In the end, she did get up. Not to go to one of the places she should have gone, but somewhere she wanted to go. Rylee put on a little makeup, hopped in her favorite pair of jeans, a dark grey shirt and a black cardigan. She slipped on her heels and left the house.
Close to her apartment was a bakery called “Sweet Temptations”. She’d come here every week. Sometimes to get something for herself, something for Ben, or something for other people who visited her or whom she visited.
Ben would be home late, so she had time to chat to the owner of the bakery. They’d chatted every time Rylee had come to the bakery so far, but usually she didn’t have much time.
“Hey Rylee,” Abby greeted her with a big smile on her face. She was wearing an apron that didn’t hide the baby bump. Quite the contrary, it accentuated it. Not many people knew about it so far, but Rylee did, because she’d come into the bakery when Abby had told one of her close friends.
“Hello Abby.” Rylee pasted a smile on her lips and closed the door. There was only one customer sitting in the corner, and he was about to leave.
“What can I get you?”
“A coffee and one of those Puddingbrezel-things if you have one.”
“Of course I do. Just a second.”
Abby turned around and got everything ready. She returned with a tray with a cup of coffee, a Puddingbrezel and a cup of tea for herself. She sat down opposite Rylee and handed her the plate.
“Okay, now you can tell me what’s wrong.”
Rylee immediately stiffened. She tried to keep the smile in place, but it wobbled for a second. “What makes you think that something is wrong?”
“You’ve come here every week for the last two months or so. You never looked exactly happy, but today it’s different. I can tell that your smile is fake, you probably haven’t slept that well and you’re eyes are puffy, so I guess you’ve been crying.” Abby cradled to teacup in her hands, watching Rylee. “You don’t have to talk to me. I just wanted to offer a shoulder to lean on.”
“Thank you.” Rylee sighed and took a sip of her coffee. What did she have to lose? It might be good to talk to someone not involved in this. “I’m about to marry a very wealthy man and yesterday I met my first love again. We haven’t seen each other in years and he broke up with me when he had to leave for good because of his occupation.” She took a deep breath before she continued. “He broke my heart, but when I saw him yesterday… I don’t know.”
“I know exactly what you’re going through.” Abby covered Rylee’s hand with her own.
“You do?”
“Yes. I met Gregory years ago for the first time. He proposed to me and vanished without a word the next day.”
“What?” Shock was written all over Rylee’s face when she said this.
“Yes. I went off to live in different cities, travel the world for my job and eventually ended up here again. Before I went off to Australia I had lived here in Boston. Since I had good friends here, it was the best idea to return here, start my business in a city I knew and loved with people around who knew me.” The corners of her lips twitched upwards. “What I didn’t know was that my best friend was in a relationship with a friend of my ex-fiancée.”
“No way!” Rylee stared at her in disbelief.
“Yes. I was shocked. Really. It was unbelievable that I got to see him after all these years in the apartment of my best friend. I didn’t know how to react, what to say or do. But one thing was for sure, that I still had feelings for him. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, but I still loved him, despite what he’d done to me. The only difference is that you’re engaged and I wasn’t. What do you want to do?”
“Nothing?” Rylee knew that this wasn’t a good enough answer. “I don’t know. He wanted me to look him in the eye and tell him that I was happy, and then he would leave me alone. But I couldn’t.”
“Because it’s not the truth.”
Instead of addressing that, Rylee sighed. “I honestly don’t know what to do. I mean, we were so happy back then. Even when we didn’t live in the same city anymore it worked. I would have gone anywhere with him, but he didn’t want me there. I’m supposed to marry Ben and here I am getting all kinds of thoughts about a guy I haven’t seen in years.”
At that moment the door to the bakery opened and two men stepped in. Rylee was sitting with her back to the door, but the smile on Abby’s face made it clear that her husband had entered the shop. And the voice she was about to hear was one she’d recognize everywhere.
“We came for the cake, but we’re staying for the company.” Adam’s grin made Abby’s smile widen.
Gregory gave his friend a little shove, shaking his head in amusement. Some of the other guys would probably come by a little later, but Adam had taken Benoit with him in the car. Dougie had already headed home to get some rest. He’d had a horrible night.
Both men approached the table and when Adam saw Rylee sitting there, he didn’t know whether to feel happy or annoyed. What was she doing here? One look in her face was enough to know that she was as surprised to see him as he was.
“Rylee? What are you doing here?”
“A-Adam.” Rylee wanted to get up and leave, but she was glued to her seat.
“You two know each other?” Abby looked curiously at both of them. When she saw the look on Rylee’s face, it slowly dawned on her.
“Yeah, we grew up together.”
“Okay.” Abby nodded. “Now you can finally meet my husband, Gregory.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Rylee,” Soupy said with a grin.
“It’s a pleasure.” Rylee tried to smile over the shock.
“Oh, I’ve got something to show you in the backroom. I tried out a new recipe and you have to taste it!” Abby took Gregory’s hand and led him away, leaving Adam and Rylee alone.
Adam watched them go before he sat down where Abby had been sitting a moment ago. He couldn’t help but stare at Rylee, curious to know what she was doing here.
“I probably should get going.”
“Don’t.” Adam put a hand over hers, feeling her stiffen beneath his touch. “What are you doing here, Rylee?”
Hearing him say her name like this made her remember all kinds of events.
“I’ve been coming here every week since I moved here. It’s close to the apartment.” Slowly she looked up at him, biting her bottom lip. “I didn’t know you had any connection to Abby. Whenever she talked about her husband she only used his first name. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” He squeezed her hand, not wanting to let go of her. Not ready to do so. She looked so different from last night. More like herself, like the person he’d known. “It was just a surprise to see you here.”
“I know.” Rylee sighed and suddenly realized just what she’d told Abby. Oh God. She’d probably made the connection to Adam already. Rylee could only hope that she wouldn’t talk to him about this. “I should probably get going.”
“Don’t do that on my account.”
“I have a couple of things to do and I really should get on that.”
“Rylee.” Adam’s voice made her stop and look at him. “Go out to dinner with me.”
“I can’t. I’m an engaged woman.”
“Then let’s go as friends. Catch up.”
She would like that very much if she was honest with herself. Going out to a restaurant might be dangerous, though, so she did what she thought would be best.
“Ben won’t be home until eleven at least, so how about you come to our apartment around seven and I’ll cook dinner.” She scribbled her address down and handed him the piece of paper. “Is that okay with you?”
“Perfect.”