Page 2 of Bittersweet

“Don’t say it!” Harper snapped. “Don’t say his name to me.”

“Maybe Brett’s not the one, but—”

“Who says Brett’s not the one?”

Savannah’s eyebrow arched again.

“I like him, Vanna. You know I do.”

“But …”

“No but.” She wasn’t lying to her friend. She did like Brett. But it wasn’t easy to open her heart after the way she’d been burned in the past.

“I can tell you’re holding back, Harper. It’s okay for you to be happy with someone else, ya know? It’s been a long time. It’s okay to fall in love again.”

“Yeah, falling in love again sounds great.”

Savannah perked up.

“It sounds about as great as sticking my head in the oven with that batch of muffins right now.”

Savannah rolled her eyes and went back to working on the croissants.

“Or maybe sticking my hand in the blender.” Harper moved behind the counter and took long, quick strides across the kitchen, motioning dramatically toward the kitchen appliances. “Do I really need both hands?”

“Stop.” Savannah gave the same exasperated look she always did when Harper went off on one of her sarcastic rants.

Harper laughed to herself.

“I don’t mean to be insensitive. But isn’t it time to move on?”

“Who says I haven’t moved on?” Harper came up beside Savannah and threatened to stick a finger in her chocolate butterscotch creation.

Savannah smacked her playfully on the hand and pressed her lips together. Her furrowed brow gave away her uncertainty. “If so, then I’m happy for you. He’s nice, Harper. Really.”

“But …” Harper waited for her friend’s true opinion. She valued it more than any other person in her life right now.

Pausing in the middle of filling a croissant, Savannah looked at her seriously. “It just seems like after eight months, your relationship would’ve progressed a little more than it has.”

“We’re going slow. He understands.”

“You told him about—?”

Harper’s sudden head tilt and narrowed eyes stopped Savannah from saying his name. “Brett knows I had a bad breakup, and that I’m a little gun shy. Besides, he’s busy with his caseload. We see each other when he’s got the time, which works fine for us right now.”

“If you say so.”

“It does.”

Savannah gave her an amused look and went back to work.

Harper sighed. She knew Savannah was only being a concerned friend, but she was ready to change the subject.

She looked around the shop once more. No matter where she was at in her dating life, this was her one constant. The one thing in her life that made her truly happy and proud. The one area she had control over. The shop would never abandon her like he had.

But if he’d stuck around, none of this would’ve happened. Not a single thing they’d planned for had come to be. He’d been all talk, and she hadn’t needed empty words and empty promises. She’d needed drive and determination and action. She had needed someone who would be in it for the long haul.

If only she’d known Logan Riggs wasn’t a long haul kind of guy.

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