We would get there.
Chapter 28
Celine
I’d never been a farmers’ market kind of girl. Between the chaos and the forced chitchat, I’d never seen the appeal. Especially with curious kids bound to touch things they shouldn’t and get into trouble.
But in the few short months we’d been here, it had become clear that attendance at the Maplewood farmers’ market was mandatory. The entire town and surrounding communities came out, not only to shop, but to catch up and learn.
The kids loved the snacks and the opportunities to see their friends, and I’d discovered that if I didn’t show my face, the Maplewood Mafia would stop by to check on me. So the market, it was. The chaos was far less painful than Bitsy Bramble’s presence at my home.
As the smell of cider and fresh donuts flooded my nostrils, Ellie stomped up to my side. “I’m hungry.”
That comment was followed by echoing sentiments from her siblings.
Promising that we would get snacks in a bit, I led them over to a complex display of honeycombs that fascinated Julian.
“The bees built all of this,” a friendly looking woman with gray hair and jeweled glasses explained.
Julian nodded, still transfixed. “Oh, I know. Every bee in the hive has a job,” he explained. “Some are builders. They build these combs, and each cell will be filled with honey from the other bees.”
I smiled with pride as he chatted with this stranger about beekeeping. It had been so long since he’d been this open to new experiences.
“There’s Paige,” Ellie said, waving at a friend. She gave me a quick questioning look, and when I nodded, she wandered toward a group of bored-looking tweens. I kept an eye on her while Julian asked more bee-related questions and Maggie scanned our surroundings furiously, probably searching for any animals that may have come along.
She had not stopped talking about her new best friend, Daisy, in days.
“Mom.” She tugged on my sleeve. “He’s here.”
I turned, following her line of sight, and found Josh standing next to the town mayor. He was holding a cardboard coffee cup from his sister’s shop and sporting a green flannel shirt and his usual grumpy expression.
Annoyingly, my stomach did a little flip. As much as I tried to ignore it, my body reacted every time I saw him. My pulse quickened and I couldn’t help but stare.
He said he loved me. It didn’t make sense. This was too fast and too messy.
But I couldn’t stop my mind from racing, from gettingahead of me and thinking about what could be. When things calmed down, when I got through this parole hearing, when the kids and I were more settled. Could this be something real?
Because my body thought it was very real. So real I’d been having some very, ahem, explicit dreams about him.
The situation was so messy. He was my landlord. My neighbor. My… lover?
I shook my head. No, we’d had sex. Very hot sexy sex. And we’d said things. Heartfelt, intense things. But only that single time.
Yet I found myself constantly walking around in a daze, trying to bump into him while convincing myself it could never happen again. Clearly I was a paragon of mental health.
Before I could stop her, Maggie was running toward him, shouting his name.
He turned, and his face lit up in a way only reserved for my kids.
She threw her arms around him in a big hug. He was her hero, after all, introducing her to her new best friend. She’d ruminated for days about how to thank him, eventually settling on baking cookies and making him a thank-you card. But so far, she’d spent all her free time researching horses and horse care.
He caught her, wrapping her in those comforting arms.
“Hello, superstar,” he said, meeting my eyes.
My face heated instantly. It was ridiculous. It was damn cold outside, yet suddenly I had the urge to fan myself.
“Hello. I’m Gabe,” the mayor said to my daughter.