"I'm sorry," Mara said slowly and in disbelief. "Repeat that one more time."

Heat crept up my neck and flooded my cheeks at the weight of her intense gaze. "You heard what I said," I mumbled.

"The woods, Sloane?" she mused with amazement and glee. "You and Ryan boned in the middle of the fucking woods?"

"Oh, come on." I rolled my eyes and took a sip from my wine glass before placing it back down on her kitchen island. "You're trying to tell me you and Sam have never hooked up somewhere unexpected in the heat of the moment?"

"If you want to count the backseat of Sam's car when we were in high school and still living with our parents. Or in the ocean on our honeymoon. Otherwise, we tend to keep our fun private, where there's no risk of being interrupted." She grinned wickedly. "Though maybe we should give it a try. You sure don't seem to be complaining."

"I probably would've felt a lot more embarrassed if we did get caught," I admitted. And remembering that we almost had... holy shit, it would've been mortifying. "But it's not like I went on the hike thinking 'we're definitely going to have sex.'"

"Then what prompted the spontaneous lovefest?"

I barked out a laugh. "Never call it that again," I said, before lifting a shoulder, trying to appear nonchalant. "But we were all alone on this lookout right outside of town—with a picturesque view of the oceanfront, marina, and town—and it felt like we were in our own little bubble when he started talking about his plan for the hockey season. How he hadn't told anyone yet and wanted my opinion, which somehow turned into him asking me if we could make a long-distance relationship work." I noticed Mara's interest piqued. "Then I went into this explanation of how it'd be difficult considering I'm always working and kind of dodged the question, but ended up with him questioning why I was working there in the first place. But not in a mean way; in a way that was more caring and curious. So basically, I was both flattered and emotional about the fact he could read me so well, but also kind of used sex to get out of the conversation."

Not my finest moment, but some part of me knew that what Ryan had been saying about me stepping away from Wilma's was right. That it was time. I just wasn't ready to face that yet, because to me, it meant letting go of—or at least loosening the reins on—one of the last remaining pieces of my mom.

"I'm going to put a pin in the whole you-and-the-store thing, because we're going to come back around to that," she said, before lifting a brow. "How are you feeling about him heading back to Boston?"

"I mean, I have to be okay with it," I replied, trying and failing to keep the gloom from my words. "The plan has never been for him to stick around."

She threw me a pointed look, lifting her wine glass to her lips. "That's not what I asked."

I sighed. "It sucks. Not because I didn't see it coming. I did. I just wish there was more than a month left before he had to leave. I think... I think I could really see myself falling for him," I admitted shyly. It was the first time I was voicing these thoughts. "And it feels like the possibility to explore that is being cut short."

Taking a large swig from my glass, I finished it off and poured myself another healthy drink, feeling like I'd brought the mood down severely.

"You want to know what I think?" Mara asked after a prolonged silence.

"Yes, please."

"I think that when you say you can see yourself falling for him, you're kidding yourself." Her expression was sympathetic, but her words were blunt. "You've already fallen."

A noise of disbelief left my mouth. "After a month? That's not possible."

"Normally, you know I'd agree with you," she replied. "But we're talking about you and Ryan. While you may have only reconnected recently, you've known the guy nearly your entire life. You saw him through his awkward stage, and he saw you through yours. You were there when he left this town to chase his dreams. You know he comes from a great family. You know he's a good guy. You have a trust with one another that could take some couples years to build."

"And that means I'm in love with the guy?"

"No, not necessarily." She took a sip of wine, watching me overtop her glass. "All I'm saying is that, with the history between you two, I think it's okay to skip a few steps on the way to falling."

Tapping my fingers on the side of my glass, I dropped my gaze to the island. "It's just... it feels too soon."

Because while logically, I could understand what she was trying to say, I was at odds with myself, and it felt like there was a mental wall built up to prevent me from going all in. The strong, ever-growing feelings I had for Ryan were real—the way my heart sped up when he smiled at me, the comfort I felt confiding in him, the off the chart chemistry, the friendship that had blossomed into more. No other man had made me like he did. Like he was the perfect complement to me when we were together, and he had grabbed hold of a piece of me that made me miss him when we were apart.

But still, I kept a guard on my heart.

"That's okay," Mara responded. "After all, he'll still be around until the end of August. No need to make any rash decisions yet. You can see how things play out."

"You're right. You're right."

"Though I am going to loop back around to you and the responsibility you took on regarding Wilma's, because I think that plays a factor here too."

I felt a crinkle of confusion form on my forehead. "How so?"

"You said he asked you about making your relationship work long-distance, right?" I nodded slowly. "Well, I think he sees the same thing I do when I think about you working at the store, which is that it doesn't suit you. It's long hours, you barely ever get a day off, and there's no way your mom would've wanted to see you wasting away behind a counter, doing inventory, when you could be doing what you love by teaching," she explained, heartfelt and honest. "Now, I'm not saying I don't get why you stepped up last year. I do. It just should've been a temporary fix. A way to keep a closer eye on your dad while looking for either some new hires or a new owner for the store, because while I know your mom loved Wilma's, I also know she never once pressured you to take over. She knew your heart was somewhere else, and I'm not so sure she'd be happy to see you throw away a career you love because you're trying too hard to hold on to the past."

"Wow. Okay," I said, sitting there stunned. I blinked a few times, digesting everything before I shook myself out of it. "Why did you never say anything?"

She sighed. "Because you were grieving, and it felt like you were getting hit with complications left and right. I didn't want to look like the bad guy, but also, I hoped you'd see the light on your own."

"Clearly I didn't," I mumbled shamefully.

Had I really been so stuck in my grief the last year that I'd detached so far from the life I'd had before? All this time, I thought I'd only withdrawn socially, but Mara was right. I was holding on so tight to Wilma's because I was afraid that if I let go, everything around me would crumble. What I failed to see was the damage was already done, and there was no moving forward if I stayed trapped in the rubble.

"Hey—" Mara reached over to place her hand on top of mine. "—I didn't say that to make you feel bad, but to point out that you aren't stuck here. You're choosing to be. If you want to make a relationship with Ryan work, you can—it'll just be ten times easier if you go back to teaching. Whether that be here, or in Boston."

Overwhelmed, I could feel tears lining my eyes as I choked out a laugh. "Try to get rid of me?"

Her lips quirked up into a soft smile. "I just want you to be happy," she said gently. "And ever since Ryan came back to town, pieces of the woman I've known for years are slowly starting to make their way back together."

I walked around the island and pulled her into a hug. "I love you," I said before pulling back, "and I'm sorry if you felt you couldn't talk to me about this months ago. I never meant to become that reclusive."

She waved me off. "No apology needed. Seriously. You needed someone to relate to. That person just happened to be Ryan. So while you can't change the circumstances that brought you two together, you can decide where things go from here." She bumped her hip with mine, a cheeky grin on her face. "And if my two cents matter, I think you should hop on the Nyberg express and ride that baby all the way to the altar."

I laughed incredulously, a snort of disbelief finding its way out as well. "You're crazy."

"But now you're thinking about it," she said with a wink.

Rolling my eyes, I didn't give her the verbal satisfaction of agreeing, because while I may not have been looking all the way down the road, I was definitely beginning to think about how to step away from the store. And, when the time came, how to arrange my life so that I didn't lose what I had with Ryan.

***

The next afternoon when I walked into work, the line was short, and I smiled in greeting at the customers as I slipped behind the counter to help June with the orders. It took a couple minutes to get everyone served, and with all of them taking their orders to go, the store was empty when I finally threw out a greeting to June.

"How were things this morning? Any hiccups?"

"On the customer side, no, it was actually a bit busier than usual for a Saturday, but I'm assuming it's because a new flock of tourists came into town last night," she explained. "But when I went to take out the blueberries from the small freezer in the back this morning, I realized everything was defrosted. I had to switch up the menu a bit in terms of what desserts I put out today, but otherwise, when I called the technician to come in and check it out, they were able to fix the problem within the hour." Turning to grab a piece of paper from under the register, she handed it to me. "Here's the bill for the repair, and I also added everything that had to be tossed to the next food order."

"Damn," I breathed out, not actually expecting her to report on anything substantial. "Thanks for taking care of that, though you know you could've called me."

She shrugged. "I didn't want to ruin your morning. Plus, I had it under control."

"Looks like it," I commented, glancing down at the bill to see, luckily, the price of the repair had only been a few hundred dollars. Not as much as I expected. Though hearing that she'd handled something like this so smoothly—whereas I would've likely stressed out about it for hours—gave me an immense amount of reassurance. "Do you have everything you need for the afternoon treats?"

"Yeah. I'm just going to swap out the fruit tarts for some butter pecan ones, and then whip up an extra batch of chocolate chip banana muffins instead of the blueberry ones."

"Sounds good."

"Great," she said, "and let me know if things pick up out here."

"Will do," I replied, but before she could turn and head into the kitchen, I continued. "Oh, one more thing. Are you able to stick around for a bit after your shift? I wanted to talk to you about something."

June was smart, and I could see the curiosity spark in her features before she nodded. "Sure."

As she went to work in the kitchen, I began wiping down the appliances, intermittently serving customers as they wandered in. Luckily, nobody asked about the lack of fruity desserts, and I made sure to jot down the few things we'd lost with the freezer meltdown for this week's food order. Overall, it was an average summer afternoon—not too busy, but the lulls were few and far between.

That was to say, all was going well, until—around the time June typically finished prepping the late afternoon and evening baked goods, right when she wrapped up for the day—I felt dread seep into my chest as I saw Michael Romano walk through the front door.

Cocky, arrogant, and much too confident for someone who'd been told no already on multiple occasions.

"Ms. Montgomery," he greeted, striding toward the counter. There was no charade to his visit this time; he was clearly here for business.

"Wish I could say the same." I lifted a brow, trying to appear at ease. "And I don't remember giving you my name."

"You live in a small town, and I've often found tightly knit communities are all too willing to talk about the owners of their local businesses, thinking they're doing the neighborly thing and drumming up new business. Plus—" He flashed his pearly white teeth in a conniving grin. "—I happened to do some digging into this place. You know, public records and all that. Which is how I discovered that, while your family may own this quaint little store, you're not the one listed as the owner. That would be a certain Charles Montgomery, who I'm assuming is your father."

"And?"

"And... I thought I'd drop by to make sure you delivered this to him."

From his hand he let a decently thick file folder drop on the counter, and I couldn't help the cringe I made as it thudded between us.

"What is it?" I asked, not wanting to touch it. Because realistically I knew in my gut what was inside.

And he only proved my suspicions right a moment later when he said, "An official offer addressed to him from Romano Industries regarding the purchase of this store, including the lot it sits on. He'll find that the compensation for the sale will be more than worth it."

"I already told you—"

Before I could get out the words 'we're not interested in selling', June walked through the kitchen doors and my head immediately snapped her way, only to see the shock and despair that flooded her features.

Fuck.

"You're selling Wilma's?" she asked, a hiccup in her voice as her expression blanched.

"No," I was quick to reply, harsher than intended, and my frustration grew. Turning back to face Mr. Romano, I narrowed my eyes and pointed towards the exit. "I've already told you we aren't selling. Now get out before I have to call the police."

"There'll be no need for that," he replied, his voice smug, as though my threat was nothing to him. "As I said, I only came in here to drop off that folder before I head back to the city. So do make sure your father gets it, or else he'll find himself with a visitor on his doorstep in the next couple of weeks." When he reached the door, he glanced at June and said, "If you were smart, you'd start looking for another job."

With the last word, he left me to deal with the aftermath of his destruction.

I could feel my pulse in my throat and a churning in my stomach as I turned back to June, who'd pulled the folder Mr. Romano had left on the counter over to her and was flipping through it.

"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked, not meeting my eyes. "You're selling the store?"

"No," I replied gently, reaching over to close the folder. When her gaze finally lifted, I continued. "What I said a moment ago was true. I'm not selling the store, no matter what that asshole seems to think."

"But who is he? What does he want?"

"He's the CEO of a condo development group, and as far as I know, he first showed up the afternoon of Liam and Thea's funeral. It was only a few weeks though that he introduced himself and told me his company was interested in buying this store. Or I guess, more specifically, the land this store occupies."

"To put up condos?"

I nodded.

"Then why is he still coming around, and with this massive offer—" She gestured to the folder with wide eyes. "—if you already told him no."

"Apparently he found out that I don't technically own this place. It's still in my dad's name, so because he's a persistent, overconfident prick, he thinks he can sway him." I huffed out my irritation before taking a calming breath. "But when I say we're not selling, I mean it."

She studied my face and must've seen I was telling the truth as her apprehension around the situation began to dissipate and she tilted her head slightly with curiosity. "Then what were you planning to talk to me about if not this whole debacle?"

I let loose a slow breath, rubbing the back of my neck. "Well, even though we're not selling the store, I've been thinking about making some changes..."

"Like?"

"I'm thinking about stepping away and, if you want the job, leaving you on as manager while hiring two more employees."

She was quiet for a moment. My words sinking in. "Wow, okay," she replied slowly, clearly shocked. After shaking her head, she looked at me with a dazed expression. "You're serious?"

"Totally serious."

A tentative smile stretched across her lips before she let out a breezy laugh and wrapped her arms around me. "Of course I'd love to run this place," she said happily, before pulling back with a lifted brow. "I'm just wondering how this decision came about?"

"I don't think I was ever really meant to be a part of this store's legacy," I admitted. "It was my mom's thing—her dream—and I jumped in to take over out of love, and because I thought being here would bring me closer to her. But—" I shrugged. "—I just don't love it. Not you like she did. Or you do."

She bopped my hip with her own. "Took you long enough to realize that," she drawled. "It was pretty obvious, to be honest. But if you left, I was afraid that you would think selling would be the only option, so I never said anything. I'm glad you think I can handle all this though. Seriously, it means a lot."

"You're like family, June," I said, my lips pulling upwards. "And family takes care of one another."

just a reminder that this is the last pre-written chapter I have! I've sat down and planned the last part of this story - which will bring the book to 28 chapters + and epilogue - so right now, my goal is to finish by the end of the year. We'll see how it goes!

remember to vote for every chapter and leave your thoughts in the comments below!