“I need to use the restroom,” I tell Lauren before glancing around the table. “Anyone need a drink from the bar on my way back?”
They all say no.
I need one, though.
I need like five, to be honest.
I also need to get away from Kasey and her come-ons. Deep down, I do smile that Miles isn’t entertaining her advances.
After using the restroom, I stop at the bar and say hi to Maliki before ordering an appletini. His bright and friendly grin is a rarity. Phoebe was right. Love does change people.
“I’ve got hers, and I’ll have a Bud.”
Miles appears at my side, his shoulder brushing against me.
Here we go again.
Maliki nods and walks away.
I shift to glare at Miles. “Quit doing that.”
He smirks. “Doing what?”
“Buying me drinks. Showing up where I am.”
His smirk grows. “In my defense, I was here first, and I had no idea you’d be at the coffee shop.” He winks. “That was just luck on your side.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What do you want, Miles?”
“I’m not quite sure.”
I scoff. “Terrible answer.”
He chuckles and leans his elbow on the bar. “I want you to stop avoiding me like I stomped on your heart, which is what you did to me, by the way, when we run into each other.”
“Done and done.” I choose to ignore the heart-stomping comment. “Anything else?”
I chose to ignore it, but it still stings.
Is that how he still feels about me?
Is it the first thought that comes to his mind when he sees me?
I blink and shut my eyes to avoid the tears as guilt seeps through my veins.
“I also want you to have breakfast with me in the morning,” he continues. When he smiles, I can’t help but return it. The man can be charming.
“Now, you’re pushing it.” I wiggle my finger at him.
“I want to talk to you about something. What time is good for you?”
“I can’t. I’m baking with my mom all day.”
He nods in understanding. If you know my mom and holiday baking, you know it’s not to be messed with. “The day after then?”
“That’s Christmas Eve, and I spend it with my family.” Disappointment flutters through me, surprising me. I’m not supposed to want to spend time with him.
He nods, turning quiet as if he’s thinking of a different plan. “Give me your number.”
I raise a brow. “What?”
“Your number. We can figure something out.”
“Miles.” I sigh. “This won’t go anywhere.” It’s stupid to get our hopes up. Sure, we can exchange numbers and talk, but we live on opposite sides of the country.
He jerks his head toward an empty table in the corner after Maliki delivers our drinks, and I follow—as if I’m in a trance. He pulls out a stool for me, his hand brushing along my shoulder when I sit, and then joins me.
He blows out a long breath before speaking. “I want to tell you what you should’ve known when you broke up with me. I want you to know why my family did what they did.”
“Miles. That’s the past, and we had that discussion years ago.”
“We had ten minutes.” He squeezes his eyes shut. “You broke up with me in ten minutes, didn’t give me a minute to explain myself, and then walked away for good.”
I gulp. Had I been that awful? “All right. I’m listening.”
He steeples his hands together and rests them on the table. “My parents almost lost everything when they did what they did. They were close to bankruptcy.”
My mouth falls open. That wasn’t what I’d expected.
“After inheriting the building from my grandfather, they discovered he owed thirty thousand dollars in back property taxes that they were responsible for. My parents didn’t have that money just lying around, so they worked out a payment plan. In order to pay it, they had no choice but to raise the rent for the businesses in their building.”
Raising my mother’s rent.
Our parents had been best friends since childhood. Since my mother’s pastry shop, Pastry Puffs, was in that building, her rent was raised. She’d been a loyal tenant, never late on a payment, and had never had complaints. After Miles’s grandfather died, and his father, Chadwick, became the owner, that changed. A month after his death, my mother received a notice in the mail that rent was increasing three thousand dollars when their lease was due to be renewed … two weeks later.
Three thousand dollars.
That isn’t chump change. Our family couldn’t afford the rent. My parents went to Chadwick, pleading for them to reconsider, but they refused to budge. Pastry Puffs closed, and so did three other businesses in the strip. They received backlash from that decision from our neighbors and friends. The Lancrofts had gone from having many friends to only a few.
I’ll never forget the day my mother closed Pastry Puffs. With tears in her eyes, she demanded I stay away from their filthy family. That meant breaking up with my boyfriend. After I managed to sneak out and talk to Miles, I begged him to talk to his family to reconsider. He said no, they couldn’t, and I knew what I had to do. He didn’t care about my family, so I told him it was over.
“There were so many sides to the story, Mariah,” Miles continues. “Yes, your parents were hurt in the process. Their anger is understandable, and I’m sorry that happened. It was a bad situation all around. My parents had to decide whether to keep a roof over our heads and feed us or raise their tenants' rent. Deep down, you can’t say your family wouldn’t have made the same decision.”
“Why didn’t they ask for help?”
“Have you met my father? You know his pride.”
“They could’ve given my family a break. They were friends for decades.”
“You don’t think that’d piss off the rest of the tenants?”
I scrub a hand over my forehead and sigh. He’s right. That would’ve only made them hated more.
This wasn’t what I expected to learn tonight. My hope was to come here, drink, and not think about Miles. It’s turned into the opposite. Now, I’ll be thinking of him all night.
And tomorrow.
“Look, there’s a vacant space in the building where your mom’s shop was,” Miles says. “I’m willing to work with your parents if they’d like to open back up.”
I wince. “What?”
“I’m trying to extend an olive branch here.” His face softens. “I don’t want us to hate each other.”
“My mom will never open another business.” I rub at my wrists. “She gave up that dream after Pastry Puffs shut down.” My father recently retired, and they purchased an RV to travel. She only bakes like she had at Pastry Puffs when I’m in town to help her.
“What about you?” His brown eyes meet mine. “Are you interested in the space?”
“What?” I stutter.
He doesn’t break eye contact. “I’ll rent the space to you then.”
Rent the space to me?
The idea of having my own shop is brought up again.
Could I do that?
I told Phoebe I’d never rent from a Lancroft, that I’d constantly worry about rent being raised, but from the look on Mile’s face, I trust him.