Page 113 of Recipe for Rivals

Dusty

Did we make enough?

He didn’t text back, so I put my phone in the cupholder and pulled onto the road. “The fundraiser is over.”

“Okay.”

“Should we…do you want to…” How could we continue spending time together without me making it sound unwholesome? It was so important to me that Nova understood I was willing and happy to take things slowly…which was absolutely cramping my game.

“I don’t have a TV or I’d invite you to come back and watch a movie,” she said.

“I’d ask you to go for a moonlit walk with me, but I’m beat. I think my adrenaline has been on high for the last two hours. Now I’m coming down and I’m feeling it.”

Nova looked at me until the stop light turned green. “I have dessert at my apartment and a laptop. We could throw on a miniature movie and eat apple pie.”

“You’ve been holding out on me,” I said, eyeing her. “Apple pie?”

“Caramel apple pie, actually.”

“Marry me already.”

She went silent.

“Bad joke,” I muttered.

“No, it’s good to know what you value. Caramel apples rank high on that list.”

“Incorrect,” I said, pulling the truck behind the diner and parking in front of her apartment building. “Caramel applepiedoes.”

“Noted,” she said lightly, then cleared her throat. “My mom called.”

I shut off the ignition, looking at her. Nova’s tone had changed, and I felt the weight of an impending revelation. After the emotional stress of the evening, it put me on high alert. “Is everything okay?”

“My dad needs hip surgery, I guess, so they’re coming home early and renting a place until their house is vacant again.”

“I bet your brother will be glad to have them back,” I said,hoping that was the end of the conversation. The thought of her and the kids leaving sent a rush of fear through me.

“Yeah.” She chewed on her bottom lip and looked through the window, staring at something in the distance. “She invited us to come live with them.”

The truck was deadly silent. I could hear both of us breathing. I hadn’t even kissed this woman yet, but I knew she needed to be in my life. The idea of her going back to New York felt like a swift slice through the gut, opening an old wound and laying it bare.

People left. It was what they did. My parents had done it more than once. I’d always wondered if maybe I hadn’t given them enough of a reason to stay, and I would not make that same mistake with Nova.

With her, I would fight.

“I want you to stay.”

She looked at me sharply.

“Yeah, I said it. Maybe I should be more stoic, but it’s the truth. I don’t want you or Ben or Alice to leave. I want all of you to stay.”

Nova closed her eyes. When she looked at me again, she seemed tired. “I’m not making any decisions tonight.”

Well, that was a good sign.

When she opened her eyes, she looked at me. “Should we go have some pie and pretend I never told you that?”

“Yes to the pie,” I said, “but I don’t want to pretend anything. I’m glad you could trust me.”

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