Page 96 of Sugarlips
I pulled my car into a parking spot beside the food truck just as Addy, Finn, and Mom were walking out of the bakery. In their arms, they cradled boxes of our baked goods, transporting them from the kitchen to the truck. They smiled when they saw me getting out of my car and shutting the door.
“There he is,” Mom said, pausing to kiss me on the cheek.
“What—what are you all doing here?” I followed them inside the truck and watched as they put away the food I had baked this morning.
Addy rolled her eyes. “What does it look like?”
“It looks like you’re doing my job.”
“Ding, ding, ding!” Addy sang, and tossed her hands into the air. “Tell him what he’s won, Finn!”
Finn held a cruller in his hand and held it up to his mouth like a microphone, speaking in a terrible radio DJ voice. “Well, Addy, our dearest brother has won an all-expenses paid vacation to hisown living room! The trip will include mindless television, flannel pajama pants, and a much needed eight hours of sleep. All he has to do…”
Addy beat her hands against the counter in a mock drumroll.
“… is ask for help!”
Together, they clapped and held their jazz hands out in a final pose.
I scrunched my nose and pointed to the cruller in Finn’s hand. “You know I can’t sell that one now. You breathed all over it.”
Addy rolled her eyes toward Finn and Mom. “Told you that wouldn’t work.”
Mom crossed over to me and smoothed my mussed hair. “We’re all worried about you. Finn and Addy will be here to run the truck. And you can take an extra night off.”
Except I didn’t want a night off. I wanted the distraction. I wanted to pretend everything was normal and fine. “I don’t need a night off. It’s fine. I’m fine. Chloe and I aren’t meant to be. We’re just…businesspartners from now on.”
I ignored the pitying look my mom was giving me from across the food truck. With four people in there, it was becoming wildly apparent this small truck wasn’t made to hold this many of us.
“I thought you and I could switch jobs for a little while,” Finn said. “I’ll handle The Dump Truck for you—the baking and the night shift selling. That way, you don’t have to see Chloe until you’re ready.”
I glanced at Addy. “And you’re here because…”
“I figured I’d help Finn out tonight.”
“That’s ridiculous. You have your own bar, your own job—”
“There are other bartenders who work there,” she waved off my concerns.
“None as good as you.”
“Well, duh,” she laughed. “But right now, I’m needed here more. When I checked in on Chloe today, she wasn’t up for working tonight—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I massaged my temples. “You checked in on Chloe? When? Why?”
“Because she’s my friend and our brother’s girlfriend’s sister. She’s practically family—”
“She’snotfamily,” I snapped. “Elaina and Neil aren’t even engaged—”
“Oh, they will be,” Mom said. “And you know it. Regardless of whether or not you two work out your differences, Chloe’s going to be in our lives.”
“Fine.” I tossed my hands into the air. The thought that Chloe was someone I couldn’t walk away from was maddening.
It meant she was right—that it was too damn messy for us to get involved. Her reservations about us dating were completely valid.
Shit.Why did this have to get so damn complicated? “It’s going to be fine,” I whispered. “Chloe and I will be better off if we learn how to stand on our own two feet.”
“Allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to need someone can take a lot of courage,” Mom said. She stepped closer to me and even though her voice was soft, there was fire in her bright green eyes. “Standingalone andbeingalone are two different things. If you don’t realize that, then maybe you don’t deserve her.”
