Page 76 of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
‘You need to deal with your abandonment issues,’ Hazel added, sipping her tea.
‘My what?’ Logan sputtered, and Annie smacked him hard on the back, causing more muffin crumbs to spray across the table.
‘Logan, your dad left when you were a baby, your mother died when you were a child, and your one serious, adult relationship ended when she left you. I think it’s pretty clear what’s going on here.’ Hazel pushed her glasses up her nose while Logan stared at her in disbelief.
‘That sounds right,’ Annie piped in. ‘Been reading a lot in the self-help section again, Haze?’
Hazel shrugged. ‘I thought we all already knew this.’
Logan ran a hand down his beard. ‘Jeez, Hazel. You’re not pulling any punches today.’
‘Just trying to be helpful.’
He nearly laughed. Hazel’s version of helpful was to lay all his bullshit out on the table and show him no mercy. But she wasn’t wrong. Seeing those still-packed boxes and realtor listings shouldn’t have pushed him over the edge like they had. He should have at least talked to Jeanie before bolting from her apartment. Abandonment issues. It sounded complicated, but it was simple. He was afraid. Afraid of Jeanie leaving. Afraid of failing again. Afraid of getting hurt.
And he’d let that fear guide every interaction he’d had with Jeanie. It made him want to deny his attraction to her. It made him want to hide what was going on between them. And it made him freak out and jump to conclusions instead of talking to her.
To top it off, he’d retreated to the safety of the farm and had been hiding out ever since. Just like his grandfather had warned him about.
And with that string of unsettling realizations, his friends stood from their seats to leave. Annie put their mugs in the sink and Hazel planted a kiss on the top of his head.
‘Good luck,’ she said with a surprisingly hard pat on the arm. When the hell had Hazel gotten so strong? ‘I’m sure you can fix things with her. And at the very least, you should stop in for a cup of coffee. There are rumors around town that you left on either some kind of meditation retreat or mountain climbing in Peru.’
Logan shook his head. ‘Why?’
‘My dad had a dream about you and a llama on some sort of high peak or something. He wasn’t totally clear.’
‘This damn town.’
Annie grinned on her way out of the kitchen. ‘You love it. See you soon!’
He was sure his groan followed them down the hall, but they didn’t look back. They’d said their piece and left their muffins. Nothing left to do now but let him stew in the information they’d laid at his feet.
Norman had quit.
Jeanie was still fighting for the café.
He apparently had abandonment issues.
And what the hell was he doing? Running scared. Giving up on something good before it even started? All because of, what? One failed relationship with the wrong person?
It was time to finally let that shit go.
ChapterThirty
Jeanie peeled open the fresh pack of Oreos and inhaled their familiar scent. They smelled like childhood and home, and like she could totally survive this day if she just shoved about four of them in her mouth really quick before she had to get back to the café to cover the register for Joe’s break.
She checked her phone while she chewed. A new voicemail from her mom that she was sure was about Thanksgiving and that she would deal with later. A text from Jacob with the title of the next book club book. And a string of texts from Ben.
Still alive?
Haven’t heard from you in a few days.
Did the sexy farmer chop you up into bits and bury you in the pumpkin patch?!!
The last one was sent twenty minutes ago.
Jeanie, seriously. You okay?
