Page 42 of Love at Teamsgiving
How about I tell himno... let’s not play pretend: that we’re friends, that we can get along, plan another wedding. We don’t want Erica and Shane’s big day to be a disaster, so we should bow out now.
Yet I can’t say it. His eyes, his scent, hiseverythingfollow me wherever I go. They always have. Given my failure to convince myself that I am no longer in love with him, maybe they always will.
But, like Mr. Cruz, I switch the channel back to the matter of the moms. “When have I ever been able to tell them no? They’lljust roll the wallpaper over me. Then again, the last thing I expected was for them to join forces again.”
He rubs his hand down his face. “That was a surprise. But this salon is your baby, Junie. Your dream. They interfered once and ...”
He lets the sentence dangle. I know how to finish it. Our mothers got involved in our wedding and that didn’t work out well.
“Mom has had a tough time since Papa passed away. She hasn’t so much as eaten a meatball since—” I shrug, unable to remember when I last saw her eat a full meal, no less prepared one.
“They were a good couple. It has to be hard without him.” Miguel finds my pinky and squeezes it as if to say that he knows it’s been hard for me, too.
My eyes burn because this used to be our thing, secret little pinky squeezes when no one was looking. We started timing it to see how long we could hold on before we risked getting caught by any of the brothers.
I like the way his attention and touch feel. So why do I resist it so hard? Because it’s taken a hot (and tear-stained) minute to put my broken heart back together. If you know me at all, I don’t cry easily.
The truth is, when it comes down to it, he won’t pick me. It’ll be his family or hockey first.
A shiver runs through me and I take a deep breath of the crisp air. “My mother is a formidable woman, but without Papa, it’s like she’s lost. I thought leaving New York would help. Get her out of her shell. She started a new life in America, why not again ... in Cobbiton?”
We both chuckle, as ever, in sync.
“Small world?” Miguel asks.
“Strange one.”
He leans on the car and puts his hands in his pockets. “I know this is what you always wanted. Don’t let them take it from you.”
Opening a salon is only part of the story. Less than two years ago, my life looked a lot different—my future involved being married to and making a life with this man, spending all of our holidays together, and opening a salon in Manhattan.
“Thanks, but?—”
He turns to me, expression serious. “If you don’t want their help,we’lltell them no.”
“Have you met my mother? Yours?”
The corner of his lips quirks. “I’ve also met you, Junie. They have to team up to be a force of nature. You’ve got that ferocity, determination, and motivation all on your own. If you want a modern, sleek salon and to hire a different company to see that happen, that’s your decision to make.”
He’s right, but my shoulder lifts in a shrug. “Thinking more about it, given this area, maybe the idea they have is better. Know your clientele and all that.”
“You’d have a better sense of that than they do.”
He plants his palms on my shoulders. His gaze sweeps over me until I look up at him and our eyes lock. My heart flutters. Warmth replaces the chill on my skin as the autumn air sweeps along the street, dusting up dry leaves.
My body aches for his arms around me in a hug because what he’s saying without saying also applies to us, to our big dream of being married.
Miguel knows me. Loved me once.
But we don’t close the space. Not even an inch.
It’s like if we keep our distance, we won’t have to relive the agonizing disappointment.
“Thanks.” I grip his wrist, still on my shoulder, wanting to kiss the little patch of skin and then find my way up to his tattoo. But my name probably isn’t there anymore. He’s no longer mine.
“I’m happy to help. Whatever you need to get your shop open the way you want it, I’m your guy.”
But he’s not. I shrug out from under his grip and to maintain the emotional space as well as the physical, I tease, “I think you just want an excuse to hang out with me.”
