Page 92 of Starcrossed Colorado

“Says the woman who views love as a terminal diagnosis.”

“Hold on,love?”

I scrunched up my face. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Piper was the first person I’d told about me and Ashford getting together. Make that theonlyperson, because it seemed like everyone else somehow just knew, even though Ashford had barely told anyone and Piper had sworn she hadn’t repeated the news to another soul.

But I had not meant to use theLword. In fact, I’d been trying to avoid any and all thought of it.

“Forever is a heck of a long time when you turn out to be wrong about your partner,” Piper said. “But if any guy has a heart of gold hiding on the inside, it’s probably Ashford.”

I agreed with her. But this conversation had made a dangerous turn, and I needed to steer it back toward less treacherous waters. “We’re having a great time together. That’s all.”

She hummed thoughtfully. “Have you heard back from any of the other schools you applied to?”

“Still waitlisted at one. I have an advisor who knows the dean there, and it helped, but doesn’t guarantee me a spot. A couple rejections from others.”

“What if you can’t transfer?”

I watched the kids and Stella explore near the play structure. “I don’t know. I haven’t really planned that far.”

I’d thought about it though. If I had to wait another year to resume my master’s, would I stay in Silver Ridge during that time? Would Ashford even want me to?

He hadn’t asked about my exact plans for after the summer. Like he simply assumed I would be gone. He had never suggested once that he wanted me to stay longer.

But if I did, wouldn’t that make it so much harder to leave? Because I did have to leave eventually. To do otherwise would mean giving up my master’s. Everything I’d imagined for my future.

Yet as my gaze followed Maisie and Stella, that idea didn’t seem like such a sacrifice.

After a couple of hours, Piper started packing up. “Want to head back with us?” she asked. “We can swing by Silver Linings and raid the day-old pastries that haven’t sold.”

That did sound tempting. But my phone chimed with a text. “Ashford’s about to head over. I’ll stick around here.”

“So you can have adorable family time in the park?”

I knew she was kidding, but an ache settled between my ribs.

Her face turned serious. “Hey, I shouldn’t have said that. Please ignore me.”

“Will you save me an iced mocha donut?”

“I always do.”

I pasted on a bright smile. “Then I will forgive anything you say. I will sell out for sweets.”

“Thank you for being easy.” She winked, grabbing her bag and calling out to Ollie that it was time to go.

Maisie came over after they’d gone and sat in my lap. “Will you tell me a story?”

“What kind of story?”

“One about a dog with yellow fur named Stella.”

“Who could ever imagine such a thing?” I tickled Maisie until she giggled. Then I made up an elaborate adventure, complete with pirates and princesses, about the dog stretched out in the grass beside us.

When I finished, Ashford still hadn’t shown. Most everyone else in the park had cleared out to head home for dinner. “I wonder where your dad is?” I mused aloud.

“Maybe he’s on a pirate adventure.”

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