That part. Erin raised her brow. “And what was the other part you overheard but hadn’t guessed already?”

  He grinned sheepishly. “That she was your girlfriend?” Each word of the statement raised in pitch until it ended in the tone of a question.

  “That’s right.”

  There was no good reason to deny it. Not to Aiden, and she supposed not to herself. No matter how much Crystal’s passive rejection last night had stung.

  Heck, it still stung. It stung so much she’d considered faking sick to get out of this today.

  But that would mean her mom and Gary would have to miss their party. It wasn’t a huge deal, and they had offered to bail on it if it was too awkward for Erin.

  Erin hadn’t told her mom about what had happened the night before. Awkward didn’t even begin to describe how seeing Crystal again would feel. How it already felt. Like she’d tossed her heart in a sauté pan, and now she needed to flip it and sear the other side.

  The doorbell rang, and Aiden ran out of his bedroom.

  Erin hurried to follow him, shouting, “Make sure you look before you open it!”

  But he’d already flung open the heavy front door. Not that he could have reached to see through the peephole, anyway.

  Tilly and Crystal stood just outside. Tilly was wearing black pants, a chef’s jacket, and a chef’s hat. Adorable.

  The kids checked out the details of each other’s costumes, but Erin’s attention was firmly tied to the woman standing behind Tilly.

  Crystal wasn’t in costume this time. Her blonde hair was tied in a low, loose bun, and she wore a plain, long-sleeved black T-shirt with relaxed jeans rolled at the bottom, red Converse low tops, and a red flannel shirt tied around her waist.

  It was the Crystal that Erin remembered from their off days at home. Comfortable, stay-at-home Crystal who she would cuddle with on the couch while Stout snored so loudly nearby they had to put the captions on their movie. The corset last night had been nice, but this was the version of Crystal that Erin had missed the most.

  “Let me get my bag!” Aiden gestured for Tilly to follow him.

  “It’s too early to go yet.” Erin glanced at the time on her phone. It was a quarter to six. At least she didn’t have to kill too much time with her ex before they got moving. “Let’s hang out for a few minutes.”

  Tilly and Aiden ran inside, and Erin finally saw what Crystal’s hands had been wrapped around behind Tilly.

  A handle.

  A stroller handle.

  “Um…” Crystal mumbled as she bit her lip.

  It would have been an adorable sight, except Erin’s insides were screeching in horror. She wasn’t opposed to children as a general rule, but she didn’t know how she felt about her ex-girlfriend having one. Especially her ex-girlfriend, who Erin was clearly still in love with.

  Wait…

  Erin did the mental math. This couldn’t be Crystal’s biological child. Not that it mattered, but at least her brain could stop screaming about the illogical nature of it all.

  She didn’t remember Crystal ever expressing an interest in having children. In fact, she’d always assumed they were on the same page about that. But maybe Erin had assumed wrong.

  Although she hadn’t seen any baby things at Tilly’s house. And she’d have thought this was big enough news that Crystal might have mentioned it.

  “You can stop freaking out,” Crystal said with a laugh. “It isn’t a human stroller.”

  When she pulled back the top, a familiar scrunchy face grunted and snorted and wheezed as he and Erin recognized each other.

  “Stout?” Now it was her turn to laugh. She reached in to scratch his head. “I swear I thought you had a baby in here.”

  “I know I don’t have the best track record with you right now, but I would have told you if I’d adopted a whole kid, Erin.”

  “I thought so, but…” Erin laughed. “It doesn’t matter. Come inside.”

  “I don’t think you want him in there. It looks way too nice. We can stay out here.”

  “No, it’s fine.” Erin stepped aside to let Crystal carry Stout over the threshold. “Since when is the strolling a thing, though?”

  “I got the stroller a few weeks ago. Jenn wanted me to walk in the neighborhood with her, and I figured Stout would like it. Turns out, he’s a big fan of being rolled around like a prince.”

  Erin used her best baby talk voice to wiggle a finger at the peek-a-boo window in the cover. “That’s because he is a little prince.”

  Crystal reached under the stroller and pulled out a covered plastic dessert container. “I brought something for everyone. For inviting me and Tilly to join you all in your neighborhood tonight.”

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Erin said, taking the container to carry it to the kitchen. “But I’m not going to turn down a Crystal creation. Thank you.”

  Her mouth watered at the thought of eating something Crystal had baked again. There were a lot of things she missed about their relationship, but getting to taste-test for Crystal was something she hadn’t expected to miss as much as she did.

  “It’s made with fresh satsumas. And the glaze has cream cheese and lemon basil. I hope everyone likes it.”

  “I know we’ll all love it. Thank you. Seriously, you didn’t have to do that, though.”

  “I didn’t have any orders and had some time this afternoon. Tilly helped.” Stout snorted in the stroller, and Crystal added, “Right. Stout helped, too.”

  Erin took in a long breath and released some of the tension in her shoulders. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe her heart would remain seared on just one side, and maybe they could actually enjoy this evening together.

  Chapter 11

  Crystal

  “Trick or treat!” Tilly and Aiden shouted in unison as the door opened.

  Crystal waited on the sidewalk with Stout in his stroller and Erin beside her. It was nice to see the kids having such a good time. She was glad they had each other. Crystal had a lot of friends growing up, but she’d never had a friend as close as these two seemed. It was either just her and Jenn or it was a whole class worth of kids for a birthday party or some other event until she was a teenager and started dating.

  Now that she was back, though, things were different. She had her coven now. Tia and Liv. Sarah.

  She’d also had Erin, but until now, Crystal never had a close relationship without romantic feelings involved. Most of her friendships had remained on a surface level. Fun, but never too deep.

  Erin’s neighbor dropped candy in the kids’ buckets and waved at the adults, then Tilly and Aiden thanked her and skipped down the driveway. They slowed their skipping, as they’d been asked to do once they were near the road, and walked down the sidewalk toward the next house.

  Crystal and Erin followed a few steps behind, Stout snorting in protest as the motion jostled him in the stroller.

  “Want me to push him for a while?”

  Crystal stopped. “Only if you want to.”

  “Yeah, I do,” Erin said with a smile.

  They swapped places behind the handle, and Erin took over Stout-pushing duties. The domesticity of it all hit Crystal with an instant, overwhelming gut punch.

  Crystal had never wanted a life with a partner and a stroller and trick-or-treating on a Sunday evening. She’d always imagined her life free of those things, free to travel and hop between jobs on a whim.

  But this…

  This was filling her with weird emotions she hadn’t felt since she and Erin had broken up. The powerful urge to stay in on a Saturday night and lie on the couch together, legs tangled, while watching a movie. Not every Saturday night, maybe. But more often than she’d thought possible for her to feel that urge. And living with Jenn and Tilly was nice, but it didn’t trigger that kind of response deep in her like this moment did.

  It was possibly the scariest thing she’d ever felt. And she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. Life with Erin had been great. But so was her life now. If Erin moved here—assuming she still had feelings for Crystal and they could work through everything—was that even something Crystal truly wanted?

  “I’m just gonna address the gigantic elephant on this walk.”

  Erin looked sideways at her, confusion etched on her face. “What elephant?”

  “Last night.” Crystal slowed their pace a little, so they were further out of earshot of the kids.

  “Oh, no,” Erin stammered. “We don’t have to—”

  “Yes, we do. Or, at least, I do.” Crystal wasn’t sure why she needed to talk about this right now, but she couldn’t ignore it. And she didn’t want Erin getting the wrong impression. They’d been honest with each other so far this weekend, and if there was a potential for Erin to be in her life more, relationship or not, Crystal wanted to keep things honest. “I’m sorry I ran off like that. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to kiss you. The opposite, actually.”

  The kids turned up the next pathway to a neighbor’s front door.

  Erin stopped and looked at Crystal in even more confusion. “You ran off because you wanted to kiss me?”

  “Yes?” Crystal closed her eyes and shook her head. “I know it doesn’t sound like it makes any sense.”

  “Since when do you not do things you want to do?”

  “Since I’m trying to think about other people more and trying to keep my impulsivity in check. At least around people I care about, or when it will negatively impact others.”

  Erin narrowed her eyes as she assessed the situation. “Those are a lot of words with a lot of meaning.”

  “And I mean them all,” Crystal said. “In this case, I know you have a tough decision already. I didn’t want to muck it up and insert myself into the puzzle.”

  “So you did want to kiss me, but you didn’t want to influence my decision?”

  Crystal nodded. “Jenn said I’m not responsible for your decisions, but it felt like the right thing to do. I just wanted to be honest with you about why.”

  Erin stared at her. No words. Just blinking. For what felt like an eternity.

  Crystal wanted to take all of it back and kiss her right there on the sidewalk so Erin would know exactly how she felt.

  But she meant those words, and she had to stand by them. She’d done a lot of self-reflecting over the last few months, and she needed to put what she learned into practice. Especially the honesty and care with her actions parts. Especially with the people she cared about. That included Erin, whether they were romantically paired or not.

  “Thank you,” Erin said. “That actually means a lot to me.”

  Crystal felt a surge of pride she usually only felt when she delivered an order and could witness a customer’s reaction to her creations.

  She’d somehow made Erin feel good without a silly song or joke or trying to be the life of a party or even with something she’d baked. She’d done that with just a few honest words.

  And she planned to do a lot more of that in the future, for as long as she could be in Erin’s life again.

  Chapter 12

  Erin

  The nearly full moon hung low in the night sky as Aiden and Tilly dug through their candy bags while sitting on the brick patio. Stout hopped and grunted, chasing a frog around a flower bed.

  The stuffed frog Tilly carried everywhere had been tossed to the side in favor of the kids’ candy buffet. Crystal had explained that Tilly’s dad was a musician on tour with his band, and he’d given that frog to Tilly just before he left.

  Thankfully, it was cool enough now to keep the mosquitoes at bay, so it was pleasant to relax outside in the evenings once again. Erin and Crystal sat at a little table nearby, reminiscent of the night before at Sammy’s party. This time, though, there would be no almost-kisses. As much as she was enjoying her time with Crystal, Erin wouldn’t be making that mistake two nights in a row.

  “Thanks again for the cake,” Erin said. “I can’t wait to dive into that when Mom and Gary get back.”

  Crystal grinned and gave Erin a wink. “I put in a little something extra for all of you. A blessing.”

  Erin couldn’t find the words to respond to that. Her brain was time-traveling back and forth between this moment and their last moments in Dallas. She couldn’t plant herself firmly in the now or process what she was hearing.

  Had Crystal really used her magic on Erin? Without her consent? Knowing this was what had broken them up in the first place? Had Crystal learned nothing from that?

  No. Erin must have misheard.

  “You did… what?”

  “It’s just a general positivity blessing,” Crystal explained. “For joy and cheer for you and your family.”

  Erin’s breath hitched in her chest, and she sputtered, “It’s the ravioli all over again.”

  “It isn’t the ravioli again.” Crystal’s voice had a ragged edge of exasperation to it, but she softened it to add, “Please, just let me—”

  “Maybe you should just go.”

  The heat of embarrassment rose in Erin’s neck as Aiden and Tilly froze with their hands in their candy piles and turned their heads toward the people who were supposed to be the adults. But Erin didn’t feel much like an adult at that moment. She felt like a kicked dog and a rejected kid all at once. She didn’t know how to stop the pain or even how to stop herself from reacting to it.

  “Okay.” Crystal stood and called Stout over to her. She lifted him into the stroller and told Tilly, “Come on, kiddo. It’s time we head home. I promised your mom we wouldn’t stay too late.”

  “Do we have to?” Tilly whined.

  “Yeah. We do. Tell Aiden and Erin thank you for letting us hang out in their neighborhood.”

  Tilly gave the saddest, “Thank you,” Erin had ever heard, and Aiden thanked her for coming over. They looked and sounded miserable.

  Erin felt guilty for ending the evening so abruptly, but she couldn’t go through this again. Crystal shouldn’t have used her magic on Erin and her family, especially when it was already a sore spot. And especially without warning. It made her think nothing had changed at all and Crystal’s words about honesty and caring a little while ago were just that: words. They meant nothing.

  But Erin still felt intense pain and sadness that the kids were mixed up in her and Crystal’s argument over it tonight.

  “You’ve both got school in the morning,” she said, hoping to smooth things over. Inside, however, nothing felt smooth.

  “Right,” Crystal agreed.

  The kids exchanged a look that told Erin they were both observant enough to know that something else was going on here besides an early Sunday bedtime. But they didn’t argue any further.

  Aiden walked with Tilly to the side gate while Crystal pushed the stroller behind them.

  “Wait,” Erin said. “Your cake.”

  “It was a gift.” The words came out stiff. Crystal’s green eyes were rimmed red and her cheeks looked like they’d been slapped. “Eat it. Give it to your mom. Throw it out. Whatever you feel is right.”

  Erin watched them pack Stout and the candy in the red car, then Tilly and Crystal drove away. Aiden waved as they disappeared down the road, with Tilly waving sadly out her window. All Erin could do was stand frozen in the driveway, licking old wounds and drowning in guilt.

  The next day, Erin had a big decision to make. And the path to that decision started with a smaller one—selecting from the delicious options on the Morino’s lunch menu.

  “I’ll have the blackened shrimp fettuccine, please.”

  “Excellent choice.” The bright-eyed server with a tight ponytail took Erin’s menu from her. “And the lunch portion comes with a side house or Caesar salad. Which would you prefer?”

  “House. Thank you.”

  The server smiled and left to put the order in, while Erin surveyed the dining room of Sammy’s Cajun-Italian restaurant. The decor of Morino’s was just as she’d imagined—relaxed and rustic, with warm wood and fleur-de-lis accents to accompany classic white tableware. For a fine dining eatery, Morino’s didn’t have an ounce of pretension or stuffiness, something that had been a significant weakness at her previous place of employment.

  Morino’s had a thriving lunch crowd for a Monday even though she’d arrived early, well before noon, to make sure she could grab a table. A good lunch crowd was a sign that the food and service were well-received by locals. And all the waitstaff seemed to have the same brightness as Erin’s server, another huge point in the management’s favor.

  She checked her messages as she waited for her lunch. A couple of emails. Nothing important. No texts.

  Not that she’d expected any.

  Hoped?

  Maybe.

  She’d had an entire night and morning to regret how the previous evening went down. Unlike the night before, this time she couldn’t blame her reaction on wine. This time, Erin had reacted the way she always did—defensively and harshly. Just like when they’d broken up, she’d cut ties and ran. No chance for an explanation. No space for discussion or apologies.

  Crystal had been wrong to hex that customer’s food all those months ago. But maybe they could have worked that out. And maybe they could have worked through the cake incident last night. Maybe their problems and her reactions were never really about the ravioli or the cake at all.

  They certainly could have talked through it without her running at the first sign of trouble.

  Erin sighed and fiddled with the ends of her napkin.

  Okay, so maybe she was the one who should text an apology to Crystal. She definitely needed to apologize to the kids for cutting their night short so abruptly.

  But how to apologize would have to wait. She had a bigger decision at the moment. The reason she was having lunch at Morino’s. The whole reason she was in town at all this weekend.

  “Here you are,” her server said, sliding a small plate of salad in front of her. “The rest of your lunch will be out shortly. Can I get you anything else right now?”

 

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