“I…”
The door opened, and Tammy Sue groaned. “I'm glad you baked extra cookies. We’re almost sold out. I’ll see what they want.” She spun around and walked out.
I already knew who it was. It was all in the timing of us, wasn’t it? Maybe it was a little too late.
“Perseus!” Tammy called. “Uh… Ben is here.”
I froze, which had become my go-to whenever he was around. “Have him come back here.” I paced quickly back and forth as I tried to organize my thoughts. They were all jumbled because of last night. The smell and taste of him still lingered.
He walked through the door with a wide grin on his face and approached me, taking me in his strong arms and kissing me. I gave myself over to it one last time. All good things had to come to an end. It was the way life was.
“How was work? I hated waking up and finding you gone. Sneaky.” His breath smelled like vanilla, and it made me dizzy.
“It’s always an early morning at a bakery.”
“You feel ok? Did I tire you out last night?” He squeezed me tighter. What was this? Was it a game or something more? It felt like more, and that made it worse.
“I’m tired,” I muttered, unable to pull myself away from his embrace.
“Is everything ok?”
“No… not really. Not if I’m being honest, and I want us to be honest with each other, Ben.”
“Me too.” He kissed my forehead, and his lips burned into my skin, forming a lasting impression that I would never forget.
“I had an email in my inbox this morning from that company who is trying to get us all to sell our businesses to them so they can build a resort. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Everyone seems to be talking about it.”
He stiffened against me. “It was another offer? How much?”
“Exorbitant. I’m sure that it’s enough for a few of the businesses to reconsider not selling. I could really use that money, but this place is more than that to me. It’s where my family worked hard to start this place, you know. I grew up here.”
“I know,” he answered sadly.
I looked up at him, and his mouth tightened. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“You know?” He sighed. “I… I didn’t want to… I should have.”
“Yes.” I nuzzled into his shoulder one more time.
“If it makes you feel any better, I stopped even trying the moment that I saw you. You were all I could think about.”
“But you didn’t tell me.” I pushed back from him and could feel my anger rising. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” I tried to stop my voice from shaking and epically failed.
“I was afraid that you wouldn’t… I was afraid of losing you again.”
“You didn’t even have me, Ben.”
“I know.” His shoulders slumped. “Mom told me that I needed to tell you, but then Lover’s Butte happened and… I’m sorry.”
“You've had to apologize a lot on this trip, haven’t you?” I stood my ground and felt my anger rising along with something else – something unknown.
“Perce, I 'm…”
“No, Ben. Don’t you understand how hard we have all had to work to keep our places open and still vibrant in a town like Foggy Basin? We bleed for our stores. We go without to make sure our businesses are healthy. Hell, I’ve barely slept for months.”
“You slept last night. I watched you until the wee hours of…”
“Yes, but it wasn’t real, was it?” I spat. “Because it wasn’t the truth.”
