Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Raven
I had eaten dinner with the Montgomerys before. Multiple times while growing up. I even had dinner with Aria recently. But I hadn’t had dinner with all of Sebastian’s family as an adult.
It was awkward, and we hadn’t even sat down to eat a bite yet.
“I so am loving your café, Raven,” Tabby said with a smile.
I loved Tabby Montgomery. She was a kind woman, an organizer at heart just like I was, and got shit done. She kept the construction arm of Montgomery, Inc. together. Without her at the helm, I wasn’t sure all of the businesses that the Montgomerys owned would be as connected and fruitful as they were. In fact, it was thanks to Tabby and Hailey working together that I even had this café with Greer.
“I’m just glad that you guys came. In fact, all of you have really helped out so much. I just hope that the place continues to at least have some business once the Montgomerys aren’t the only customers.”
Alex Montgomery, Sebastian’s dad, rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty sure that the Montgomerys weren’t your only customers. And anyone on this side of town now knows of a place to go. We’ve always had little cafés to stop by, but we like our pastries and our coffee.”
“Just not as much as our cheese,” Gus said.
Gus and his twin sister Dara were Sebastian and Aria’s younger siblings. I wasn’t sure how Alex and Tabby had been able to raise two sets of twins. I was an only child, but I could see the way the Montgomerys had worked as a unit with their children. Each family was different, and yet they were all there for each other. It was such a contrast when compared with how Marley’s parents were. They were strict, unyielding, and it had taken every sweet word of mine and Marley’s to even get Marley out of the house. Sebastian hadn’t been part of that. Things were easier when Sebastian didn’t come to Marley’s house. Oh, they knew that Sebastian was part of our three musketeers, and later Sebastian and Marley were dating, but they hadn’t liked it.
I don’t know if I would’ve really relished the fact that my teenage daughter had gotten pregnant either, but I wouldn’t have treated Marley and Sebastian that way. My parents were kind, but a little older, so they hadn’t hung out with the Montgomerys much. They could have, as Sebastian’s family would’ve always let them in, but they are a little more introverted. They were a major reason why I had moved back.
“I forgot about the cheese thing,” I said after a moment, sipping my sparkling water.
I noticed that even though Sebastian, Aria, and I were over twenty-one, none of us were drinking. Then I remembered that there hadn’t ever been alcohol in Sebastian’s house. Alex Montgomery was a recovering alcoholic, and the kindest man I knew. He was open about it, and when we were teenagers and had snuck light beer—that was practically water—from a friend’s older brother, he sat us down and explained about his past. I knew it wasn’t all of it, because it wasn’t my right to know, but he said that it was his job, as the father and uncle of so many members of the next generation, to make sure that we knew how to be responsible.
I had fallen a little bit in love with Sebastian’s dad that day. Mostly because he was always kind to us, and the sweetest man imaginable.
“I can’t believe you forgot about the cheese thing,” Aria said with an eye roll. She nudged my arm, and I grinned.
“What? Not everybody needs cheese with every meal.”
“Sacrilege,” Dara said with a tease. Gus and Dara were around twenty now if I did my math right. Although I never could keep track of all of the siblings and cousins that were in their lives.
“We don’t eat cheese with every meal. Plus, some of us have dairy allergies.”
I turned to Sebastian, wide-eyed. “Really?”
He nodded. “I have to take a pill in order for me to enjoy cheese. I have no idea how that happened, but I feel like that’s a sign of old age.”
He grinned as he said it, and our gazes met, both of us swallowing hard and then looking away. I had to hope nobody noticed that because everybody was talking all at once about cheese and old age. But I didn’t think that Aria had missed it.
I could not look at Sebastian that way. We were just friends, or we had been friends. Now we were strangers with this odd past between us I didn’t want to think about.
I did not like Sebastian that way. I couldn’t. I had stepped back in middle school the moment that Marley smiled at him like that and I found out she had had a crush on him too. Because Marley was sweet and quiet and if I had been in the way she would’ve walked away and let me have him. Even that thought made me laugh because Sebastian had never looked at me twice. Not until the mudroom, and I was blaming the paint fumes.
Because there was no way Sebastian would be attracted to me.
“You’ll notice that we do not have cheese at this meal,” Tabby said primly, and I laughed.
“It’s true. No cheese. Mostly because I’m pretty sure we’ll have it tomorrow. It’s not great for our cholesterol to indulge every day,” Alex Montgomery said with a wink.
“Well, that’s good. But now I’m craving it.”
“See? One day you’ll be just thinking about something normal, the next day you’re face first into a head of cheese,” Gus said with a laugh. “One of us, one of us.”
I smiled.
As they all started discussing various family events coming up, I wanted to leave. I wanted to leave the moment that they had shown up and everything felt awkward. Because nothing had happened. Nothing was going to happen.
I didn’t want this connection. I could not.
Because I was not one of them. Marley should have been one of them. It had been five years since she had died. Five years since Nora had come into our lives, and I had lost my best friend.
Maybe I had begun to lose her long before that because I had walked away, but there were reasons. Reasons that didn’t make any sense anymore. Reasons that made me feel selfish because I just wanted to be out of their shadow. Just be myself. Just to find myself.
Now I was back, and my parents needed me, and I had a job and friends and things were working out.
And all I could do was feel the heat of Sebastian beside me and the press of his leg against mine.
How could anyone miss this? This awkwardness?
I was doing everything wrong, and I needed to leave. But if I did, it would make it worse.
I ignored it as best I could and listened to Aria as she talked about her new job, and I answered questions about the café. I told them about pastry school and everything, while all I wanted to do was move my leg away. Sebastian’s leg was just so damn big. Thick and muscled and I needed to stop thinking about him.
Maybe trying water again would help, so I took a big gulp.
“Okay, does it really take that many turns or whatever to make a croissant?” Dara asked, and I nodded, setting my glass down quickly. It sloshed over the floor, and I cursed, but then Sebastian was there, drying my hand. I pulled away as if he had burned me, and our gazes met.
I swallowed hard and he just raised a brow, that pierced brow, and I wanted to reach out and slap him upside the head. Or kiss him.
No, that would be bad. Oh, so bad. What was wrong with me? I had never had this problem before. I was always good at holding back this reaction.
Maybe I was just too tired. After all, we had been really stressed out recently, and I hadn’t had much sleep. Yes, that must be it.
“You okay?”
“Sorry, just tired.”
“Oh no, you must work baker’s hours, and we’ve been keeping you. I’m sorry,” Tabby said gently.
I shook my head, even though I had literally just thought that I wasn’t sleeping enough.
“No, really, I’m a dork. But I am much better at baking. And yes, you want to laminate the layers with any pastry like that, so you have to fold the dough over butter.”
“Oh, I watch Bake Off. I know,” Dara said with a sage nod.
I laughed. “Okay then.”
“So why did you ask?” Gus asked, rolling his eyes at his twin.
“Now I want a croissant,” Aria said with a happy sigh.
“Well, you are speaking to the right person. And yes, there’ll be fresh croissants in the morning at the café.”
“Look at you, making business.”
“Like I’m going to make you pay.”
“Damn straight you’re going to make her pay,” Gus growled.
He sounded so much like his brother then that I blinked.
“We Montgomerys each pay our own way. We don’t take handouts,” Sebastian said quietly from my side.
I swallowed awkwardly. “I know. I was just teasing. Of course, I’m going to make Aria pay. And double just because she annoys me.” I tried to make light of it, as Aria laughed and the others joined in. But something looked off with Sebastian, and I didn’t know what it was.
Or maybe I did, and I didn’t want to think about it.
“Hey, Sebastian? I brought a few things for Nora. Is it okay if I just put them in her room?” Aria asked helpfully.
Everybody froze, as if the reason for Nora’s absence wasn’t why they were all there. Of course, they were there to comfort Sebastian on the weekend that he didn’t have his daughter.
Just like I was. Though I still didn’t know how that had all come about.
“What did you get her? You know I don’t want to spoil her.”
Aria rolled her eyes in the way of sisters. “I’m her favorite auntie, of course I’m going to spoil her.”
“Excuse me, I’m literally sitting right here,” Dara said quickly.
“And I’m Sebastian’s twin. I’m sorry, that’s just the way things are.”
The girls begin to play fight, and I knew it was to keep Sebastian’s mind off Nora’s absence, but all I could do was look at him, and wonder what the hell I was supposed to say. And why I was even there. I shouldn’t be. I should be long gone, not part of this.
“You know, I do work baker’s hours, so I should be going. But thank you for dinner. Seriously. I was just going to heat up some leftovers, if I even have leftovers in the fridge.”
“I bet you always have baked goods though,” Alex put in.
I smiled. “If I’m not testing out something, then you know there’s something wrong. So yes,” I said as I looked over at Sebastian. “Any time you need baked goods, come on over.” It was only after I said the words that I realized it sounded like a come-on. Or maybe I was looking too deep into it.
I really needed to go.
I pushed back my chair and stood up quickly. “Thank you, seriously. I can cook okay, but I’m a better baker. And this was all amazing.”
“It’s just good to see you,” Tabby said as she stood up and hugged me. I hugged her right back, that familiar feeling making me want to cry for some reason.
“It’s good to see all of you.”
“Sebastian, walk her to her house,” Tabby ordered, and Sebastian pushed back from the table without saying a word.
Alarmed, I waved them off. “I live next door. It’s still somewhat daylight out. I’m fine. I walked over here on my own, I can leave on my own.”
Although I hadn’t really wanted to mention the fact that I had been here alone with Sebastian. It shouldn’t matter. We were just friends. I was not Marley.
At that thought, ice-cold water slid through my veins.
Tabby just stared at me, and then back at her son.
And I knew whatever I said wasn’t going to matter. They weren’t going to let me walk home alone.
They all began to clean up.
“Come on,” Sebastian said gruffly, and I swallowed hard and grabbed my phone. I hadn’t even brought my bag over. It was lucky that I had even locked the door on my way out and that was the only reason I had my keys.
“I’m really okay,” I said as we walked side by side through his backyard to mine. Our backyards were connected through a gate. I had found that weird at first, but now it was nice. Mostly so we had an easy walk between our two entrances rather than having to walk around the long windy driveways from our front doors.
“Thanks for doing that. My parents worry about me. I’m fine. I really am. I know where my kid is, I know she’s safe.” He paused. “Because if she isn’t safe, I’m going to burn the whole world down.”
I turned to him, both of us standing underneath the tree that covered both our yards. “Marley’s parents aren’t the nicest people, but they would never hurt Nora.”
“Not physically, no. But if they hurt her emotionally? I can’t really do much. The courts made me do the weekends. So I deal with it.”
Without thinking I reached out and pushed his hair back from his face. We both froze at the action, and I swallowed hard, staring at those blue eyes of his.
They were like light oceans, beckoning me, and I knew that I was in so much fucking trouble.
“I should go,” I whispered.
“You really should.” He paused, swallowed hard. I refused to watch the way his throat worked. “My parents need to take care of me, same as my family. It’s how it’s always been. Thanks for being there so they didn’t act awkward, like they were trying to make things light and happy when I didn’t want them to be. But I’m sorry you were forced into it.”
“I could have said no. I could have run away.”
“Could you?” he asked, his voice low.
His gaze went to my lips and I couldn’t help it, my tongue peeked out and I licked them. And then he swallowed hard again, his eyes going dark.
I hadn’t realized his eyes could do that.
I stepped back, the moment breaking, and turned on my heel and ran.
I didn’t say goodbye, I ran like a coward, because I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to do the one thing I shouldn’t.
To kiss my best friend’s boyfriend.
My dead best friend.
There were lines, lines so set in stone that they would break anyone who crossed them. And I refused to be broken. I refused to do that.
And I refused to be attracted to Sebastian Montgomery.