Page 10 of Make Mine Sweet
The apartment is unbelievably quiet, my solitary footsteps strangely lonely. I sought out this small separation from my family, but now, I kind of wish I’d brought a fuzzy blanket to snuggle up in, too.
I get comfortable on the couch and do the next best thing. I call my sister.
Wren picks up right away. “I was wondering when I’d hear from you. Are you all unpacked? Do you miss us yet?”
“We’ve only been gone a few hours.” No need to admit the reason for the call.
“I already took over your drawers in the bathroom. I’m used to this lifestyle now, so if you’re thinking about trying to come right back, you’ll be out of luck on the storage situation.”
“You move fast.” We’ve shared that tiny bathroom since we were kids—I would have done the same thing.
“I have my priorities. How do you feel about your new place now that you’re there?”
“It’s different being right on the foothills practically surrounded by trees, but I like it.” Our childhood home where Wren still lives with Mom is in a more traditional neighborhood, close to downtown.
She pauses, her voice growing softer. “How’s our little man handling it?”
I glance at his undisturbed bedroom door. “He’s too obsessed with our neighbor’s dog to process the big change yet.”
“Ooh, that’s right. Amy’s relative. What’s he like?”
I drop my voice in case he really can hear me through the walls. “It’s Ian Vaughn.”
“You say that like I should know who that is.”
“I guess you wouldn’t.” She was in middle school the last time he was in town. I’ve never been much for sharing my crazy crushes the way Wren and her friends do and certainly wouldn’t have told her anything private back then. She had too many ways of learning more than I meant to tell her.
Still does, unfortunately.
“So you already know each other?”
“Not really.” One-sided infatuation doesn’t equal an acquaintance.
“You’re driving me nuts. You need to give me more than this. Who is Ian Vaughn?”
If I don’t spill at least a few beans, she’ll wind up parked on my porch every day for a week until she finds out everything she wants to know about him.
“He visited town right before my senior year of high school. He was a few years older and…really cute.” I grimace hearing myself say it. Cute doesn’t begin to cover a guy with unbridled confidence and a killer smile, but that’s all I’m willing to tell her. “I had a thing for him that whole summer.”
“Oh. My. Gosh.” Wren’s gasp makes me roll my eyes. “This is just like Hope getting reunited with Griffin.”
“It’s nothing like that.” I need to shut down whatever insanity’s swirling in her brain before those thoughts take hold. Ian and I are not in some kind of romantic Christmas festival scenario the way our friend was last winter. “He’s a totally different man now. He’s a grump who didn’t smile and barely talked to me this afternoon. Whatever charms he had fifteen years ago, they’re gone now.”
“Charms.” The woman actually giggles.
Clearly, she only heard me say the one word. She’s as bad as August when she’s fixated. “Please stop.”
“Come on. It’s so rare for you to pay attention to a man at all. You can at least give me a second to enjoy it.”
This is exactly why I don’t talk to her about things like this. She enjoys it too much. True, I haven’t been interested in a man in ages. But I’m certainly not breaking that streak with Ian Vaughn.
“Any attention I pay him is for Amy’s sake. That’s all.”
“Right,” she says, dragging out the word. “It’s for Amy.”
I’m going to have to strangle my sister. It won’t be easy at the bakery without her, but Mom and I will find a way to get by.
“Wren.”
