Page 10 of Falling for Keeps

Which maybe he should have kept doing, because when I open the pantry door and step out, Sharon is staring at us in all of her scrubs and judgment. Her long blonde hair is pulled back into a low pony, and she’s resting a hand on Penny’s shoulder.

“Morning,” I croak. “Just needed to get some flour for Sour Dan.”

Sharon nods, giving her son a loaded look.

“I was helping her find it,” he says.

Even Penny screws her eyebrows together, not bothering to hide her disbelief. How old is this girl? She looks small, but she’s acting like a pre-teen. The kind who hog the computers and check out all the Dork Diaries at once.

“Anyway, I need to go.” I start toward the exit. “I’ll bring you a loaf later, Sharon.”

“Thanks, honey.” Sharon follows me as I speed walk toward her door. “But I think you’re forgetting something, Emma.”

“What?” My dignity? My pride? Half of the saliva my mouth has produced in the last ten minutes because of how badly I drooled over her son?

No, it’s worse than all of that.

Sharon nods to my empty measuring cup. “The flour.”

Demi finds me in the sorting room that afternoon, waiting on the machine to finish so I can re-shelve the kid lit books. She tucks her short dark hair behind her ear and leans against me, groaning. “My head hurts.”

“Was it fun, at least? Worth the pain two days later?”

“Larry came over yesterday and fixed my hangover,” she says.

“With another one?”

“Don’t judge, Ems. It’s my wedding week.”

“I’m not.” I pull books from the sorting bin and stack them on the wheeling shelf. “Are you ready for this weekend?”

“As much as I’m going to be. Larry’s mom is worried about the weather, but if it rains, we’ll just put up those tents.”

“It’s going to be perfect, no matter what happens, because you get to become Mrs. Rodriguez.”

Demi gets a moon-eyed look as she slumps against the wall. “Seth wants you out front.”

“Why?”

“To ask why you ditched him for that hot blond the other night, probably.”

I shoot her a look. “He was all over your sister.”

“Mina was just bored.”

“So was I.”

Demi scoffs. “Rude!”

“You know what I mean. Why did you invite him, anyway?”

She looks guilty, shrugging her dainty shoulders. “It wouldn’t be a library party without him and Dale.”

“You didn’t invite Sophie.”

“She wouldn’t have wanted to come.” Demi pushes away my complaints. “She’s a volunteer who works half a day every week. Anyway, he looks mad, so you’d probably better get out there.”

I take the last few books and stack them on the cart before wheeling it toward the door. “Take a nap, Dem.”