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  She pulled her lip in between her teeth which had me physically restraining myself from attacking her mouth right then. My hands were still perched upon her shoulders and I brushed a hand down the length of her arm until her hand was firmly secured in mine.

  “Don’t cry, my sweet Eden,” It wasn’t the best thing I could’ve come up with to say, but it was what came out of my mouth.

  Her hair was plastered to the sides of her face so I gently took my hands to push back the rain-soaked strands. The dress she wore was also stuck to her body but I was trying my best not to look down or my arousal would become extremely evident. It was hard enough to covertly look at Eden when she wasn’t paying attention. She looked absolutely beautiful tonight but no more than when she was decked out in her sneakers and ponytail.

  Eden was genuine and true to herself which was what I loved about her. Often times you heard about best friends becoming lovers and it didn’t always work out in the end. Did I think Eden and I were an exception to that? I supposed only time would tell.

  But first I had to seal the deal on our fate and by doing that I would be giving her, her first true kiss.

  She glanced at my lips and then back into my eyes while I repeated the same actions. I was going in for the kill. Darting my tongue out of my mouth and smoothing it across my lips I slowly moved my head closer to hers.

  I heard her breath hitch and it almost made me want to laugh out loud at how incredibly cute she was. Before my lips finally met with hers, she closed her eyes, and in that moment my heart was completely closed to anyone else. It was hers to do with what she willed; I just hoped that she felt the same.

  Now her shaking could only be construed as nerves, so I pulled her body close to mine, encircling her back with one hand and bringing my other up to cup her face. Once her tongue entered my mouth my knees almost buckled at the extreme delight of the moment. For someone who had never kissed before she was doing an exceptional job. I could feel the rain pelting on my back, never letting up once while our tongues danced the foreign dance with one another for what seemed like forever. And it wasn’t until Dean so rudely honked my horn that we pulled back.

  I let my eyes slowly drift open and I was met with Eden’s, made of pure chocolate, “Eden,” I whispered more so under my breath.

  “Baylor…” she replied.

  “I gotta go, evidently Dean is getting impatient. Meet me at my house tomorrow morning and we’ll talk?”

  No words would come out of her mouth so all she could do was nod. Holding onto my hand until the last possible second, she leisurely let go and I stood stock-still watching her retreating form until she disappeared behind her front door.

  I had newfound hope and excitement about the future, but little did I know it would be the last time I saw her until fifteen years later...

  Chapter 1

  Baylor

  May 2014

  15 years later

  Buried deep under Mrs. Burris’ kitchen sink, this corroded garbage disposal was being a downright bitch. My wrench kept slipping and I just couldn’t get my brain to focus on the task at hand. The mail that I received yesterday was clouding all of my thoughts.

  My phone vibrated on my hip and I was thankful for the distraction. I leaned back on my haunches and grabbed a rag out of the back pocket of my carpenter jeans to wipe off the sludge and water remnants from the pipes. I ran this plumbing business so I had to be the one to answer my phone, plus it could be Norah so there was no question as to whether I’d answer.

  I grabbed my phone off of my belt clip and pressed the answer button before bringing it to my ear. “Jenkins Plumbing, this is Baylor.”

  “Baylor,” the voice of my oldest friend came through the other end of the phone instantly putting a smile on my face.

  “Dean, how in the hell is it going?” I hollered out before remembering that I was in the house of an eighty-year old woman and I needed to watch my language.

  “Oh you know. Listen, I called because I wanted to know if you received the invitation?” I knew this was why he was calling.

  I looked down at the linoleum tile on the floor, as I rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand, “Yeah, I got it. Are you planning on flying in for it?”

  “You know that I wouldn’t give up a chance to come see you and my favorite niece.”

  “Norah is your only niece, pseudo or otherwise,” I joked.

  Dean paused for a moment, “Do you think Eden will be there?”

  There it was, my reason for being completely out of whack today and thrown off kilter. Deep down in my heart I wanted to say that she would be there, but circumstances didn’t exactly justify that logic. “Man, she didn’t come to the ten year reunion and I don’t think she’s stepped foot back in this town in the fifteen years since we’ve graduated.” She basically vanished into thin air; if it weren’t for her mother telling me about her life with her husband, I would be worried that something bad had happened to her.

  “Yeah, yeah, I guess you’re right, it’s just so strange that she left so abruptly. Even after all of these years I miss her, she was our best friend.”

  She was so much more to me, I thought to myself.

  After the grueling work day, I finally pulled into my driveway and shut off my pickup truck.

  That damn garbage disposal took me an hour longer to install than it should have. Of course it was my own fault, so I only charged Mrs. Burris for the time it should’ve taken.

  I walked in through my garage into the house and was immediately greeted by the sight of my daughter and her annoying little friend sprawled out on the island in my kitchen, giggling over something on Norah’s laptop.

  A deep sigh reverberated from my chest, as I walked over and placed my truck keys on the correct hook hanging on my pale yellow kitchen wall.

  “And what do you ladies think you’re doing?” I questioned as I came up beside them and noticed my daughter Norah was holding my high school reunion invitation in one of her hands.

  “Dad,” she immediately switched from her position of lying on her stomach to sitting up. “I found this invite, are you planning on going?”

  “I plan on it, yes. Your uncle Dean called me today saying he was going to be flying in for it.”

  Her face instantly lit up at the mention of Dean. After all of these years of being friends he was still a constant in my life. And once he laid eyes on Norah he was caught-- hook, line, and sinker. He was such a sucker for my baby girl.

  “Do you think Mom will go?”

  “That’s something you’ll have to ask her, sweetheart.” The thought of my ex-wife Kristina being in attendance was enough to make my stomach turn sour. Saying that we parted on civil terms was a complete understatement. She was a money-hungry woman; I was just lucky that she showed her true colors when she did or else I could still be stuck in a miserable marriage.

  She had recently ran off with a retired surgeon named Austin and all but forgotten about Norah. My daughter deserved more than the occasional phone call and visit one week during the summer. But Kristina couldn’t be bothered to interrupt her traveling the world for her one and only child. I couldn’t handle even going a day without talking to my little sidekick.

  She glanced sideways at her friend, Polly before directing her attention back to me, “Do you think Eden will be there?”

  My lungs quickly deflated and I had to brace a hand on the countertop to try and catch my breath. “How do you know about Eden?”

  Norah’s amused expression instantly turned deadpan, “Dad, come on, I can hear you when you talk to uncle Dean and you bring up her name, you totally have the hots for her. I guess you could call it woman’s instition,” she said so matter-of-factly, my brows quirked, disappearing into my hairline.

  “Woman’s intuition,” Polly corrected.

  “Woman’s intuition huh? Y’all aren’t even teenagers and definitely not women, but I’ll let it slide.” I backed up so I could lean against the counter next to the st
ove. “Eden Richardt was your uncle Dean and my best friend growing up. She was my everything, but I was too afraid of jeopardizing our friendship for it to become anything more.” I was really getting into reliving my past with Eden, but I made sure to steer clear of any and all talk about Norah’s mother. Thinking back to the month prior to graduation Eden was the reason I broke up with Kristina. I think she caught onto the fact that I had more than friendly feelings towards Eden and she wasn’t the least bit happy about it. I had never even told Norah that her mother and I went out in high school; she thought we started dating in college. It was just easier to avoid opening that can of worms.

  Polly interrupted me during my reminiscing to annoy me in the way that only Polly can, “Wait, if you were as great of friends as you say you were, then why hasn’t she been around all of these years?”

  Looking up to the ceiling and crossing my arms in front of my chest I thought about what she was asking. What did I really know about Eden’s leaving? Absolutely nothing. “To tell you the truth I don’t know. We kissed for the first time on graduation night and the next day she was supposed to meet me at my house and never showed up. When I asked her mom about it she said that she moved to Lexington already to help out with her Nana. And if Eden wanted to talk to me she would get ahold of me.”

  “And you just left it at that?” Norah asked.

  “Well no, but then I got together with your mom and life went on. We got married and started a family, by the time your mom and I divorced I asked Eden’s mom about her and she said she was happily married. She wouldn’t really divulge where she lived or her last name so I couldn’t look her up on that social media crap you youngsters use.”

  “Dad,” Norah rolled her eyes, “seriously you aren’t that old, you’re practically still in the prime of your life. I hope she comes to the reunion, I think you two have some serious unfinished business.”

  “Who are you and what have you done with my little girl?” That statement earned me another eye roll. “Oh, girl, you shouldn’t have done that. I was going to order pizza for dinner, but no pizza for you now. Only Polly and I can eat it.”

  I kicked off of the counter and began making my way to the living room as I heard Norah scream “NO!” Pizza was her favorite and I loved to joke with her. But as young as Norah was, she sure seemed all grown up, and maybe she did have a point about Eden and I having unfinished business. I hoped that she would actually come to the reunion but I was going to try not to get my hopes up.

  Chapter 2

  Eden

  “She’ll have the salmon and asparagus salad…”

  Was this guy serious? He knew me all of five minutes and was going to order my food for me? And a salad that had goat cheese, fennel, AND asparagus? Oh hell to the no! I threw my cloth napkin onto the table and interrupted him while he was trying to order me some kind of rabbit food. “I’m sorry, she’ll actually have the bacon cheeseburger with fries.” I smiled sweetly at the waitress who then reciprocated with a sly smile of her own. Once she walked away from the table I openly stared at Patrick, my blind date for the evening, “A little word of advice, this is the twenty-first century, we women can order our own food.” I scoffed and rolled my eyes wondering how much longer I should stay before hastily making my departure away from this nightmare. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking that perhaps he was just a bit nervous. After a few moments I guessed I would start the conversation because he was just fiddling with his rolled-up silverware and intently indulging in the bottle of wine that he ordered.

  “So, Patrick, what do you do for a living?” When I said that he was my blind date I wasn’t kidding, I went into this entire evening without knowing anything more than his name. He was one of my co-worker’s neighbors and she assured me he was the one that I’d been looking for all of my life. I found it hilarious that people knew who and what exactly I was looking for even before I did.

  “Ahem,” he cleared his throat and readjusted his loud turquoise tie, pulling it off of his neck. It was incredibly clear that he didn’t want to be here anymore than I did. He took another liberal gulp from his wine glass, which was already bordering on needing a refill. “I’m actually an Occupational Therapist.” That was a great job, it was in demand, and I began listening intently to see if he would further elaborate on his career of choice. A tear formed in the crease of his eye and he began choking on his words, “I’m sorry, I don’t know if I can do this. My wife just recently left me. You seem like a great woman and I tried everything I could to get you to run away but yet you’re still here.” Well, that’s one way to get me to straight hightail it out of there, tell me that he’s still married and then proceed to cry over it. I handed him my napkin, proceeded to grab my purse and scoot my chair back on the thin gray carpet, flying out of my seat and out the door.

  This date would make entertaining radio on Monday morning but it sucked being the subject of it all. Once my radio cohost heard the news of my mother taking it upon herself to sign me up for one of those matchmaking websites, he was completely on board and on my mother’s side. So for our show I had to go on one blind date a week and report in on Monday about how it went. I’d been adding a spin on it about the do’s and don’ts of dating which had been getting rave reviews but it was getting quite old. There I was, thirty-three years old and I’d never been married. I was seriously contemplating just giving up. Maybe then I would find my ‘soul mate.’

  It was entirely too early to go home so I did the next best thing, I went to the grocery store. What better way to start off your weekend than to pick up a pint of your favorite ice cream, coincidentally named after you…But in my defense, it was only available from May to August and during that time I ate copious amounts of it. A night like I had just had definitely called for Edy’s German Chocolate Cake Spectacular. With a name like that you know it’s nothing short of heavenly.

  I felt my phone vibrate in my hobo purse that was slung on my shoulder; I already knew who it was. My best friend, Julia, or Jules as I often liked to call her always called to check up on me during a date to make sure things were going well. Or as I tended to put it, to be my excuse if I needed to bail.

  Pressing my finger on my phone screen to accept the call, I placed my phone to my ear, “Hey, girl!” I answered while I was desperately searching the ice cream section for my limited-edition treat.

  “You sound unusually chipper for being on a date. Should I assume that things are actually going well?” Jules’ melodic voice filtered through the speaker.

  “Completely the opposite, he was a dimwit who tried to order my food for me. And that’s not the worst, what he tried to order, Petunia wouldn’t even touch!” Petunia was my fourteen pound Westie, and she would eat just about anything you put in front of her. I decided to forgo the embarrassment of his crying fit for now.

  “Ugh! Seriously, Eden, do you think you’re getting a little bit too picky nowadays?”

  “What are you, my mother? And who is the one who’s been married two times…AND divorced?” Eden = 1, Jules = -2

  “Hardy har, bitch. But really, what are you doing right now since you skipped out on Mr. Thought-you-were-incapable-of-ordering-your-own-meal?”

  “Oh you know, I’m living the dream. Grocery shopping on a Friday night.”

  “You’re getting ice cream!” Silence from my end, “And your silence confirms it! You aren’t supposed to get ice cream without me!”

  “Well you are more than welcome to join me and Petunia on our all-night ice cream binge fest.”

  “Nah, I’m tired.” Cue an eye roll from me. She had to make a complete spectacle about me buying ice cream then turn down my invitation, what a twat! “But since you are in the grocery store you should head on over to the produce section, you never know when you could meet someone. You know, and flirt over kumquats.”

  My black flats squeaked on the tiled floor as my steps faltered. “Julia, only you could make a fruit sound dirty.”

 
; “You’re listening to 98.9 Nashville’s Powerhouse, playing top hits from yesterday and today! You’ve got Eden and Blaine in the morning!” My cohost, Blaine Roberts, smoothly spoke into the microphone on the desk in front of him. “It’s Monday morning and we all know what that means…We get to recap Eden’s Evening of Enchantment!” Or triple E, as he often shortened it.

  I finished grumbling under my breath as I put my headphones on over my ears and brought my mouth up to my microphone. “Good morning! I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend…”

  “Nope! You are not getting out of this, Eden, it’s what our fans look forward to before their grueling work week, a recap of what had the potential to be an amazing date!” Blaine snickered before looking up over his microphone and giving me puppy dog eyes.

  “Oh all right. Well, my blind date, who shall always remain nameless, showed up ten minutes late without so much as a text informing me of him being tardy: strike one. So we head into the restaurant, which he chose, and it was actually a very elegant establishment …Everything is all right so far, we are making small talk while we peruse the menu for what we want to eat. But when the waitress comes up he proceeds to order my meal for me. Salmon salad with asparagus, and as I’ve said numerous times on the air, I loathe asparagus. That alone was enough for strikes two AND three. I know sometimes men are old-fashioned and are trying to be chivalrous but he didn’t so much as bat an eye at trying to open the door for me or pull out my chair. But being the nice person that I am decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He could’ve been nervous for all I knew. Next thing I know he’s a blubbering mess, talking about how his wife just left him and he’s tried everything he could think of to get me to bail out on him. So, I granted his wish, left him crying in the restaurant and had a date with my dog and a carton of amazing ice cream. So I would call this date, Eden’s Evening of Enmity. Please remind me to thank Joan on her amazing hookup! In all seriousness, I hope he and his wife can reconcile their differences.”