Page 142 of Only Ever You

Now that Ellie knew the details, there was no sense in hiding the whole story from her friends too. She reiterated, “He asked me to marry him –Don’t. Squeal.”She aimed at Ellie.

“He proposed. After only a few days …” Maisie’s cocked brow and freckled hand on her polka dot hip looked ready to shake some sense into Bash.

Would he want them knowing this? “He argued that we’ve known each other for so long, we know we’re good together, so why wait?”

“Being friends and dating are two different things,” Ellie said.

“I told him that. And then I released some feelings about how I won’t get married so quickly like my parents did, because look how that turned out. And then … I may have asked him to cool things between us.”

Faye winced. This really didn't sound good. The man of her dreams wanted to marry her, and she’d called herselfMariaand run for the hills.

Ellie’s brow creased. “But this is what you’ve wanted for ages?”

Maisie and Sienna didn’t even flinch.

Were her feelings for Bash seriouslythatobvious?

Faye couldn't take the miscommunication between her head and her heart for much longer. Itached.Folding over, she leant on the countertop and put her face in her hands and groaned at her own stupidity.

“I know. It’s just … he brought up marriage, and I’m moving away, and I got cold feet about being serious with him right now.”

It felt as if she lived on borrowed time – as if this new development in their relationship had an expiration date.January 16th –the day when she’d drive away from London for however long. What little time they had left to see each other every day felt precious, and Faye didn’t want to feel so sad about it.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, guys,” she mumbled into her palms. “I love him more than I know how to understand.”

Faye knew that the three women around her looked at each other. It was in the silence.

“If you didn’t have these feelings because of your parents …” Maisie began to ask, exercising caution. “Would you have still said ‘no’?”

Would she have? What if she’d never lived those upsetting years? Would she be jumping at the chance?

“If I could be certain things wouldn’t fall apart, then I would marry him tomorrow.”

Another silence, and another definite throwaway glance.

A hand rested on her spine. “But you can’t ever be certain.” Ellie’s voice said, “You’re taking a gamble on your new bakery because its future is in your control.Thatcould go wrong and yet you’re still taking that risk.”

Faye’s heart began to slow, the ache in her veins easing.

“What I’m trying to say,” El continued, “is that you can’t control your future with Bash as much as I can control the weather. Youcancontrol how much effort you put into making that future bright, though.”

Faye slowly raised her head out of her hands.

Sienna looked at her firmly yet kindly, dark brown eyes reflecting the truth she needed to learn. “Bashlovesyou. I’ve never seen a man so devoted to someone like he is to you. It makes me a little nauseous, to be honest.”

A bubble of laughter peeled from Faye and a smile tilted on Sienna’s plum-tinted lips.

Faye found herself brought into Ellie’s sidewards embrace. “The point is, if he’s really the one for you, then all of these worries in your head are insignificant.”

She wiped her nose on a tissue Maisie passed along, sounding nasal at the same time. “I feel so guilty that I’ve stomped on his dream.”

“You need reassurance that he’s not going to give up on you, so reassure him that you’re not going anywhere too. Bash’s heart needs that kind of trust just as much as yours.”

“But how am I supposed to reassure him when I literallyamgoing away though?”

The three-way glance was long and strong.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.”

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