Page 109 of The Usual Family Mayhem

“We know the answer but do you?” Celia asked.

There wasn’t any reason to deny it. These two knew everything anyway. “Yes. I had a crush on him as a teen. I’ve always thought he was kind of adorable even if he was a bit of a fuddy-duddy.”

Gram rolled her eyes. “What are your feelings for him now? As a grown woman.”

“I’ve been in love with him for years.” The words rushed out because there was no need to hold them back. “It’s like this steady hum in the back of my head. He was dating other people here while I was in DC. I hated his social calendar, so I pretended I didn’t love him, or convinced myself I didn’t.”

Celia looked at Gram. “You were right.”

These two. “Stop doing that.”

“Honey, you love him, which is amazing.” Celia reached out and took my hand. “He’s good for you. You’re good for him.Your differences complement each other. You lighten him. He grounds you. And the spark when you’re together is undeniable.”

It was? “Funny how no one bothered to tell me.”

Gram sat back in her chair. She looked like the queen ruling over her kingdom. “You have a decision to make.”

More adulting. I’d proven I was so good at adulting.

“I don’t live here.” I threw the excuse out, heard it, and realized how lame it was. “But if I did and, let’s say, worked here—not baking, though—”

Celia was the one who snorted this time. “Heavens, no.”

“Absolutely not,” Gram said.

Rude.“Okay, you made your point. Baking is not my strength. I’m much better at eating.” But the idea of coming home, being here, trying to build a life the way I wanted and with the person I wanted, suddenly didn’t sound so scary. “Let’s be realistic about one thing. If the relationship doesn’t work out—”

“What if it does? What if it’s better than you dreamed? Do you want to throw away your chance?” Gram asked.

Celia squeezed my hand. “You deserve to be happy. You deserve to have time to find your way and figure out what you want. If you really do love Jackson, why wouldn’t you want to learn those things with him?”

I couldn’t imagine doing them with anyone else. Now that we’d kissed and touched and lay in bed talking, the thought of dating some DC guy repulsed me.

“You two are pretty wise.”

“We’re brilliant and we love you.” Gram picked up her muffin again. “Now go fix this.”

Chapter Fifty-One

It took exactly two days to completely turn my life upside down. I changed the focus and the direction. As of this afternoon, I also changed my employment status. Instead of being fired, I quit.

Micah turned out to be very charming. He was nice enough over the phone. He praised me and bargained to keep me. Even said I wouldn’t need to report to Brock, which would make Brock melt into a pile of goo, so it was tempting.

I appreciated the ego boost, but I hated that job and really didn’t love living in DC. The choice was obvious—quit and move back to Winston-Salem. The plan was to live with Gram and Celia. For the short-term only.

Celia said I could stay as long as I wanted.

Gram said there were nice apartments near Wake Forest University that I might like.

Yeah, I got the point.

Sitting in the kitchen eating muffins all day was not a job. Unfortunately. Gram wanted me to thrive. She didn’t use that word, but I sensed it. That meant instead of bouncing from bad idea to bad idea, I needed to settle in and figure out what mythingwas.

The first step was easy. Writing. I didn’t know if I had the talent for books, short stories, or articles. The stories racingaround my head—the characters and plots with shady dealings—needed somewhere to go. All I could do was try and see if I had the stamina and drive needed to finish.

The rest of the time I’d be doing non-baking work for Mags’ Desserts. Scheduling, streamlining, and marketing. The mix appealed to me more than whatever I’d been paid much more to do at NOI.

No one knew more about and loved muffins, scones, and pies than I did. No one. I could convince people they needed all three for breakfast without any trouble. I’d be searching for more business clients and managing the bulk orders. The only potential problem was the sample sampling. I planned to eat a lot. Running was out of the question, but I could burn calories other ways.

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