Page 39 of Made for You

Me:So that’s a yes on cooking?

Emma:Sometimes, I question how you run an inn. Yes, that’s a yes on the cooking for Vi. >

Me:Got it. What is her favorite?

Emma:Am I apologizing or are you, Lee? Use your eyeballs and figure it out.

Well that wasn’t very helpful. She’s cranky today.Ugh.

Okay, think.Every time I’ve seen her at Rebels she always gets pizza. So I could do that, a wood fired pizza in the fireplace. Getting her to come to my house is going to be the problem. I can text her and tell her to meet me here, tell her we need to talk about the inn’s contract with the bakery. She’d definitely show up for that.

Me:Hey, can you come over tonight around 6:00 so we can talk about something.

Violet:What?

Me:The bakery contract.

Violet:If you’re going to kick me out just tell me now.

Well. This is backfiring on me.

Me:Of course not. Just come over at 6:00. It’s not bad.

Violet:Fine.

I’ll take that. But she’s definitely pissed at me, and she has every right to be. I fucked up and waited too long to fix it. Now I’m paying the price.

A couple hours later and a trip to the store, I’m stuck in my kitchen fighting with the pizza dough I stupidly made the decision to craft from scratch. I’m sticky, and the counter is covered in dough.

I keep adding more and more flour until luck is finally on my side because it’s not sticking to the counter anymore at least.

The dough stops sticking to my fingers and I place one on each of the pizza stones I have and start to clean up the white powdery mess I’ve made all over my kitchen.

My nervous energy about having Violet over again is carrying me through the clean up process.

What will I do if she doesn’t forgive me? I can’t lose her, even as a friend again. She was my best friend and when she stopped showing up it hurt like hell. I showed up at the bakery everyday that summer to ask Margaret if she’d changed her mind and decided to come overnight. Eventually I got the picture, shewasn’t coming back. But now she has, and I’ve already screwed up my chances with her because I’m so stuck in my past hurt.

Or I was. I am determined to get out of that pattern. I don’t want to be the town recluse that people avoid and whisper about behind my back. Having her back has reminded me what it’s like to have people in your life. It’s reminding me how nice it is to have someone around at the end of the day.

Fixing things with Violet is my first step in that direction.

I place all her favorite toppings on the flattened dough, followed by enough mozzarella cheese that it defies the definition of extra cheese.

Just as I slide them into the fire on the shelf I’ve built, there’s a tentative knock on the door.

Taking a deep breath, I walk toward the door to let Violet in.

When I swing the door open wide to let her in, a scowl is etched on her face. I gulp down the nervousness at her already shitty attitude.

“What do you want Liam?” She stands just barely inside my cabin, with her arms crossed.

“I, uh…I need to apologize for my behavior the other night. I shouldn’t have kissed you.” A flicker of what looks like disappointment crosses her face before the scowl takes up residence again.

“That’s it? You regret kissing me?”

“Well, no. I regret not listening to you the night at Rebels, and before that. And when I tried to claim you in front of Alexander as mine.”

“You should be. I’m not yours Liam. You made that abundantly clear when you couldn’t even trust me to not treat youlike every other girl has ever treated you.” She taps her foot, just like Emma.

---