Chapter 15
Something was wrong.
Pippa could feel it in her gut.
As she watched Rob hurry off, all she could think about was that he was trying to put distance between them, both literally and figuratively. What did he mean when he said he wanted more? Wasn’t she enough?
Her heart hammered erratically, making her hands tremble and her legs feel weak. Rob wanted to break up. That was the only thing that made sense.
She shook out her shaking hands and paced in front of her restaurant. She hadn’t expected to see him in town. He was supposed to be working.
Now she felt sick to her stomach, and she didn’t know what to do.
Was there a way to circumvent what he was going to tell her? If he wanted something more out of his life here, then she could help make that happen. Couldn’t she?
She swallowed back the anxiety that threatened to implode within her. Until he actually said anything to her, she wouldn’t overreact. Pippa had a good head on her shoulders. She’d always been able to look at things logically. There had to be something causing Rob to act this way and she simply had to figure out what it was.
In the restaurant, she pulled some dough out of the fridge for the breadsticks they needed tomorrow. She slapped the dough on the counter and rolled it out with harsh movements. While she worked, she went over everything Rob had said to her before he disappeared. There was no evidence that he had lied to her about being busy. Clearly, the phone call was work-related.
The more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t help but go back to what Rob was like when they were younger. He’d wanted freedom, to be able to do what he wanted when he wanted. Was it possible he’d reverted back to that preference?
Rob’s presence here in town was because he wanted to get out from his father’s shadow. Sweet Bloom could very well have been a stepping stone to finding himself.
Her stomach dropped. That made perfect sense. Rob wanted more out of life because he felt stuck.
Stuck at the ranch.
Stuck with her.
Pippa fought the surge of emotion. It wasn’t bad to be stuck somewhere. She loved living here. Maybe all he needed was a way to feel important. Her frustration grew the more she thought about it. If that was what Rob was dealing with, then he was behaving selfishly.
She rolled out the dough and placed it on the tray for proofing.
“You… okay?”
Her head snapped up to find the hostess hovering a few feet away. Pippa blinked. “Of course. What did you need?”
The hostess gave her dough a pointed look. “It’s just that I didn’t think the dough did anything to deserve to be treated like that.”
Pippa looked down once more at her dough and let out an embarrassed laugh. “The dough is fine. It still has plenty of time to rise. It’s a fail-proof recipe.”
“Okay,” she drawled, “but you might want to take it easy. No one likes dense breadsticks.” She picked up a stack of menus that had been cleaned and were waiting to be taken out to the restaurant.
A sigh burst from between Pippa’s lips and she turned her back to lean against the counter. The hostess was right. She shouldn’t be working if she was going to take her frustration out on the food.
She needed to get some air. There was too much going on right now between the approaching holidays, her business, and the issues with Rob. She put everything away and got in her car with the intention of driving home, only she ended up passing her building and driving toward Luke’s house.
It wasn’t until she was knocking on the door that she realized what had drawn her here in the first place. Allie opened the door, a confused smile on her face.
“Pippa? What are you doing here?”
Everything that had been overwhelming Pippa all morning crashed down on her, and it was all she could do to keep from bursting into tears. “Can we go for a walk?”
Allie glanced over her shoulder and nodded. “Of course.”
“I’m sorry, were you busy? I don’t want to take you away?—”
“Nonsense.” Her friend dismissed her with a wave of her hand. “What are best friends for?” She moved out of the house and shut the door behind her.
Pippa released a sad-sounding laugh. “Lately it feels like we haven’t been able to talk about much.”
“I know, right?” Allie nodded as they headed down the porch steps. “It’s crazy how life can sweep us up, chew us to bits, and spit us out.” She glanced at Pippa with concern. “You gonna tell me what’s going on? Or do I have to guess? Because I’m not the best at that and you know it.”
Pippa couldn’t bring herself to smile. She gnawed on the inside of her cheek as she tried to find the words for what she was dealing with. “I’m probably being overdramatic. I don’t even know why I’m dragging you into it.”
“You’re not dragging me into anything. You’ve always been there for me when I needed help. I’m happy to give you advice when you ask for it. I’m also here if you want to vent. Whatever it is, lay it on me.”
Taking in a deep breath, Pippa nodded. “You remember that day we were chatting by the well and I told you about Rob?”
“Sure.”
“We’ve been getting closer.”
Allie stared at her expectantly. There wasn’t even a hint of surprise in her gaze. It wasn’t that Pippa had been hiding the relationship, she’d simply not felt it was important to share with her friends yet. She’d wanted to savor the beginnings of what they had, and now she was left regretting it. Sighing again, Pippa stopped and faced her friend.
“We’ve known each other for what feels like forever. So, it made sense that we gravitated toward one another when he moved here. I thought things were going really well, but now I’m beginning to wonder if he’s losing interest—in Sweet Bloom… and in me.”
Her friend didn’t react immediately. She shifted her gaze away for a moment as if she needed to soak in all this information before she could give any advice. When she returned her focus to Pippa, her expression was more serious than anything else.
“What makes you think he’s losing interest?”
“It’s a lot of things, really. When he moved here, he was struggling with some of his life choices.” That sounded worse than it was. Pippa hurried on to clarify. “He was disappointed in himself for not finishing his degree. I told him he still had time, but he gave excuses. Mostly it was time and money.”
“You think he might be wanting to go back to school?”
Pippa shook her head. “I’m not sure. He doesn’t like talking about that. But today he said something about wanting to change his future. What else could that mean? He just got here. Surely, he wouldn’t be referring to moving already.”
Allie tapped her chin with her finger. “I’d say go with your gut. If you think he’s still interested in getting his degree, maybe that’s all it is. I wouldn’t say he’s not interested in you anymore. I’d say he’s still coming to terms with what he wants.”
“Maybe,” Pippa said. “Do you think him bringing it up again means he’s willing to hear my input?”
“I don’t see why not. Is there anything you can offer? Or is this one of those ‘just let me vent’ situations? I bet you anything that he’s trying to figure out how to tell you where he wants to go next in his life. Remember, he”s made a big change and that can put anyone off kilter.”
She could be right. Rob might have figured out a way to get back in school. When she’d seen him earlier, she’d thought he was hiding something. But it was possible he was embarrassed about how he’d responded to their last conversation about his future. Now that he had it all figured out, maybe he didn’t know how to tell her without it getting awkward.
Pippa nodded. “That’s possible. He’s changed a lot over the years. He’s settled down, grown up a little more.” She smiled. “I’m definitely overthinking things. If he’s ready to go back to school and he wants my input, I might be able to help him out more than I initially thought. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I might have a solution to what he’s worried about.”
Allie returned the smile and nudged Pippa with her hand. “See? Things have a way of working themselves out. Sometimes we have to give ourselves the chance to explore all the possibilities.” Her expression shifted to something more energetic. “Hey, your mom is going to be in town a few days before Christmas. We were all thinking about going to Santa’s Village in town. Molly has been begging us to take her and we keep putting it off. You should bring Rob.”
“I bet he’d like that.” Pippa’s phone buzzed and she pulled it out. Rob’s name populated the screen. “It’s him. I’m going to give him a call back. I’ll talk with you later, okay?”
Allie grinned. “Sounds good! I’ll tell Luke you’re on board with the visit to town.”
Pippa headed to her car and climbed in. Rather than call Rob, she opened her messages app and read his text.
Rob:All done for today. Meet at your place?
She grinned.Thankfully, Allie had talked her off the ledge. Rob didn’t sound like he was upset, though that was hard to gauge through messaging. Even still, it had been nice to work through everything before seeing him. Now she wouldn’t make a fool of herself.
Pippa:See you in ten.
She pulledup to her place and Rob’s truck was already there. The whole way home, she’d grown increasingly excited. The restaurant was doing well and she had the money to offer to Rob if he needed help financially. If that was the path he was interested in taking, she wanted to be the one he could turn to.
The second she climbed out of her car, she headed for his truck. He climbed out with a smile and gave her a quick kiss. “You’re a sight for sore?—”
“I think I already know what this is about.”
His brows shot up and it almost looked like he’d been cornered doing something he shouldn’t. “You do?”
She nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it all day, from the moment I saw you in town to this minute. And I have to say, it’s a wonderful idea.”
Rob took off his hat and held it in one hand. “You do?” he repeated, his voice raspy.
Pippa laughed. “I know you better than you think I do. I’m pretty good at these things. But it wasn’t hard. You were acting kinda funny. I could tell you weren’t sure you wanted to talk about it. But I figured it out, and I want you to know I’m happy to help.”
His brows lowered and the crease between them grew more defined. “You want to… help…” he said.
“Absolutely. I have the money. And I know it was something you were worried about. The best part is you wouldn’t have to pay it back.”
He took a step back. “What are you talking about?”