in love with him. He’s not ready for it. I’m not ready... I... Look, sometimes you talk yourself into taking something because it’s better than the nothing you had. Elliott is a great example.”
Rose scoffed.
“I’m serious,” Iris said. “I was interested in Elliott because I thought it was better than nothing. I was a virgin and Griffin is great, but is it just because there’s never been anyone else? And you know he...he was alone and he was so...so sad. And right now I think I look good to him because he’s been broken for years. He needs someone to take care of him, and I’ve been doing that. But that will pass. And he won’t need my help anymore. And then I think he’d see our... You can’t build a life on that stuff.”
“You don’t know that,” Pansy said, gently.
“No, I do. I don’t want to fight,” Iris said. “And I don’t know how to say this without it coming out wrong. But I’ve done a lot of helping. And in the end you all grew up and moved on and what did I have? It’s one thing to do that with younger siblings, but I’m not doing that with a man.”
“I... I’m sorry,” Pansy said. “Do you really feel like we...we really took a lot from you didn’t we?”
“I don’t like to talk about it,” Iris said. “It’s not fair. You were kids and I wanted to take care of you, I did.”
“But you weren’t our mother,” Rose said. “You didn’t choose it.”
“No, but you’re my sisters, and I’d do it all over again. But you can see why I don’t want to get into anything like that in a relationship.”
“You don’t know that it would be like that,” Rose badgered.
“I won’t be taking the risk,” Iris said. “I have the bakery. And I have...his friendship.” She forced a smile. “And his body. Which is hot. And that’s all I want.”
Rose and Pansy exchanged a glance that said they clearly didn’t believe her.
Fine.
They didn’t have to.
“Well, let’s set up for cookies,” Rose said brightly, changing the subject, as she seemed to sense Iris’s extreme discomfort.
They set out a little sandwich board, pink balloons and the table filled with cookies. It was the weekend, and the first seasonal summer concert of the year was being held in the outdoor amphitheater in Gold Valley. People often came from hundreds of miles away to go to the shows, and it brought a massive influx of tourism into the community. That meant that today the streets were alive with people, and they gave away so many cookies, along with cards, information on how to place birthday cake orders and myriad other things.
She had set Rose at the register inside, and they sold a fair number of goodie baskets that she put together especially for the concerts. Many cakes, and little bottles of iced coffee. And she was feeling almost giddy with the relief of it. Until Griffin showed up, and the feeling of intensity overtook her.
She thought about everything she just said to her sisters. About feeling like it was too much. Like he was too much. And she realized she was caught in the middle of a somewhat unsolvable problem. Because her new life was inextricably linked to him whether she wanted it to be or not. Because no matter that she had made bold proclamations about the fact that this wasn’t permanent by design, she found that she...
She wanted him around. She wanted him to be there.
It was difficult to imagine this without him, and that was sobering.
“This is amazing,” he said. And then he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, in full view of everybody.
“Thank you,” she said, her cheeks heating. Rose was inside, but Sammy and Pansy were there, looking on.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
She was about to say no, but then another wave of people came and Griffin immediately set to work charming them and handing cookies out. And she couldn’t deny that he was a pretty great asset when it came to female customers particularly. Today, he had on a tight black T-shirt and his cowboy hat, and he was looking...
Well, he was looking pretty perfect.
When all was said and done, her sisters offered to help with cleanup, and she was about to decline, when they started furiously working anyway.
And that left the five of them all doing things together, with Griffin talking to them effortlessly, as if he’d known them for