Page 76 of Swept Up In You

“Just like that?” Sam asked, searching her face for answers Taylor didn’t have. Couldn’t think about. Couldn’t give.

She shrugged her off. “Just like that,” Taylor said, getting in her car.

Nothing wasjust like thatwhen it came to Sam. But she couldn’t go down that path.

She hit the car into reverse and drove off, refusing to look back at Sam, refusing to think anymore about what she was doing. Jess was right.What was she thinking? Why start something that was just going to end. That sheknew, deep down, from the beginning was just going to end. Better to leave now, have a clean break. She wiped at her eyes, telling herself not to turn around and find solace in the one person she wanted right now.

This was for the best.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Sam stared after the car, her hand still weirdly reached out into the air,to Taylor.She dropped it to her side.

What the actual fuck.

She walked back to the table, finished her coffee in a blur, and began the walk back to her place.

The next morning Sam was back at work, still reeling from the day before. She’d slept like shit, felt like shit, and hadn’t yet come up with how she should handle things between her and Taylor. She was hoping to talk to her like two adults yesterday, but clearly, that wasn’t the case. Hopefully, with a little time, she’d be able to get through to her. Though time wasn’t exactly on her side…

There was so much to organise now that her dad had accepted the offer. The new owners were going to turn her place into a casual office and staff kitchen combo and were coming in midweek to run through their initial thoughts and ideas for the transition. She was so excited on the one hand by the changes, and devastated on the other, not being able to share this with Taylor like she’d thought. It made her realise just how close they’d become, how often they spoke and how much her hand kept twitching to text her, call her, justtalkto her.

The buzzer went off. She looked up to see Jase smiling down at her over the counter.

“Jase, hi. I didn’t expect to see you in today. What can I help you with?”

He rapped his knuckles on the top. “Day off today, and I was actually here to see you. Got a minute?”

“Oh sure. Dad?” she called out.

“Yup!” he replied, somewhere down the back of the shop.

“I’m just stepping outside for a sec. Can you keep an eye out for customers.”

“Got it!”

She rounded the corner and led Jase out of the back doors for a bit of extra privacy in the yard, since she had a good guess what he wanted to talk about. They walked in silence until Jase turned to her as they neared the edge of the yard by the water.

“So I wanted to thank you. In person.” He took a deep breath. “I finally spoke to Pops last night. Thank you for the idea,” he said, nudging his shoulder into hers, “and for helping me work up the courage to do it. Also, sorry for dragging you into my mess as long as I did.”

She waved him off. She more than understood when the timing wasn’t quite right to share something as big as this with family. She tried not to think about the conversation she’d yet to have with her dad, feeling like a complete hypocrite.

“So I’m assuming by the positive attitude, things went well?” Sam asked.

His grin widened. “You’d be right.” He sat on the wooden edge, swinging his legs over the side and patting the spot beside him. She followed suit, eyes tracking a couple of seagulls on the boat across from them fighting over a piece of food, a mess of squawks and flapping wings.

“It went so much better than I was thinking in my head. He was more angry that I hadn’t told him sooner, said he feels likea fool for trying to set things up with you. But as I explained to him, we probably wouldn’t have had the conversation if he hadn’t. So in a way, it’s thanks to that whole thing it worked out the way it did.”

“That’s a good point. I’m just really happy it all went well for you. So what now? Time to download a dating app?”

He screwed up his nose. “One step at a time. I’m an old-school boy at heart, so if I could find a guy just out and about somewhere, I’d prefer that. Who knows, maybe Pops will find someone else to set me up with?”

“I mean, he doesn’t have bad taste.” She gestured at herself, making Jase laugh. “In all seriousness though, well done for telling him, I know you were pretty scared.”

“Shitting myself.” He laughed again. “But feeling the fear and doing it anyway feels pretty good.”

“Well in the spirit of feeling the fear and doing it anyway…” She refused to look at Jase. “I might not be straight either.”

“Hold up.What?Since when?”

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