by Lila Kane
Inside, Jillian instructed the caterers and adjusted flowers on the tables. Poppy walked by, giving him an apologetic look.
“I’m sorry about the mess.”
He shrugged again.
“Really, Beckett,” she said. “I didn’t want any of this to happen. You guys are great for each other and I ruined it.”
“No, you didn’t,” he said. “It’s a misunderstanding.”
“And you’re caught in the middle.”
“Isn’t that where I should be?” He fiddled with a vase on the edge of the table. “It was my choice to pursue this and it’s my life.”
She dipped her head with a nod. “You’re right. I just…I feel bad.”
“There’s nothing you can do about it right now,” Jillian said, breezing by and taking the vase from Beckett’s hands. “We have to do our jobs.”
“There is something I can do,” Poppy said. “Talk to her.”
Jillian shook her head. “Bad idea. You know Anna likes her space.”
Poppy frowned. “She’s had enough space. I’ve been waiting for weeks for her to talk with me, giving her space like she said she wanted, and she hasn’t said a word. It’s time for an intervention.”
“I think you’ve done enough,” Beckett said, but it didn’t get through to Poppy.
“I’m doing this. And you’re going to help me.”
Jillian closed her eyes briefly. “Please don’t mess up this wedding. Do your intervention somewhere else, and keep quiet about it.”
“I’m not getting involved in this,” Beckett said. “No more conspiring, no more secrets. If Anna wants to talk to me, she will.”
Poppy nudged him with her elbow. “You just leave that to me.”
He watched her walk away with a brick in the pit of his stomach. “Someone needs to lock her up.”
Jillian smirked. “Maybe this time she’ll actually fix things.”
Beckett tried to be reassured by that, but it didn’t help. Especially not when he saw Anna enter the barn through the back. She wore a long dress the color of emeralds, and her hair was twisted up high in a bun at the top of her head.
His throat dried. She looked so good—and so worn down. He just wanted to go to her and fold her against him and fix it for her.
But Anna wouldn’t want that. She wanted to deal with everything herself, so this once, he’d let her.
Her gaze swept in his direction but just as their eyes met, she looked away.
Screw it. He had work to do.
{}{}{}
The cake was extravagant. Three tiers with elaborate swirls and loops done in pink. Crystals hung from each loop, making it sparkle, and she’d added edible shimmer to the entire thing.
This cake had saved her. It had given her something to focus on these past several days. Without the cake, she probably would have gone crazy.
Every time she went to call Beckett or talk to him, she stopped herself. If he wanted to talk to her, he would have called. He would have stopped by. He wouldn’t be avoiding her.
She checked the cake one more time before Jillian arrived in the kitchen, holding her tablet and nodding. She spoke into an earpiece connected to an attendant at the entrance to the barn and Summer in the back house where the bride was touching up her makeup.
“Twenty minutes until they cut the cake,” Jillian said to her, looking it over with a smile. “It looks really good, Anna. Eli got pictures?”
Anna nodded, adding another stack of plates to the counter.
“Leah’s still here, right?” Jillian asked.
Anna glanced up. “Sure. We don’t really need her, but she said she’d stay and help when we cut the cake.”
“Good.” Jillian looked at her tablet and then murmured, “I can’t believe I’m going to do this.”
“What?”
Jillian flashed her a smile, though it looked forced. “Nothing.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.” Then she frowned and pulled the earpiece from her ear. “That’s strange. It stopped working.”
“Your earpiece?”
“Having problems all night.” Jillian smiled at her, clearly unruffled. “Do you think you could go get Summer for me since I can’t call her on this thing?”
Anna checked her watch. She had time. They were covered. “Okay. Sure.” She wiped her hands on a towel and turned for the back house. “I’ll be back.”
“Thanks.”
Anna strolled through the short hallway, breathing in the outside air from the open windows. It was still warm, with a soft breeze blowing. She could see the moon low in the sky, full and glowing gold. She took another slow breath and felt the stress sliding from her shoulders.
Now that she’d settled things with Tom and figured out France, she should feel better. She had a purpose. But nothing was settled with Beckett and that still weighed heavily on her.
The guesthouse was quiet. Anna stepped in, confused. Hadn’t Jillian said Summer was in here? Maybe they’d already left.
Just to be sure, she walked back to the dressing room, reaching to retrieve a ribbon someone had dropped on the ground. “Summer?”
All the lights were on, but she didn’t hear anything. She stepped into the dressing room and slapped a hand to her chest when she saw Poppy.
“What the hell, Poppy? What are you doing here?”
Poppy hurried to the door and shut it, leaning against it like she was guarding the exit.
“What are you doing?” Anna asked.
“An intervention.”
“A—what?”
Poppy waved her hands in the air like she was erasing her words. “Okay, not an intervention, but I need to talk to you and this was the only way I could do it.”
“We’re in the middle of the wedding and—” Anna broke off, her eyes wide. “You got Jillian to help you! Damn it, Poppy.”
“I wanted to talk to you and this way you can’t run away.”
“I haven’t been running away from you—”
“Bad choice of words.”
“You’ve been keeping your distance just as much as I have.”
“I know.” Poppy nodded, her face going serious. “Trust me. I thought—you know, first I thought I was giving you space and then…”
Anna checked her watch. “The cake, Poppy. We don’t have time for this.”
“Leah is helping with the cake and they don’t need me in there right now.”
“Seriously? Right in the middle of a wedding? A big wedding?”
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” Poppy burst out. “Please, this is killing me. We used to talk every day. Several times a day. Now we act like we barely know each other.”
Anna sank into the chair at the vanity, twisting the ribbon through her fingers. “I don’t want to do this anymore either.”
“So I can stop blocking the door?” Poppy asked, hopeful.
Anna released a low laugh and nodded. “Yes, you can stop blocking the door. I’m not going to try to escape.”
“Good. Because my feet are killing me.” Poppy dropped into the nearest chair.
“That’s why I always tell you not to wear those shoes.”
“But they’re so cute. It’s worth the pain.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “If you say so.”
“Seriously, though, I don’t want us to fight anymore. Or ignore each other or whatever it is we’re doing. I was…” She stared at her shoes before looking at Anna again. “I was surprised you were seriously thinking of going to France and I—I didn’t want you to go. I said things I shouldn’t have.”
“And I should have talked to you—or at least brought up the topic. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you, but I’m sure it looked like I was.”
Poppy met her eyes. “Are you going, then? To France?”
Anna nodded.
“Really?”
“Just to visit.” Anna flashed a smile. “I have no idea when, though.”
Poppy got up. “Really? Just a visit
? Not permanent?”
“Not right now. I—”
“Good!” Poppy nearly knocked her over with a hug. “You’re my roommate. You can’t leave. Summer doesn’t understand me like you do and Jillian tries to organize how many times a minute I breathe. I need a little spontaneity in my life.”
Anna chuckled and pressed her cheek into Poppy’s shoulder. “I do, too. Just not secret spontaneity.”
Poppy pulled back, already lifting her hands in explanation. “I swear, it was not how it looked. Beckett is so in love with you and—” Her eyes widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth before saying, “Please tell me I didn’t give anything away. I didn’t—”
“He already told me.”
“He did? Anna, this is huge.”
“I know.”
“What did you say?”
Anna swallowed and looked away. “I didn’t know what to say. I was surprised and confused and conflicted.”
“All that?” Poppy’s eyes narrowed. “Because of Tom, huh? I swear that guy needs a good kick in the balls. What was he thinking?”
“He wasn’t. He just…it doesn’t matter.” They’d resolved it and Tom knew where she stood. She hadn’t heard from him since he came to her apartment except for one brief text saying thanks. “Tom and I settled things. We’re good.”
“I still want to know the whole story, but that’s not why I trapped you in here.”
“I thought you trapped me in here to apologize.”
Poppy wrinkled her nose. “Well, yeah, there is that. But it was also to explain the situation with Beckett. Jillian and I—”
“Jillian too? Poppy, was everyone involved?”
“No. I mean, not directly.” She returned to her seat, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s not Beckett’s fault. All he wanted was advice on how to get closer to you since the timing always seemed off. I mean, there was Tom, obviously, and before that, Lewis—or was it the guy with the Porsche—”
“It was a Corvette, and it was a mistake.”
“But you were with him for eight months and then barely got over him before you got together with Tom, and then after that, we knew you needed time to get over him and…it just wasn’t a good time. Beckett didn’t want to push you—especially since you guys were friends. It was…new territory.”
New territory. Scary territory. Which was exactly why she hadn’t wanted to tell her family.
“Beckett said you told him he was a good friend,” Poppy continued. “On the day, uh, you know the day you were supposed to get married.”
Anna tried to think back. She remembered making the cake on the same day that was supposed to be her wedding day. She remembered her dress and talking with Beckett in the barn. “Shit…I remember. I did. I said he was a good friend. And he kept looking at me weird and he wouldn’t tell me why. That’s why he did this?”
“He didn’t want to be your friend, he wanted something more, but he didn’t know if it was the right time.”
“But he didn’t want to miss his chance,” Anna surmised.
Poppy nodded, her eyes going compassionate. “He loves you, Anna. I’m the one who made it into this big secret plan, but it was really just advice on how he could spend more time with you. Kind of ease you into a relationship. Hopefully.”
Anna’s heart ached, and she stood to pace across the room and back. “How come I never saw it before?”
“You had other things going on.”
“I know, but…”
Poppy stood next to her and took her hand. “There’s nothing you can do about the past. But if you care about him, you guys have a chance.”
Anna swallowed emotion, but it bubbled over anyway.
“No, don’t cry.” Poppy put her arms around Anna. “This isn’t a bad thing. It could be a really good thing.”
“Beckett’s mad at me.”
“No, I don’t think he is. He’s just dealing with things—same as you were. It’ll work out.”
“I need to fix this,” Anna said, easing back and finding a tissue to wipe her eyes.
“I agree. I’ll help.”
Anna looked over. “Really?”
“As long as it doesn’t involve keeping any secrets.”
Anna narrowed her eyes.
Poppy laughed. “Okay, just not keeping them for long.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Beckett hadn’t gone to town for two days. He’d shut off his cell phone yesterday to avoid any calls and when he got up this morning, he decided to keep it off. If anyone truly needed him for something important, they’d leave a message on his home phone. Or stop by.
They didn’t have another event at the barn for a few days and he planned on taking all the peace and quiet while he could get it.
The weather had taken a turn, showering the town with rain for the last three days, leaving the grounds around his house muddy. It suited his mood just fine.
Close to lunchtime, he wandered into the kitchen and heard the phone ring on the way. He didn’t check the caller ID, just let it go straight to the machine. He paused in front of the refrigerator, listening for a message, but the caller hung up.
Part of him kind of hoped it had been Poppy or Eli calling to invite him to dinner at Pearl’s or a family event. Then he remembered how awkward it had been at the last several events, how hard it had been to be around Anna, and he ignored the phone again.
Though he tried to convince himself differently, his house was getting a little lonely. He’d been visiting Anna nearly every day. He’d gotten used to walking into the back door of the bakery and smelling whatever delicious dessert she was making that day. He’d gotten used to seeing her in her apron, usually with flour smudged on her cheek or arm.
Anna.
Beckett yanked open the refrigerator door and browsed. Forget it. Right now he didn’t know how to fix the situation. But damn, they were bigger than this, right? It shouldn’t have to be this hard.
The fridge was nearly empty, and out of what was left, nothing looked appetizing. He could remedy that by a trip into town. Check to see if Anna was available for lunch.
And…that was a shitty idea.
Beckett opened the refrigerator door again, just to see exactly what he’d seen last time. Nothing had changed. And he still didn’t know what he wanted.
The doorbell rang and he checked the time again. Who was here in the middle of the day?
When he saw the silhouette of someone petite just outside the door, he thought for a moment it might be Poppy. Then he got closer and recognized honey blonde hair, and stopped with his hand on the doorknob.
Anna. What was she doing here? Was she the one who had tried to call?
When he opened the door, she gave a nervous smile. Her hair was loose around her face and she had on a pair of dark jeans tucked into tall brown boots. Her hands were snug in the pockets of her navy jacket and earrings dangled at her ears.
Damn, she looked good. Refreshed. Far better than he felt.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Anna said.
Beckett peered out to the drive. “Where’s your van?”
“I walked.”
There was a slight flush to her cheeks, and he opened the screen door, beckoning her inside. “You walked all the way here?”
“No.” She laughed and shook her head. “I mean, I walked from my car. I—it broke down again. I was…just out for a drive and then it sort of…stopped.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, I thought it was fixed. I really should’ve looked at it again.” He forgot all about the awkwardness between them, digging in his pockets in search of his keys.
“It’s fine. The rest of the family is in a meeting, and I tried your phone but no one answered.”
Guilt flickered. That’s what he got for not answering his phone. He’d left her stranded without a working vehicle, and she’d had to walk all the way here from…
“How far away were you?” he asked, noting her slight shiver. He reached out automatically for her han
ds, to warm them up, but then paused. He pulled back, not sure whether to touch her or keep his hands to himself.
“I wasn’t far, just down the road. I was hoping if you had a few minutes, you could take me back. Maybe check the van out. Only if you have time. You don’t—”
“Of course. I’m not doing anything right now.”
She peered toward the kitchen. “Not having lunch?”
“I…” He shook his head. “No. I guess I need to go grocery shopping.”
He opened the coat closet and pulled out his own jacket before turning back to her. “You want to wait for a bit? Warm up some before we head back out?”
“No, it’s fine. I’m not really cold, just…”
Nervous. She was nervous because she didn’t know what to say to him. And she probably wished someone else could have come to get her, but he was the best option.
So much for smoothing things over between them.
He found his keys and opened the door again, walking to the truck. “Which way?”
“Uh…” She glanced over. “You know, kind of by the place we went for the picnic.”
“No problem.”
They got in, and he pulled away from the house, hating the heavy silence between them.
He cleared his throat. “Your cake at the wedding last weekend was amazing.”
“Thanks. It took forever, even with Leah helping. Eli got a picture and Jillian wants to put it in the new brochure.”
“Which means you’ll be making more of the same cake for the next dozen or so weddings.”
She laughed, and the sound made him relax slightly. “Yeah, probably. But I enjoy it.”
Did that mean she wasn’t going to France? That she’d decided to stay here because she loved her job?
When he glanced over, Anna was staring at him. “What?”
She smiled. “Nothing. How have you been?”
He shrugged. Miserable. “Not bad.”
“But not good?”
He glanced over again and looked straight into her eyes. What was she looking for here? Trying to patch up the friendship? Or was it more?
“It’s been a long week,” he conceded.
Anna squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged again, but it took everything he had not to reach out to her. Not to pull over the car and jerk her across the seat to kiss her. To fix this somehow.