She turned and moved away.
“Nicole, wait.”
She kept walking. When she saw the sign, she hurried-as best she could-toward the parking structure, incredibly grateful she’d met them at the mall. At least she had her own car.
Thirty minutes later she was home where it was quiet and familiar and there was no one to ask her stupid questions or feel sorry for her. There were also too many memories and an emptiness that made her flip channels until she found a sitcom. She stared at the screen and vowed she wouldn’t cry over Drew. Not now and not ever again.
CHAPTER TWO
SATURDAY MORNING Nicole arrived at the bakery about ten minutes before Raoul was due for his shift. Not that she was actually expecting the teenager. She’d reacted to the moment-she’d been nice. And she was a firm believer that no good deed went unpunished. So he wouldn’t show and she would be pissed, mostly at herself.
She walked toward the rear door of the bakery, only to be joined by a tall, dark-haired kid who fell into step with her.
“Good morning,” Raoul said politely.
She glanced at him. “You’re early.”
“I didn’t want to be late.”
“I’m impressed you’re here at all.”
“You didn’t expect me?”
“No.”
“I gave my word.”
“You stole doughnuts. That makes your word questionable.”
She wasn’t exactly looking at him as she spoke, so she couldn’t be sure, but she caught what looked like a flinch out of the corner of her eyes. Because she doubted him? Because she mentioned the stealing? Great. Every morning should start with a hypersensitive pastry thief.
“You’re also a jock,” she added, not sure why she felt compelled to make him feel better. “I have this thing against jocks. It dates back to high school, when all the guys I had crushes on ignored me.”