Page 14 of This Feeling

I kissed my mother on the cheek again. “It’s good to be home.”

She blinked to keep the tears back. “It’s good tohaveyou home.”

I walked out of the kitchen, grabbed my two bags, and took the steps two at a time. Once in my old bedroom, I shut the door and looked around. Everything was the same. It seemed nothing had been touched or moved, except to clean, which my mother clearly did often. There wasn’t a speck of dust in the room.

Dropping the bags, I sat on the bed and scrubbed my hands down my face. My brother was back together with Harper…and I would see her in a few hours. Not the kind of homecoming I was hoping for.

“Well,” I said softly to myself. “Might as well get it over and done with.” Once I saw Harper and my brother together, I’d hopefully find that I wasn’t still attracted to her. Knowing they were happy would make it easier for me to get on with life.

I huffed a humorless laugh. “Right. Keep lying to yourself, Declan.”

Harper

“Harper, we can’t meet at my parents’ house.”

I turned off the computer at my desk and dropped back into it as I let out a frustrated sigh. “Why not, Sean?”

“How would that look?”

“It would look like we were both working today and decided to meet there. I highly doubt your mother will read into it, or even notice as long as we walk into the house together.”

He sighed. “This has to work, Harper. If she even gets a hint that we’re lying, she’ll be relentless about Crystal.”

“Why don’t you grow a pair, Sean, and tell your mother how you feel? That you’re attracted to Caroline. Besides, she and Viola would probably be over the moon no matterwhichdaughter you ended up with.”

“Did you forget? Caroline is dating someone.”

I slapped my forehead with my hand. “How stupid of me. I can’t keep up with all the chess pieces. Did you get my tickets? I’m not walking into that house without proof.”

He mumbled something that sounded strangely like “pain in my ass,” but I chose to ignore it.

“Yes, I have your tickets, and fine, I’m not going to argue with you. I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes.”

I glanced down to see what I was wearing. Jeans and a light blue sweater. The black flats I had on were comfortable and gave the outfit a little boost. I’d dressed a bit more casual since I was making arrangements most of the day. It would have to do, since I didn’t have time to run upstairs to my apartment and change.

“See you in twenty…don’t forget my tickets.”

Sean mumbled something else and then the line went silent. I couldn’t help it; I laughed. I had a feeling this was going to be amusing for me. If I could poke some fun at Sean and tease him for his crush on Caroline, only have to pretend to date him around his family, all the while knowing I had season tickets to my favorite football team, this fake dating thing would be worth it.

I shut all the lights off and headed toward the front door, where I flipped the sign to closed. After setting the alarm, I slipped out the back and made my way to my Subaru Outback. I loved this car. Almost as much as I loved the flower shop. It was my first big-girl purchase, or so I’d called it. I was twenty-seven at the time, and I bought it without any help from my parents.

I didn’t count the flower shop as a big-girl move. For one, I didn’t have to buy it. My mother gave it to me. Her mother had given it toherwhen it had come time for her to run it, so it felt like it was just part of my heritage. My car, though…that was all me.

“Hey, Harper!” Brystol Duggan called out. Brystol owned Memory Lane Toys, which was next door to my flower shop. Her grandfather had opened the toy store years ago when he was about my age. He gave it to his daughter, Brystol’s mother, who then gave it to Brystol. Businesses in Moose Village were definitely full of legacy.

“Hi, Bry! How’s it going?”

Brystol threw some boxes into the recycle bin. “It’s going. How are you? I heard you got back together with Sean.”

My mouth fell open. “Already, huh?”

She laughed. “I’m pretty sure as soon as Betty Lou left your shop, she came into the toy store to tell me the happy news.”

I rolled my eyes.

“But you don’tseemhappy,” she said. She had a concerned look on her face, and that made me cherish our friendship more than ever.

“I’ll tell you and the girls all about it on Monday.”

---