Same old nasty January. I try to ignore her tone because I know she’s stressed about her upcoming wedding.

January‘s life has taken a big turn recently, and I have no idea why she has such an attitude. She has an amazing man that loves her and her daughter, and she found everything she’s looking for even if it took her a long time to get it.

Her gaze lingers on me, and I pray she doesn’t see right through my lies. “Just go, January. I’ve got this. I’ll handle the rest of the day from here.”

She hesitates a moment longer before grabbing her keys and her pocketbook from underneath the counter, but she can’t resist giving me orders one last time.

“Deliveries already came; just make sure you close out the register tonight and send a text to me and Lief with the total. I’ll balance it in the morning. ”

I sag against the counter as she leaves, glancing around the store, which only has a few shoppers in it.

We’ve done well to come back from where we were, and I can only hope we continue to grow from here.

Lief’s best friend, Jack, has been amazing in taking us from bankruptcy to turning a profit, but it’s always a worry to make sure we stay there.

I take my laptop from my bag and open up our social media page, preparing to add image of our new arrivals once I’ve taken them.

Inevitably, my mind wanders back to Bennett again.

He came over to watch television with me last night, like most nights.

We’re content being together; he’s my safe space, the place that still feels like home when I lost my home so many years ago.

We ordered in pizza and caught up on some reality television.

When he mentioned my birthday coming up, it felt more like he was looking to open up a conversation about so much more.

But, like it always is lately, we’re both holding back.

`Instead of going to our store’s website, I log into Instagram once more and pull up the picture that has had my mind reeling all day, a shot frozen in time of the life he had outside of me.

Missing you, Bennie. This was such a great time.

14 hours ago.

My stomach twists at those words. While he was with me, she was leaving messages for the world to see. There’s something so casual in the way she says it, like they’re old friends who still have a hold on each other. Her calling him Bennie is too familiar, like she still talks to him daily.

Does she?

Is this just a reminiscent comment or is she reaching out to him?

My body gets hot and I start to sweat; a visceral reaction to her coming to the forefront. When I don’t see a reply, I scroll through other pictures. Nothing. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t texted her or that she hasn’t called him.

I was told to let him go, to not hold him back, but he made his choice to return home. He’s got a great job, an accomplishment he did all on his own, so maybe it could be our time now.

Unless my time is gone and Savannah has always been the one. What if we can’t ever move past the friend zone I put us in? What if I’ll only ever be the girl to watch movies with, and when he’s bored of that and needs more, he’ll go to Savannah. Again.

What if I’ve already lost him before I knew how to fight for him?