Layla didn't come to dinner that night, and Dawson was still asking himself why the next day. She told Kenzie she wasn't feeling well, but the real answer was pretty damn obvious, wasn't it?

He had leaned in. He'd moved in to kiss her and he scared her off.

Idiot, he scolded himself as he moved the wheelbarrow down the muddy path to the store. Drizzle crackled against his raincoat, and the ground sloshed beneath every step of his boots. The weather had started off that morning even worse than it was now, and was the perfect match to his moping. Of course Layla was avoiding him—they hadn't even known each other ten days and here he was trying to kiss her, an engaged woman.

She must think I'm crazy, he thought as he entered through the back doors of the barn, tracking in muck that would no doubt get Jack snapping at him later. Hell, maybe he was crazy. It sounded crazy, that was for sure. But the way it felt... At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. The only thing.

Not to mention the way she'd been looking at him. With that heavy gaze, and with how she was staring at his mouth, he was certain she wanted it to. So then why did she back away and all but run out of the kitchen?

Securing the doors behind him and shutting out the rain, he argued with himself for the umpteenth time that he should have knocked on her door last night, made sure she was alright, tried to talk to her, something. Then again, would she even have wanted him to? Where the hell did they stand?

Where do I stand? he questioned, feeling like a completely different man than he had just nine days ago. What he said to Kenzie about not wanting a fling, he meant. He never thought he'd be able to want more than that again, but Layla proved that he could. So what now?

God, one night without seeing her across from him at the table and he was acting like a lost puppy. It was pathetic, emasculating, and completely unavoidable.

Knowing that he'd get a long lecture from his brother if he brought mud onto the main floor, he left the wheelbarrow in the back and wiped his feet before heading inside. He'd ask Adam for help bringing the apple bags in by hand. It wasn't like they'd be getting any customers for him to help on a dreary, wet day like today. God knew why Jack bothered to open the store.

He was surprised to see a couple people in the aisles, until he realized who it was—his mother, needlessly organizing the shelves, and Annie, who was crouching down with her fancy-looking camera to take pictures of the rows of jarred goods.

Adam was coming out from behind the counter, and nodded in greeting. "I'm picking up some sandwiches for all of us from that new place next to the bakery. You want something?"

"Uh, sure," he shrugged, figuring the apples could wait. "Get me a BLT. Hey," he lowered his voice, "You seen Layla around today?"

Adam's eyes narrowed. "Oh, engaged Layla? The Layla I'm supposed to not flirt with? The Layla you were all over the other day when the two of you were in here?" The smile that crept onto his face made it obvious he wasn't mad, but instead gloating at the irony. "No, I haven't seen her."

Dawson shot a look over his shoulder to make sure his mother hadn't heard that. Thankfully, she was still lining up the pies, making the display look like something out of a magazine. "Is my hypocrisy that obvious?"

"Glaringly." Adam gave him a pat on the shoulder as he moved for the door. "Only the strongest of men wouldn't want what he can't have."

With those words—which Dawson knew Adam thought of as some kind of wisdom—Adam headed out into the rain, pulling up his hood as he hurried for his car. Dawson lingered by the entrance, knowing Adam was wrong—that wasn't it at all. He wished it was that simple.

"What're you up to?" His mother asked, walking over and resting against the counter, studying him as he approached.

"Not much. Just bagging apples again. Next batch'll probably be the last of the season."

She waved a hand disapprovingly. "On a day like today you and Jack should've closed up, gone out. You two know by now no one ever comes in this weather."

"Tell it to Jack," he said with a harsh laugh. "He says it's about reliability." He looked over to Annie, speaking up to draw her attention. "Did he make you come in today?"

"Hm?" She perked up from behind the large camera lens. "Oh, no. I just thought it'd be a good day for interior shots." Her hand raised, pointing upwards. "No harsh shadows from the skylight."

He nodded—at least Jack seemed to be keeping his word on letting her work flexible hours. Turning back to the small display of candies on the counter, he fiddled with a few, neatening them into their respective rows. He wanted to ask what his sister was up to, and if it involved a certain redhead he was hoping to run into. But the question stuck in his throat, too afraid that his voice would lack the casualty he was hoping to force.

"Um," Annie spoke up again, stepping towards them. "Has anyone seen Layla today?"

Dawson's head turned to her faster than he meant it to, the words spilling out of him. "No. Why? Have you?"

"No—I just—I was just wondering," she stammered, face flushing.

"She said she wasn't feeling well last night," he explained to both Annie and his mother, who hadn't come by yesterday. "Didn't even come down for dinner."

"Oh," Lillie Mae placed a hand over her heart, "I hope it's nothing serious. Those end-of-summer flus can be cruel. Did she train with Kenzie and Marshall today?"

He shrugged, and looked over to Annie for an answer. She slung her camera over her neck, looking between the two of them.

"I... I don't think she's sick," she said, shifting her weight. "I saw her yesterday, in the afternoon. She told me she got some bad news, that her parents didn't approve her program."

Dawson's brow furrowed. Maybe she hadn't skipped out on dinner just because of the kitchen incident after all. "What, the boot camp?"

Annie nodded, and the flame of anger inside him was fanned quickly. How could they do that? She was giving it her all, only to be stopped short before she could even prove herself? It wasn't fair. 

"But this... this was supposed to be the test-run, right? I mean, it's not even over yet."

"That's what she told me, that they're cutting it anyway. But I don't think she really meant to tell me—she was pretty upset, and it just sort of spilled out of her. I asked if she wanted to talk about it, but she didn't. I haven't been sure what to do."

"Poor girl," his mother sighed, crossing her arms. "First her fiancé, now this."

Annie's eyes widened, and the words made Dawson's heart stall for a second. His mom knew the truth about Colin? Since when?

"Her fiancé?" he repeated.

"She may be engaged to Colin, but she's not in love with him." The tone of his mom's voice made it sound like it should have been obvious. "She does a fine job of pretending, but I know she's not."

He did his best to seem frazzled, like it was the shocking revelation she no doubt thought it would be. "What makes you say that?"

"Dawson, I spend enough time with brides—women who are months away from marrying the man they love—to know what love looks like."

"Well then don't you think she should do something? Back out of it, call it off before it's too late? Y'know—" he remembered he was supposed to think all of this was outlandish, "if you're right."

"Sure I do, but it's her own decision to make. Still, if I thought I could convince her to, I'd try."

He knew what she meant by that. Layla was clearly headstrong—and on the topic of the merger, his mother had no idea just how stubborn she really was.

But  with each passing day, Dawson felt more convinced that her uncompromising attitude wasn't a good enough reason to just let Layla throw her life away. No, he didn't think it was much of a reason at all. And when it came to convincing her of that... when he thought back to that look in her eyes in the kitchen, he knew he might just have a chance.  The only thing left to do was convince himself to try, even though it went against everything he'd been protecting his heart from for so long.

lets pretend I didn't forget to post this on saturday and then again on sunday 😅😅😅😅