The Trouble With Falling

TWENTY-SEVEN

Hartley

I finish dryingmy hair and applying my mascara before I check out my reflection in the mirror. The red sweater clings to my curves and I wonder if Eli will like it. He said that he would be here soon to pick me up for dinner and I don’t want to keep him and his parents waiting.

Today was amazing. The bakery sold out of everything and I’ve already made a list of what to make more of for tomorrow. There was another lull after lunch, so I was able to make the dough for more bread and set it to rise for a few hours. I’ll have to bake them tonight once they’re ready, but that won’t take long.

I like that I’m already setting up a new routine. I wish that I had Grams here to help me with everything, but I know that she would be proud to see our dream come to life and to see it succeed.

There’s already a bunch of reviews on the social media pages, and I make a mental note to take more pictures to post tomorrow. I was so busy today that I forgot to do that until it was too late.

There’s a knock at the door and I hurry to answer it.

“Hey! I just need to grab my purse and coat and I’ll be ready to go,” I tell Eli as I let him inside.

“I like the boots,” he says with a laugh as I twirl around to show him the Uggs he gave me.

I grab my purse and stuff my keys and phone inside before I tug my coat and hat on.

“You look beautiful,” Eli says when I join him back at the front door.

“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

I lean up to kiss his cheek, but Eli turns his head, capturing my mouth with his at the last second. I wrap my arms around his neck, molding my body against his as Eli slips his tongue past my lips.

“We’re keeping your parents waiting,” I gasp when we finally come up for air.

“I talked to my mom today,” he says and I can sense that he’s nervous about what he’s going to say next.

“Yeah? What did she say?”

“She did say that she always knew that we were pretending.”

“How? Was it something that we did?”

“No, she said that she knew from the second that I told her I had a girlfriend. Mother’s intuition and all of that.”

“Damn. Was she mad that we had lied to her? She didn’t seem mad when I talked to her.”

“No, I think she thinks we’re even since she didn’t tell us that she knew either.”

“Well, at least there’s that,” I say as I move to head for the door.

I’ve only taken two steps when he speaks again.

“And then she asked me if we were really faking it.”

That stops me.

“What?”

“She asked if we had really been faking it,” he repeats, studying my face, looking for a reaction.

I stare out the window, watching as a few snowflakes fall as I try to think over what she could mean.

I’ve been so busy with opening the bakery that I haven’t really thought about what Eli and I are doing. We’ve been spending time together every single day. Sleeping with each other and kissing, even though the deal was over days ago.

“She says that we’re in love with each other,” Eli says when I haven’t said anything for a few minutes.