Chapter 37
SUMMER
I love working at the bakery. The early hours will work perfectly with my afternoon classes, and I’m happy to let Juliet spend the mornings with her daughter.
I can tell how much it means to her to get that time back.
And even though it can get a bit lonely when she’s not here with me, Diem usually comes over in the morning with coffee before she opens her tattoo shop for the day.
She’ll hand me a chai latte and update me on the latest town gossip—today’s is that Mrs. Roarke, who owns the flower shop down the street, got caught with Mrs. Cooper’s husband.
In the Coopers’ house. In the Coopers’ bed.
Small towns are crazy, and everyone is in everyone’s business—though I have kept personal details close to my chest. No one needs to know I came running here because I’d had a relationship with my professor and basically got kicked out of my program.
But every person that I’ve met in this town has been nothing but welcoming, gossipy, and nosy, sure, but welcoming, nonetheless.
Juliet comes in around ten in the morning, after the breakfast rush but before anyone comes in for lunch.
She is all smiles as she enters. “Hey!” she calls, as she snags an apron from a hook in the back, where I’m frosting a birthday cake that Rachel Hallaway ordered for her twins.
She volunteers at the local library, and her kids are honestly adorable.
Juliet ties her apron with deft hands and leans against the counter as she watches me work.
“Anyone out there?” I ask, biting my lower lip as I try to make a perfect red balloon.
“Nope,” she sighs, pulling her dark hair into a high ponytail. “Seems like it might be a slow day.” She washes her hands and raises her voice over the rush of water. “How’s the morning been?”
I nod. “Pretty normal. The same regulars stopped by. We sold out of croissants within the first few hours. I was thinking maybe we should up the quantity we bake in the mornings.”
“Good idea,” she says with a satisfied smile as she approaches me. “What else do we need to get done for the day?”
“Carol wiped us out of cinnamon rolls—something about book club?”
Juliet gives me a joking salute. “On it.”
She starts pulling out different bowls and utensils before moving on to the ingredients.
The delicious smell of cinnamon wafts toward me as she starts measuring out various spices and sugars.
We work in comfortable silence; the only sounds are the soft music playing at the front of the store and the clinking of our utensils against the metal counter and glass bowls.
Juliet makes the cinnamon rolls in record time and quickly moves on to frosting cupcakes I’d pulled out earlier but had been waiting for them to cool.
I stick the tray of cinnamon rolls into one of the free ovens and set a timer while Juliet grabs frosting and piping bags, giving me a grateful smile.
“Remind me what time you’re out of here today?” she asks suddenly.
“I have a meeting with my advisor at three, so I’ll need to head out no later than two-thirty,” I let her know.
“Perfect!” She beams. Someone enters the shop, sending the bell poised at the front door ringing. Juliet’s head turns toward the sound, her eyes lighting up.
My brow furrows. “Perfect for what?” I ask, but she’s already pushing the blue door of the kitchen open and heading back into the front of the shop. I hear her give a cheery greeting to the customer. I shake my head and get started on a new frosting balloon.
One of the ovens chirps to let us know the batch of cupcakes in there is done. I wipe my hands on my apron, grab an oven mitt, take the tray out of the oven, and rest it on a cooling rack.
“Summer?” Juliet calls from the front. “Can you bring those frosted cupcakes out here? We need more for the display case!”
“Sure!” I yell back as I snag the finished tray. I push the door open from the kitchen to the main part of the bakery with my back so as not to drop the freshly baked cupcakes.
Juliet is still chatting with a customer, so I didn’t ask her for help, which was my second mistake. My first mistake was not looking out the small window in the door between the kitchen and the bakery’s main room.
The tray of cupcakes clatters to the ground and skitters on the bleached wood floors, scattering crumbled pieces of vanilla cake everywhere.
“Oh dear,” Juliet giggles, not at all upset about the ruined cupcakes or the mess. She daintily steps over the mess and heads for the back, ignoring the look I send her, pleading for her help. “I’ll just leave you alone for a moment while I get a broom.”
And then she’s gone, leaving me.
With Asher.
“What… what are you doing here?” I ask quietly.
“You left,” he states, ignoring my question.
“I know.”
“You left, and you transferred.”
“I left.”
“You left, and you transferred, and moved closer to my sister who’s now your boss, and now you’re… baking.”
“I’m baking,” I repeat.
“Why?”
He hasn’t moved closer to me. I’m still standing behind the counter like a bumbling idiot, and Asher is standing in the middle of his sister’s bakery with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans as if he doesn’t have a care in the world.
He’s let his hair grow out a bit, along with the stubble along his jaw, the dark hair making his emerald eyes bright and piercing when they meet my gaze.
There’s no product in his usually styled hair, so when he runs a hand through it, strands stick out in different directions, making his usual put-together appearance seem just slightly disheveled.
I shake my head, opening and closing my mouth as I search for some kind of response. It all seems so ridiculous now. Ridiculous and overly dramatic. Oh, dear God, and insane. I’m working for his sister.
He takes a step closer, drawing my attention back to his brilliant green eyes. “Summer,” he says softly. “Why?”
“I didn’t want you to have to quit a job that you loved,” I answer quietly.
I can feel tears start to burn the backs of my eyes.
“I applied to a few different schools… but when I got accepted to my new program, I wanted to come out here because… I felt like if I couldn’t be around you…
then maybe being around this place, with these memories and your sister, would lessen the blow just a little bit. ”
A small smile starts to tug at the corners of his lips. “You know how crazy that sounds, right?”
I nod my head as the tears escape, along with a laugh. “Yeah, I know.”
He pulls me into his arms, and I inhale deeply at the familiar pine and sandalwood scent.
Oh, how I’ve missed this. Missed him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers as he presses a kiss to the top of my head.
I pull back to look up into his brilliant green eyes. “I’m sorry,” I insist. “I should’ve responded to you. Or let you know that I was moving out here. I wasn’t thinking and I just… panicked.”
“Summer,” he whispers as he cups my face in his hands. “I applied for a position at Palo Alto University. They offered me the job, and I want to accept… if you’ll have me.”
I stare at him, dumbfounded. “You do know that I moved to an area where your family lives, right?”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “If you don’t want to be together, I’m not going to encroach on your space while you’re working toward your degree. Sure, we may run into each other if I come out here to visit Juliet and Terra, but I’ll try my best to keep my distance.”
With those words, it’s like the pieces of my heart have melded back together.
Even though he came all this way to talk to me, applied for a job at a different university, and knows there’s a very real possibility we won’t be able to completely avoid each other because I chose the town where his sister lives—and chose to work for her—he’s willing to let me go if that’s what I feel I need to be successful.
His thumb swipes along my cheek as he catches more of my tears. His eyes glance down at my lips, and I can tell by the way he grits his teeth that he’s holding himself back.
And suddenly I feel crushed by the weight of all the time I’ve wasted.
I could’ve stayed with this amazing man.
We could’ve figured this out together. I could’ve picked up the damn phone.
But I was so stubborn and so convinced that there was no way that we could do this without ruining his life or his career.
Guilt and anger wash over me at how stupid I’ve been. I cannot believe I didn’t let him have some sort of say in things before I just up and left. I became his sister’s employee and then befriended her and his niece, for God’s sake.
That is next-level crazy.
I haven’t even told Sam about that part because it’s that crazy.
“Summer,” Asher coaxes. “I’ll go if you want me to. Just say the word.”
“What about Cascadia University?” I murmur as more guilt piles on. He had his dream job, and now he’s considering leaving it? “You love it there.”
“I love you more,” he says before he crashes his lips to mine.
My arms wrap around his neck, trying to pull him as close to me as physically possible. His hands grasp my waist in a bruising grip, and I wish I could tattoo his fingerprints on my skin, so that I’ll never forget the feel of his touch.
I break away just long enough to whisper, “I missed you so much.” In between more kisses, I add, “I’m so sorry. So sorry.”
He plants gentle, forgiving kisses up my neck. “There’s nothing to be sorry for,” he says, his breath hot against the shell of my ear. “We found our way back to each other.”
I pull away as the stark realization hits me that I’ve never told Asher that I love him. His eyes dart back and forth as he tries to figure out what happened. I let out a little “Oh,” of surprised air at the thought.
“What? What is it? What’s wrong?” he asks worriedly.
I shake my head. “Nothing… it’s just… I love you.”
The most beautiful smile breaks out across his face, showing off perfect white teeth and his strong jawline.
His thumb traces along my cheekbone before slowly drifting over my bottom lip.
His emerald-green eyes soften as he continues staring at me.
“You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he murmurs.
A warm blush creeps up my neck at his words. I let my fingers tangle in the dark hair near the base of his neck before I yank him down to me so that I can kiss him again.
His tongue has just slipped into my mouth when Juliet comes back into the front room and makes a little squeak of surprise. “Jesus!” she exclaims as we pull away from each other. She slaps her hand over her eyes. “Seriously?”
“Sorry, Juliet,” I mumble with a small smile playing along my lips as I hide them with my fingers.
“If this,” Juliet starts, waving a finger between the two of us. “Is going to be a thing, then there’s no making out in my bakery, got it?” Before either of us can respond, she amends her statement. “Actually, no making out where I’ll see it. Ever.”
“Understood,” Asher says with a nod, feigning seriousness.
Asher’s fingers intertwine with mine as we stand in silence, each of us battling grins that are starting to break free.
Juliet braces her hands on the counter and shakes her head. “You guys are so gross,” she says with an exasperated laugh.
“That’s a nice mural,” Asher tries to change the subject. “I don’t remember that being here over Christmas.”
Juliet rolls her eyes before walking into the kitchen and leaving us alone once again.
Asher turns back to me, a huge smile lighting up his entire face. He leans down to kiss me, but Juliet’s voice cuts through the shop. “No making out in my bakery!”