Page 139 of Play Pretend

And I had no idea if I was ready to fight.

willow

The candlelight flickered in the center of the table, casting shadows over everyone’s faces. Ronan was right beside me, his warm, strong thigh pressed firmly against mine. If you looked at him, he was the picture of calm and collected, but if youknewhim, you’d know he was on the verge of losing it.

His finger tapped against the white tablecloth, his other leg bouncing wildly. His lips moved almost imperceptibly as he silently counted to seven, took a breath, and started again.

“Oh!” Lydia said, throwing her arm into the air. Her words had already been slurred when they showed up an hour ago, and since then, she’d only gotten more drunk. “We went to your little bakery today. It was adorable. So small and quaint.”

“A bit dusty,” Vanessa said into her glass.

“You know, you’ll never move up in a place like that,” Dad said. “You have nowhere to go. You can’t grow. You’ll be stuck in the same position forever.”

I stared at him. “I love my job, and I’m good at it.”

Vanessa snorted. “It’s not hard to bake a cake, or stir a coffee, or whatever you do,” she said dismissively.

“She does a lot more than that.” Ronan’s fingers tapped faster against the table.

I took a deep breath as I patted his thigh. “Did you try anything?” I asked, shifting the subject. “Our lavender cinnamon rolls are the most popular item, but I’m sure Gracie told you that.”

Lydia scrunched her nose delicately. “I don’t eat sugar, so no, I didn’t try the cinnamon rolls.”

I didn’t want to point out that the wine in her hand had sugar, so I just smiled, and turned my attention to my dad. I knew he loved sweets almost as much as I did.

“I tried the new item—” He turned toward Vanessa. “What was it?”

“Some chocolate tart,” she said.

I perked up. I hadn’t realized Gracie put that on the menu already. “The orange blossom s’mores tart?”

He snapped his fingers and pointed at me. “That’s it.”

“How did you like it?” I asked, nearly bouncing in my seat. Ronan’s hand slid onto my lower back, and he stroked his thumb back and forth.

“It was alright,” Dad said, shrugging. “Nothing to write home about, but it was good.”

My heart dipped a bit. “It’s my favorite thing on the menu,” Ronan chimed in, and I smiled softly at him. “Willow has been testing that recipe for a while?—”

“It’syourrecipe?” Vanessa asked, interrupting him.

“Um, yeah. I’ve been helping Gracie come up with recipes for the last year. I really love testing them and creating new flavors?—”

“Was it your idea to put flowers in all your dishes?” She rolled her eyes. Ronan put more pressure on my back as he scooted closer to me.

“That’s kind of our thing,” I mumbled.

“You said the place is popular?” Lydia asked, and I nodded.

“It’s one of the most popular bakeries on the East Coast,” I explained. “We’ve won a ton of awards, and people travel from all over the world to try our food.”

She took another sip, humming softly, before flicking a glance at Vanessa. A silent conversation passed between them. I didn’t need to hear their words to know what they were thinking, what they wanted to say.

“Where else did you go?” I asked, my voice weaker.

“Nowhere, really.” Dad sighed. “There’s nothing to do here.”

“That’s why you don’t have a life.” Vanessa scoffed. “There’s literallynothinghere.”

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