“Look, I don’t care where you go or what you do. That’s up to you.” Jules hesitated and then added with a sour grimace, “I don’t even care that much about the Book of Cakes—not like I used to, anyway. Just keep it. But Gray?” Her brown eyes searched Ella’s face. “Please, just let him be.”
Let him be? Good Lord, what did this woman think Ella was doing? It wasn’t as if the man was a prisoner. “Jules, I promise you that I haven’t tricked or misled Gray into anything. He’s an adult. He’s in charge of himself and the decisions he makes.”
As Ella spoke, Jules’s mouth thinned. “I know that. But whether you or Gray want to admit it or not, you have some sort of hold over him. One he can’t shake.”
“That’s not—” Ella threw up her hands. “No. I’m not going to argue with you. Gray knows what’s what. But if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll remind him that I’m leaving.”
“You need to. He’s—” Jules’s mouth folded in a straight line, and it took her a moment to regain control. When she did speak, her lips trembled the slightest bit. “He feels things deeply. He always has. And even though I don’t understand it, you are his weakness. He’s going to be torn apart when you leave, just like the last time.”
Jules looked so bleak that Ella didn’t know what to say. “I can’t do more than tell—”
“You can do a lot more! Every minute you spend with him is pulling him deeper into your world. And when you’re done, then what? You’ll leave. You’ll leave even if it crushes him.”
“Jules, I don’t want to hurt Gray. And he knows that. I’m not that callous.”
“According to your millions of fans on social media, you’re the perfect Ella Dove, the best baker ever, and the nicest person in the world. But I know better than that. I’ve seen how you operate, how you sweep into a place, charm people into short and easy relationships, capture their hearts, and then stomp on them on your way out the door.”
“That’s not true. I truly care about Gray’s feelings—”
“Then prove it.” Jules stood abruptly, raking her chair across the floor, the noise jarring. “If you care for him, even a little, you’ll stop seeing him now, and not when it’s convenient for you.”
Ella frowned. “You’re assuming things are far more serious than they are.”
“Am I?” Jules picked up her things, her movements jerky. “I can’t wait for the bake-off to be over, because then things will get back to normal around here. I just hope that when you’re done, there will be enough of Gray left for me to put back together.” With a final glare, she walked out, leaving Ella sitting alone.
Whew. That had been difficult. Drained, Ella sank back into her chair, her thoughts swirling, her heart beating a sickly beat. I’m not going to hurt Gray. He knows I’m leaving. I’ve told him repeatedly.
And yet, he never seemed to respond when she said it. He merely shrugged and changed the subject. Maybe… maybe being honest wasn’t enough.
Jules was right. The best thing Ella could do was to end it now. For some reason, the realization made her heart sink to the bottom of her soul. I’ll miss him.
That shocked her. She would miss him deeply. He’d been the best part of her visit.
Oh no. Oh no, no, no! She pressed her hands to her eyes, a sick feeling in her stomach. I need to—have to—end this right now. She’d tell Gray that she never allowed her relationships to get to the “it’s going to hurt to end this” stage, and how she usually had a firm idea of where the line was. But how, in this relationship, for reasons she couldn’t fathom, she was no longer sure. Which left her—them—with a dilemma.
Did they continue on their current path until they faced a certain heart-shredding ending, or did they protect themselves and end things now when they still had enough of their good sense left to move on and enjoy life?
Oh yes, she and Gray needed to have a talk, and soon.
CHAPTER 13 GRAY
“Just the guy I wanted to see.”
Gray closed his truck door and saw his brother crossing the driveway, the morning sun giving him a fifteen-foot shadow. “What’s up?”
Mark’s gaze landed on the shoebox Gray was carrying. “Did you get another pair of running shoes? You bought a new pair last week.”
Gray shrugged. “They were on sale. I’m going to give them a try right now. You’re welcome to come along.”
“I don’t run. I keep in shape lifting boxes of lettuce.” Mark showed off his biceps. “Impressive, huh?”
“You don’t want me to answer that, do you?”
Mark grinned. “Probably not. Did you just get back from the farm? It’s barely seven in the morning.”
“I had a lot of cow stuff to do, so I’ve been up since five.”
“ ‘Cow stuff’? Is that technical farm-speak or did you just make it up?”
“It means I did a lot of cow-related things and I’m too uncaffeinated to explain them all to you.” Truthfully, he’d spent an extra hour there stacking the new bales of hay. The work had burned off some of his pent-up energy, which he’d sorely needed. “Did you want something? I just came here to take a shower. I don’t have hot water at my place yet, but that’s about to change.”
“I guess you’ll be moving in soon.”
“This week, I hope. My home is coming along nicely.” Gray couldn’t keep a smile from his face as he spoke. Home. It was such a short word, and yet it meant so much.
“That’s great.” Mark shoved his hands into his pockets. “Mom sent me to ask if you think you’ll be eating dinner with us this evening.”
“I’d like to, but I can’t.”
The jovial light in Mark’s eyes faded. “You’re seeing Ella.”
He was. He would pick her up around six and take her out to eat, where she’d charm him once again and make him forget, at least for a while, that she was doing her best to be more mirage than woman.
The bake-off was a mere week away, and whenever he’d asked about her plans after that, she’d been vague. Too vague. His jaw tightened. Don’t go there. Just take things one day at a time. Slow and steady wins the race.
“Blast it, Gray,” Mark said in a tight voice. “I wish you’d stop being so darn stupid.”
Gray shrugged. “I like her. That’s all that matters.”
Mark opened his mouth, but Gray cut him short. “Don’t.” There was nothing Mark could tell him that Gray didn’t already know. Ella was as honest as they came. She was also the sexiest, funniest, most spirited woman he’d ever met. And yes, her pastries could make a guy remember the first time he went fishing with his dad in a way that was so real that it was almost as if he’d gotten to relive it. But for Gray, that wasn’t what made her special. It was her wit, her style, her sense of humor. The whole package.
Sadly, Ella’s real superpower had nothing to do with baking. It had to do with keeping people—namely him—at arm’s length. Whenever a conversation or moment got personal, she retreated as if chased by demons. Gray rubbed his neck, trying to ease the tension that had gathered there.