LOGINARIA'S POV The smoke alarm went off before the turkey even finished resting. I found Flynn standing on a kitchen chair, waving a dish towel at the ceiling like he could argue the beeping into silence, our daughter propped on his hip and shrieking with delight at the noise instead of being scared of it the way any sensible baby would be. "It's the rolls," he said, not looking at me. "I think. Or the thing in the oven. One of the things." "Which thing, Flynn." "The bread thing." "That was supposed to be dinner rolls." "They still might be edible." I climbed up next to him, silenced the alarm, and opened the oven to a tray of what could generously be called charcoal. He had the decency to look only mildly ashamed. "I'm sorry?” He said, leaning his head to one side. Then he brought Hazel up to his face and mimicked her. “Daddy said he is sorry. You should forgive him?” I let out a small laugh at his silliness “Daddy insisted on helping.” “Well… He really did try” He said in t
ISABELLA'S POVMy whole body forgot how to work the second his name left my mouth. What the heck was he doing here?!!Three months of imagining this exact moment, rehearsing what I'd say if he ever stood in a room with me again, and all I managed was one syllable. “Hi” The dish towel slipped off my shoulder. My heart was too busy trying to climb up into my throat to worry about laundry.He looked the same and not the same at all. Same jaw, same steady eyes that used to make me feel like the only person in any room. But something had changed in the way he held himself, careful now, guarded, like he had learned the hard way to protect a bruise before anyone got close enough to hit it again.I did that. I put that carefulness on his shoulders.The sadness hit me first, sharp enough to steal my breath, my mind dragging me straight back to the bakery counter and the sound of my own voice calling the best thing that ever happened to me: *nothing*. Then the guilt came right behind it, very f
ETHAN'S POV"Come on, Ethan, at least look like you're having fun. You're supposed to be the face of this whole expansion."My business partner Luke said it low, leaning toward me over his glass, nodding at the room like it was mine to enjoy. Rooftop bar, the whole city glittering out past the railing, a crowd of investors and their guests mixing brand of expensive perfume with expensive liquor. I'd been standing in the same spot for twenty minutes holding a drink I hadn't touched."I'm having plenty of fun," I said, which was a lie neither of us believed.It's been three months of this. Three months of rooms exactly like it, cities blurring into one long string of good lighting and better small talk, my face apparently now familiar enough that some magazine had slotted me into a list of the city's most eligible bachelors a few weeks back. Luke had framed the page and hung it in his office, which he thought was hilarious. I hadn't found much of anything funny lately.A woman, who I no
*Three months later*ISABELLA'S POVThe kitchen smelled like cinnamon and burnt sugar, and for a second I could not remember which one I wanted to actually make.Thanksgiving was two days away and my mother had the whole house running on holiday time, sweet potatoes lined up on the counter, a turkey thawing slowly in the fridge that had swallowed up half the shelf space. I had offered to handle the desserts as it gave my hands something to do, and because saying no to my mother during the holidays has never once worked in the history of our family.Three months. That was how long it had been since the bell over my bakery door rang behind Ethan for the last time and I stood there waiting for it to ring again but it never did. Three months since he left with no calls or texts from him. I used to think this would be different from Dominic, because at least Ethan had been mine to lose for one real night at the lake but I was wrong about that matter. If anything the last three months felt
Song Recommendation: Train wreck by James Author ETHAN'S POV I almost turned around twice before I made it to her door. Five days of silence will do that to a man. Make him rehearse a hundred versions of a conversation in his car, then abandon every single one of them the second his hand actually lands on the door handle. I told myself I wasn't going to push. I told myself that the whole drive over. Somewhere between her my house and this bakery, I stopped believing it. The bell rang before I'd even finished deciding what to say. "We're closed," she called out but didn't turn. Then she did turn, and I watched every ounce of color drain sideways out of her face. "Oh. Hi, Ethan." Bright and brittle, a voice built to hold a door shut. "What.. what are you doing here?" I asked her straight out if she was avoiding me. But I already knew the answer. Some part of me had known it since her mother stood in that doorway, sighing like she'd been carrying a lie too heavy to hold anymore.
Song Recommendation: Before you go by Lewis CapaldiISABELLA'S POVThe bell over the door was the last sound I wanted to hear that evening.I had the sign already flipped to closed, the last tray wiped down, flour dust catching gold in the low light coming through the front window. My feet ached in that good, worn out way they always did after a full day, and for one small stretch of silence before that bell rang, my head had been empty of everything except tomorrow's prep list."We're closed," I called out without turning, rag still in my hand.Then I turned anyway, out of habit more than anything, and every muscle in my body locked at once."Oh. Hi, Ethan." My voice came out too bright, too fast, like i was hoping nobody notices i was bracing for something. "What.. what are you doing here?""Izzy, are you avoiding me?" I walked past him toward the far table, I moved my rag over a surface that was already clean. "No. Never. Why would I avoid you hmm?""Isabella, I was at your house







