Chapter 10 #2
Mae finally kicked her out at 12:30.
"Go. Rest. Prepare for your conversation with Jake. I can handle the afternoon rush."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. And Lucy? Whatever you do—don't push him away again. He's one of the good ones."
Lucy walked upstairs to her apartment and immediately regretted it. The space felt too empty, too quiet. She could hear Jake moving around next door—he was home, probably getting ready for their 2 PM conversation.
She should shower. Change. Try to look like she had her life together.
Instead, she sat on her couch in her flour-covered jeans and tried to figure out what to say.
I'm sorry I panicked. I'm sorry I pushed you away. I'm sorry I questioned whether we're real.
But were those enough? Could she take back what she'd said?
Her phone buzzed. Not Jake. Shayna Barrett.
Shayna: Saw the Gazette article. How are you holding up?
Lucy: Honestly? Not great. The town is pretty upset.
Shayna: That's normal with these kinds of changes. Give them time.
Lucy: What if I can't? What if this is a mistake?
There was a long pause. Then:
Shayna: Lucy, I need to be honest with you. If you're having serious doubts, we should talk before the paperwork is finalized. I don't want to buy the bakery if you're not certain. That's not fair to either of us.
Lucy stared at her phone. Shayna was giving her an out. She could back out of the sale, keep the bakery, make the town happy.
Keep everything exactly as it was.
Safe. Predictable. Small.
Lucy: Can I think about it?
Shayna: Of course. But I need to know by Wednesday. After that, we're committed to the sale and there's no backing out.
Wednesday. Three days to decide if she was brave enough to choose herself or if she was going to let fear and guilt make the choice for her.
At 1:45, Lucy forced herself to shower and change into clean clothes—not the flour-covered jeans, not work clothes. Real clothes. A soft gray sweater and dark jeans. Like she was a person who existed outside the bakery.
At 1:55, she stood outside Jake's door, trying to gather her courage.
She knocked at exactly 2 PM.
Jake opened the door immediately, like he'd been waiting. He was wearing jeans and a dark blue henley, and he looked as exhausted as Lucy felt.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey."
They stood in the doorway for a moment, neither quite sure how to do this.
"Come in," Jake finally said, stepping aside.
Lucy walked into his apartment—the space that had felt so warm and safe earlier this week. Now it felt different. Tense. Like everything had shifted.
"How's your shoulder?" Lucy asked.
"Sore but fine. Rei was right—just a tweak." Jake gestured to the couch. "Want to sit?"
They sat on opposite ends of the couch—a careful distance between them that hadn't existed before.
"I read the article," Jake said. "The town's being pretty harsh."
"Yeah. Mrs. Henderson told me this morning that the Knitting Circle is boycotting the bakery. My regular customers are leaving one-star reviews. Everyone's disappointed in me."
"You're not responsible for their disappointment."
"Aren't I? I'm selling my grandmother's legacy. I'm choosing myself over the community. That's selfish."
"It's not selfish. It's brave."
Lucy felt tears start. "It doesn't feel brave. It feels like I'm destroying everything. The bakery, the town's trust, us—"
"Us," Jake repeated quietly. "Is that what you think? That you're destroying us?"
"I don't know. Last night I panicked and said things I shouldn't have. I pushed you away because I was overwhelmed and scared and I'm sorry—"
"Are you sorry you said it? Or sorry you meant it?"
Lucy looked at him. Really looked. His face was carefully neutral, but she could see the hurt underneath.
"I didn't mean it," Lucy said. "I know you.
Of course I know you. I've been watching you for three years, learning your patterns, memorizing your routines.
I know you hold your left shoulder when you're stressed.
I know you watch westerns at 3 AM because they make you feel close to your dad.
I know you're terrified of letting people down but even more terrified of letting yourself want things. "
"Then why did you say we don't know each other?"
"Because I was scared! Because everyone was telling me I was making a mistake and you got hurt and I started spiraling. I convinced myself that maybe we were just convenient—two lonely people who latched onto each other because the timing worked."
"And now?"
"Now I know that's not true. You're not convenient. You're—" Lucy's voice broke. "You're the best thing that's happened to me in five years and I'm terrified I'm going to mess it up."
Jake was quiet for a long moment. Then: "Derek called this morning. Nashville wants me to reconsider. Someone got injured and they have a spot open. They need an answer by tomorrow."
Lucy felt her stomach drop. "Are you going to take it?"
"I don't know. I turned it down because I wanted to stay here. To build a life in Timber Falls. To be with you." Jake looked at her. "But if you're leaving for culinary school in a few months, if you're not sure about us, if you think we moved too fast—maybe staying here was a mistake."
"Jake, no—"
"I'm not saying this to hurt you. I'm saying this because I need to know if I made the right choice. If we made the right choices." He ran his hand through his hair. "I chose you, Lucy. I chose this. But I need to know if you're choosing it too."
Lucy felt like she couldn't breathe. This was it. The moment where she either admitted what she wanted or pushed it all away.
"I don't know," she whispered. "I want to choose this.
I want to choose you. But Shayna called today and gave me an out—I can back out of the bakery sale.
I have until Wednesday to decide. And I don't know what to do.
I don't know if I'm brave enough to sell the bakery and leave Timber Falls and risk everything.
But I also don't know if I can stay and keep everything the same and watch you leave for Nashville wondering what might have been. "
"So we're both stuck," Jake said quietly.
"Yeah."
They sat in silence for a moment—two people who'd been so certain a week ago and were now drowning in doubt.
"I can't tell you what to do about the bakery," Jake finally said. "That's your choice. But Lucy—I need you to be honest with me. Do you want this? Us? Not because it's convenient or comfortable or because you're scared of being alone. But because you actually want it."
Lucy looked at him—really looked. At the exhaustion in his eyes, the careful way he was holding himself, the vulnerability of asking her to choose him.
"I want it," she said. "I want you. But I'm so scared of messing it up. Of choosing wrong. Of destroying everything—"
"You can't destroy everything by choosing what you want. You can only destroy things by being too scared to try."
"What if I try and it doesn't work? What if I sell the bakery and we stay together and then you resent me for keeping you from Nashville? Or I resent you for not encouraging me to go to culinary school? What if—"
"Lucy. Stop." Jake moved closer, closing some of the distance between them. "We could spend forever imagining worst-case scenarios. Or we could just be brave. Together."
"I don't know how to be brave."
"Yes you do. You've been brave your entire life.
You took over your grandmother's bakery at twenty-two when you didn't know what you were doing.
You've kept it running for five years. You've made decisions every single day about what to bake, how to run the business, how to honor your grandmother while making it your own. That's brave."
"That's just surviving."
"It's both. And now you're being brave again—you're choosing to grow instead of just survive.
You're choosing possibility over safety.
" Jake took her hand. "I'm choosing the same thing.
I turned down Nashville because I want to build a life here.
I want to coach. I want to be present instead of always chasing the next thing.
And I want to see where this goes with you—not because you're convenient, but because you make me want to show up to my own life. "
Lucy felt tears slide down her cheeks. "What if it doesn't work?"
"Then it doesn't work. But at least we'll have tried."
They sat there, holding hands, both scared but trying to be brave.
"I need to decide about the bakery by Wednesday," Lucy said. "Shayna needs an answer."
"What do you want to do?"
"I want to sell it. I think. I want to travel and go to culinary school and figure out who I am beyond this building. But I'm terrified of what happens after. Of coming back to Timber Falls and finding that everyone still hates me. That you've moved on."
"I'm not moving to Nashville," Jake said firmly. "Even if you leave for culinary school. Even if we have to do long distance for a while. I'm staying here. Building my life. And when you come back, I'll be here."
"You can't promise that. What if—"
"Lucy. I'm choosing you. Not just today, not just this week. I'm choosing you. The question is—are you choosing me?"
Lucy looked at their joined hands. A week ago, this had all felt so clear. Now everything was muddy and complicated and terrifying.
But underneath the fear, underneath the doubt, she knew the answer.
"Yes," she whispered. "I'm choosing you."
Jake pulled her close, and Lucy let herself sink into his embrace. They sat like that for a long time—holding each other, breathing together, trying to believe they could survive this.
"I should go," Lucy finally said. "I need to think about the bakery decision. Really think. Without panicking."
"Okay."
"But Jake? Thank you. For not giving up on me. For fighting for this even when I was too scared to."
"Always."
Lucy kissed him softly, then forced herself to leave before she could change her mind.
As she walked down the stairs to her apartment, her phone buzzed. Uncle Walter.
Uncle Walter: How did it go?
Lucy: Better. I think. We're okay.
Uncle Walter: Good. Now figure out what you want with the bakery. Not what everyone else wants. What YOU want.
Lucy climbed the stairs to her apartment and sat down with a piece of paper. She drew a line down the middle—pros and cons of selling the bakery.
Sell:
● Freedom to travel, to learn, to grow
● Financial security
● Grandmother's legacy expanded to more people
● No more 16-hour days, 6 days a week
● Chance to figure out who Lucy Chen is beyond this building
Don't Sell:
● Keep the town happy
● Preserve everything exactly as grandmother left it
● Avoid change and risk
● Stay safe
Lucy looked at the lists. The "don't sell" column was all about avoiding. About fear. About keeping everyone else happy.
The "sell" column was about choosing. About growing. About possibility.
She knew what her grandmother would say. She'd say that Lucy was being brave. That change was necessary. That holding onto the past too tightly meant missing the future.
But knowing that and believing it were two different things.
Lucy picked up her phone and called Shayna.
"Lucy. Have you made a decision?"
"Not yet. But I need to ask you something. If I sell, can I have a clause in the contract that says you'll preserve at least 75% of my grandmother's original recipes? That the name The Bread Basket stays the same? That you'll work with me on maintaining the spirit of what she built?"
"Absolutely. That's always been the plan."
"And the consulting position—would that be remote? Or would I need to be here?"
"Mostly remote. We'd want you to check in on the new locations periodically, maybe come back quarterly to work with the bakers. But you could do it from anywhere."
"So I could travel. Go to culinary school. And still stay involved."
"Yes. Lucy, that's the whole point. We don't want to erase what your grandmother built. We want to expand it. And we want you involved in that expansion—but on your terms."
After they hung up, Lucy sat with her decision.
She was going to sell. She knew she was going to sell.
But first, she needed to tell the town. She needed to face the disappointment head-on instead of hiding from it.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow she'd make her announcement. And then she'd see if Timber Falls could forgive her for choosing herself.
After Lucy left, Jake sat in his apartment and thought about Nashville.
He could call Derek back. Accept the offer. Start fresh somewhere else.
Lucy would probably be relieved. She could sell the bakery without worrying about him waiting around. She could travel and go to culinary school without the guilt of leaving him behind.
It would be easier for both of them.
His phone buzzed. Marcus.
Marcus: How did it go with Lucy?
Jake: We're okay. I think. She's deciding about the bakery by Wednesday.
Marcus: And you?
Jake: Nashville called. They want me to reconsider.
Marcus: Are you going to?
Jake stared at that message for a long time. Then he typed:
Jake: No. I'm staying.
Marcus: Good. Because we need you here. Not just as a player. As a coach. As a friend. As someone who finally learned how to show up.
Marcus: Also Lucy needs you here. Even if she's too scared to admit it right now.
Jake set down his phone and looked around his studio apartment. It wasn't much. But it was home.
And he'd chosen it. He'd chosen Timber Falls, chosen coaching, chosen Lucy.
Even if it all fell apart, he wouldn't regret choosing.
That was the difference between this and the last six years. He wasn't settling. He was choosing.
And that made all the difference.
Jake called Derek back.
"I'm not taking the Nashville offer."
"Jake, are you sure? This is probably your last chance—"
"I'm sure. I'm staying in Timber Falls. I'm coaching. This is where I'm supposed to be."
"Okay. I respect that. Good luck, Morrison."
After he hung up, Jake texted Lucy.
Jake: I told Nashville no. I'm staying. No matter what you decide about the bakery. No matter what.
Three dots appeared. Then disappeared. Then appeared again.
Finally: Thank you. That means more than you know.
Jake smiled despite the anxiety still churning in his gut.
They were going to be okay. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But eventually.
They just had to be brave enough to keep choosing each other.
Even when it was scary.
Especially when it was scary.