Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 38053 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38053 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
“Are you okay?” Lennon asks me with a bottle of wine in her hands.
We make our way to my kitchen and I pull down some glasses from the shelf.
“I’m fine. I’m really happy Harrison won, but…” My words fall away. I can’t articulate exactly how I’m feeling.
“Is it because of the shop?”
I nod. “I feel like the past few weeks nothing right has happened for me. First my shop, then Drake and Stella having their baby, and now the competition.”
Lennon opens the bottle and pours. “You know that silly competition does not prove your worth.” She slides my glass over to me.
I take a sip before saying, “No, I know. I’m happy Harrison won, really I am. I don’t want to seem like a sore loser, but I think in that moment, everything came crashing down around me.”
“Harrison cares about you,” Lennon says.
I nod. “I know he does. I care a lot about him too.”
Lennon’s phone buzzes, and she glances down at it with a big smile. “Okay, don’t get mad, but I wanted to make sure it was available before I mentioned anything to you.”
“What was available?”
“My cousin in Magnolia Ridge, the little town thirty minutes south of here, well, she has a building with a storefront available.”
“Okay, and?” My heart beat picks up speed a little. What is she saying?
“It’s not far away and you could open your shop there. Want to know the best part?”
I lean in closer, gripping my wine glass close to my chest. “What?”
“You’ll be the only coffee shop around for miles. And I mean many miles.”
I take a sip of my wine, stalling for what to say next. Do I really want to move? Or even open another shop? “I don’t know, Lennon. I feel like I’ve got this life here.”
“You could commute. It’s not that far. Or you could live above the shop in a little apartment. It’s really nice.”
“What about Harrison?” I ask, not wanting to leave him behind.
“I don’t know what the right answer is for you, but if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen.” Lennon smiles at me, and I try to feel better about this whole situation.
I really want to be with Harrison. More than anything. But I’m so darn scared of everything that entails. Can I trust another man again?
“Thank you,” I tell Lennon. I know I need to talk to him. Lennon grabs her things to head off to work, and I walk her out.
After a few more minutes of feeling sorry for myself, I grab my bag to leave. I need to talk with Harrison. Is he feeling the same way I am?
Is he serious about me?
I make my way downtown, past his shop, and then I head to his house. I know he’s off work today, and I need to see him.
I rush up the front steps of his home and knock on the door. When it opens, I’m shocked because it’s not Harrison I see standing there.
Instead, there’s a woman with short brown hair and big brown eyes staring back at me.
“Oh, hello. Is Harrison here?” I ask her, trying to peek behind her into the house to see if I see him there.
She blocks the door and steps out onto the front porch, closing the front door behind her. “I’m sorry, but Harrison is indisposed at the moment. Who are you?” The bitchiness shining through her tone isn’t something I’m making up. I’m sure of it.
“Who are you?” I ask her, not trying to be polite anymore.
“I’m his girlfriend Hilary. And you are?” She holds out her hand, batting her eyelashes like she’s so innocent.
I’m not buying it. “I thought you two broke up?” I ask her, my tone on fire.
She stares at me like I’ve grown another head. “No, we did. But it was because I didn’t want to move to this small town. I’ve changed my mind, and now I’ve moved here.”
“I want to talk to Harrison.” I need to hear this from his mouth, but before she can tell me where he is, I feel the bile rising from my gut.
I’m going to be sick.
This is all too familiar. Just like with Drake and Stella.
I don’t want to play these games anymore. I step away from Hilary and rush back down the street, tears forming, threatening to break free.
I will not cry.
I will not fall victim to another man using me and discarding me once it suits him.
My phone dings from my purse, and I dig through to find it.
“Hey,” Lennon says through FaceTime. “Oh no, what’s wrong?”
I stop walking. “Do I look that bad?”
“You look upset. What’s wrong?”
“Tell your cousin I want to do it.” I don’t want to go into all the news about Harrison and his ex-girlfriend, or current girlfriend. “I want to focus on what I can handle. Or else I’ll completely fall apart.”