Page 42 of The Affair
“So, don’t let that be your deciding factor. You’ve lived in a small town long enough to know that there is always something new to talk about. Believe me, someone is out there doing something stupid right now, and eventually, they’ll be the talk of the town. Just give it time.”
She’d finished her cup of coffee, and she held out her hands for Penny, who came willingly. Once she was comfy, sitting upright in her mom’s lap again, Candace motioned for me to take a sip of my own coffee.
“So, what is it going to be? Are you going to try to make all those dirty thoughts in your head a reality?” she asked with a sly smirk.
My stomach flipped, just thinking about it.
Was I ready to take that step?
To be the source of town gossip again? To put my heart on the line?
To fall for another Gallagher?
“Can I sleep on it?”
* * *
I wassure it wasn’t customary for a boss to leave a brand-new employee on their own for an entire afternoon without notice.
It certainly wasn’t at Timeless Treasures at least.
Although, to be fair, Sawyer was our first non-related employee ever, so I wasn’t sure what was customary and what was just plain crazy at this point.
Except me.
I was definitely feeling pretty crazy at this point.
After leaving Candace’s house yesterday, I had known I needed more time, and I’d definitely needed space.
If I could have booked airfare to Antarctica, I would have.
But alas, I had this stupid thing called rational thinking. Well, that, and an expired passport that seriously needed to be renewed.
I had known coming back to the store that afternoon would only muddle my thoughts, and they were already pretty murky—filled with semi-pornographic fantasies of Sawyer and me and the things we could do if I did, in fact, decide to dive in, as Candace had urged me to do.
So, with the sliver of my rationale still intact, I had done the one thing I hadn’t done in, well… forever.
I feigned a fake illness and took a sick day.
I had no idea if Sawyer had actually believed in my sudden stomach illness, but it gave me a pause on the conversation we’d started but not finished—the one I’d been mulling over all day.
What was Sawyer to me? A friend, an employee … or did I want more?
Candace had been right. I needed to make a decision—independent of outside opinion.
And that included Sawyer.
Sitting in my lonely house, I had tried to make sense of my feelings. Hell, I’d even made a list of pros and cons, but I’d come up empty.
Until the next morning.
When I awoke, I felt like a new person with a new outlook on life. Suddenly, everything made sense.
I whistled my way through my shower and sang to myself in my car, and by the time I was walking into the store, I was in such a good mood that my mouth nearly ached from the smile on my face.
And then I saw him.
“Hey!” I said brightly.
