Page 57 of Back to December
I sigh, tracing the outer edge of the wooden tabletop. “I know I shouldn’t let her have that much power. Anyone really.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. But I’m happy to listen.”
I chew on the inside of my lip. “My mom overstepped some serious boundaries—she manipulated my sisters and me, she made a really shady deal with someone, and she just… isn’t who I thought she was. I think our relationship is irreparable—I can’t trust her. And since she can’t see what she did wrong, I think I have to cut her off completely.”
A weight lifts as the words come out, so I let them flow.
“I took some time and space to figureout some things. Where I’d live, what to do for work—it’s all very complicated. I know where Iwantto be, but I’m scared to try. It feels like I’ve already lost everything.”
“I sent Emma divorce papers,” he says. “I let her leave on a train we planned to board together, to start our lives in New York. And I couldn’t ever tell her why.”
I swallow. “But I assume you had a good reason. Look at you now.”
His head bobs. “I thought I was protecting her.”
His words land heavily between us. It’s too familiar.
“Was it worth it?” I ask.
Miles leans on his elbows, thoughtful. “I think the difference here is that Emma’s dad was overprotective. He crossed a line, but he admitted he was wrong. He apologized. And we’ve all worked hard to rebuild what he broke.”
“I’d like to get back what we had,” I say softly. “I know that’s not possible with my mom, but I hope Holden and I still have a chance.”
He gives me a crooked smile. “There’s always a chance, Laila.”
I consider his answer. The bakery hums around us—the faint sound of Emma singing in the next room, the faint jingle of bells from somewhere out in the trees.
It feels like remembering what peace sounds like. It gives me hope that I can find that with Holden again, too.
“So what did you do?” I ask finally. “When everything felt impossible?”
Miles exhales, running a hand through his hair. “I stopped trying to make sense of it. Love isn’t a business deal. It’s messy. Illogical. Sometimes unfair. But if you keep waiting for it to make perfect sense…” He shrugs. “You’ll miss it.”
Emma appears then, carrying a plate piled high with several cookies and a warm smile in place. “What he means is that he leapt before he looked, spent a decade watching over my family, and cooked all the time to compensate.”
Miles grins. “Yeah, that too.”
She slides into the seat beside him and turns to me. “Whatever you’re running from, Laila, it’s not going to stay behind you. And maybe that’s a good thing.”
My throat tightens. “You think?”
“I know.” She nudges my mug closer. “You don’t strike me as the kind of person who hides from happy endings. You just need a new way to start yours.”
Miles groans, running a hand down his face. “Speaking of happy endings—you really need to get out of Sweetheart Springs before tomorrow.”
“Why?” I straighten in my seat. “What happens tomorrow?”
Emma laughs. “Tomorrow evening, they’ll announce the pairings for the Sweetheart Games. We didn’t sign up for round two, but apparently, ‘not signing up’ just means ‘you’ve been selected as honorary contestants.’”
“Voluntold,” Miles mutters. “That’s the official term.”
I can’t help but laugh, warmth threading through the chill that’s been clinging to me for weeks. “Sounds like fate has a habit of penciling you two in.”
Emma’s smile softens. “That’s the thing about this town, it’s stubborn about second chances.”
“Seriously, though,” Miles adds. “Since you’re here without Holden, you’ll have the vultures—um, Matchmakers—circling and finding you a new partner to spend the holidays with. You don’t want to deal with that mess, too.”
Snow crunches under my boots as I head for my car. Tomorrow, I’ll finalize my plans and take a few days to get back to Enchanted Hollow. I don’t know what waits for me there, just that it’s time to stop running and see if the bridge still keeps its promise. That some love stories circle back, no matter how far they drift.
