The Wrong Goodbye Page 10

  “Too much,” Mason says. “I mean technically, I’m not supposed to know anything, but my girl here has a hard time keeping secrets.”

  Livi rolls her eyes. “You’re my boyfriend! I have to tell you!”

  “So, Alexa told you about how we met?” I ask.

  They look at each other and then grin. “Something like that,” Livi says. “I have to get back to work.” She points at me and gets a real serious look on her face. “You wait here.”

  “I would listen to her,” Mason says. He takes a wrench and sits back down on his rolling chair, getting back to work on the motorcycle in front of him. “She’s a real crazy person when she doesn’t get her way.”

  “Oh, shut it,” Livi tells him, smacking him on the arm playfully. “I’m serious,” she says to me. “This is going to be awesome.”

  She jogs back out of the shop and leaves me alone with this guy who is related to the girl who is most likely my soul mate.

  “So,” Mason says. “How awkward is this?”

  Chapter 19

  Gabe is in my bakery. It’s not just some figment of my over-caffeinated imagination, drawing up a mirage of the guy that’s been in my mind all these days. It’s real. He’s actually here, skin and bones, and muscles and bright blue eyes.

  I look at Livi and find myself suddenly unable to speak. Lee takes a bite of his shortcake and doesn’t even know what’s going on between my best friend and me. As far as he knows, he’s the only guy on my mind right now, and for that I feel very, very guilty.

  “Should I tell him to wait?” Livi says all sweetly like it’s not a big deal. She’s probably trying to make sure Lee doesn’t realize something crazy is happening right now.

  I clear my throat and attempt to wrangle my thoughts into submission, and when I look back toward the front of the bakery, he’s gone. I glance around, but then I see his retreating form crossing the road.

  Dammit.

  “I guess it doesn’t matter now,” I say, nodding toward the door.

  Livi turns around and curses under her breath.

  “What’s going on?” Lee asks.

  I smile at him. It’s too quick, and too big, and too fake, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care. “Nothing,” I say quickly. “But, we should probably wrap this up soon because I’m about to have to close down the shop for the day.”

  “Oh sure, no problem,” Lee says. He shoves the last bite of his food in his mouth and washes it down with coffee. “I can’t believe I’ve never been here before. Your food is amazing.”

  “Thank you,” I say, the sound barely audible over my pounding heart.

  “I’ll have to bring my mom and aunt here because they love places like this.”

  “That would be great,” I say. “I’ve been here for two years but a lot of locals still don’t know the bakery exists.”

  Man, I’m good at small talk when I’m internally freaking out. It’s like my body can take over while my brain just screams and jumps up and down and wonders what the hell Gabe is doing in Mable Falls.

  He saw my Facebook post. He had to. That’s the only reason he’d show up, right?

  And, oh God, he saw me with another guy and he left. It’s like the stars aligned and the universe wanted to give us another chance and I freaking ruined it.

  Lee is nice and even talks more than usual as he says his goodbyes, and I think he says something about meeting up again soon. I think I mumble something in agreement just to be nice.

  And then he’s finally gone. I look around for Livi, but she’s not here either. Maybe she’s taking out the trash. I glance outside but I don’t see Gabe through the windows. I have no idea what kind of car he drives, so he could be gone by now, or still sitting in his car for all I know. He’s probably gone. I had my chance and I ruined it by being on a date with another guy.

  This is what I get for trying to do something against my good judgement. I didn’t like Lee, and I didn’t want to date him but I forced myself to give him a chance. And because of my dating charity, I lost out on seeing Gabe.

  I could cry, but I’m too angry to let tears fall. I clean up the tables and close out the registers, and stuff an entire leftover strawberry shortcake in my mouth on my way back to the kitchen. There’s a ton of cash in the register but I don’t even feel like counting it up right now. Who cares how much money I made when I lost out on seeing Gabe again.

  Livi appears, and she’s talking on her phone. I guess she stepped out to take a call or something. She helps me take out the trash and clean up the kitchen while she rambles on to whoever is on the phone. It sounds like maybe a college advisor judging by the content of her call.

  Finally, when everything is ready to close up, Livi gets off the phone. She turns to me, eyes wide. “That was insane.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I say. The tears I’d been refusing to cry are still lingering in my eyes, waiting to spill down my cheeks. I can disguise my emotion with anger and rage and annoyance and even apathy, but deep down I know what I feel. I’m absolutely devastated that I lost Gabe again. I’m freaking out that he showed up in my little town, that he made the drive from wherever he lives and wanted to see me again. And then he just left.

  After all of that, I still get nothing. If I could go back in time, I would have stayed in Gabe’s hotel room. I would have woken up next to him and let the rest of the day play out the way it would fate would have let it. Maybe we’d have gone our separate ways eventually, but maybe he liked me enough to try to make things work. Now I’ll never know.

  “I can’t believe he just showed up here,” I say with a sigh.

  Livi snorts. “Really? Because I can. I saw your Facebook post and it was pretty damn obvious.”

  Despite everything, a grin appears on my lips. “You think so?”

  She nods. “And it’s been a few weeks and the boy was still looking you up online. That’s a good thing.”

  “Right?” I say, a little more excited now even though Gabe is gone. “I wish I hadn’t been here with freaking Lee! Oh my God, Livi. This is the worst.”

  “Nah, it’ll be okay.”

  Livi unties her apron and hangs it up on the rack by the back door. “I’m gonna head home and jump in the pool.”

  “That sounds great. Can I join you? If I’m all wet then my tears won’t show.”

  Livi rolls her eyes. “Yeah, of course you can, but first you need to go see Mason. He told me had something for you.”

  “Like what?” I say, confused.

  Livi shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a big deal, but he told me to send you over after work.”

  “Okay, I’ll go see him then I’ll meet you at your house. Cool?”

  Livi nods. “Sure thing.”

  The traffic is always worse at this time of day when everyone gets off work. It takes me a few minutes before I can safely jog across Main Street to Mason’s motorcycle shop. The sign on the door says closed, but I walk inside anyway. I’m related to the owner so the rules don’t apply to me.

  The store is empty, and not even Travis is hanging around like usual. “Mason!” I call out as I make my way toward the door in the back that leads out to the shop. “Mason! I’m coming into the forbidden employees’ only zone!” I say, which is a joke because he used to tell me to stay out of here when I was a teenager. I always thought he was afraid I’d get hurt on the tools or something, but I found out much later that the mechanics who used to work here when we were in high school all had a crush on me. He was saving me from guys he thought weren’t good enough for me.

  I slip through the plastic swinging door and step into the shop, which is eerily silent now that everyone has gone home. The rock music that usually plays is off, and there’s no more sounds of tools clanking together or motorcycles starting up.

  “Mason?” I call out once more. I walk up to a motorcycle that’s raised up on a lift. It’s shiny black with pink pinstripes and I find myself thinking that if I ever got a motorcycl
e, I’d want pink pinstripes like these.

  “Alexa.”

  A chill runs up my spine. I turn around to face the voice. My breath catches in my throat, and I’m surprised even though I’d recognize his voice anywhere. It’s Gabe. Standing right here in front of me. Livi has the world’s best poker face. She knew all this time that he was here and she played it cool to get me over here. I could kill her. And hug her.

  I’ve never been more excited in my life, and yet over all of the crazy amazing thoughts running through me, I blurt out something stupid. “Where’s Mason?”

  “He left,” Gabe says, taking one slow step toward me. “He said you know the lock code so we can lock the doors when we’re done.”

  “Done?” I say. What exactly are we supposed to do in here? Tune up some motorcycles? I swallow, and Gabe takes another step, closing the gap between us even further. Now we’re just a few steps apart.

  “I hope it’s okay that I came here,” he says, his eyes watching mine so intently that I forget to breathe. “I don’t know if your Facebook post was meant for me, but—”

  “It was,” I say. “It was just for you, and no one else.” I want to apologize for Lee and explain that it was all wrong and stupid and I never even wanted to have coffee with that guy instead of Gabe. But my voice isn’t catching up with my brain right now. Maybe it’s because of how handsome Gabe looks against the backdrop of a pegboard filled with Mason’s tools. Maybe it’s that amazing smell of his cologne, the smell that lingered on my clothing long after I’d left him in his hotel that morning.

  Maybe it’s because he’s taking one more step toward me.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” I say, my voice barely a whisper.

  A slight grin tugs at his lips. He takes a step closer, and I do, too, finally closing all the space between us. His arms part and I slip inside of them, feeling every nerve ending in my body relax when his warm hands embrace me.

  Gabe’s lips come down to mine, and I tip my head back to meet them. Our kiss is soft at first, careful as it tiptoes over the fragments of our last time together. My mouth knows what to do on his, and soon our lips part and our tongues dance and I can breathe him in, exactly the way I’ve been wanting to every single night since I saw him last. We lose no time together, our bodies knowing exactly how we melt perfectly into each other. My hands tangle in his hair, and his beard tickles my neck as he kisses a trail from my ear to my collarbone, his hands holding tightly to me as I turn to a puddle in his arms.

  “This feels real,” he whispers against my hair. “You’re not a fling. You’re real.”

  I nod, unable to speak. I just wrap myself closer against his chest and revel in the feel of his fingers sliding through my hair. “Go out with me,” he says.

  I lift up and look at him. “When?”

  “Now.” He grins.

  “I’m dressed like a baker,” I say, glancing down at my outfit of old jeans and a Sweets Bakery polo shirt.

  He kisses my forehead, then slides his hands into the back pockets of my jeans. “I happen to love bakers.”

  Chapter 20

  I reach for Alexa’s hand and she laces her fingers through mine without a second thought. She smiles up at me and my whole world rights itself. This is how my life is supposed to be. Me and her. That smile and those eyes looking up at me, always.

  We leave the motorcycle shop and Alexa locks the doors with her special code like Mason said she would. I’d thought it was crazy when he said he’d go home and let me wait here for her. He must have really trusted me to leave a total stranger in his shop alone. Maybe he just trusts Alexa.

  “I’ll drive,” I say, leading Alexa down the road to where I’ve parked.

  “This is not the kind of car I would have pictured you driving,” Alexa says.

  “Why’s that?” I ask playfully, even though I think I know the reason. I unlock the doors with my key fob and she climbs into the front seat of my SUV.

  “It’s …”

  “Not very manly?” I suggest.

  Pink floods over her tanned cheeks. “Kind of? Sorry, am I total bitch? I’m not trying to insult you.”

  I laugh. “Yeah, it’s an SUV, but it’s also a BMW,” I say, sliding my hand over the dash. “That has to count for something, right? Leather seating, fully loaded, surround sound.” I lean over and kiss her just because she looks so gorgeous right now because she feels bad for ragging on my car. “This is actually my work car. I need something nice to shuttle around clients from house to house.”

  “Ah, okay,” she says, buckling her seat belt. “That makes more sense.”

  “My personal vehicle is a Ford Raptor. Silver with a three-inch lift and black leather seats, with black spray on bed liner so I can haul around stuff.”

  She laughs, a deep and unfiltered laugh that lights me up inside. “Okay, see that’s more of what I pictured you driving.”

  I’m so happy right now I could burst. Just shatter into a thousand pieces and ruin the interior of this car. I can’t believe I was so nervous to come here today. It was all worth it. Totally worth it.

  “Dinner is a surprise, so don’t look,” I say, cupping my phone with one hand as I type in the GPS coordinates to Campioni’s, the fancy Italian place I looked up online last night. It’s halfway between our hometowns, and the food looks amazing.

  “Wait, you already have dinner planned?” she says, folding her arms over her chest while she sits back. “I’m impressed.”

  I nod. “It’s halfway between our houses.”

  She lifts an eyebrow. “Wait… I can’t believe I haven’t asked that yet. Where do you live?”

  “In Livingston.”

  Now her other eyebrow joins the first one. “Where’s that?”

  “Forty-five minutes from here.”

  “Really?” she squeals. “That’s awesome!”

  “I know. It’s like … fate.” I feel unbelievably lame after I say it, because real men aren’t supposed to talk about silly things like fate, but she doesn’t look creeped out.

  “I’ve spent this whole time thinking you lived in El Paso or somewhere really far away from here,” Alexa says.

  “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about you, too,” I say.

  A silence settles between us, but it’s more somber than awkward. We still have a lot to talk about, but I don’t want to get into it now.

  “Can we make a promise tonight?” I ask.

  “Like what kind of promise?” She tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear. She looks a little worried about what I might say.

  “I know there’s a lot to talk about, but before all of that, I just want to spend one perfect date night with you.” I exhale and glance at her before putting my eyes back on the road. “Can we do that?”

  “Yes,” she says. “In fact, we don’t even have to talk about anything that happened when we first met. We can just pretend today was our first meeting.”

  “Why’s that?” I ask.

  She shrugs. “Because everything else is just so embarrassing.”

  “Good thing there’s no embarrassing talk on this date,” I tell her with a grin.

  “Thank God,” she says. “So, where are we going?”

  “It’s a surprise. But I hope you like Italian food.”

  “I love Italian food.”

  I want to kiss her so badly, but I’m driving and I also want to keep us alive, so I keep my face pointed toward the road.

  Campioni’s is nestled off the main road, tucked between a ton of old trees with a cobblestone driveway that leads to the parking lot. It almost looks like an old house that was turned into a restaurant, but I know from reading their story on the website that they built the place from the ground up, making it look like an Italian villa on purpose. The walk up to the restaurant is romantic as hell. They have little cobblestone walkways through the wooded area that leads from the parking lot to the doors. Alexa holds my hand and stares in awe at the beauty of the stained glass doors at
the front of the restaurant.

  “You’ve never been here?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “Didn’t even know it existed.”

  “Maybe it can become our meeting place,” I say.

  She squeezes my hand. “I’d like that.”

  The restaurant is painted in warm colors, with orange walls and dark wood flooring. The light fixtures hang from the ceiling looking like wrought iron pieces of art. The lighting is dim and it’s all very cozy feeling. It makes me wonder if parts of Italy have the same atmosphere. I went to Europe with some friends after my high school graduation, but we didn’t go to Italy, and now I regret that.

  We’re seated in a cozy booth with its own beautiful light fixture, and our waitress is top notch. I have no doubts the food will be amazing, and when the garlic bread arrives, I’m proven right.

  Alexa tells me about her baking adventures and the new items she’s come up with for the menu. We steer clear of all topics involving the convention in Phoenix and anything that would be awkward. I’m dying to know about the guy I saw her with today, but I can’t get the guts to ask about it. Plus, I’d be breaking my own rule. Tonight is about me and Alexa, spending a romantic time together.

  Before we finish our meal, the waitress asks if we’ll be taking a walk after this. Then she tells us about the lake behind the property and how it’s a popular place for the restaurant’s customers to hang out after dinner. There’s a live band tonight, she says. Alexa and I agree to check it out, and it’s pretty amazing.

  Behind the restaurant is this manmade lake that splits apart the trees. There’s a walkway all around it, and all of the bordering trees have been decorated with lights strung across their branches. The patio at the back of the restaurant has a band that plays for a few guests who eat their food outside. This place is even better than I imagined.

  “Want to walk around the lake?” I ask, holding out my elbow.

  Alexa slips her arm into mine. “I would love it.”

  We walk in silence, enjoying the glittering of the lights on the lake and the sound of the soft music playing from the band. Other couples walk the trail as well, and some sit on benches, lost in each other’s eyes. This place is crazy romantic. In a world of Olive Gardens and Pizza Huts, I didn’t know amazing restaurants like this even existed. I’m so glad I looked it up before I came over here. Of course, that was the only surprise I had. The rest of this night will have to play out the way fate has intended.