Page 35 of Miss Humbug
The words hit like a brick. Numbness stunned my body.Kid sister. Ethan…he thought of me as his extended family. As both childanda sister.
What did I expect? If we kept acting like old times, then nothing would change. I hadn’t realized until now how much I wanted things to change.
I quickly recovered and threw a light punch to his arm. “Yup. Just like old times!” My voice shrill, my thoughts manic. HE THINKS OF ME AS A SISTER. And here I’d been daydreaming about covering myself in more flour for a sexy baking session.
Ethan disappeared into his truck, leaving me with his coat and a certainty that anything between us had all been in my head.
Chapter 12
Ethan
I banged my fist against the steering wheel. I was an idiot.
The dumbest words in history just left my mouth. I actually told Marlowe I thought of her like a kid sister. That hadn’t been true since I was what, twelve? And even then, I hadn’t viewed her like a sibling. She’d always been special. A friend, but more.
All the time we’d been spending together lately had reminded me of old times. A comfortable existence. Simple even.
The thoughts racing through my head were anything but.
Maybe I’d blurted what I assumed Marlowe wanted to hear. Maybe my subconscious wanted to protect me from a fall. Yeah, I’d taken a psych class in community college. Not like it helped make much sense of myself.
Regardless, dumb move. She played along, but I couldn’t imagine she liked being labeled a sister by me. Let alone a kid. If I was lumped in with the Holly family, that made what we had less special. It would send her packing for sure.
At home, I wrote her a text about taking back the sister comment. Deleted it. Wrote it again. My stomach knotted.
I wrote another text and hit send.I know you’re not my sister
Ugh, no. I should delete—
Marlowe:Whew. Glad you cleared that up!
Marlowe:That’ll save me the cost of a pesky DNA test
Okay, she was taking the high road here. Sparing me. Or hopefully, she hadn’t read into what I said and this was all a big overreaction on my part.
Marlowe:I don’t want to be your sister
My heart bottomed out. I definitely did not want to be related to her. Not by blood.
Me:I don’t want that either. I like what we have. And you’re not a kid.
I paced the room waiting on her response.
Marlowe:Thanks. I like what we have too. You’ve always been more special to me than a brother.
I could breathe again. She’d always been special, and now, I wasn’t sure what that meant for us. Maybe it didn’t mean anything more than a business arrangement, and we’d continue on as close friends.
Forcing myself to get to sleep, I dreamed of more. Even when I tried not to, my brain filled in the details of a happy life with the only person I’d ever imagined a future with.
“Get your head out of the clouds!”
That would be my dad, interrupting my thoughts. Rightly so, since he was talking to me about this weekend’s farm festivities while my mind drifted to everything Marlowe.
“Sorry.” I ran a hand across my face, feeling my restless night of sleep taking its toll. “I’ve got it covered.”
Dad grunted. “You’ve been missing in action a few times this week. Everything okay?”
Instantly, guilt hit. We had seasonal staff this time of year to keep up with the tree sales, but he was right to call me out. Because Dad assumed the best, he didn’t instantly conclude I’d cut out of work early to spend time with the girl who got away. “Everything’s fine. The Saturday event is good to go. It practically runs on autopilot.”
