Page 69 of The Likelihood Of You

“Right, honey, let’s get you inside.”

We walked into the house, and the outside was no match for the beauty of the inside. Both sides of the hallway that led into the kitchen were covered in vintage photo frames, some gold and some dark brown. They were filled with family pictures, most of them of a little boy who I could tell was Jacob; his dimple gave him away.

I hurried down the hall to catch up with Julie and made it to the kitchen, where my eyes were instantly glued to the navy cupboardsand gorgeous dark oak furnishing. We also found Jacob and Fiona, who had a short brunette bob and sapphire eyes, intensely reading a highlighted sheet of paper, and both of them with half-eaten cookies in their hands.

“It purely doesn’t make any sense. How can it taste so earthy when we added an entire bottle of carrot cake flavouring?” Fiona asked, her voice even more delicate than Julie's, whilst tossing her cookie back onto the plate in front of her. “I’m this close to scraping it and adding macrons to the menu instead.”

“No, absolutely not Fi. Do you remember what happened when you made that batch that tasted like sweet meteorites? I’m not putting my teeth through that again, no way.” Julie shouted, heading to the other side of the island and sitting on one of the wooden stools.

“I followed a foolproof recipe; I swear I didn’t mean to make them that hard. And I paid for your new crowns as an apology.” Jacob looked at me and rolled his eyes, and I smiled back at him. “Well, it’s them or the cookies. You pick.”

Jacob bit into his cookie again. “Mom, they’re earthy for a reason. For one, its carrot cake, carrots grow in the ground. And two, it’s vegan; it’s not going to taste like a regular cookie. But they taste amazing anyway. Stop panicking.” He says reassuringly, spilling crumbs all over the counter.

Julie stands up from her seat, wiping away the crumbs Jacob spilt,muttering something along the lines ofYou've been here literally two minutes, Jacob, before galloping over to Fiona, hugging her from the side and resting her head on her arms. “He’s right, sweetie, and besides, you need to say hello to this wonderful lady. I’ll deal with the cookies.”

Fiona’s head darts towards me, her curls whipping her. “Oh, Florence. I’m so sorry; these darn cookies have been driving me mad for weeks.” She walks over to me and offers me her hand to shake. “Pleased to meet you, darlin’.”

“It’s lovely to meet you too, Ma’am,” I say with a smile.

The breath in my throat catches, sending a forced ‘ugh’ out of me, as Fiona hugs me without any warning. “Oh, don’t start with formalities darlin’. Julie’s told me everything Jacob tells her about you. I feel like I could rattle off your life story right now.”

I chuckled, which earned me a glare from Jacob, but the sight of his reddened cheeks made me laugh even more. I basked in the moment, because I know the day that Jacob finally meets Nanna Dorothy is the day I’ll be looking like Jacob does now: eternally embarrassed.

Julie stands up, clapping her hands together to steal everyone’s attention. “We’re happy you’re both here, but we can’t chat for long; we’ve got an opening to do. Jacob, honey, will you grab the blondies, brownies and pain au choc’s in the refrigerator in the garage? Fi, you take a breather and round up the cookies you hate. And Florence dear, would you like to help me with chalkboard menus that are out back?”

“Of course,” I replied, my feet taking me in the direction of the door that Julie was heading out of. Fiona took herself down the hallway and into what I suspected was the living room. As I followed Julie, I passed Jacob, who, out of nowhere, grabbed my waist and spun me around so my back was flush against the island. “Hey, we have jobs to do. What are you doing?” I laughed, Jacob’s grip on my waist tickling me softly.

“I told you they’d love you.” He said with a smug grin, which came to my cheek and kissed me quickly. “Are you ready for the rest of the day?”

My hand rose to his cheek, resting there for this moment. “I am. I really am. They’re wonderful, Jacob, truly.” I raised my other hand and clasped them both around the back of his neck, as he pulled me in for a hug.

This hug…it feels like it’s what we’ve been doing all this time to each other. We’ve been holding each other, so we didn’t crumble whilst rebuilding our own hearts. I wanted to pause time and stay this way for a while longer, but I heard Julie call my name from the back garden. My arms fell down Jacob’s back, slowly returning to my side. His hands left my waist. We gave each other one final kiss before entering the idyllic chaos of the day.

Chapter twenty-five

Florence

“We all hope you’ll love the new store, and the new menu additions too! So with that, it’s our honour to announce ‘The Rolling Pin’ is now open!”

A wave of cheers and claps erupted around us, as the white and orange balloons on either side of the entrance to Pin's flapped in the steady breeze. Jacob and I were standing just off to the side of the crowd that was gathered in a semi-circle around the entrance, watching on as smiles and whoops engulfed the crowd.

Whilst Julie and Fiona had been saying their thank yous, Jacob was pointing out to me who everyone was. Although, it was pointless trying to discreetly name everyone he recognised, as most people in the crowd were staring directly at him. I could tell he noticed, and told me that it was probably because this was only his second time back in town sinceDefenderswas released.

“Come on in, everyone!” Julie shouted as the crowd merged from a huddle to a straight line that ran along the building. Fiona caught my eye and called for us to come in, so we did. That familiar pastry smell hit me, and it was like I was home. The store was almost identical to the one in New York; the only difference was the cream leather booths, and lightwood tables had been swapped for dainty dark wood tables and chairs with metal feet, and the fact that this store had Fiona and Julie buzzing around behind the counter.

Jacob’s hand pulled me through the crowd as we made our way to one of the free tables. “Do you want anything while there’s still plenty?”

Pie. I want pie. But I probably shouldn't, considering my tummy is still recovering from being up in the clouds this morning. “You know, I think I’m good. A coffee would be great, though.”

He nods and dips his head down to plant a kiss on my forehead, before disappearing into the crowd, joining the queue like the rest of the town had. I watched him as he left through the door, and through the glass, I saw someone, a guy who was the same height and build as Jacob, grab him by his shoulder. I couldn’t hear anything over the babble from customers and the occasional steam explosion from the coffee machine, but Jacob was smiling, and before I knew it, there was a gaggle of guys around him, all cheering and clapping him on the back.

I watched on as his head fell back with laughter, not forward for a change, and his face beamed. I guessed they were his hometown friends he hadn’t seen in a while, purely from the boyish grins each of them adopted and how half of them were already doubled over from laughing. It was nice seeing him like this, so carefree. I wanted to watch onfrom my little seat for hours. But I didn’t really have time to sit and enjoy the sight of him, though, as I felt my phone begin to vibrate in my bag.

My mind switched over to Nanna Dorothy mode. I’d forgotten to call her back this morning, so I prepared myself for a grilling. But as my eyes fell onto my phone screen, I wished I was still looking at Jacob, in awe of how happy he looked, because now my heart began to sink again, and all the excitement in my body had evaporated.

Hugo.

I didn’t know what to do. Unlike the last time he contacted me, I’m not upset over him anymore. I’m over what he did to me, so the panic in my chest isn’t as intense as I’d anticipated. When he messaged me in Pins the day I met Jacob, he never tried to hear from me again. Not until now.

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