Page 53 of Must Love Lavender and Little Lies
“I… You…”
“I’ll tell them tomorrow.”
“Granik—”
“Don’t worry, Junie. I know I’ve made a mess of things for us. I got everything all confused, and my family and all the town caught up in this mess, but I’ll make it right for both of us. We can go back to the way we were.” My words caught in my throat. Even saying them made me feel like I wanted to die. “I’m sorry about before. Everything got away from me. I should go.”
“Granik.”
“I need to go. I’m sorry, Juniper,” I said, then hurried outside, unable to face her.
Juniper didn’t deserve this. Not my family drama. Not my mess. And she certainly didn’t deserve me to be playing with her heart and soul, kissing and pawing at her like some stupid fool.
Clutching the book, I turned and headed away from her house back toward my farm. Now I just had to build up the courage to tell my family it had all been a lie and to declare myself a bachelor forever.
No matter how hard it would be to give up Juniper forever.
CHAPTER 19
JUNIPER
Ihardly slept that night.
This had all started as an effort to save my friend from a fate he didn’t want, to buy Granik time so he could figure out what to do. But somehow…somehow everything had gotten confusing. And the more we pretended to be in love, the more I started to think…
Not think—realize. I was starting torealize.
The sun had not yet risen when I started looking for my shawl and pulling on a pair of flats. I’d had the sense about me to redress, pulling on a pretty blue willow-patterned dress. I fixed my hair back with a dark blue headband, pulling a brush through my blonde curls. There was nothing I could do about the rings under my eyes, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to get to the farm before something was done that couldn’t be undone.
Leaving Pip asleep in my bed, I hurried across the garden to the road that would take me to Granik’s farm.
As I went, I tried to organize my thoughts, but nothing was coming out clearly. I couldn’t seem to force the words into the right order. I was still trying to piece together my words and my heart when I crossed over the knoll that led to the farmhouse.
The sun broke over the horizon, casting its warm orange glow on the farm, painting it in shades of pink and tangerine. The daffodils that lined the lane smelled heavenly. Fairies flitted between them, zipping quickly on their iridescent wings. The white house was lit up with a warm pink glow.
I hurried down the lane toward the house, planning what to say, and failing.
I had nearly reached the house when I spotted Granik coming from the barn. He carried two feed pales, his overalls already dirty from farm work. I could see from his disheveled hair that he, like me, must not have slept.
“Granik!” I called.
He paused and looked toward me, his brow furrowing in confusion. “Juniper? What are you doing here so early? Is everything all right?”
“Yes. No. Well, no and yes.”
Confused, Granik shook his head. “What is it?”
“I have to tell you something.”
“What?”
“You can’t declare your bachelorhood. You can’t.”
“Junie, I—” He was interrupted by a loud ruckus from somewhere behind the house.
“What in the…” Granik began.
We both turned to look.
