Page 31 of Cozy Girl Fall
Surprisingly, the rain had held off and the sun shone brightly, if a little watery, down on them, filtering through the last remaining leaves on the magnolia treesthat lined the sidewalk. Penny avoided looking in the direction of the library, as if that could shield her from Tasha’s wrath if she saw Penny out for coffee with Ethan after Penny had sworn their dinner the night before was purely platonic.
The gushing of the fountain was superseded by the chime of the church bells, signaling the new hour, and Penny focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Thankfully, Ethan seemed content to enjoy the short walk in silence, not saying a word until she thanked him for holding open the door to Coffee Affair.
“What do you want?” he asked once they reached the counter and she pulled her eyes away from the cake display and shook her head.
“Oh, that’s OK. I can get it.”
He rolled his eyes and leant down to say quietly, “It’s a coffee. Not a marriage proposal.” When she just blinked at him he sighed, turning to the barista. “I’ll take a medium cappuccino with cinnamon please and she’ll have a medium pumpkin spice latte.”
The words reminded her of the last time they’d been here and how he hadn’t even hesitated, remembering her order like no time had passed at all. She reached out and stopped him from handing over his cash, instead handing her own money to the barista. “My treat.”
He must have caught the look on her face because he softened. “You know, just because you left, doesn’t mean I forgot you.”
There was no judgment in the words, but she flinchedanyway. Mostly because she’d done everything she could to try to forget about him, and Tasha, and Magnolia Springs in general. Not that it had worked very well, and now here she stood, right back where she’d started.
The barista handed over their coffees and Ethan tipped her while Penny tried to find them a seat. Luckily, it was a weekday so most people were at school or work. Come the holidays, this place would be packed.
“Do they still do the Christmas market?” she wondered aloud and Ethan nodded as he sat down opposite her at the corner table that ran along the back wall. She’d gravitated there on instinct and her fingertip traced the initials carved into the wood—E.B, P.L. What would her younger self think if she could see her now? Where they’d ended up? After everything that had happened, they were still back at the table they’d carved their initials into at sixteen.
“Every year,” he confirmed and she couldn’t help the small tingle of excitement that swept through her at the thought. She’d always loved the market growing up. The town cordoned off Main Street for a whole month and built temporary wooden huts that townsfolk and out-of-towners alike could rent to sell their wares or serve hot drinks and food. They even had a band and a dress-up Santa for the kids.
She pulled her thoughts away from the cinnamon holiday buns one store in particular had used to make every year—they were her favorite—and insteadconcentrated on her coffee as she avoided Ethan’s stare. “Did you talk to Nicky?”
He nodded, a smirk tugging at his mouth when he said, “I left him a message yesterday afternoon.”
Yesterday aftern—“But I didn’t make you dinner until the evening.”
“I know.” He shrugged and she stared. If he had already talked to Nicky, then why had he made her come over to cook for him? Ethan’s eyes dropped to where her fingers still traced their names on the tabletop. “Amazing that they haven’t re-decorated after all this time, huh?”
It was, but Magnolia Springs was slow to change and this cafe had probably been here since her parents were teens. She ignored his observation and took a too-hot gulp of her latte. “Why did you make me cook for you if you’d already spoken to your friend?”
Ethan set his coffee cup down softly and when he looked back up at her, eyes soft and gleaming, she couldn’t look away. “C’mon Pen, you’re a smart woman. Why do you think I invited you?”
Penny bit her lip and then shook her head. “I don’t—”
“Well, this is cozy.”
The slightly nasal voice made Penny’s nose wrinkle as she pulled away from Ethan, not having realized that she’d leant closer.
Ethan looked up and smiled, polite if a little wary. “Shelby, hey. You remember Penny?”
“Vividly,” she said and sniffed. “Nice to see you.” The words were curt but she was all sugar when she turned back to Ethan, a smile on her glossy lips. “I just wondered if you were around this weekend, E? Maybe we could get dinner?”
E?Gag.
His brows furrowed, a gentle look she hadn’t seen on him before taking over his face. “We’ve talked about this, Shel. It’s not a good idea. I don’t want to get back together.”
Shelby stiffened, eyes blazing as she looked between Penny and Ethan. “Oh yeah? So she’s finally decided to take you back?” Shelby snorted and threw Penny a withering look that made her stiffen. “Well, when she runs off and leaves you in the dust again, you know where I’ll be.”
She strode away, the sweet jingle of the bell by the door at complete odds with Shelby’s stormy exit. Clearly things in the grocery store hadn’t been as resolved as Penny had hoped.
Penny’s mouth fell open as she watched the exit. “I can’t believe you were engaged to her,” Penny said without thinking and then grimaced. “Sorry. It’s not my place to judge.”
Ethan shrugged. “It could be. If you wanted.”
She opted to ignore his offer. “I was surprised when I heard that you two had … Well, been ayou two.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t pursue her, it just kind of happened. We were working together on a project—one ofher friends had bought a store in the city and wanted help with the interiors. Shelby knew I’d started my business recently and was trying to get my name out there, so she put us in touch.” He sipped his coffee, watching Penny closely as if decoding every expression or minute movement she made. “She’s not as bad as she pretends to be, you know. The project got us talking more and I realized pretty quickly that the mean girl act is mostly just a front she puts up. And then, I don’t know, it just seemed … easy. After you left, Pen, I’d thought that was me done with dating, but Shelby and I kind of just fell into the relationship.” Penny tried not to flinch at the hint of pain that underscored his words as Ethan went on. “Before we knew it, a year had passed and there was a lot of talk from her family about next steps … I proposed because it was what everyone wanted and expected us to do.” His eyes looked far away, as if he could see it all playing out in his mind’s eye.
