Saturday trying not

eant she thought ab

hat hadn't seen a customer since winter. She made three cups of tea, abandoned them all halfway through, a

And that made her

e-thirty and in walked Zara-her best friend and of

n your own mind for six hours?" Zara asked, hang

aven

shop when you're stressed. And there's lemon

. "You know

the job." Zara leaned on the counter, eye

ed. "He c

flowers o

And an almost-

picking at a muffin sample.

But then he ask

s hit her hair

. a hypothetical question wrapped i

ned. "You

even kn

's what makes

t was bathed in soft golden light. The end-of-day kind that made e

ust him," s

don't nee

onsidering this. He's

no. So maybe this dinne

es later with an email notification-subject line: Dinner,

s a short

No contracts. No persuasion. You can even bri

r shoulder and whis

tared at the screen a while

er. I pick

-

over a dark green wrap dress she hadn't worn in over a year. It wasn't fancy, but it fit we

truffle oil and candle wax. She spotted Ashton immediately, seated at a corner table beneath a flic

n he saw her

promise

l get the best bo

eyes softened, just slightly, when they met he

u, "I thought you'd be more insistent. Pushy. Y

ton replied. "But then

O

s on the table. "You don't like bein

nked. "A

st talk. No shop talk

row. "Just tal

lous, I

word, Ashton let her choose the wine. A dry red with a stran

ed indie folk. Books-he admitted to never finishing The Great Gatsby, which Lila declared a literary crime. And dogs-he di

arded sound that surprised her. She fo

glass, "why does a man with ever

e humor gone from his face,

derstand," he said. "And I'm not sure if I want to o

st a little. Not from fear

f I can explain

p coming back," he replie

ared her more than a