by Lila Kane
“Everyone’s too smart for that. Besides, Tom and Catrina aren’t even in love,” Summer said. “Seems like a waste of everyone’s time to me.”
Anna bit her lip, so distracted by Summer’s comment for a moment that she forgot about her own dilemma. “You don’t think they’re in love?”
Summer laughed, walking to the counter to shove some pens back in the holder. “No way. Tom had love with you—or at least something better than what he has with Catrina—and he threw it all away. So many people don’t get that opportunity in life and he gave it up without blinking. They’re both going to be unhappy and it just seems like a waste of a perfectly good wedding.”
Anna choked on a laugh. “Summer.”
“Well, it’s true. There’s so much other shit to deal with in this world, might as well make love count.”
Anna sighed. Make love count. And that brought her right back to Beckett.
“Now that you’ve heard my rant,” Summer said, leaning her elbows on the counter, “you can tell me why you’re here.”
Anna frowned. “How did you know?”
“I can see it on your face.”
“See what?”
“Conflict.”
Anna fiddled with a necklace hanging on a rotating rack at the edge of the counter. “Yes, I’m conflicted. A little. And you’re…impartial.”
“Impartial about what?”
“My love life.”
Summer’s eyes lit with amusement. “I wasn’t aware you had a love life.”
“Screw you. I’m just quiet about my love life is all.”
“All right,” Summer said with a laugh. “Tell me about your love life.”
“You have to remember you believe in all this.”
“All what?” Summer asked.
“This happliy ever after stuff.”
“So do you.”
Anna lifted another necklace to give her hands something to do. “Sometimes I wonder if Tom ruined it for me.”
Summer was silent long enough, Anna looked over at her. “What?”
“You said sometimes,” Summer informed her. “What about the rest of the time? Is there someone else?”
Of course Summer could see it on her face. Summer should have been a matchmaker instead of a store owner. Would she have set Anna up with Beckett?
“There might be…” Anna fumbled with a bracelet this time. Shit. How was she supposed to say this? “Sort of. Maybe someone else.”
“And?”
“And we’re supposed to be just friends, but we sort of…kissed.”
“Kissed?”
“No, he kissed me. And I…”
“Liked it?”
Anna laughed. “Yes. No. I mean, yes, I liked it, but it surprised me.”
“You’re so cute all flustered like that. Middle school romance.”
“God, you’re right. That’s exactly what it sounds like.” Although, she wasn’t thinking about Beckett in a middle school way at all. And their kiss hadn’t been a middle school kiss. Hands and mouths and heat. She could have spent the rest of the afternoon in his arms.
“You’re going to tell me who it is, right?” Summer asked. “Otherwise I can’t give you my opinion.”
Anna shifted on her feet, cheeks flaming.
“Just say it,” Summer told her. “Or I’m going to think it’s…Buster.”
“Buster? The flower delivery guy? He’s at least sixty—no, probably more like seventy. And isn’t he married anyway?”
With a laugh, Summer came around the counter and calmly took the necklace Anna was holding to return it to the rack. “It’s Beckett, isn’t it?”
“What?” Anna’s mouth dropped open. “How did you know?”
“I’ve seen how he looks at you.”
“What?” she said again, mind whirling. “He doesn’t look at me in any way. I thought—no, he doesn’t look at me—”
“Yes, he does.”
This wasn’t right. Anna was the one who’d started to have feelings for him. She was the one who had imagined their friendship as something else.
“Don’t look so surprised,” Summer said.
“But…”
“But what?”
“I thought it was just me, that I was the one who wanted something more. And—I don’t know, he kissed me, but I thought it was just because of the rain and because he’s been spending so much time around me lately.”
“Why do you think he’s been spending so much time around you lately?”
“Not because—” Anna’s eyes flashed to Summer, who started laughing. “You think that’s why he’s been everywhere lately? God, you’re right. This is middle school. And I’m completely clueless.” Anna huffed. “Why didn’t you say anything to me? Am I the only one who didn’t know about this?”
“Does it matter?” Summer soothed. “You should focus on what happened and go from there.”
Her stomach dipped. “How am I supposed to go from there? It’s Beckett. And no one else knows, so it’s been hard to be around him. I’m kind of avoiding him a little.”
“What? Why?”
Anna frowned, reaching for the necklace again, unable to stay still. “Because,” she mumbled, “I don’t want it to be weird. He’s like family. And I don’t want to ruin what we already have.”
Summer’s eyes twinkled with understanding. “How do you know if you don’t try?”
Anna didn’t answer.
Summer ran her hand down Anna’s hair, just like her mom might have done. “I understand. It’s Tom’s fault, but I understand.”
Anna let out a quiet laugh. “I’m messed up. That’s the problem. Am I destined to think every guy is going to walk out on me? I mean, Beckett—”
“Isn’t like that,” Summer finished for her. “You should talk to him. If this is what you want, talk to him. Take a chance.”
Anna groaned, pressing her hands over her face. “What is my problem? He kissed me, like really kissed me—”
“Was he smooth about it?” Summer asked, clearly wanting details.
“God, you don’t even know. You probably don’t want to know if you think about Beckett like we’re supposed to think about Beckett.”
“As family?”
“Yes.” But then she couldn’t stop feeling his mouth on hers, the warmth of his hands.
“But you’re not thinking about him like family now, right?”
“No. No way.”
“Is that what you want?”
Anna rubbed her hands over her face, then chuckled. “It’s like you’re my therapist.”
“And how does that make you feel?”
She laughed, nudging Summer with her arm. “This whole thing makes me feel weird. It’s exactly what I wanted, for Beckett to kiss me. And now I’m avoiding him.”
“If that’s what you wanted and it’s clearly what he wanted, then why not go for it?”
“You don’t think it’s strange?” Anna asked. “It’s Beckett. Beckett, Summer. He put worms in my lunch box when I was a kid.”
“That’s sweet.”
She snorted. “It was disgusting.”
“Sure, but it just shows how long he’s been trying to get your attention. And now he has it. Right?” Summer put her arm around Anna’s shoulders. “I say go for it.”
“Really?”
“Like, right now.”
“What?”
Summer pointed, and Anna looked out the window to see Beckett across the street at the flower shop. He was helping Poppy hang new baskets of colorful pansies on the hooks in front of the building.
Her heart stuttered. “I should talk to him,” she whispered.
“Then do it.”
“It’s not as simple as that.”
Summer tilted her head as if to say, What’s so complicated about it?
“Come on.” Summer nudged her toward the door. “Don’t put it off, you’ll just convince yourself you shouldn’t talk to him and that’s a bad idea.”
�
�A bad idea,” Anna repeated, her feet moving automatically toward the door.
“Right.”
Anna drew in a long breath and nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Summer.”
“Of course. Come back later and I’ll show you this new top I think you’ll like.”
But Anna barely heard her before she stepped out of the shop. Across the street, Beckett said something to Poppy. She nodded her head before they both went inside.
Maybe he was talking to her about Anna. Telling Poppy all about their kiss and how Anna was avoiding him now. And why? Because she couldn’t handle it?
That wasn’t fair to Beckett. And she realized, she could handle it. If Beckett could, she could.
She crossed the street between the traffic and had almost reached the flower shop when she heard someone call her name.
As she turned and saw who it was, her feet cemented to the sidewalk.
Tom.
{}{}{}
“Hi, Anna.”
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to stay calm even though her hands wanted to shake. It was a confrontation—one she hadn’t had with Tom since she found out he was cheating.
In fact, she’d never really confronted him about that. Just walked out on him and never looked back.
She focused on the man in front of her. He hadn’t deserved any more of her time. So what was he doing here now? Again?
“Isn’t your meeting next week?” she asked.
He nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. His eyes were covered by designer glasses, and she couldn’t tell what was going on in them. She used to think she was so good at reading his moods, but now she had no idea. Once she’d found out he was cheating, she didn’t want to trust anything about him.
“Then what are you doing here today?”
He sighed. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. Unless you need to discuss the wedding cake—and then you’ll need to make an appointment because I’m in the middle of something right now.”
Mostly true. She was on her way to talk to Beckett. More than ever right now, she wanted to talk to Beckett.
“Come on,” Tom coaxed. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“What doesn’t have to be like this?”
“Us.”
She gritted her teeth and forced another calming breath. “There is no us.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t. We have a professional relationship now. In fact, not even that because you’re working with Jillian. I’m sure she’ll be happy to discuss any concerns with you at your designated appointment time.”
Tom’s jaw shifted. “It’s not about the wedding.”
Her breath hissed in. “I really need to go.”
“Please, Anna. Let’s get coffee or something. Let’s talk about what happened.”
“What happened was that you cheated on me and lied about it. Clearly, I’m not the type of person who marries a cheater. Nothing else to say.”
“But—”
He stopped what he was saying when the door to the flower shop opened and Poppy and Beckett stepped out.
“Hey,” Poppy said, stepping closer to Anna. “Everything okay?”
“Sure.” Tom flashed her a smile. “It’s fine.”
But Anna’s hands shook. Half of her wanted to run away and the other half to scream at him. No, things weren’t fine. Even worse that Tom and this whole situation could still get under her skin.
Beckett’s eyes skimmed her face and then moved to Tom. “You’d probably better be on your way.”
Tom glanced at him, flashing a cocky grin. “We were just having a conversation. None of your business.”
“No,” Anna said. “Our conversation is over.”
“You heard her,” Beckett said. “Your conversation is over.”
Poppy put her arm around Anna’s shoulders. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”
Tom held up his hands. “Hey, didn’t mean to cause any problems.”
“Go,” Beckett said to Tom, surprising Anna.
She walked inside with Poppy and Beckett followed shortly after, shaking his head.
“I’m sorry,” Anna said. “You didn’t—you don’t have to get involved—”
“What was he doing here?” Poppy asked.
Anna frowned, crossing her arms. “He said he wanted to talk.”
“About what?”
“Nothing. He just—” Anna shook her head. She had no idea what that was about. All she knew was that she wanted nothing to do with Tom.
“If he keeps bothering you, let me know,” Beckett said.
His hand clenched at his side like he was trying not to reach out to her. Of course he was. She’d been keeping her distance the whole week. He probably thought she didn’t want to have anything to do with him.
“Thank you, Beckett.”
He gave a curt nod and turned for the door. “I have some stuff I need to do. I’ll see you all for the Fourth.”
The briskness of his words lanced out at her. Before she could open her mouth to say something—anything—Beckett was gone.
Chapter Ten
Beckett drove home from the grocery store with a car full of items for the Independence Day party tomorrow, though he was tempted to cancel it. Partying wasn’t on his mind. Anna was. Like usual.
He’d cracked a little yesterday when he’d seen her with Tom. He wanted to stand up for her, to comfort her, but he couldn’t. Not when her family didn’t know about them and she wouldn’t let him say anything. It was a secret on top of another secret.
When he pulled in the drive and saw her van parked in front of the house, his hands clenched on the wheel. The pies. That’s right. She was supposed to be here helping him bake the pies. But part of him had expected her to bail.
Beckett pulled around the back near the kitchen entrance and hopped out. Anna met him at his truck.
“Hey,” she said, shielding her eyes from the sun that sank close to the mountains.
“Hey.” Damn. She looked good. Simple pair of skinny jeans and a tank that showed off her tan arms. “You been here long?”
“It would have been longer but it took ten minutes to get my car started.”
He frowned. “We’re going to have to get that fixed for you.” And then he remembered himself and shrugged. “Or, you know, get it into the mechanic.”
Which didn’t make sense since he could fix it himself, but she didn’t seem to want his help.
To his surprise, her lips twitched. “Yeah, I need to take care of that.”
He started hauling bags out of the back of the truck.
“Let me help,” Anna offered.
He went to protest, but she was already reaching in for bags, lugging them toward the house. He followed her, trying to keep his eyes from her long legs or her ass. But the jeans made it hard. And so did his teenager brain again. It would be so easy to catch up to her, to reach out and pull her into his arms.
And then what? She’d just avoid him again.
“Did you get the ingredients for the dessert?” Anna asked, depositing her bags on the counter.
He nodded, setting his bags next to hers.
She shook her head. “Sorry, that’s not why I’m here.”
“To help with the dessert?”
She laughed, twisting her hands together. “Maybe we should get the rest of the bags before the food gets warm.”
And she was off again. He trailed behind her, growing more amused than impatient. She was nervous. But he could read her well enough to know it wasn’t something bad.
She passed him with several more bags, flashing a smile on the way. He grinned back and hauled the rest of the bags inside. Couldn’t stay in a bad mood for long with Anna here looking so uncomfortable it was cute.
She made herself at home in his kitchen, pulling items out of the bags and putting them away. And he had to think, once again, how good she looked in here. He could picture days like this, whe
re they worked side by side, or enjoyed a glass of wine on the front porch in the evenings.
He could picture more, too.
Beckett passed her condiments and she loaded them into the refrigerator before turning and blurting, “I’m sorry.”
“What for? I hate unloading groceries and you just did it for me.”
Her breath came out in a half-laugh. “I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“Beckett.” She twisted her hands together again. “I meant about this week. About…not talking to you. Being distant. And Tom.”
It seemed natural to shrug it off because she looked so uncomfortable, but he chose to let her continue. He needed to know.
“Uh…” She brushed a lock of hair off her cheek, distracting him. “This is hard.”
He took a step closer to her, making her chin come up. “Just talk to me, Anna. You could always do it before.”
Her eyes locked on his. “Because that was always about my family or work or Tom. Sorry, I should not be talking about Tom—”
“Has he bothered you again?”
She blinked. “No.”
Beckett scrubbed a hand across his jaw, frustrated with Tom and the situation, and more. “Doesn’t seem like he wants to take no for an answer. You’ll tell me if he bothers you again, right?”
“So you can chase him off?”
He curled his fingers around hers, bowing his head. “I’m serious.”
“I know. Sorry. I’ll tell you if he comes around again. He said—”
When she didn’t continue, he pressed it further. “What did he say?”
Anna sighed. “Really, Beckett, I didn’t come here to talk about Tom. I want to talk about us.”
“Us?”
“You know what I mean.”
He grinned at her, trying to forget Tom and focus on them. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t want you to think I was avoiding you.”
“But you were, weren’t you?”
“Beckett,” she breathed. And to his surprise, she leaned forward, resting her forehead against his chest. “Yes, I was. But it wasn’t because of you.”
He put his arms around her, even though it was against his better judgement. The more time he spent with Anna, the more he wanted to be with her. But he couldn’t keep pushing. She needed to meet him halfway.