Page 49 of Break Me Like a Promise (Oak Valley)

“Actually, you might be onto something,” Olive said, mouth open. “I just realized my last good date was someone I met while sourcing new kitchen equipment.”

“Oh, are you renovating?” Ruby asked.

Olive shrugged. “Not just yet, but we’re trying to figure out how to better our brand and business, potentially expand.”

“Olive, you know that’s kind of my job, right? I’d be happy to help you out.” Ruby smiled at her friend, a little surprised she wouldn’t have just said something.

“Ugh, I know,” her friend sighed. “Just between the bus, and your mom, and… Colton —” she side-eyed Ruby, “— I wasn’t sure if you had enough time.”

Ruby’s face went hot, and she looked away from the shocked stares coming from the others. Their voices jumped over one another.

“Wait… Ruby, are you seeing Colton Taylor?”

“No way.”

“How did that come about?”

She shrugged. “We’re just… seeing how it goes.”

“It has been ten years,” Vivian said, pursing her lips.

“What’s wrong, Anna?” Olive asked.

She kept staring at her drink.

A stone formed in Ruby’s stomach. “Anna?”

Anna sighed. “I’m telling you this because I love you, but I’ve seen Cara around Colton… a lot, over the last ten years. Even last night, I was at Cheers, and she was kind of rubbing against him. I left with the friends I was with before I saw anything else.”

The stone dropped, a wave rushing through her ears. Cara had always been that way with Colton, ever since middle school. It became worse once they started dating — Ruby had always chalked it up to Cara not getting what she wanted — but still. She thought back to the time she’d spent with the Colton, how they loved on each other the night he stayed in her bed.

But last night, Cara was with him at Cheers. Rubbing up on him, according to Anna.

After all this time, whyhadn’the shut her down?

“I’m sorry, Ruby,” Anna whispered.

She shook her head, wishing the tremors in her hands to stop. “No, no. It’s okay. Some things never change. In any case —” Ruby cleared her throat and turned to Olive. “— let’s set up a time to chat about the bakery. Macy has me working on the Valentine’s Day Festival, and she linked me with Deborah from the Oak Valley Historical Society. And, you know, I still work part-time for the company I was at in the City where I manage TV and media clients.”

“Oh, you might be too fancy for these parts now, Ruby!” Penelope laughed, and the other girls chimed in. They changed the topic to some new social media trend, and Ruby tried to follow along, their voices going in and out.

Maybe it was good she’d have to stay in Oak Valley while Colton left.

43

Colton looked at his phone, the airport calling for his gate to board. His heart hurt, seeing Ruby’s name and responding to her text without any indication of where he was. He pocketed the device and looked around, more people boarding than he would’ve liked. At least he was in first class — when he spent his money, he liked to spend it on his family, his car, and travel — so he’d be able to stretch out a bit and catch some Z’s before landing in San Francisco the next morning. Flight times were weird, and he was leaving the night before his interview and would stay in a hotel until his 5 a.m. report time to Pierre Hermé’s kitchen.

Between dealing with the auto shop and his surprise for Katie, helping Ruby with the school bus and spending time with her, he hadn’t had any time to practice in the kitchen. Maybe for the best, so he’d be raring to go once he saw the competition. He made his way onto the plane and found his seat, popping his carry-on into the overhead and taking his window seat, grateful he had the extra elbow room and champagne to calm his nerves. He never had nerves before a game, but this was different. Everyone would know who he was and it’d be easy to be passed off as a fraud.

Colton popped in his Airpods, tapping on his river nature sounds. After his injury, one of his physical therapists had turned him onto the sounds during rehab. He’d carried it into his bedtime routine, and now couldn’t sleep with it. Even that night at Ruby’s had been difficult, despite being absolutely wiped. But he’d also wanted to savor every second he could with her, not knowing how it would end.

The flight attendants started closing up, the pilot making his announcement. No one had taken the seat beside him. Colton sent a little thank you out into the void, closing his eyes and settling in. The plane started rolling, and Colton concentrated on the vibrations as they took off.

The rest of the six-hour flight from east coast to west went in a blur, Colton waking as the plane landed. Bleary-eyed, he looked around the plane, the sound of passengers already unclipping their seatbelts. He fucking hated this time change. A six-hour flight and arriving three hours after his plane took off always messed with his schedule. His phone said it was almost 1 a.m. A missed phone call from Katie, a ‘safe travels’ text from his mom, nothing from Ruby.

Fine. That was fine. Given the time change, maybe she was out with friends. Or having dinner with her mom. Or out with… No. Colton shook his head, anxious to get off the plane. He wouldn’t allow himself to think of her out with another guy. Wouldn’t allow himself to think of her dressed up, laughing at something he said, a glint in her eyes while they gazed at each other over the dim light of a candle. Of course she’d be glowing fucking gold in that low light, like the goddess he knew she was.

Colton threw his bag over his shoulder, almost knocking someone behind him. He didn’t give a shit. He couldn’t stop his mind racing with thoughts of her with someone else.

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