Page 64 of Friends That Heal Us
“What do you think about giving us a chance?”
I lift my head from his chest and lock my gaze with his. “You’re going to think I’m dumb for saying this?”
His brows furrow. “I would never think that.”
“I’m scared of getting my heart broken again, and I can’t bear to lose you. But I sit here and act like we’re together, and I’m not stopping it. So it’s kind of hypocritical of me to say that.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s hypocritical of you. It’s that so much has happened I feel like our past feelings threw us into this and it’s made it easy. But talking about it has been hard since…well, we haven’t exactly had the best of luck with us getting a chance to talk with how Zayn and Rya would show up out of nowhere.”
Everything has been so easy and natural with him. I can see why it was so easy for us to fall into this. Nothing has felt forced.
“If you need more time, I understand.”
“That would be best. But then do we stop all of this?”
“All of what?”
“Acting like we’re together?”
“Don’t you dare,” he says, pulling me on top of him. He wraps his arms around me as a small giggle erupts. “Let’s take it day by day and see how things go.”
“Okay, I can do that.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
VIOLET
It’s beena week since the night at the bakery with Ezra. I wish I could’ve stopped time and stayed in the moment with him. But life called, and the bakery has taken so much of my time.
“How does this look?” Haley asks, turning on the violet lights in the display cases.
My mouth parts. “I love it. It looks great.”
Haley found tiny lights that she placed around the display cases that will hold the baked goods that need to be refrigerated. The lights give it a pop of color but not too much to overshadow the way the baked goods will look.
I’ve asked myself every day how I ever thought I could pull this off on my own. There’s no way I’d be this far without Haley and Ezra. They’ve done so much using their connections and finding deals I never could’ve gotten on my own. Thanks to them, things are finally taking shape.
We managed to fit four tables comfortably on the floor, each topped with a white surface and surrounded by chairs with violet-colored cushions on both the seats and backs. It adds theperfect violet accent to the place. I found little glass vases and will fill each with fresh purple flowers. Something simple but cute. They will go on the center of every table. When you walk in, the ordering counter sits to the left, and against the left wall is a wooden shelf where I’ll display fresh loaves of bread. Above the counter hang two signs: ‘Order Here’ and ‘Pick Up Here’ painted white with violet lettering to match the theme. The menu boards are black chalkboards with violet writing.
Standing here, I can finally see it. My dream that I never thought I would move forward with, but here it is turning into something real.
Haley squeals, clasping her hands together in excitement and lets out an exhale as she turns towards me. “I can’t believe it’s done. It looks amazing.”
“Because of you. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Girl…you need to give yourself more credit. I just decorated. After this, you’re going to be doing the hard part.”
I let out a nervous laugh because she’s right. I haven’t even thought that far ahead. Hiring employees, managing shifts, and baking. The thought hits me, and my stomach tightens. How the hell am I supposed to bake, take orders, and run the entire shop at the same time? And to make matters worse, I decided to sell coffee, adding one more thing to do. What if we run out of something? Isn’t that bad for business? My laugh fades into a nervous sigh as I rub my temples. “Oh god,” I mutter. “I really didn’t think this through, did I?” I walk over and take a seat placing my head into my hands.
The sound of Haley sitting down in front of me makes me raise my head.
“You’ll be fine. Find someone who can take orders and make coffee. It’ll be very simple.”
Hopefully, she is right because right now I feel way over my head with this. It’s all so overwhelming, and with everything else that has been going on in my life, I’m crazy for doing this.
“How have things been at home?” she asks, and I can see her eyes soften.
I shrug my shoulders but then a wide grin forms on my face.
