Page 55 of A Love Like Pumpkin Spice
I don’t need him to spell it out to know that he’s not talking about the horses.
“Those two”—he nods to the front door that Lauren walked out of—“they are special. I just know. So please …” his eyes dart around as he’s trying to find his words hidden in his café’s decor but comes up empty. “Don’t fuck it up, Henry.”
“I’m doing my best,” I assure him and clasp his shoulder. “And you make sure you don’t scare them away with your natural enthusiasm.”
“Lauren will give me a heart attack before that happens,” he grumbles, returning to his counter.
I shake my head at him and call for Jensen. With that pep talk in mind, I feel a lot better than on my way here. I only hope that whatever is weighing on Nic will resolve itself soon.
Chapter 21
Nic
“So, the autumn fair. I think the three of us should get involved, being the newbies and all, don’t you think?” Lauren asks and takes a hearty sip of her pumpkin-spice primped coffee. Caleb is shooting us a glare, but he has given up on trying to make Lauren keep the syrup out of his café.
“What exactly do you think we should do? Do wehaveto?” Kieran wonders, then buries his face in his hands. “I’m too introverted for this stuff.”
“You? Introverted?” I ask, amused, biting my lip to keep from grinning at his misery.
“Why do you think I chose a job that doesn’t involve talking to people?” He sighs, glancing up from his hands. “Through a screen I can do, but real life? I’d rather not.”
“Fair point.” Lauren leans back in her seat, hands in front of her chest as she thinks. I’m only listening with half an ear, my thoughts circling around Henry. I know he’s aware of my mood. I didn’t exactly try to hide that I’m not feeling my best, and thankfully, he didn’t pry. I wish I could shake this feeling off—those gnawing thoughts that I don’t deserve him, that I’m not good enough.
One day I’ll get there.
“Earth to Nic!” Lauren waves a hand in front of my face. “Stop with that sad face.”
“Right? Are you seriously letting your asshole ex tear your mood down?” Kieran narrows his eyes at me.
“I’m trying not to,” I say with a groan and take a deep breath. “But shockingly, there’s not exactly an off switch for ‘haunted by my unhinged ex’ in my settings menu. Trust me, I checked. Twice.”
The two of them shoot each other knowing glances, and Lauren quickly changes the topic back to the autumn fair, pretending my past never came up. Which I prefer if I’m being honest. I need normalcy in order to build distance from it. To build a wall that I can safely bury the painful memories behind, only to be seen again from a safe distance.
“Oh, hey, Caleb.” Kieran waves at Caleb, who has once more mysteriously appeared right next to our table. “Henry told us aboutthe autumn fair. What’s it about? Is there anything we can do to help?”
Caleb peers at the three of us, skepticism written all over his face.
“You three can volunteer to decorate,” he finally grumbles, turning the page on his notebook that he uses to write down orders. “Make the damn thing presentable for once.”
“You’re not a fan, I take it?” Lauren asks sweetly and Caleb’s eyes and the disgust shining in them speak volumes. I hide a grin behind my hand as he continues.
“It’s loud. It’s annoying. It blocks the whole damn town center. Some of us have better shit to do,” he mumbles and walks past us to another table.
“To be fair, Henry mentioned that Caleb pretends to hate it,” Kieran points out, voice shaking as he tries not to laugh, and I nod slowly.
Caleb doesn’t seem interested in any kind of festivity. He’s the type who wouldn’t even dress up as the Grinch for Christmas. Who acts as if their birthday is a day like any other and will glare you into the ground if you dare to congratulate him. Who are happy with a boring existence. But hey, to each their own. He probably has his reasons, but I’m excited to see if he’ll actually warm up for the autumn fair.
“I wonder why,” Lauren says softly, tapping her fingers against the table. “Maybe there’s some town lore we don’t know yet.”
“Or maybe it’s the charm of his grumpy personality.” Kieran lifts his shoulder in a lazy half-shrug and Lauren shoots him a glare.
But before she can answer, my phone buzzes on the table, and Taylor Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down” blares through Caleb’s like it’s trying to make a point. Everyone here turns to see where the song suddenly comes from. Not awkward at all.
“Say hi to Joel for me,” Lauren says with a wink as I get up and rush outside to take the call. If Joel’s calling, something’s probably on fire—figuratively or otherwise. He’s my former manager-slash-publicist and should know better than to bother me with anything less than an actual emergency now that I’m retired. I’d threatened to bite his head off enough times during my first week off to make that perfectly clear after he kept bothering me and asking me to reconsider.
“I swear to God, Joel, if this is another attempt to get me back to acting—” I talk myself into rage as soon as the door to Caleb’s closes behind me, but he quickly interrupts me.
“Calm down. It’s good to hear from you too, Nic.”
