I stood in the doorway of the bakery, looking around at the bare walls, a giant knot in my chest. It had been there since the first day we’d started moving and had persisted up to today, the last time I was ever going to see my home before it was knocked down. I didn’t know if it would ever go away, if I would ever feel happy again—this place was the last thing I had left that belonged to me, the last piece of my father in my life. I would never be the same without it.

My mom came up behind me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders, squeezing me against her for a hug. She was upset as well, but she understood that I had an attachment to the bakery not even she had developed over the years. I felt like it was in my blood, like it was part of who I was, and now I had to leave it behind. Briefly I thought of Reid, but stifled the thought as soon as it came to me. I didn’t want to be angry with him anymore; I wanted to move on, forget he existed. He had sent me a letter with the check for a new bakery place, but I had stashed it away without opening it, burying it away so that my mother wouldn’t find it and ask about it. She had stopped asking me about Reid after the last time I’d seen him, knowing how sensitive and painful the subject would be for me.

I sighed, shaking my head.

“Rosie,” I called. “Come on, baby, we’re leaving.”

“Okay,” she called back, and I heard her little footsteps pad upstairs before she appeared on the staircase. Instead of coming down, she frowned at me, her eyes welling up with tears.

“I don’t want to leave, Mommy,” she said and started to cry as she sat on the stairs, burying her face in her hands. I hurried across the room to her and pulled her against my chest, stroking her hair with my hand.

“It’ll be okay, Rosie,” I said softly, trying to convince myself at the same time. “We’re getting a new home. It’ll be a new place to explore. That’s fun, right?”

Rosie sniffled, looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes that mirrored the same soft brown as my own. My heart felt broken just looking at her, and I had to fight back tears myself. I kissed her forehead, then took her hand as we walked down the stairs. I paused one more time to look at the bakery over my shoulder before turning the lights off and shutting the door behind us.

It was silent in the car as we drove back to the apartment, which was closer to the city than the bakery had been. I didn’t like it—the noise or the smells. I missed the scent of fresh-baked bread, cinnamon and blueberries, and coffee. When we got inside the apartment, Rosie went straight into our room without speaking. I knew she was going to cry, and though I wanted to go comfort her, I knew my daughter well enough to know that she would calm down easier on her own. She had always been like that—she worked through what she needed to, and then she was okay again. I just hoped that this change wasn’t too much for her to get over. It would break my heart if it really changed her in any way.

“I’m going to go out again today,” I told my mother. “Apply to some more places. Will you watch Rosie?”

My mother nodded, the look on her face sad and forlorn. She looked at me like that a lot, lately, but I couldn’t tell whether it was her own feeling of sadness or just sympathy for me. I didn’t want to know if it was the latter. I didn’t want anybody feeling sorry for me, including Reid, which is why I hadn’t cashed the check yet even though we needed the money. I had spent all of my savings for a deposit on the new apartment, and the rent there would be significantly higher than what we had been paying month to month at the bakery. I hadn’t taken any time off after moving before looking for work because I had to find something if I was going to keep us alive. I didn’t know exactly what to do with the check, but I didn’t want to live off it and be supported by Reid’s dirty money. I couldn’t bring myself to even take the check to the bank, or even look at it. I had stuck it in my drawer and hadn’t touched it since.

I walked a few blocks down from the apartment building, toward a part of the city that had rows and rows of businesses. I had tried applying to some secretarial jobs, but since I had no experience with that, I had very little hope that anyone would get back to me. Today, I was applying to restaurants, trying to avoid fast food but knowing that I might have to go there if I couldn’t find anything else. I didn’t want to think about that.

I was on my way to the main part of the strip when I passed by a small diner, one that was all chrome on the outside and decorated in ’50s style. There was a sign in the window saying they were looking for servers. I took a deep breath and went inside, forcing what I hoped was a friendly smile onto my face. It felt like I didn’t smile much recently, not after having to leave the bakery behind. Losing Reid, too, had been wearing on me more than I wanted to admit. I missed him desperately, and yet I hated him just as much.

“Hi,” said a waitress, a round, smiling woman with a name tag that read Joy.

“Sit anywhere you want, hon.”

“Actually. I, um, saw your sign in the window. About needing servers.”

“Have you worked as a server before?”

“I did. For a couple of years back in high school. I know it’s been a while, but I’m sure I can catch on quickly. Can I have an application?”

Joy looked at me, putting her hand on her hip. She was studying my face as if she was reading me. I wondered if she could see the desperation there, how tired I was, how sad and lost.

“What’s your name, sweetie?”

“I’m Sloane,” I told her, putting my hand out to shake hers. “Sloane Wright.”

“I think you’d be good for the job, Sloane. I’ll give you a shot. Sound good?”

My face spread into a relieved smile then. A real smile.

“Thank you so much.”

“Can you come back in the morning before we open?” she asked. I nodded.

“See you then. And get some rest, girl.”

“I will,” I promised, nodding at her, then left the restaurant feeling lighter than I had in days. That was one problem taken care of. It wouldn’t be the same as working at the bakery, but it would be something, and I would still be making tips—a little cash was always good to have around, especially when you had a kid to take care of.

I started work the next morning, and it didn’t take me long to settle in. I was used to a fast environment, and the mornings at Joy’s went by quickly as I had table after table of customers. I wasn’t used to the people over here—they weren’t as friendly as in my small neighborhood, the regulars at the bakery. Still, some of them were friendly, and I found it wasn’t hard to smile as I worked throughout the day. Though Reid was still in my mind at night when I was lying in bed, I had managed to learn to push thoughts and feelings related to him deep down within me so they wouldn’t have as much power over me anymore. I had to move on without him.

I never thought I’d see him again until he showed up one night at the diner. I was working alone, with only a few customers in the diner. Joy was in the back smoking a cigarette in the walk-in freezer and would be for some time—we had just gotten over the dinner rush, and she was worn out. I saw Reid walk in and froze, my mouth dropping open when his eyes fell on me. Then I closed it and gave him a cold look.

“Sit wherever,” I said to him, grabbing a roll of silverware and carrying it over to the table he chose, one with a clear view of the whole restaurant. I rolled my eyes and walked stiffly over to him.

“What do you want, Reid?” I asked him in a low voice, so the other customers wouldn’t overhear.

“I want to talk to you.” His eyes met and held mine. His were full of passion, but pleading as well. “You never cashed the check I sent you.”

“No.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I haven’t. Are you going to order something, or did you just come here to waste your breath?”

“Sloane—” he began, but I cut him off.

“Reid, honestly,” I said softly. “I just want you to go away.”

“I will,” he promised, studying my face. “But first, I need you to hear me out. We have to talk. I’ll stay as long as I have to.”

“I could call the cops,” I said, though I knew it was a weak threat. Reid wasn’t going to hurt me, at least not physically. I didn’t know him like I thought I knew him, but I was pretty sure I knew at least that much. I’d have nothing to say to the cops that wouldn’t just make me look like a jaded ex.

“Sloane. Please. I have something important to tell you.”

“So tell me.”

“I don’t want to do it here,” he told me. “I want to be in private.”

I paused and bit my lip. That sounded like a terrible idea, and yet the thought of getting Reid alone, looking at him at least while he talked, was undeniably attractive now that he was in front of me. His body was drawing mine closer—I could feel the pull of him like a magnet. I was standing so close that he had to tilt his face up to look at me.

“If it’s not about the bakery, I—”

“It is about the bakery,” he said, a look of relief washing over his face. He knew I would give in. I wasn’t able to resist him, not with that look in his eye, the one that was inviting and seductive as well as sincere.

“Okay. I get off in two hours. You can meet me here after.”

He exhaled as if he’d been holding his breath the whole time waiting for my answer.

“Are you going to order?” I asked him impatiently, cocking my head to the side. He looked at my face, and his lips spread into a sly grin that made me want to slap him and kiss him at the same time.

“What?” I snapped at him.

“You are so fucking gorgeous,” he said. He reached up then to stroke my cheek. I didn’t pull away but found myself leaning in to his hand for the briefest moment, allowing myself to feel him. It seemed like I could feel the touch all over. It made me remember all the other times he’d touched me and how good it had felt to have his hands everywhere I needed them to be.

“I missed you.” His voice was soft and gentle, caressing my skin along with his hand. I pulled away, his words jarring me back to myself, reminding me not to get close.

“Order. Or leave.”

“I’ll have a burger,” he said, that grin coming back. “With everything.”

“Okay,” I said and walked away from the table to the back. I felt his eyes on me as I pinned the order up on the wheel, spinning it around to the kitchen. Then I went back into the front of the restaurant and made my way around the rest of the tables, refilling drinks and checking on the customers. Occasionally, I would meet Reid’s eye and be reminded all over again of the time we first met, when I was so flustered by his handsome charm that I dropped everything in my hands the moment I’d seen him. I wasn’t flustered in that way around him anymore—I didn’t feel shy, but I did feel out of control around him, and that was something I liked even less.

Reid stayed for the two hours until closing, drinking coffee and keeping to himself, looking up at me sometimes to meet my gaze from across the room. In those moments, I couldn’t look away from him, even when Joy prodded me and asked who he was.

“He’s nobody,” I said to her, distracted. “Just an old friend who wants to talk.”

“Right,” said Joy in a sarcastic voice. “Just wants to talk. I know that look, honey. That boy wants to propose.”

I blushed, looking over at her.

“I, um—”

She laughed, cutting me off. “It’s okay, sweetie. You deal with what you need to. I’ll finish closing up.”

“Okay, Joy,” I said, taking my apron off and hanging it on the hook beside the sink. “Thank you.”

“Good luck with him. God, he is so good-looking.”

“He is.” I had to agree. He looked even sexier than he had the last time I’d seen him, with some stubble on his cheeks that accentuated the strong lines of his jaw. If I wasn’t angry at him, I felt like I would have had trouble not throwing myself at him right away.

I walked over to his table, and he looked up at me from the paper he was reading.

“You ready?” he asked, a smile on his lips. I frowned in response, which made him laugh.

“Yes. And stop smiling.”

“I can’t help it.”

I shot him a look and he set his mouth in a line, trying to stifle a smile. Still, he couldn’t seem to quit. I was having a hard time not responding back to him, but I kept my face resolute. I didn’t care about his charm and wouldn’t be tempted by it no matter what he had to say.

“Gotcha,” he said, although his expression didn’t change. I rolled my eyes again and followed him outside, shivering in the cold.