Chapter 1 #2
She hummed, contented and high on her own news. “You’re going to come home for the engagement party, though, right?” She didn’t wait for my answer. “We’re thinking a big one. Everyone from town. Dean says his mom wants to do the food, but I thought you could handle the dessert.”
Of course I would do it. She knew I would. It would be easier to say no to anyone else in the world.
“Dessert,” I echoed, and I could feel Blaire watching me from across the room.
“Of course you’ll do it!” Ella said it so dismissively. “You make the best desserts in Alabama. You’ll have to make my wedding cake too. I couldn’t imagine anyone else making it.”
“I’d love to do it,” I managed, and I hated how true it was, how badly I still wanted her to ask me, to choose me for something. Even if it was just a damn cake. “Just let me know when, and I’ll be there.”
“Perfect.” She hesitated, and I braced for whatever was coming next. “What I really want is for you to just come home.”
Her familiar words crashed into me, and I pressed my fingertips against my closed eyelids while my heartbeat drummed in my ears.
The line went quiet before she continued, her voice softer than before.
“I know you love your bakery, but I miss you, Maggie. We all do.” She sighed.
“If you were here, we could do all the wedding stuff together. You’d be here for all of it, and you wouldn’t have to drive back and forth between Tennessee and Alabama. ”
“Ella—” My voice caught.
“No. I know,” she cut me off. “I know we talk about this all the time, but I’m getting married, Maggie. This is different.”
I braced my hand against the counter. “El, you know I want to be there for everything, but I can’t just drop my life and roll back into Alabama like I never left.”
I wanted to remind her of why we’d left in the first place, of the promises we’d made to each other to get out and never let anyone decide who we’d be. I didn’t want to end up like our mom, and once upon a time, neither did Ella.
We left Alabama with the dust still on our boots and the sound of our parents’ voices ringing in our ears. I’d spent my whole damn life trying to be less for them. A little quieter, a little neater, a little less trouble.
My mom wanted us soft and pretty, and my daddy wanted us to be perfect, just as he expected our mom to be. But I didn’t want to be any of those things.
I wanted more than Friday night football and Sunday service. I wanted to wake up every morning to something I’d built for myself. I didn’t care if that meant I spent every day covered in flour and sweat because it also meant possibility and a future that I was proud of.
I’d spent my whole life straining toward it, and now that I had it, I wasn’t letting it go for anybody.
Not my parents. Not Ella. Not the version of myself I’d left behind in Alabama, the one that always felt lacking, that always came up just a little bit short.
“I’m happy here, El.” My hand curled so hard around the phone it ached. “I know you don’t get it, but I really am.”
She sighed again, the weight of her disappointment crackling down the line.
“I’m not trying to give you a hard time,” she said, gentler now, but that only made it worse. “I just thought maybe with me getting married, you’d want to come home, at least for a little while.”
I swallowed hard, wanting to tell her how much I’d built here, how every day felt a little more like belonging. I wanted to tell her that if she had stayed, she would belong here too.
But I knew better.
“I’ll be home for the engagement party with whatever desserts you want, and start dreaming up the best wedding cake you can think of.”
“Can you come for a couple days before the party? I just want my sister here, like old times.” Her voice cracked a bit, and the urge to tell her yes was overwhelming.
“I’ll try,” I said quickly before I did. “But I need to get back to work. Can I call you after the bakery closes, and we can talk about all your wedding plans?”
The line went quiet for a moment.
“Okay.” She sighed. “I just want you to have the best too, you know? And there’s nothing left in that town for you.”
My throat was so tight I could hardly breathe. “No, Ella. There’s nothing left in this town for you.”
Willow Grove felt more like home than anywhere I’d ever lived, and the ache in my chest wasn’t for Alabama, or our parents, or the past we’d left behind.
It was for her, or I guess for us, for who the two of us used to be. But neither of us were those same girls anymore.
“Right,” she snapped, and I should have known it was coming. “I guess there isn’t. I’ll talk to you later.” The phone went dead before I could say goodbye.
I set the phone down and pressed my palms against the counter.
She’d called me to tell me about her engagement, to celebrate her happy news, and what the hell had I done?
I should have been excited for her, and instead, all I could think about was how every word she’d said made me want to dig my heels deeper into the Tennessee dirt just to prove I’d made a life worth keeping.
Guilt twisted in my gut. God, I was a terrible sister.
“You okay?”
I looked up to see Blaire had crossed the room to stand before me, her eyes searching my face.
“Yeah.” I nodded, but Blaire didn’t buy it for a second.
She crossed her arms, eyes narrowing, and I braced for it. “What was that about?”
“Ella’s getting married. Dean proposed last night.”
Blaire’s eyes flicked over my face like she was searching for the cracks. “And you’re not happy about that?”
“Of course I am. It’s all she’s ever wanted.” The lie slipped past my lips so easily, but there was no way in hell that I could tell her the truth.
Blaire dropped her arms. “Wait. The same Dean that she cheated on Hunter with?”
“That’s the one.” I tried for nonchalant, but my hands shook as I reached for a towel and wiped at the countertop that didn’t need cleaning.
I could feel Blaire’s gaze burning into me, and it wasn’t like her not to say whatever was on her mind. “Go on. Spit it out.”
“We don’t like him, right?”
I set the towel down and took a deep breath. “We don’t,” I admitted. “Not for Ella. Not for anybody, honestly.”
Blaire cocked her head, considering me. “You ever tell her that?”
“I have.” I nodded. “But it wasn’t something Ella really wanted to hear.” I chuckled. “Ella has always had a mind of her own, and she sure as hell didn’t want to hear what I think about him.”
Blaire was about to open her mouth to say something, but before she could, Sutton came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron.
“Hi.” She smiled as her eyes darted back and forth between me and Blaire. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You didn’t.” I waved her over. “Blaire, this is Sutton. She started this week. Sutton, this is my best friend Blaire.”
Blaire’s mouth popped open, and she put her hand over her heart dramatically. “You hired help?” she practically shrieked.
“Yes. I hired help.” I rolled my eyes, and Sutton smiled. “Now say hi.”
“Oh my God. Hi, Sutton.” Blaire reached across the counter and shook Sutton’s hand. “It’s so nice to meet you. I can’t believe Maggie hired you. She’s a workaholic and never lets anyone help her. Wow. You’re really pretty.”
She spoke so fast neither Sutton nor I could get a word in, but she wasn’t wrong. I rarely ever asked for help, and Sutton was pretty.
She tucked a stray lock of her short brown hair behind her ear and ducked her head like maybe she wasn’t used to hearing it. I could see a blush rising high on her tan cheeks as she laughed.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Blaire, and I kind of forced Maggie to hire me. She tried to tell me no.”
“That’s true.” I chuckled. “But Sutton really doesn’t take no for an answer.”
And she hadn’t. She walked into the bakery last week asking if we were hiring, and I’d told her no. But then she spent the next two minutes rattling off every reason why I couldn’t survive the summer without her.
I’d never seen anyone seem so sure of herself, not batting an eye even when I told her twice that I wasn’t hiring. She just smiled at me and leaned her elbows on the counter like she already worked here.
And I honestly had no choice but to hire her.
“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Blaire still hadn’t let go of her hand. “Anyone who manages to break through Maggie’s stubborn shell deserves a proper welcome into town. Which means you have to go out with us tomorrow night.”
Sutton’s eyes darted to mine for a second before she answered. “Sure,” she said, tugging her apron straight. “I’m game.”
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Blaire clapped her hands together. “See, Mags? Even your new hire knows how to say yes to a good time.”
“Well, you better watch out, Blaire.” I moved next to Sutton and gently bumped my hip into hers.
“Watch out for what?”
“Sutton’s brother is the new sheriff of Willow Grove, and God knows how you are with tequila.” I grinned. “If someone calls her brother on you, you’re going to ruin your friendship from the start.”
Sutton laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she looked back and forth between me and Blaire. “Please don’t. She’s hilarious.”
“She’s a menace,” I corrected, but there was no bite to it. Being around Blaire was warm, familiar, and somehow made everything easier to bear, even when she was up to shenanigans.
“Menace or not, I’m always right about these things.” Blaire winked at me. “I need to get back to June’s, but, Sutton, invite your brother out tomorrow night, will you?”
“Okay.” Sutton laughed. “But I should tell you that he’s a bit of a grump.”
“Even better.” Blaire fanned her face with one hand as she grabbed the empty crate with the other as she walked toward the door. “A hot, grumpy sheriff, what the hell could go wrong?”