Page 42 of I Can't Help It

I could use some pie right now…

“Sure, I’ve never been to a pie shop before.”

She smiles as she puts her phone away. “My aunt and I visited a pie shop for the first time when we were on vacation in Maryland. It was nice, we got to try a lot of different flavors.”

“Is this one close by?” I ask, turning into the main part of town.

“Uh, yeah, actually. We could park off to the side somewhere and just walk over.”

So, that’s what we do. Ava gets out of the car before I can open the passenger door for her, but I make sure that I’m closest to the curb when we start strolling down the sidewalk.

“Everything looks even prettier with all the lights on.” She lets out a content sigh while glancing around. “How are small towns always so charming? I mean, even the name is precious.”

I chuckle at that. “You sound like a real estate listing. This lovely home is located in a charming small town, where you’ll always feel like you belong.”

“Hey, that was pretty good! Maybe you were a real estate agent in another life.”

“Actually, my mom has been one for years. Sometimes she would read her listing descriptions out loud, so my dad and I could give our opinions on them.”

“You guys are close then?”

Her tone is lighthearted, but I see the way she tugs her cardigan tighter around herself before crossing her arms.

Crap. Why the heck did I bring up my parents? I know she has her aunt but—

“Luke, it’s okay.” She gives my arm a light squeeze. “You don’t have to feel bad for talking about your parents. Losing mine always hurts, but sometimes I just realize it a little bit more.”

“I’m sorry.” It’s the most overused phrase to tell a person when they’ve lost someone, but my frazzled mind can’t come up with anything else.

“It’s okay,” she repeats herself, “I promise. So, are you close with your parents?”

“Yeah, I am,” I reply, trying my best not to apologize again. “There’s been a little bit of distance ever since I decided to pursue event planning, but that’s mostly from my mom.”

Ava’s eyebrows crease in the cutest way possible. “Does she think there’s something wrong with event planning?”

“She wanted me to become a veterinarian like my dad, so I could take over his animal clinic when he finally retires, but that’s just not what I wanted.”

“Everyone has to follow their own path,” she says with a firm nod. “I’m glad you chose event planning; we would’ve never become coworkers if you hadn’t, and I would’ve never gotten to know you.”

True. We rarely saw each other when she was dating Wyatt, and we would’ve never fallen for each other if I hadn’t started working at Time Well Spent Events…

“There it is!” Ava exclaims, pointing ahead of us. “Here for the Pie!”

“I guess now would be a bad time to tell you that I hate pie, huh?”

There’s no hiding the grin on my face, and she rolls her eyes at me. “Shut up. Who in the world could hate pie?”

“Psychopaths,” I answer, striding ahead to open the entrance door for her. “After you.”

She thanks me before stepping into the pie shop, and I’m silently hoping I don’t blow this date more than I already have. I’m still going to tell her that we can’t be together after our night out is done, but that doesn’t mean I want her to have a terrible experience with me.

“Hello,” a woman greets us from behind one of the display cases. She’s probably around our age. “How are we doing tonight?”

“Doing well, thank you,” Ava replies, not missing a beat. “We’re just here for the pie.”

Oh my—

I shake my head as I give her a disappointed look. “Ava.”

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