Page 49 of Forget Me Knot

My eyes nearly pop out of my head, and Dinah erupts into giggles. I drop my forehead to hers and relinquish my hold on her hips, resting my hands on the counter on either side of her.

“I’m honestly afraid to look.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t,” she says in a quiet laugh against my lips. “Mr. and Mrs. Cotten look like they might just give mycustomers an encore of our performance and eat each other alive, right here and now. I’m terrified.”

“I’m sorry, Polly.” My thumb grazes the side of her jeans as my hands slide off the counter and we both pull apart.

“I’m not.” She bites her plump, well-kissed lip. “You should probably let me down now, though. Your sister looks like she might lose the chocolate pretzels she just ate.”

Groaning, I run my hand over my face and turn around, stepping in front of Dinah’s legs and shielding her from the embarrassment I caused. “Hey, everybody.”

And I do mean everybody. By the looks of the shop right now, it appears that all of Honey Hill was just hankerin’ for pretzels… and a show. Business, for Dinah, is apparently good.

“Hi, yourself, boy,” Charlie hollers with a wave and slaps a twenty down on the table between herself and Jan. “You just lost me twenty dollars. You couldn’t hold off for another twelve hours, could ya?”

“Technically—” Dinah lifts a finger in the air, just over my right shoulder.

“Don’t.” I close my eyes and shake my head, trying to erase the knowledge that I’ve kissed her before but have no memory of it.

Someone new enters my personal nightmare and looks around Dinah’s shop for help. “Hey, y’all,” the man greets the room with nothing but curiosity and kindness. “Does anyone happen to know if that bike store over yonder is gonna open today? My cables are frayed and the housing could use a good cleaning.”

“It isn’t a bike store!” I feel like hollering, but it comes out as more of a sulky snarl.

“You sure? It says Petals right on the door and there’s a bike out front.” He looks downright bamboozled.

“Pretty sure.”

“It’s a flower shop,” Dinah explains in her friendliest voice. “P.E.T.A.L.S.NotP.E.D.A.L.S.It’s a homophone.”She winks at me and kicks her legs back and forth off the counter.

“Oh. Thanks.” The stranger takes a last glance around, sees that every person in the shop is frozen in some sort of mild but awkward voyeuristic trance trained on Dinah and me, and waves his goodbye.

Maloy snickers and slaps his own cash on the table in front of Jan, followed by Winnie—who still looks disgusted—and then my cousin, Griffin, who’s nothing but smirks and wiggly eyebrows.

“Man, just once I thought you’d take longer to get the girl,” Maloy whines, but salutes me before exiting the building.

Jan collects her winnings, looking far too satisfied for someone who barely makes eye contact with people she’s known for years, but who has clearly been making some town-wide investments.

When Dinah continues to giggle into my back, I turn and scoff. “They were betting on us! Aren’t you upset?”

She leans closer and says so that no one can hear, “You just kissed me like I’m a real-life FMC, Jack. Despite what our audience has to say, I’ve got very few complaints.”

“FMC?”

“Female Main Character. It’s a romance thing.”

I throw my hands through my hair and try to collect myself.Solitude, silence, sa— nope.Kissed Dinah, Will againare still the only words on my mind and the action I’d like to repeat right now.

I just had the best kiss of my life in front of my sister, cousins, friends of the family, and oh look, there's Pastor Bill tipping his coffee in the air to me. He was nearby all along.

“Should we maybe go talk in the kitchen?” Dinah asks, linking her fingers with mine. “Or would you like to have this discussion in front of everyone, too?”

“Please, no. Let’s go.” I pull her off the counter and let her guide me to the kitchen with a new roar of catcalls, cheering, laughter, and my sister yelling, “You’re paying for my therapist!” as we make our escape.

“So,” Dinah leans against the stainless counter and beckons me forward with a tilt of her lips. “You clearly received information this morning. What did the note say?”

“You kissed him.” It just slips out, like the words have been sitting on my tongue since they lodged themselves in my brain.

She nods. “How do you feel?” I see her question for what it is. Recognizing that just like my family and friends have done for years, Dinah is giving me room to process. To make sense of the chaos in my brain and connect it to my heart.

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