Page 46 of Once Upon a Fall

“You’re teasing,” I say.

“Maybe,” he says.

He gives me that half smile of his, and I give him a full one. It feels like a wordless acknowledgment of this morning’s entanglement and a silent agreement to just leave it.

“I brought pastries,” I finally say, sliding the box across the island.

He opens it up and grabs a maple bar, taking a large bite out of it.

“I thought you didn’t eat carbs for breakfast,” I say, confused.

“I lied,” he tells me.

My jaw drops again. “You lied?”

“Yes, and I’ve been wanting one of these since that first morning, so thank you.” He gives me a little salute with the donut.

“You’re such a jerk,” I say, but I’m laughing.

I stop when I hear the Hendersons coming down the stairs.

Giving Dean a look, I open a drawer and grab a stack of napkins before grabbing the box of baked goods and taking it to the front entry.

“Good morning,” I say to Laurie and Brian, both wearing UVM T-shirts and looking well rested. “How did you sleep?”

I set the box and the napkins on the side table. Right on top of the candle-making flyer I never found a place to hang up.

“Very well,” Laurie says. “Though you may want to look into a new mattress. We kept rolling toward the center.”

“Oh,” I say, acting surprised while feeling heat rise to my cheeks at my own rolling-toward-the-center-of-the-mattress experience this morning. I wonder if their experience was as confusing as mine. Probably not.

“I’ll be sure to do that. Would either of you like a pastry? They’re from the bakery down the street.” Here’s hoping Keller’s Bakehouse makes them forget about the mattress.

“I’d love one,” says a smiling Brian, walking over to the side table.

“That was lovely of you to do,” says Laurie, before joining him.

“Do you think that hubby of yours could bring down our luggage?” she asks, while perusing the baked goods. “Brian’s back is feeling a little tight.”

“Of course,” I say.

I peek my head inside the kitchen door to find Dean still standing by the coffee machine. “Oh, husband? Be a dear and bring down the Hendersons’ suitcases, would you?” My voice is syrupy sweet, even when he gives me that flat stare of his.

“Yes, wife,” he says, emphasizing the word.

I think I’m going to be sad when our little charade is over.

“How are things going at the inn, Rosebud?” my dad asks as we walk out of church into the midday sun.

After the Hendersons left, I cleaned up the room and changed the sheets while Dean went for a run. When he got back, he started working on the baseboards in the Rapunzel room while I met my family for church, where I did, in fact, see Ari Langford and Wade Stevenson sitting together.

Just once I’d like the Ednas to have wrong information so I could call them out on it.

“It’s coming along,” I tell him. “Thanks to Dom and all his help.”

I’m not telling my physician assistant dad I’ve been living on Dr. Pepper and four hours of sleep. He’d have me in for bloodwork by Tuesday.

Dominic gives me a side-eye that I ignore. He hasn’t had to do all that much now that Dean has been helping. And he promised not to tell anyone else because they would worry, and so it’s in his best interest that he keep that promise. Not that I have any actual leverage. The wedgie thing stopped being a viable threat about a decade ago.