Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Not sure,” I replied, plastering on a smile and walking toward him. “Sean. What a surprise to see you here.”
“Yeah. What the fuck are you doing here?”
My head whipped back toward my sister. “Amanda! You do realize you’re holding your child, right?”
Amanda snarled her lip at Sean, who took a few steps back toward the door.
“She’s too young to understand bad words.”
“Are you sure about that?” Sean asked.
He jumped back even farther when Amanda took a step toward him.
“Amanda!”
Aunt Olivia hurried over. “What’s going on, girls?”
Turing to my aunt, I held up my hands. “Nothing, everything’s fine. Amanda was just leaving.”
“Not until I get a hug from that little one,” Aunt Olivia said. “I’ll walk you out, dear.”
When Amanda started to walk toward the exit, Sean quickly made his way around a table and out of her way. She stopped and glared, then made a strange sound with her mouth…almost like she was preparing to spit on him.
My eyes went wide as I started toward her.
“I’m leaving. I’m leaving,” Amanda said, glancing toward me and smiling. “Toodles.”
“Bye, Amanda. Bye, Mandy!”
Mandy smiled a toothless grin at me. Once the door shut, I faced Sean.
He pointed to the door. “I don’t trust your sisters. I’m telling you, they’re into some weird magic shit.”
I made my way back toward the counter. “What do you want, Sean?”
He rubbed at the back of his neck, and I knew what that meant. He had something to say, but he didn’t actually want to say it. Been there and done that with this guy.
When he just stood there awkwardly, I sighed. “Just spit it out. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“I need a favor from you.”
Placing my hands on the counter, I stared at him blankly. “Listen, I’m not brokenhearted that we broke up, but if you’re here to ask me to make flowers for a new girlfriend, then I’m going to ask you to leave because that’s just plain shitty.”
He looked confused for a moment, then laughed. “No, I’m not here for that.”
“Then why are you here?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.
Sean paced to the door and back, then cleared his throat. “We need to start dating again.”
I nearly choked on my tongue. “I’m sorry…what?”
He quickly threw his hands up and said, “Not real dating, just fake dating.”
A bubble of laughter slipped out. “Why? And why would you even think I’d entertain that notion?”
Sean drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “When I told you I wanted to break up, it was because I didn’t see a future for us.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Sean. I, and everyone else who’d been at The Green that day, remember clearly.”
“Harper…I think I’m in love with someone else. And I have been for a while now.”
My eyes widened. “Who?”
“Caroline.”
“Stevens?”
He nodded.
“Wow. I mean, I guess I can see it; your mom and her mother are best friends.”
“That’s not the issue, though.”
“Oookay,” I said slowly. “Care to tell me what is?”
He drew in a deep breath as he pushed a hand through his hair. “As you said, my mother and Viola are best friends.”
I nodded.
“Did you ever get the feeling my mother didn’t…”
“Like me? Yes.”
“The reason is because she and Viola had always hoped that Crystal and I would end up together. It was all they ever talked about when we were growing up. They had us doing everything together. Trick-or-treating, holiday photos. They went on vacations with us, and Crystal and I grew up as best friends. You knew that already, though.”
“I did. So, your mother wants you to be with Crystal?”
He nodded.
“But you love…Caroline?”
Once again, he nodded.
“For how long? She went off to college, then was working in Los Angeles.”
His face turned bright red. “She moved back to town about six months ago.”
“Oh, I see.” I leaned my arms on the counter. Now it made sense his break-up and the distance that had grown between us.
Sean nodded. “She was younger than us, and when we were kids, I always thought she was a little nuisance.”
I couldn’t help but smirk. “But she came back to town all grown up?”
He closed his eyes. “All grown up, and perfect in every way.”
I pushed back to a standing position. “Then just start dating her.”
His eyes snapped open. “She doesn’t know how I feel about her. And she’s dating someone.”
My heart sank for Sean, although honestly, I didn’t know why. He didn’t deserve any sympathy from me. “Oh, well…that sucks.”
He let out a defeated-sounding laugh. “Yes, it does. And now, since we’re broken up, my mother has started pushing me toward Crystal again. So much so that she’s planned a weekend in Boston for the two of us. She left a voicemail on my phone, telling me all about it. Then Crystal called me in a panic. She’s just like me—she doesn’t have the balls to stand up to her mother.”