Page 107 of Tempt Our Fate

She doesn’t talk to me the entire ride home. After ten minutes of silence, no matter the questions I ask her, I resort to calling whoever I can. It doesn’t feel like we both confessed our love. Nothing feels happy, and I know the sinking feeling in my stomach was warranted when I wake up early in the morning and find her side of the bed empty. The only thing left in her place is a neatly folded note.

Camden,

I couldn’t sleep. Even after you stopped tossing and turning, I lay awake staring at the ceiling, a pit deep in my stomach as I thought about everything that is in jeopardy in Sutten.

As I felt hopeless about what to do, my mind went to you. To thoughts of you. To thoughts of us and what a life could look like between the two of us. I tried picturing myself here, in this world that you love, and I couldn’t do it. I’d never fit in here. And I don’t want to make you choose between this life and me. I know you don’t picture yourself in Sutten. If I’ve learned anything about you, it’s that Sutten will never have your heart like it has mine.

I want us to work. I stayed awake for hours trying to come up with a solution that doesn’t end up with both our hearts broken, and I came up with nothing.

I won’t allow you to choose me because to choose me would be to choose Sutten, and I know that isn’t a choice you can make. The people in your world are the very reason I might lose what’s most important to me in mine. I can’t ask for you to go against them and jeopardize everything you’ve worked hard for.

I’m sorry for leaving. But I’m weak and knew if I looked you in the eye, there’s no way I’d ever leave.

Please know this has nothing to do with you. You were the easiest person to fall in love with. You’re deserving of a beautiful love story, Camden Hunter. I want it to be me and you, but I can’t completely give my heart to you until I know I haven’t lost the one last piece I have of my mom.

I have to go back to Sutten. I have to find a way to keep Wake and Bake. Please forgive me for leaving. I have to fix this, and I can’t ask you to put everything on the line for me.

I love you. Don’t ever forget that. I’ll cherish your love forever. It was fun tempting fate with you, even if our fate isn’t what we’d hoped for.

If you love me, give me time to fix this.

Yours,

Pippa

I read it so many times that it becomes permanently etched into my mind, and once I’ve angrily committed it to memory, I toss it to the side.

For once in my life, I’m going to put someone else before myself. I’m going to prove to Pippa there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep her in my life forever.

55

PIPPA

“I thinkmy fingers might fall off,” Lexi complains from my side as she twists the top of another piping bag.

“We just have six dozen more to ice, and we’ll be done.”

Mare whines from my other side, accidentally squeezing her bag too tight, and icing plops down onto the cupcake in one giant glob. “I never want to look at another cupcake again,” she announces, trying to cover the glob of icing with even more icing.

“Same,” Cade pipes up from across the counter. He proved to be terrible at icing cupcakes dozens and dozens of cupcakes ago, so instead, he’s been given the job of neatly arranging them in boxes for presentation. “And I normally love Pip’s cupcakes,” he adds.

“We’re almost done,” I assure them, taking a moment to appreciate all of them showing up to help me. I’d arrived in Sutten early in the morning yesterday, and the only time I slept was on the way back from the airport when Cade and Mare picked me up.

I’d spent the entire plane ride coming up with ways to try and save not only Wake and Bake but our entire block. It started with a bake sale to raise the funds to come up with as much money as possible to take it to the people selling our block. But one thing led to another, and eventually, it ended in all of us coming together to create one huge fundraiser with everyone donating items to sell and simply donating money to the cause. People from all over town have donated items and services, trying to help in any way to help us raise as much money as possible.

Our town has been brought together in ways I never imagined. Everyone in Sutten really rallied around us when Mom died, but they’ve done it all over again with this.

My eyes get glossy when I think about all of the hard work everybody’s put in for the last day. The vendor fair is tomorrow, and we’re hoping that we’ll get a lot of people to visit from the rodeo that’s happening two towns over.

The bell chimes to Wake and Bake. Lexi pops up with the sound, letting her icing bag drop next to the rack of cooled cupcakes. “I’ll go see who it is!” she cheers, trying to use any excuse to get a break.

She’s gone for a moment before she’s pushing the door open, the outline of a man in an expensive suit appearing behind her.

My heart skips as I wonder if it’s Camden. I know I’d told him not to come back, but for a small moment, I was hopeful he did and he’d somehow come up with a solution that ended with us both happy and together.

It isn’t Camden, and I hate the way my stomach drops with disappointment. I should’ve known better than to get involved. I should’ve thought about how different we were and never let him kiss me. Because the moment his lips hit mine, my heart was destined to be his. There was no use fighting it. It didn’t care that we weren’t compatible, that we were as opposite as two people could get. It wanted him regardless. And now we’re both left with an ache in our chests because of it.

Maybe once I know I’m not going to lose this company I worked so hard to create, I’ll be able to figure things out with Camden. But until I’m not threatened by someone from his world, I can’t even think about it. It’s no use.

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