Page 35 of Falling for the Guy Next Door

“Please.” I pushed the cup toward her, and she filled it.

“So, Layla is walking your dog? She always wanted her own dog, but we were so crowded in the cottage, and there wasn’t much time for a pet. I’ll bet she’s thrilled.”

“Rocky is even more excited.” The topic struck me with a jolt of worry. Yesterday’s walk sounded as if it had been anything but thrilling. I was home today, so I could go with them … just in case.

“I’ll let you decide.” She patted a menu and walked out to the dining room with the pot of coffee. The incredible aromas floating from the kitchen were making the decision hard, so hard that I went with a boring favorite, scrambled eggs and biscuits. Aria came back and took my order. She paused before walking away. She tapped her chin with the eraser end of her pencil.

“Is there more to your friendship with Layla? Forgive my forwardness, but I’m the bossy big sister, remember? And, frankly, looking at you—well—is there?”

I chuckled. “You’ve definitely got the big sister thing down, and no, unfortunately, Layla is mostly interested in the dog.”

Aria tilted her head in question, and I realized my mistake. “Unfortunately?” she asked.

“Let’s just say I’m jealous of my dog right now. He’s supposed to be my wingman, but this time it’s been the other way around.”

She tapped the pencil on her chin once more then stuck it behind her ear. “Interesting. I’ll go put your order in.”

I pulled out my phone. There was a text from Becky saying Mom was on the doctor’s schedule, and she added a fingers-crossed emoji. But I was going to need a lot more than an emoji for this one. I had a few ideas, but none of them very promising. I decided to set one of the ideas in motion.

I sent a text off to Ronnie. “Since we’re breaking up, what about your friend Maxwell, the guy who offered to buy some of our songs? Maybe we should consider his offer. We’re all going to need the money.” I sent the text off. It would be a four-way split and not that much money to start with, but every little bit would help.

My guitar was worth some money, but I wasn’t sure how much. That one would hurt a lot more than the songs though. I’d had the guitar for ten years, and it was like an old friend. I put my phone in my pocket. So far, all my ideas would only scratch the surface of the cost of the surgery. On top of that, the band was breaking up, the jobsite was shut down for the day and for the first time in years, I’d met a woman who I could see myself falling in love with, and she had no interest in me. I wasn’t sure how much further south my luck could go.

ChapterTwenty-One

Layla

The summer weekenders had poured into the bakery all morning. The trays and shelves were almost bare by the time we shut down for the day. I’d ridden my bike to work, and now I regretted that choice. I was exhausted. Isla looked even worse than I felt as I was leaving, and she still had to do prep for tomorrow. Saturday would be even busier than Friday. I told Isla that perhaps her baking was just a littletoogood.

Even after the bike ride home I was still looking forward to walking Rocky. The heat wave we’d been enduring all week had finally broken, and there was a nice, salty breeze to cool the temperature even more.

Ella was sitting on the sofa with her laptop as I walked inside. She looked up and laughed. “You look as if you just ran a marathon, and not in a good way.”

“Says the woman who literally leaves her bed, crosses a ten-foot floor and plops down on a lumpy sofa to start her workday. Believe me, you’d look this way too if you’d been on your feet all day, racing up and down the counter and piling sticky treats into boxes. Poor Isla looked as if she might fall asleep on her feet. I sure hope she can find a good baking assistant soon. It’s a lot of work for one person.”

“How’s that been going?”

“It’s hard to find people who want to relocate to a small town for work.” I poured myself a glass of ice water.

“Yes, but it’s such a brilliant small town.”

“Well,wethink it is, but I suppose it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.” And that statement led me to think about Dustin. I hadn’t given him even one minute of thought during my busy day, but now he was back, looming like a great, cold shadow. “I think Dustin has been hanging around the house,” I said it quickly, like it wasn’t all that important.

Ella closed her laptop. She only did that if there was something serious to discuss. “You mean he’s stalking you?”

“No,” I said briskly. “I mean, what is stalking, exactly? I found a red rose on my bicycle seat yesterday when it was parked outside the cottage. I don’t think that qualifies as stalking. I can’t believe he’s still holding out hope that we’ll get back together.”

“It happens. He obviously has some issues he’s dealing with because you made it clear. Are you sure it was him?”

I shrugged. “Who else would it be?”

“What about our hot new neighbor? Maybe he’s got a thing for you.”

“Nash was at work at the time. And he doesn’t have a thing for me, not really, anyhow.” I finished my water and headed to the bedroom to change.

“‘Not really, anyhow’ is definitely not a ‘no,’” Ella called to me.

“Word nerd,” I called back to her. I took a quick shower to get un-sticky and changed into shorts. Rocky would be wondering where I was. Hopefully, today’s walk would be better.

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