Page 86 of Forbidden to Fall

It was why I hated the thought of hurting him.

He might be wrong about James, and I might wish he could see that James wasn’t the same person who’d hurt him eight years ago, but the fact remained that my choosing James would hurt him.

It would hurt the brother who’d put his arm around me at age eleven and offered to egg Tyson Hatch’s house when Tyson had called me Ketchup Head. Who’d snatched the toilet paper hanging from my shoe my freshman year and stuffed it in his back pocket.

I didn’t want to hurt that brother.

The s’more maple blondies were an all-around hit, which was all the more satisfying because I hadn’t even mentioned what I hoped to do with them. It made heading out the front door with a pan that had been all but licked clean feel like winning a gold medal.

“Where’s your car, Sade?” Ryan asked as we all walked out.

My body tightened. “Dom’s putting in a new fuel pump. Soon, I hope. He was waiting for the part last I heard.”

Ryan tossed Mia into the air, and she giggled in delight. “How’d you get here?”

My muscles tensed, but I smiled at Wade. “My personal chauffeur. You good to take me back right now?”

“We can drop you off,” Ryan said.

“Yeah,” Lily agreed. “No problem.”

I sent a pleading glance at Wade. Even if Wade hadn’t recognized James’s truck in front of the bakery, Ryan would.

“I’ve actually gotta run an errand in town,” Wade said, sounding more suspicious than I’d hoped.

Ryan smirked. “Run an errand, eh? Does Ari mind that nickname?”

“Grow up.” Wade gave him a wet willy.

“Are you okay to take Mia tomorrow, Sadie?” Lily asked.

I turned to my niece. “Is water wet? Yes!”

“Can we go to the stables again?” Mia asked.

My heart skipped a beat, and my gaze darted to Lily.

“You went to the stables?” Ryan asked, more curious than suspicious.

“Yeah!” Mia said. “And we saw the horsies, and we fed them, and I met⁠—”

“I’ll have to ask Archer,” I hurried to interrupt, noting that Lily had been about to do the same. “Whatever we do, it’ll be fun, though. I promise.” I squatted down and put out my pinky finger.

Mia hooked hers around it with a grin, and we kissed our thumbs.

I shot a glance at Lily, whose shoulders lowered with relief.

Apparently, neither Mia nor Lily had told Ryan about seeing James at the stables. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I guess Lily probably felt the same way I did: reluctant to stir things up.

But inside me, everything was stirred up, and I had no idea how to make it settle again.

My break from work had refreshed me physically.

Mentally? My brain was a whirlwind.

Things were busy at Keller’s as we prepared enough product to stock both the bakery and the Harvest Festival booth. I wanted to get started on the s’more maple blondies at the sugar shack, but I also felt paralyzed, not knowing how to act around James anymore.

All my talk of friends felt way too much like overcompensating. My only consolation was that James had had no idea about my crush last time—I hoped he’d be similarly ignorant this time.