Page 58 of Flirting with Forever

“No,” she answered with a humorless laugh, figuring that John most likely knew her well enough at this point to know whether she was telling the truth or not.

“Do you want to sleep at my place again?” he asked in a voice that was much lower than his usual tone.

Yes.

“Oh, no, that’s okay,” Mary said in a rush. She didn’t want him to ask her that. Couldn’t handle him asking her that. Not when the answer was such a big fat, sparklingGod, yes. Not when she was one hundred percent certain that in order to get herself to fall asleep in her big bed tonight, she was going to be pretending that she was in John’s bed. One night had been an experiment. Two nights was suicide.

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve been texting with Tyler and Fin. Kylie’s at a sleepover tonight, so they agreed to come sleep in my guest room. I’ll have plenty of company.”

“Right.” John took a long drink from his lemonade, his eyes avoiding hers. “Great. That makes sense.”

“They should be here in half an hour or so. Will you stay and have dinner with us?”

His eyes finally landed on hers again, and she was both warmed and shaken by how familiar his gaze had become to her. Those icy blues no longer seemed cold and distant to her; they seemed bright and defined by their almost unknowable depth.

“No,” he said resolutely. “No, I think that if you’re all right, then it’s time for me to get back to reality.”

He finished the rest of his lemonade in one huge gulp and rose to put his glass in the dishwasher. Mary was still sitting on the couch and sipping her drink, mulling over his definition of reality. The last day and a half certainly had an unreal quality to them, defined by pulsing, uncommon emotions. Everything from the fear during the break-in to the giddy euphoria of John’s proximity had made her heart race. Maybe he was right. Maybe none of this was how real life was supposed to be. Real life was predictable and even.

Mary’s real life didn’t involve Ruth and it certainly didn’t involve John’s bed.

Maybe he was right. Maybe it was time to at least attempt to go back to normal.

She sighed and stood and met him at her front door. She refused to linger over the cheek kiss she gave as a goodbye to everyone special in her life. It was brief.

“Thank you, John, for everything.” She opened her mouth to say more, but he shocked her by pulling her to him in one fierce, firm hug. It didn’t last any longer than her cheek kiss had.

“There’s no thanks necessary, Mary. Truly.”

And then he was down her stairs and gone.

AFEWMORNINGSLATER,while Mary was vacuuming out broken glass from the rug at the front of the store, she heard a loud banging on the back door. Her fingers went cold and sweat popped down her spine. She scurried immediately to the counter where the register lived. John’s friend Christo had installed security cameras on the exterior of the store, something she’d never had before, and the feeds fed directly to a small screen below the register. Mary let out a shaky, relieved breath when she saw it was just Estrella standing there, a picnic basket over one arm.

“I’m sorry I knocked so loud,” Estrella said when Mary swung open the door for her. “I’ve never used this big metal door before.”

Mary grimaced. “The front door is still out of commission, as you saw.”

She didn’t like thinking about the white spiderweb of cracks that rendered the glass door unusable.

Estrella stepped into the back room, her eyes on Mary, not on the mess that had been only partially cleaned up. She set down the picnic basket and simply held her arms out.

Mary went into the embrace without a second thought.

Estrella stroked Mary’s hair and called her a sweet love while Mary cried. It didn’t last for long, but it was one of those surprisingly potent cries, where each tear felt like it released a gallon of pent-up emotion. She’d barely realized how much she’d needed that, hadn’t even hoped for that kind of release. When she stepped back from Estrella, she felt a hundred pounds lighter.

“I’ve missed you, Estrella.”

“I’ve been keeping my distance over the last few weeks,” Estrella said, smoothing her jean skirt. “I think I owe you an apology for the blind date situation.”

Mary smiled. “It’s okay. You were just trying to find a happy ending for people you love.”

“I was being nosy and hopeful and we both know it.” She glared at Mary.

Mary burst out laughing. “It’s really okay.”

“Are you sure?” Estrella’s eyes searched hers. “Because you didn’t call me when all of this happened.” Estrella looked around at the store, and Mary was actually comforted by the pain that she saw on Estrella’s face. The woman loved this shop almost as much as Mary did.

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