“I told you — both of you — I have sensitive teeth. Okay? I can’t just bite into an ice cream cone.”
“But you microwave it.”
“Only if I’m too impatient to let it melt a little on its own.”
They both blinked, looking at each other again before Morgan let out a long sigh. “She’s hopeless.”
I pulled my arm free from her, but she quickly apologized and cooed me while Jacob teased me through the phone, and I laughed because I loved them both just as much as they drove me nuts.
And I could already tell that they’d get along just fine.
“Alright,” Morgan said to Jacob. “We’ve got flower business to attend to. But, I can’t wait to finally meet you in just a little over a week!”
“I can’t wait either. I’m excited to see where this lovely, insane creature who microwaves her ice cream grew up.”
Jacob’s eyes lit up with the tease, and he winked at me, which made my cheeks heat and my heart do a little flip inside my chest. I’d never brought anyone home, not since I left seven years ago, and not just because I’d never considered coming back here period, but because I’d never been that serious with anyone.
With that realization, my stomach dropped.
What does that mean?
That question was still swimming in my mind when we ended the call, along with all the thoughts that had kept me awake through the night.
And none of those thoughts were about Jacob.
My chest tightened as Tyler’s eyes flashed in my mind, the sun setting over the mountains as he said three words I had always longed to hear, even when I hated him, even when I hoped to never see him again.
I miss you.
Guilt struck me like a hot iron to the gut, piercing and sharp, and I shook my head, disappointed and disgusted with myself.
Why had I even asked Tyler? Why had I brought up that day seven years ago after I’d spent so long trying to forget it?
How would I feel if Jacob asked a girl he grew up with, a girl he used to love, the same thing?
“I don’t want daisies,” Morgan said as we rounded a corner. “Too cliché, I think. And definitely not roses. I want something fresh and new, something unique to New Hampshire or New England, at least. What’s our state flower?”
I almost didn’t hear her question, since I was still punishing myself in my mind. But I managed to reach for her words through the fog. “Um… lilac. Purple lilac.”
She gasped. “Jasmine! The color of your bridesmaid dress is lilac!”
“It’s meant to be,” I managed through a smile, pulling my arm from hers. “Why don’t you browse them, over there,” I said, pointing to where a collection of gorgeous lilacs were. “And maybe think of what could complement them. I’m going to run to the ladies’ room and I’ll be back.”
She frowned, murmuring an okay, and I turned and fled before she had the chance to ask me what was wrong.
In the small, dim-lit bathroom of the shop, I relieved myself and washed my hands, and then I splashed cold water on my face, staring at my reflection as the water dripped down my chin and into the sink. My slate eyes stared back at me, seemingly innocent, seemingly happy.
Only I knew the torture they hid.
At least, that’s what I thought, until Morgan gave me a knowing look when I returned. She looped her arm in mine again just like she had before, and we walked the aisles of flowers quietly. But I could feel her watching me, and I knew it was only a matter of time before she called me on my mood.
“The florist suggested dogwood,” she said after a moment. “But, I don’t know that that fits me. I was thinking maybe some white peonies.”
“That would be pretty.”
“Maybe some trailing clematis, and some delicate greenery.”
“Perfect.”
“Maybe some honey, dripping from the stems.”
I cocked a brow at her. “That would be sticky.”
“Just making sure you’re listening.”
“I’m here.”
“Are you?” Morgan stopped, pulling me to face her in the corner of the shop. “You seem a little distant today, and honestly, you’ve seemed a little… tense, ever since your plane landed.”
I swallowed, looking over a collection of magnolias without a response. I’d never told Morgan what happened between me and Tyler that day my mom left, and she’d always assumed I left because of my mother, that she was the reason I never came back to Bridgechester to visit.
And I let her assume that, because telling her that I was in love with her brother wasn’t just a worse option — it was an impossible one.
Morgan sighed. “I have to tell you something.”
When I looked at her again, her eyes were wide, brows tugged together, and she was worrying her lip between her teeth like she was about to tell me someone died.
I tilted my head, watching her warily. “Okay…”
Morgan let out a long sigh, looking around like someone in the great big town of Bridgechester might overhear us. And when she looked at me again, it was with an apology already written all over her face. “I know what happened between you and Tyler.”
All the color drained from my face.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say something before now,” she rushed. “I just… he told me in confidence, and I knew you were hurt over your mom, and I didn’t want to bring up something that obviously meant nothing, and I figured you’d be embarrassed.”
She kept going, but my mind was sticking on the words tumbling from her mouth at a hundred miles per hour.
He told me.
Meant nothing.
Embarrassed.
“… bring it up, you know? But then you guys just stopped talking, and you never came home, and I missed you and I missed us and I guess I just thought that you coming back home, that you guys could put everything behind you, and we could all be friends again, you know? Like the old days.” She smiled weakly. “The Wagner Kids — Plus One.”
I think I smiled. I think I managed to clear my throat before I asked, “Tyler told you?”
Morgan grimaced. “The next morning. You were still asleep in my bed, and we were both down in the kitchen, eating cereal. He was all quiet and broody and then he told me what happened.”
I blinked. My head was whirling, and I needed to sit down, but there was nowhere to sit.
“I was furious at him,” she continued, waving her hand in a gesture. “Obviously. I mean, you and James had just broken up. And then your mom, God,” she says, shivering. “I just knew you were in such a dark place. And then for him to do that, to… to sleep with you,” she whispers. “I was horrified.”
“You told him you were mad?”
“Duh!” She shook her head. “I told him he was an idiot and a jerk for taking advantage of you in a moment like that. I mean, sure, I knew he had a crush on you — he had since the day you two met.”
The blood drained from my entire body, and I swayed, planting a hand on one of the wooden tables behind me to steady myself.
“I was screaming at him. I told him you weren’t ready for anything, not after James, and after your mom. I mean, could he have worse timing? And then, you left,” she whispered those words, her bottom lip trembling when I looked at her again. “And you never came back, and I thought it was because of your mom, but then I slowly started realizing it, how you and Tyler never talked, how you never asked about him when I visited, how you never invited him to visit with me.” She rolled her lips together. “And then I figured, well, I was right. She wasn’t ready, she feels embarrassed and like she could never tell me, and never look Tyler in the eyes again, and my brother just ruined everything. Our amazing friendship, up in flames because he couldn’t keep it in his pants.”